by Elisabeth Naughton, Cynthia Eden, Katie Reus, Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright, Joan Swan
That moment in the kitchen had unnerved her. More than she wanted to admit. Because her first instinct should have been to lash out at him for telling her what to do. But she hadn’t. Instead, she’d understood. She had been stupid running out into the dark without thinking. And he had been right to call her on it.
It was the look in his eyes when he’d held her against the refrigerator though that had really done her in. A look that said he would do anything to keep her safe. One that told her much more than any words what he felt for her. She didn’t need a man to take care of her, but some insane part of her wanted this one to.
And that scared the shit out of her.
Trying to steady the pounding in her chest, she shifted on the bench seat. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. About what Shane told us. And I have a question.” She tapped her pen against the table. “What are you planning to do with the Furies when we find Tisiphone and Magaera?”
Unease ran across his face. They hadn’t discussed what would happen when this was over. They hadn’t discussed much of anything about the future. But it was there, hanging between them. They both wanted the Furies for different reasons: she, for completion; he, for security.
When he didn’t answer, she felt that distance between them grow. Even after what they’d shared last night, after the connection they’d forged, there was still a wide ocean between them. Between who they were and what they each wanted.
“You’re planning to sell them, aren’t you?”
His jaw clenched. “Yes.”
“To who?” He didn’t seem to want to share, but she wasn’t backing down.
“Pete lined up a buyer.”
“Does this buyer have a name?”
He hesitated just long enough to make her think he wasn’t going to answer, then said, “Straithearn. He’s a collector. Lives in Coral Gables somewhere.”
The name wasn’t familiar, but that didn’t mean anything. “Maybe Winters is working for him.”
“I doubt it,” Rafe said with a frown. “The guy’s a recluse. That’s why he’s going through Pete instead of looking for it himself.”
Something about that didn’t sit well with her. “Why? If he gets his hands on Tisiphone first, he’s got more leeway to bargain with you and Pete over Alecto. If he’s a rich collector, he could be looking at different ways to get what he wants.” She glanced back at her papers. “The only thing that throws me is Billy mentioned a woman.” She bit her lip. “Someone this Straithearn works with maybe?”
Indecision brewed in his eyes. He was wavering between telling her or keeping what he knew to himself. And it bugged her that he was holding back—that when it came down to it, he didn’t trust her.
“You have an idea, don’t you?” she asked. At some point they had to believe in each other, if in nothing else.
She was on the verge of reminding him of that when he nodded. “Maria.”
Her eyes widened.
“Gotsi,” he went on. “With the Art Institute of—”
“Athens,” she finished. Now it made sense. “You took Alecto to her. She verified it.” It was exactly what she’d planned to do with the marble relief. Take it to the expert, make sure it was real. Then go after the next one.
He nodded again. “She made it clear she wants them for the Institute. She warned me it could get dangerous. My guess? She’s the one who contacted Billy, tried to use him to get information for her. She could very well have offed Landau, or hired Winters to do it. She’s probably the one looking for you.”
Her blood ran cold. The one trying to kill her.
It all boiled down to money. About how much something was worth. What had Rafe said? Art’s only valuable if someone else wants it. Well, that was more than true in this case.
For fifteen years she’d wanted the Furies. Believed she deserved them, after everything that had happened to her. But sitting here, she realized they wouldn’t change anything. Sure, finding them would be an accomplishment, a type of closure, but keeping them wouldn’t bring her any joy. Not anymore. Not when people had died because of them.
Knowing she’d done something good with them, though, would.
She took a deep breath and pulled a map from the stack of papers she’d been checking and slid it across the table. First they had to find Tisiphone. And Magaera. Then they’d worry about what they were going to do with them. “I think this is our best bet. Sophia’s letters indicated her family sailed back and forth between the States and Antigua several times. There was a small settlement on Great Harbour Cay then. They probably stopped there for supplies or to rest for the night. It was a popular harbor back then.
“In one of the letters you took from Landau’s safe, she talks about how her father disapproved of Tisiphone and wanted her to get rid of it. She mentions a blue hole on the western shore of the island.” Lisa pointed at the map.
“What’s a blue hole?” He took the map and sat on the settee.
“Underwater cave. They’re called cenotes in Mexico and throughout Florida, and blue holes in the Caribbean, because of the typically blue color of the water.”
“And you think she tossed it into one of these blue holes?”
“Her father did. She was heartbroken when he did it. She wrote about it, even described the very hole in her letter to Frederique.” She handed him another paper.
He studied it with creased brow. “So how come Stone never figured any of this out? Even without Landau’s letters, he could have narrowed down the island.”
“He didn’t know about the cipher.”
His brow lifted, but he didn’t look her way. “Must make you feel good, knowing you bested him.”
It did. More than she could describe. But what made her feel even better was knowing Rafe had bested him. This man who wasn’t an archaeologist, didn’t have a science degree, wasn’t a PhD in anything except life. He was the type of man Doug would have looked down on.
Rafe was still studying the papers when she glanced up. “You ever been cave diving?”
He shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah. A while back.”
She sensed from his posture this wasn’t something he’d anticipated. “You do dive, don’t you? I mean, I just assumed with this big fancy boat—”
“Yeah.” He cut in, frowning. “I just…I’m not wild about caves.”
Neither was she. Although she’d been caving numerous times over the years on her quest to find Alecto, she hadn’t been cave diving since the fiasco in Mexico. Since the last time she’d taken a chance on a guy.
She pushed the thought aside. This was important, and made fighting her demons and going back down worth it. “If you aren’t comfortable cave diving, I can get Shane to go with me.”
“I’ll be fine.”
He was definitely still ticked at her about what had happened last night. Part of her realized she should be thankful. If she poured on the bitch attitude, she could probably nip this little relationship thing in the bud right now. Save herself a helluva lot of heartache. Save him the same.
She closed the folder as her pulse skipped with indecision. “Speaking of my irritating twin, where is he?”
“On deck with Hailey.”
That wasn’t a surprise. Over the last few hours the two had rarely left each other’s sight. Shane wasn’t the type of guy to fall for a woman on the spot, but something in his eyes when he looked at Hailey said he’d done just that. And for the first time ever, Lisa understood that feeling. “They seem to have hit it off.”
He leaned his head back against the plush white cushions, looking worn out. “If I’d known it’d get him off my ass, I’d have given her to him sooner.”
“She’s not yours to give.”
He closed his eyes. “She never was.”
Her heart took a slow roll. Watching him, the logic she’d tried to follow the last few hours slipped right out of her mind. She didn’t want a casual fling with this man. She wanted to be what Hailey had never been for him. She wanted to be
his.
His.
The knowledge shocked and excited her. She wanted a chance to see if what they had could be something more. Something solid. Something tangible. She wanted…the whole fairy-tale ending.
Somewhere along the way she’d fallen head over heels in love with a thief. And trying to deny it anymore wasn’t going to do anything but make her crazy.
Hell, she was already crazy. Crazy for even thinking about a future with a man like Rafe Sullivan.
Heart pounding, she pushed away from the table and stepped toward him. He opened his eyes and looked up with a startled expression. She’d told him about her past. She’d given him her body, but she hadn’t taken that last step. Even last night, when she’d felt his heart beating beneath hers, when she’d known this was different, she’d held something back. She’d been scared.
Well, she was terrified now. Of making another gigantic mistake. Of risking everything and being left heartbroken again. She could take the easy way out and run from what she felt for him, but if she did, she had a strong hunch she’d be running the rest of her life.
She swallowed hard and tried to sound calm, while inside, her stomach churned with fear. “Are you always going to be moody like this?”
“I’m not moody.”
“Yes, you are.”
He pursed his lips. “Are you always going to be so damn independent?”
Relief pulsed through her. She took the map from his hand, set it on the side table, straddled his legs and eased down to sit on his lap. “Probably. It’s a character trait.”
“Character flaw,” he mumbled, resting his hands on her hips.
Warmth flowed over her at the gentle touch, at the feel of his body pressed against hers. Yes, this was what she wanted. Him. Just him.
Smiling, she leaned close until her lips were millimeters from his. His musky scent made her light-headed. The tension she felt flow from his shoulders sent her stomach clenching with anticipation. “How about we make a deal?”
His gaze ran from her lips to her eyes, and she didn’t miss the flicker of desire she saw in those dark pools. The one that said he couldn’t stay mad at her for long. “You’re big into making deals lately.”
“Someone else started it.” Her fingers slid into his silky, dark hair, the wispy waves curling at her touch. “Tell you what. I’ll promise to listen to you if you promise to ask instead of order.”
He rolled his eyes, slipped his hands around her waist and tugged her closer. “I don’t order.”
“Yes, querido, you do.”
In one swift move he flipped her onto her back on the settee and kissed her hard. His tongue delved into her mouth, igniting more than just desire, more than just need.
She saw the same emotions in his eyes when he eased back and gazed down at her. The same hint of fear, the same knowledge that he couldn’t fight it any more than she could. It set off a chain reaction in her heart that told her this was right.
She ran her fingers over his stubbled jaw, over his handsome face, and knew—knew she was his. “Take me to bed, Rafe.”
A smile tugged at his tantalizing mouth. “That sounds suspiciously like an order.”
“It is.”
He pulled her quickly to her feet and ushered her toward the bedroom door. Before he followed, he grabbed a sticky pad from the table, jotted a note, peeled it off and slapped it on the cabin door.
“What does that say?” she asked from the doorway.
“That,” he said, kicking the door closed with his foot, “was a warning. It says ‘Intense love-making going on, don’t even think about bugging us.’”
“It does not.”
“Wanna read it yourself?”
She shook her head. “Nope. I just want you.”
“That’s my girl.” He was smiling when he wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her off the floor and kissed her.
Chapter Eighteen
The Berry chain comprised thirty separate islands and almost one hundred cays distributed over about a dozen square miles of water. It was home to only about seven hundred people, which Rafe figured in their situation was probably a plus. Fewer eyes and ears to pay attention to what they were doing. Fewer mouths to spread the word.
Lisa was confident the tiny mass of Great Stirrup Cay was their island. It was the northernmost one in the chain, home of the nineteenth-century lighthouse that Sophia had made reference to in her letters. It also had a series of blue holes on the western shore, one of which fit the description in Sophia’s letter to a T.
Lisa and Rafe had hiked around the island, getting the lay of the land, taking careful notice of the landmarks and terrain. Lisa had radioed her assistant in San Francisco to get in touch with a geologist friend at the University of Miami for help in tracking down detailed maps of the island. It appeared their particular “hole” connected to several others through a series of tunnels and tubes beneath the ground. Though Lisa trusted her assistant, Rafe didn’t. The fact others now knew where they were was all the more reason to get in and get out, as far as he was concerned.
Hailey had stayed onboard to keep an eye on the boat, and Shane—hauling scuba gear and extra tanks—had hiked inland with Lisa and Rafe to watch their progress from the edge of the hole. Rafe was anxious to get going and see if Tisiphone was really down there. More anxious to get back. He didn’t like caves. He wasn’t exactly claustrophobic, but the idea of being below tons of rock didn’t sit well with him.
Tall flowering vines surrounded the blue hole. Palm trees swayed in the warm breeze above. The hole itself wasn’t even ten feet across, and anyone not knowing it was there would wander by without ever seeing it. Near the edge of the hole, the ground dropped nearly twenty-five feet before hitting the surface of the water. Lisa’s description was right: the water was a deep turquoise blue.
“What are the chances we’re going to find this on our first dive?” Rafe asked as he checked his tanks.
“Probably pretty good,” Lisa said, examining her own gear. “It’s been down there over one hundred years. This hole has a pretty straight drop thirty meters max before it turns. If Sophia dropped it in, as we think, it should be right there at the bottom, maybe under a light layer of sediment. We’ll fan the sand, but if we don’t see it right away, it’s not there.”
“Tanks are ready,” Shane said.
They’d rigged a rope-and-pulley system around the trunk of a nearby palm so they could lower the tanks into the cave. Lisa and Rafe would rappel in and then dive. A rock ledge along the right side of the pool would give them a place to gather equipment and suit up. Shane wandered to the palm to check the ropes while Lisa and Rafe finished gathering their gear.
Lisa pulled up the zipper of her wet suit. “You know the rule of thirds, right?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Rafe muttered. “Keep two-thirds gas in reserve for the way out. Got it.”
“Are you sure about this? If you’re uncomfortable, I don’t want you going down. Shane can—”
“I’m fine,” he cut in. The woman had been harping about his diving all morning. He was on the verge of telling her he’d worked Navy salvage in the service. Granted, it hadn’t been in a cave, but he knew a thing or two about diving and he’d been trained in all its aspects. If he hadn’t known better, he’d have thought she didn’t want him to go with her.
He glanced up to tell her to quit being a mother hen, and that’s when he noticed the unease on her face. Was that worry in her eyes? It wasn’t something he was used to seeing.
It was then he remembered the other guy. The one in Mexico she’d taken a second chance on. The one who’d died in a scuba accident.
She was scared.
His frustration ebbed, and he leaned over and kissed her, wanting to clear her head. He didn’t need her worried about him when they were diving. He needed her mind on something else, so she could focus. “You ever think about adoption?”
“What?”
He snapped on his harness and smiled at how
one simple question could throw her so off-kilter. “Lotta kids need good homes.”
She looked at him like he had a third eye stuck in the middle of his forehead. “No one’s going to give me a kid, Slick. I’m a thirty-eight-year-old single woman who travels because of her career.”
He shrugged. “Lots of women are having kids later these days. And adoption laws aren’t as strict in Puerto Rico. Especially if you’ve got dual citizenship.”
Her cheeks paled. “Wh-What?”
That did it. Gave her something else to chew on. Rafe’s smile widened. He loved when she went speechless around him. “Come on, Querida. We need to make tracks.”
Rafe gripped the rope, nodded at Shane to tell him he was ready and started his descent. When he was five feet over the water, he kicked his legs to propel himself to the rocky ledge of the pool.
He unhooked the harness and waited while Lisa made her descent. As she did, he took a look around and breathed in the damp air. The scent of earth was strong down here. Sunlight filtered through the roots and vines near the opening of the cave above, giving the room an eerie dark quality Rafe wasn’t wild about. He figured one good earthquake was all it’d take to bury them alive, and he said a quick prayer that wouldn’t happen while they were down here.
Stalactites hung from the ceiling in the dim space. Sediments created swirling patterns in the massive structures. Lisa probably knew the name of every single cave formation. If he asked her, he could get a crash course in geology.
He decided not to ask. He didn’t want to be down here any longer than necessary.
She landed on the rocks next to him and unhooked her harness. “Off belay,” she called back up to Shane.
“Belay off,” Shane replied. “Look out below.”