Caribbean Nights

by Tressie Lockwood

  Kite wandered over and hung from his arm with pouting pink lips turned up to him. Nic resisted the urge to shake her off. Once upon of time, a woman like her would have been everything he wanted. Now the superficial attitude not only turned him off, it was repulsive. Besides, there was one woman he wanted—Keeta. But she’d broken their date to work. He sighed.

  “Aw, what’s that face for, Dommie?” Kite whined. “Aren’t you enjoying yourself with me?”

  He bit off the words “not really” and tried to think of some other way to shake her loose. “I need to get some air,” he said. “Excuse me.”

  “Me too,” Kite chirped and clung all the more as Nic turned toward the exit. Frustrated beyond his endurance, he’d taken just three steps before the door to the bar opened and several people of interest stepped inside. The most important was Keeta, but the fact that she was on the arm of the loser with dreads from earlier in the week threw Nic for a loop.

  And the way Keeta was dressed was worse. His lover had always dressed well if not expensively. She didn’t wear much makeup, and her overall style, though nice, was subdued. Tonight she wore a dress that must be more than a couple thousand, easy, and her face was made up complete with heavy eye shadow. Spiky heels graced her beautiful feet with French manicured toes peeking out of the front. Nic grew hard seeing her look so amazing, but the fact that she was a reflection of the women they’d spent all week corralling was not a good thing. What the hell she was doing with this bastard and not him, he would find out immediately.

  He started forward again, mouth tight, fists clenched, only to screech to a halt the second time. Behind Keeta and the black guy was Nic’s target. He couldn’t believe his luck, to find him in here, of all places. While Nic watched, the guy’s cell must have buzzed because he tapped the earpiece on the side of his head. He nodded with vacant eyes, frowned, and then turned and left. Nic swore. He couldn’t let this opportunity pass.

  Nic shook Kite off and whipped out his phone. He speed-dialed Kevin while he rushed for the door. When his partner answered, he snapped. “Sorry, but your night off is canceled. I have something to take care of.” He told him which bar to find the girls and took off after his quarry. He rushed past Keeta without giving her more than a glance, enough to see her innocent eyes widen and fill with pain.

  Cunningham, the man who’d stolen U.S. government secrets was ahead of Nic by half a block, and he was moving fast. A hack drew to the side of the road with an offer of a ride. Cunningham paused and then nodded before jumping in. Nic swore and hailed his own ride. Soon he was in hot pursuit. He dug into his pants pocket for a bill and handed it to the driver. “Stick with him, and you get another one of these when we stop.”

  “You got it, boss.” The wheel spun to the left. Nic gripped his seat, eyes trained on the car ahead. Several times while they zipped through traffic, he had to shake himself to pay attention, to plan his next move. This was not the time for thoughts of Keeta, the shock in her eyes when he passed her without acknowledging her presence, and his anger at her being there in the first place. He needed to focus.

  Cunningham’s car stopped in front of a hotel, and he stepped from the interior. A few car lengths down, Nic had his vehicle stop as well and paid his driver. When he entered the hotel, it was in time to see Cunningham take the stairs to the side of the lobby. Good. He could follow with greater ease than if the man used the elevator. On the third floor, at the opposite end of the hall, Cunningham knocked on a door. To Nic’s left, the elevator doors opened and a pretty redhead stepped into view, swaying a little.

  Nic thought fast. He wrapped an arm about the woman’s shoulders and tugged her close. “Where did you get to? I thought you and I were going to have some fun.”

  Unfocused green eyes stared up at him, and then she grinned. “Oh, baby, of course. I just needed to change my dress. Stupid waiter.” She pouted at the small stain there reeking of alcohol. Yeah, Nic thought, it was all the waiter’s fault. Pretending to be absorbed in the woman, Nic watched his prey. The door where he stood opened, and he walked inside. Nic was in luck tonight because the redhead’s room was right next door. He got her into the room, left her passed out in a drunken stupor on her bed, and exited to the balcony.

  Lady Luck must love him. The design of the hotel allowed him to jump across to the next room’s balcony. He crouched low and inched toward the sliding doors. Shadows crossed behind the blinds, near enough for Nic to make out that the envelope had just changed hands. Damn it!

  He pressed an ear to the glass. Beyond, the door opened and closed. Cunningham must have left. A shower came on. Heart pounding with excitement knowing this was almost over, Nic tried the sliding door to find it unlocked. He’d get the envelope and get back to Keeta to find out what the hell she was thinking.

  As he slid the door open, a new thought entered his mind. That Keeta was not what he’d thought, that she’d been playing him like an instrument the entire time, and the persona she’d showed up in tonight was her true self. He shook his head, trying to dislodge the thought, but his past made that near impossible. Could Keeta hurt him as badly as his ex had? Yes, she could, and worse.

  He inched in through the blinds with almost no sound. With a brief scan of the room, he took in the open suitcase on the bed and the briefcase lying closed on the table. Which to check first? The suitcase was closer and open. He searched the contents with deft fingers and struck gold. Beneath the clothing was a hidden panel that hadn’t been locked into place yet, and inside that was the envelope. His prize tucked away, he spun around to head back to the balcony. A single muffled shot was squeezed off, and the bullet ripped through his flesh.

  “Did you really think I’d leave something like that lying around for you to take?” said an accented voice.

  Nic glanced up from his bloodied hand pressed to his body, into the eyes of his enemy.

  Chapter Nine

  Why? Why would he just walk past her like that, like he didn’t even see her? No, he’d seen her. He’d looked right in her face and didn’t stop. Maybe it had finally hit him, that she was just not what he was looking for. The job was over, and they were going home tomorrow. Ann Marie and her fickle self had come to the conclusion two hours after they’d started work again to decide Keeta’s ideas were just what the spread needed. Not giving her a chance to change her mind again, Keeta had hightailed it out of there and wasn’t planning on answering her phone if Ann Marie tried to call her. She might be able to meet Nic and have one last amazing night in Jamaica.

  Keeta sighed as she walked alone on the beach. Not even feeling the chill in the water, she let it run over her toes and dug her feet into the sand. Tears ran down her cheeks, smearing her makeup. Who had she been fooling anyway by doing herself up like she had? All week long, the models hadn’t lacked for male attention. The bodyguards had to practically beat them off, and Keeta had wanted to take a page from their book by dressing more daring than she usually did. She knew the minute she squeezed into the dress and heels that it just wasn’t her thing, but she’d gone out anyway.

  When she couldn’t get Nic on his cell, she had wandered toward his room, hoping he would be around. Nic had been right when he said everyone knew about them being lovers. Kevin, one of Nic’s men, told her Nic had just left with the models. Keeta had hoped to surprise him. All she got for the trouble was being accosted by that idiot who’d tried to take her from Nic at the last club, and her lover walking out on her without a word. Now, it was past midnight, on her last day in paradise, and she was crying on the beach.

  “All right, girl, pull yourself together,” she whispered to herself. “You knew this was coming in the end. It was fun. Now it’s over.”

  Her pep talk stopped midstream when she spotted something up ahead, buffered by the incoming tide. The thing was too big to be seaweed or driftwood. Keeta scanned the area. No one was nearby, and the moon dipped in and out of the clouds, making it difficult to see well. Keeta inched closer, and then alarm hit when s
he realized it was a person.

  Heart hammering in her chest, Keeta bent above the prone form and tried to turn him over. “Hey, sir? Are you okay?” God, please don’t let him be dead. I might not recover from the shock.

  She struggled to turn him at his waist, but her hand slipped, and when it came up, her fingers were covered in blood. Wanting nothing more than to run away, she braced herself and tried again. She got the big man rolled over to his back, and then her world seemed to crash and burn. Fresh tears blurred her vision, and nausea threatened to make her lose consciousness. “No, please, no! Nic!” Keeta looked around again. “Help me! Somebody, help me!”

  No one was around to respond. With shaking hands, Keeta fumbled in the pouch she had strapped to her waist to get her cell phone out. As soon as she got it in her hands, the phone slipped through her fingers to plop into the water. Keeta screeched and floundered in the chilly water. By the time she brought the phone up, she knew it was ruined. A ringing nearby caught her attention. She searched Nic’s body and found his phone.

  While she glanced at the caller ID, she pulled Nic’s head onto her lap. “Hold on, baby,” she sobbed. Someone named Mace was calling Nic, but she needed to get him off the phone so she could call 911. She stabbed the connect button. “Please clear the line. My friend is in trouble. I have to call an ambulance,” she yelled into the phone.

  “Wait, don’t hang up,” the man shouted back. “Hello?”

  Keeta almost didn’t respond, but she gave him a second. “What is it? I told you—”

  “My name is Mace. I work with Nic, and I’m his best friend. If you’re answering his phone, that means he met with some trouble. Trust me, it’s crucial that you follow my instructions carefully.”

  Keeta sniffled. “You work for the bodyguard place he does?”

  “Uh…sort of. I need you to memorize a few numbers for me. Can you do that? You need to call the phone number I give you and tell the receptionist the exact code without errors.”

  This man was crazy. Code? Why would she need a code to call for an ambulance? She couldn’t think straight she was so terrified, and this guy was asking her to memorize numbers.

  “Keeta.” Nic’s eyes fluttered open a second and then closed. His breathing was so shallow, half the time she wasn’t sure he was doing so at all. He needed help now, and the fact was, someone had attacked him. Maybe she should trust this friend, but whatever happened, she wasn’t leaving Nic’s side until she knew he was going to be fine.

  “Okay, tell me the numbers,” she said.

  After going over the code several times to be sure she got it, the man hung up. Keeta had only been able to get his name—Mace. She dialed the phone number he gave her, and the receptionist who answered said, “American Consulate.”

  Keeta’s stomach knotted. She swallowed a few times and recited the code. The receptionist who’d been calm a moment before became frantic and told her to hold on. Keeta stared down at her lover. What the heck was he into? A man came on the phone and gave her more clipped instructions. Get Nic to a certain address as soon as possible, and someone would be there to meet her.

  * * * *

  The directions had been precise. Keeta found the address given to her, but this was not the American Consulate, she knew that. The place looked bland and so still, she wondered if anyone had been here in years. Fortunate that she’d found Nic’s rental up on the street, she’d driven here in record time. Now, glancing over at him, she found him shivering. She leaned over and checked his eyes. He had become feverish. If she didn’t get him help soon, he might die. She rechecked the weak job she’d done bandaging his wound. The strips of torn material were soaked through with blood.

  Keeta jumped out of the Jeep and ran around to Nic’s side. “Come on, Nic. Help me get you inside like we did at the beach. You can do it, baby.”

  His words were gibberish, his eyes opening a slit and then shutting again. He shook so much they fell several times on the way to the door. When they reached it, two men burst through and took Nic from her. Keeta rushed behind them. The interior of the building was set up like a clinic. From the outside, no one would have known. The men hoisted Nic on a gurney and rushed him down a hall. Keeta tried to follow, but a woman she hadn’t noticed before blocked her path.

  “I have to be with him,” she told the woman, trying to go around her.

  “No, you don’t. Thank you for bringing him. Good night.”

  Keeta stared. She considered shoving the woman, but the way her arm muscles were cut and by the steel in her eyes, Keeta suspected she’d find herself on her ass rather than making any leeway. She took a step back. “Then I’ll wait here until I know he’s fine.”

  “That’s unacceptable also.”

  Keeta waited for more explanation, but got a stone face and silence for her troubles. There was nothing she could do. These people were serious. She hoped she’d done the right thing. Back in the car, she discovered she still had Nic’s phone, and she searched it for Mace’s number. He answered on the first ring.

  “I-I dropped him off, but they wouldn’t let me go in with him. I have to know he’ll be okay.”

  “He’ll be fine, Keeta. Don’t worry,” Mace said. “Just go back to New York. I’m sure Nic will contact you when he’s ready.”

  She gasped. “How did you know…”

  “It’s my job to know. I promise you, Nic will be fine.” He paused. “For his sake, will you keep everything you’ve experienced tonight to yourself?”

  She uttered a trembling laugh. “Or what, will you have me killed?”

  Mace didn’t answer. Keeta wanted to throw up. She ran her hands through her hair. “I’ve already forgotten it all. Thank you for your help.” She disconnected the call without another word and headed back to the hotel. Tomorrow, she would be returning home.

  Chapter Ten

  A month had passed since Keeta had last seen Nic. Things at work were back to normal, although most of the staff who had gone still discussed how great Jamaica had been. The models, including Kite, had moved on to whatever their next assignment was, and Ann Marie was a mad woman regarding new projects. Keeta had mailed Nic’s phone to his boss’s address where she sent the payment for his work as bodyguard.

  Early on, she’d spent her time crying and eating ice cream in front of late night TV, like any woman would with a broken heart. After a while, she became angry. Thinking over what happened, she began to believe that there was more to Nic than he’d let on. A man like him babysitting models? He wasn’t the type. And since no one had mentioned Nic being attacked, she assumed whoever had shot him wasn’t doing it because they were desperate to get closer to the beautiful women. No, this was something else. Mace’s insinuation that she would be dealt with if she let anyone know about what she’d learned still terrified her, so she couldn’t discuss it with her best friend, Candace. From the pitying looks she got in the halls at work, everyone must assume Nic had dumped her after the job.

  That’s what pissed her off the most. No, they hadn’t made declarations to each other, but a simple thanks for saving my damn life would have sufficed. Or, you were great in bed, but I’m moving on. Not silence.

  At seven, she decided she’d worked enough and logged out of her computer. She shoved a bunch of work into her briefcase and popped her head into Ann Marie’s office door. “I’m calling it a night. See you in the morning.”

  Ann Marie grunted, but kept her attention on the report she read. Keeta took advantage of the distraction and headed for the elevator. When she was at street level walking through the still lobby, she caught site of the black Lincoln with tinted windows parked at the curb. Another important somebody with a late meeting, she assumed. In the revolving door, she grumbled at the light rain that had started. A man jumped out of the Lincoln with an umbrella and hurried toward her. Keeta stopped.

  “Ms. Keeta Long?” the man asked.

  She drew back. “Yes?”

  “Would you come with me, please?�
� he asked.

  Keeta put her hands on her hips. “Uh, no,” she said with boldness. “I don’t know you.”

  The man hesitated, his eyebrows rising like he was surprised she’d actually say no. Did he know what city he was in? A woman did not get in a strange car with some dude she’d never seen before. And certainly not without an explanation. So what, he knew her name. She was ready to call the cops or the guard inside the building at any second. A sound at the car caught both of their attention. Keeta watched as another man stepped out of the vehicle.

  “Keeta,” he called out. She recognized the voice if not the face. Her mouth dropped open.

  “I don’t know if you remember me, but it’s Mace, Nic’s friend.”

  Keeta walked toward him with the driver hurrying to hold the umbrella over her head. He no doubt took his job a little too seriously. “Mace, is he okay?” She hated the plea in her voice, the way it trembled. A man who had turned his back on her shouldn’t get a fraction of the emotions she wasted on him. As much as she told herself not to care, she did.

  “He’s fine,” Mace assured her.

  “Then why isn’t he here instead of you?” Before he could answer, she looked away and waved her hand. “Never mind. Look, it was an affair. No big deal. We both knew it wouldn’t last beyond Jamaica.”

  Mace grinned and stepped closer to take her hand. Keeta tried to pull free, but he didn’t allow her to. “Why don’t I believe you? You’re just as stubborn as Nic is. I heard how much you love him in your voice when you answered his phone that night. Come with me to see him, Keeta. You can demand in person why he hasn’t come to see you.”