by Dani Wyatt
But what if he says yes? What if he takes a moment to think it over before agreeing to go with me—or, swoon, immediately kisses me and says he’d follow me to the ends of the earth and back? The thought is both exciting and scary. I can just imagine the look on my mother’s face when I introduce him.
A smile creases my lips at that thought. Oh, how she would hate it.
But is that the right reason to take him with me? But then again, it’s not the only reason. It’s not even any reason at all, just an added bonus. Because I want James. I can no longer imagine my life without him in it. And when I explain that to my father, he’ll grin and tell me how happy he is for me.
I turn a corner and finally see a largish log cabin standing in what appears to be a natural clearing. This must be the place. It’s well maintained from the looks of the outside, and there’s a big utility truck pulled up to one side. I had no idea James even had a car at all, but that definitely fits my expectations. What doesn’t fit my expectations is the car parked alongside it.
A sleek black Cadillac.
There’s no doubt in my mind that it’s the same one that followed me the morning after I arrived here. I shiver despite the warmth as I think about the cold manner of the man who confronted me, the money he offered me. What’s he doing here? Oh God, I hope I haven’t put James in danger!
I quicken my pace, staying to the side of the road, so that as I get close, I can see inside the window, panicking the whole time that I might see James inside with a gun to his head or bloodied and beaten. If anything has happened to him, I will pursue Trenton Investments through every court in the country.
Then I pause.
As the sun passes behind a cloud, the glare on the window disappears, and I see right inside. And what I see doesn’t make any sense. There’s James and the man who owns the Cadillac parked outside. They’re standing together in the middle of the room, and neither one looks unhappy about being there. I can see the bald man clearly, his face relaxed as he nods and says something, a slight grin playing on his face.
Then he leans forward, clasps James’s hand in his and shakes it firmly.
How do they know each other?
My mind is racing. What am I witnessing here? Is the bald man a family friend? An old acquaintance? No, too much of a coincidence. Then what?
The only explanation that makes any sense is the one that my mind is trying desperately to ignore. They’re in cahoots. James works for Trenton Investments.
I clutch at my stomach as the realization hits me. I turn to the side of the road, wanting to vomit into the undergrowth. That’s how he’s able to afford all this. He must have been in their pocket for months. Of course, they’d need someone here who knows the local area to assist them with the arrangements. It makes perfect sense. Oh God! That’s how he knew exactly where the hammerhead breeding ground was! I’m such an idiot. Did everything he told me about his sister even happen?
He must have thought he’d hit the jackpot when he realized I was attracted to him. String me along, get me into his bed, and all the while getting paid for doing it by the very people I’m trying to stop.
I retch, but my stomach is empty. I haven’t eaten in a while, so there’s nothing to bring up.
I have to get out of here before they see me.
The realization that I’m all alone out in the middle of nowhere, with one man who’s already threatened me and another that I clearly don’t know at all just a few feet away from me, hits me like a runaway train. Not knowing exactly where I’m going, I run into the woods, desperate to get out of sight. Who knows what they might do if they see me?
I have to get away. Is my research still valid if it was collected with the help of someone who was being paid by Trenton Investments? I’m not sure. Oh God, why didn’t I just stick with the arrangements the university had made? Lance Pollack might be an asshole, but at least he’s a trustworthy asshole.
As I run, branches cut my arms, but I don’t stop. The adrenaline is pumping through my veins. My phone. I whip it out, and it goes crashing into the undergrowth. As I scrabble around to find it, another thought hits me: James has been sabotaging my work ever since I met him.
It makes perfect sense. The problems with Lance’s boat, the eel knocking my air tank, the massive hammerhead. He tried to stop me from gathering my data, and then when that didn’t work, he tried to kill me.
I find my phone and punch in the number for the taxi company that brought me to town from the airport. “Hello,” I gasp, panting for air, panic gripping my chest. “I need a cab right away. It’s an emergency.”
Chapter 21 – James
I got rid of Eugene Carter as soon as I could after our business was concluded. He might be on my side now, but I still don’t like him, and I sure as hell don’t trust him. The only reason I’m going through with this deal is because I know he won’t double-cross me while he’s getting so much out of it. Once it’s done, I’ll get Hendy to iron-clad my end of it, make sure Eugene doesn’t start to think he might be able to tip the cards in his favor.
My truck wheel spins as I pull out of my driveway onto the road heading into town. I’m desperate to see Everly and tell her the good news that, in a few days’ time, Trenton Investments will pull out of the Port Hope development for good. Of course, there’s nothing to stop another company using their work to apply for their own planning permission, but it gives her some breathing space to organize her data so she can make sure the sharks are protected permanently.
When I reach the Merryfield Bed and Breakfast, I leave the car to idle at the side of the road and head right in. I’m planning to take Everly straight out to dinner, discuss the deal I just made and where we go from here. I don’t know how this is going to proceed, but I’m not sure I can stand a day without her.
“You just missed her.” Rita, the owner of the Merryfield, looks at me over the top of her glasses. “Left here ten minutes ago.”
I flash her my best smile, but she doesn’t return it. I swear Rita should have been the headmistress of the school; she’s wasted in the bed-and-breakfast trade. “Do you know where she was going?”
“Yes.”
I wait for a moment, but it’s clear there’s no more information on its way. “Would you tell me?”
“I don’t like that girl. She’s common.”
“Common?”
“Common. First night she’s here, I get complaints about moaning and squeaking bedsprings coming from her room at all hours of the night.” The image of bedsprings actually coming from her room is amusing, but I don’t let it show. This isn’t the time. “Then last night, she didn’t even sleep here. No doubt seeing her fancy man.” Rita eyes me suspiciously.
“Can you tell me where she went? I really need to know.”
“Airport.”
“Sorry?” It doesn’t make any sense. Everly wouldn’t go to the airport, not without dropping in on me first.
“She comes back here, collects her things in a terrible hurry, then pays for her room, and she’s off. I ask where she’s going, she says the airport.”
“Wait, where had she been? Before that, I mean?”
Rita shrugs. “Do I look like her jailer? I don’t bloody know where she’d been. All I know is she looked upset, on the verge of tears.” She points the end of her pen at me. “Scared! That’s how she looked. Terrified.”
I barely hear the end of her sentence because I’m already out of the door and jumping into my truck.
Once I hit the road out of town, I put my foot down, and the truck jumps forward, tearing up the miles. I have to catch up with her. I have to find out what’s going on. There’s no way I’m going to lose her now.
What the fuck is going on, I have no idea, but I’m not going to waste any time in finding out.
I dial her number on the hands-free kit, but she sends the call to her messaging service. Frustrated, I punch the phone and send it flying across the inside of the car. What the fuck? What the absolute fuck?
Somebody has done something to her. It’s the only explanation. She’s scared, she’s running, maybe she doesn’t want me dragged into it.
Well, no way. No fucking way. I’m not going to let that shit fly.
Turning a corner, I see a taxi on the road ahead, and I’m sure it must be her. I even think I glimpse the back of her head through the windshield.
“Hold on, baby,” I whisper to the truck as I swerve out into the oncoming lane, taking a blind corner at seventy-five miles an hour, praying to every god I know the name of that nothing will be coming the other way.
The cab driver blares his horn as I sweep in front of him, and I see his arms wave violently, but I don’t care. I apply the brakes as gently as my thundering heart will let me, slowing the truck and forcing the cab to stop along with me.
As I jump out of the truck, I hear the electronic hum of the cab driver’s window being wound down.
“What the fuck, buddy? Are you trying to get us all killed?”
I ignore him, sprinting for the back door.
“Hey, hey, what do you think you’re doing?”
The door handle clunks ineffectually, the cab locked from the inside, and then I hear her voice.
“Go away. Leave me alone, or I’ll call the police.”
“Don’t bother.” I hear the driver’s voice, but it sounds distant inside my head. “I’m already calling them.”
“Everly, what the fuck is going on? Why are you leaving? Why won’t you talk to me? Please, tell me what’s happening here. I thought we had something.”
“You thought we had something! I thought this was something special, not just a way for you to get your kicks while you strung me along. Is that all I was to you? An easy fuck?”
“What are you talking about?” I try the handle again, pointlessly. “None of this is making any sense.”
“Yeah.” The driver leans out of his window. “I have some asshole here who nearly ran me right off the road. Out on highway—hey!”
I grab his phone out of his hand and throw it into the dirt, stomping on it for good measure.
“That was my phone!”
I ignore him, kneeling next to the rear door, trying to see Everly through the privacy glass. “Everly, please. I don’t know what you think—”
“I know, James. I know all about you and Trenton Investments. I saw you with the bald man. Yeah, that’s right, you thought you were being so clever, didn’t you? But I came out there to see you. I thought I was in love. What an idiot.”
“The bald man?” She’s not making any sense. Then it hits me. “Eugene Carter?”
“I don’t know his name!” She screams the words, and I suddenly see her face on the other side of the glass as she comes closer. “I lost my fucking virginity to you, you sleaze. I thought you were different. I thought I could trust you.” Even through the tinted window, I can see the tears running down her face. If anyone else had caused her to get this upset, I’d kill them. I’d tear them limb from limb. But somehow, I did this, and my mind is reeling as the pieces start to fall into place.
“Everly, it’s not what you think. I was going to tell you. I did it for you.”
“Did it for me? How is any of this for me?”
“I didn’t even know Eugene until a few hours ago. My agent, Bill Hendy, put me in touch with him. He works for Trenton Investments, that’s true, but I don’t. I never have. The only reason I met with Eugene was because of you, of how much you want to stop the development here. I swear, I’ve never met anyone from Trenton Investments or had anything to do with them, and I’d die before I ever betrayed you.”
“Do you really expect me to believe that? If that were true, then where does a fisherman get the kind of money you’ve clearly got? That piece of land you have back there, it must be a hundred acres. There’s no way you can afford that on the money you’re earning.”
“It’s seventy acres, and I bought it a couple of years ago. You can ask my mom. And you can look at my investment portfolio, too. You’ll find all that money is accounted for, every cent. I earned it fair and square. My fishing business does well, but I also invest that money. Bill Hendy helps me. I own a small share in most of the businesses in Port Hope, a few in other towns around here too.” I realize I can prove it, right here and right now. “Wait here,” I say, turning and running to my truck.
A few moments later, I return with my phone, a bit scratched up from the beating it just took but still working. I dial Hendy’s number and put him on speakerphone.
“Bill, hi.”
“Glad to hear your voice, James. I was a bit worried the next time I’d see you would be when I read your eulogy—”
“Bill, shut the fuck up. I have a friend here. I’d like you to tell her about the sawmill. The Pollacks’ sawmill.”
“What about it?”
“Tell her about the sale.”
“Er... Six hundred and thirteen thousand.”
Everly’s window winds down, just a crack, and I see her eyes peering over the top of it. “Six hundred and thirteen thousand what?”
“Dollars,” Hendy says, sounding confused.
“But what does that mean?”
“I’m sorry... What does what mean?”
I want to scream, but I have to stay calm. She has to hear this from Hendy, not from me.
“What was the six hundred and thirteen thousand dollars for?”
“Is this a trick question? The sawmill. James bought it for six hundred and thirteen thousand dollars. We took the money from the investment account, so that it wouldn’t jeopardize any of the other businesses. Look, lady, what’s this about?”
Her window winds down a little more, and she meets my eyes. “Other businesses?”
I put the phone to my ear, satisfied. “Thanks, Bill. I’ll call you later to discuss everything that’s happened.” Brushing the side of her face with my fingers, I say, “Now can we talk?”
***
The cab driver flips me the bird as he turns his car around and heads back in the other direction, and I can’t say I blame him. I paid him enough to get a new phone, and a healthy tip on top of that to make up for what he went through, but I don’t think we’re going to be going out for drinks anytime soon.
“So, tell me about Eugene Carter,” Everly says as she sits in the passenger seat of my truck as we sit in the parking lot down by the marina. I’m in the back corner where it’s quiet and we won’t be fucking interrupted.
Her face is still damp from the tears, but she’s looking calmer now, and I don’t think she’s about to run out on me.
The light green skirt hits her mid-thigh, and even in her agitated state, I note the way her nipples are pebbles against the button-up white cotton shirt.
“Bill Hendy—the man you spoke to on the phone—had been looking into Trenton Investments for me. After I went to dinner with you, I decided it would be a good idea to find out everything I could about them. Eugene Carter contacted Hendy and warned him off, but not before Hendy had found out about Trenton’s share prices. It turned out there were some serious discrepancies in the value they were trading at.”
“Who exactly is Bill Hendy? What does he do for you?”
“He used to be a lawyer, the best of the best, but he’s had a bit of a rough time of it. He doesn’t practice law anymore, not officially, but that doesn’t stop him from being my business advisor and agent. Hendy looks after all of my business interests.”
“And just how many business interests do you have? You said something about all the businesses in Port Hope...”
I shake my head. “No, not all of them. Most, though. With Hendy’s help, I have a healthy portfolio. I already told you I don’t fish like most of the others. That’s true. I bring in catches that sell for much higher prices, and I invest a lot of that money.”
“And Trenton?”
“Like I said, their shares are trading at odd values. It would be difficult to prove that there was anything amiss thoug
h, and the likelihood is that even if they could be brought to book, it would just mean the business would close. A lot of people would lose their jobs, and the main culprits would just do the same thing again under a new name.”
“So how does Eugene Carter figure into this? I’m still confused.”
“Eugene is a nasty piece of work. You don’t want to cross him. But in the end, he’s a businessman. I offered him a forty-percent share in Trenton Investments, and full control of the day-to-day running of the business if he wants it, if he helped me to secure its share purchase at a fair price, not the overinflated price they were officially advertising.”
“And he was happy to do that?” She narrows her eyes. It’s clear she doesn’t understand what men like Eugene will do if they see a profit in it for themselves.
“Trenton is worth billions. I effectively paid him off with a private jet and an island in the Bahamas. Yes, he’s heading to meet with their board members right now. I expect I’ll get a phone call in the next few days.”
“So you’ll own Trenton Investments...” Her eyes light up. “You could stop them from developing Port Hope!”
“That’s the plan. And once your research is published, nobody else will be able to touch that shark breeding ground again—”
She cuts me off as she twists around in her seat, pressing her lips against mine. The kiss lasts for what seems like a week, then she breaks it and looks into my eyes. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”
“I would never do anything to hurt you, Everly.”
She nods. “I know that now. I was coming to see you—when I saw you with Eugene. I was going to tell you about the university.”
“What did they say?”
She scoots herself across the seat, straddling my lap and throwing her arms around my neck. My cock jumps to attention, and she grinds against it, grinning. “Am I doing good?”
“I’ll let you continue, for now,” I say, easily taking more control. If that’s what she wants, that’s what she will get. “Tell me about the university.”