by Annie Seaton
Gracie nodded. She would be much happier being around people as she was still distrustful of his motives. She followed him down the hall and they stopped in the living area to collect her bag and shoes, which he’d stuffed into the rucksack, before he opened an internal door to a garage with three cars parked in it. Two of them were covered with drop sheets. A black Jeep with tinted windows was parked behind them.
“Does someone else live here, too?” she asked hopefully.
For the first time since she’d met him, he seemed ill at ease. “No, they’re all mine.”
“Three cars? Who needs three cars?” Gracie stared at him.
“I restore them in my spare time.”
“What do you do?” she asked curiously as he unlocked the larger vehicle.
“I buy vintage cars, and I do them up.”
“No, I meant what do you do for work? Are you a photographer?”
“I’m retired,” he said briefly, holding the door open for her. Gracie stepped to the right and slid into the car and avoided brushing past him even though he was now fully clothed in a pair of black knee-length chinos and a loose-fitting shirt.
“Which hotel did you say you were in?” He didn’t answer her question and changed the subject quickly so she let it drop.
“I didn’t,” she replied. “You can just drop me in town and I’ll meet you later.”
“No, sweetheart,” came the drawling reply. “I’ll drop you at your hotel and wait for you to have a shower and get changed. I know it’s a holiday town where anything goes but don’t you think you’ll stand out a bit in your red, sparkly dress and high heels?”
She glared at him as he chuckled.
Gracie turned her head to the window and ignored him. The automatic doors rose silently and Jake put the car into gear. He reversed out of the garage onto a huge paved driveway, which circled around another expanse of thick green lawn at the front of the house. Double metal gates slid open without a sound at the touch of a remote device between the seats and he turned the vehicle onto a narrow dirt road.
“How far is it into town by road?” Gracie was curious. Plans flitted in and out of her mind and she was trying to figure out the best way to deal with the situation she found herself in. It had taken them an hour and a half to come around by boat.
“About ten miles,” Jake replied. “A lot quicker than the boat trip.”
“Why don’t you just drive around to the marina instead of coming by sea?”
“A few reasons.” He glanced down at his watch and then pressed a button on the dashboard. “I just want to hear the weather forecast for the next few days.”
The cultured voice of the radio announcer introduced the 11:00 a.m. news as Jake turned the car onto a paved road. Gracie sat back and half listened to the national news as the smooth motion of the car lulled her into a light doze. She’d barely slept in the three days since she’d packed up the schoolroom at Ashby Downs and left for the coast. It seemed like weeks since she’d left home where her only problems had been dealing with homework and David’s insistence she go over to his farm every night for dinner.
Or rather to cook dinner for him and his two kids.
“Shit.” Jake’s exclamation startled her out of her half doze. He slowed the car and parked on the edge of the deserted road. Gracie sat straight up and dread clawed at her throat as he turned up the volume of the radio and she listened to the end of the report
“…near Muddy Bay. Police believe the body has been in the water for a number of days and are appealing to the public to come forward with any missing person reports. The body has been—”
“Oh my God.” Gracie put her hands over her mouth
“Quiet, listen,” he snapped before flicking her a glance. “Don’t go jumping to conclusions.”
Her head was shaking and she fought for calm as the announcer continued. “…the Airlie Beach police station. The body is believed to be that of a middle-aged man.”
Sweet relief coursed through her body even as the tears spilled onto her cheeks. She leaned forward and put her head in her hands as she let the shock go and sobbed.
“Oh, God. I thought it was Regan.” Her body was shaking uncontrollably and she was dimly aware of the click of Jake’s seat belt before firm hands grasped her shoulders and pushed her slowly back against the seat. Then he gently took her hands and moved them away from her face.
“It’s all right. Calm down.” His face was close to hers and his breath fluttered against her wet cheeks. Slowly drawing in a deep breath, she looked up. He was staring at her intently with a strange expression on his face.
“What’s the matter?” she whispered. He held her gaze for a long moment before raising his hand slowly, and then he used the smooth pad of his thumb to wipe her tears before trailing it down her cheek. His fingers lingered on her throat and he kept his gaze locked with hers before lowering his head.
Firm lips brushed lightly against her mouth. Gracie didn’t think, she just followed her instincts and opened her lips to his. For a few seconds their lips clung gently together and her shoulders relaxed as she leaned into him. Her heart beat slowly and steadily, and her panic subsided.
She took the comfort he was offering. It would be so easy to snuggle into him, like she would into a blanket on a cold winter night. Pull it over her head and forget all her worries about Regan…about David…and about this man whose motives concerned her.
Friend or foe?
Jake pulled his lips away slowly and rested his forehead against hers and she closed her eyes.
“Are you all right now?” he asked gruffly. She nodded, her eyes still closed. While they were shut she could push all the bad thoughts away. She couldn’t see the stupid dress she was wearing or the unfamiliar car she was in. And most of all, she wouldn’t have to look at Jake because the feel of his lips on hers had just thrown her already confused thoughts into a total head spin.
“When we get back to the house, I’ll make some calls.” He moved away from her. “I’ve got some local…er…contacts.”
Gracie opened her eyes and looked out the window as he started the car again. He pulled slowly onto the road and she had to listen carefully to hear him over the noise of the tires on the rough surface.
“What sort of contacts?” Her voice was hesitant. Maybe she didn’t need to know the sort of people he mixed with. She didn’t know why—maybe because of the photos—but she just had a sense that he was involved with or knew something about the criminal element and it had something to do with the Midas. And he must have serious money if that really was his house…and cars. That property was worth millions.
“Don’t worry about it. I just know a few people around,” he replied. “I’ve lived here for a few years now.”
She stared out the window as the bush thinned and they passed a couple of vegetable farms on the outskirts of Cannonvale, the small town next to Airlie Beach. Mangoes and avocados on sale to passersby spilled from crates on the side of the road. Huge sprinkler systems spun lazily over the endless vegetable paddocks, the water arcing in a huge stream in the hot air. Gradually the traffic became heavier and they drove through an industrial area before passing a large shopping center.
“Are you going to tell me which hotel you are staying at?” Jake asked. “I can’t drive around all afternoon.”
“The Best Western at Shingly Beach,” Gracie replied. She’d come to a decision while he’d been driving. He wouldn’t like what she was about to do but what he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. It was time for her to call the shots.
Chapter Five
Jake turned the car onto Shingly Beach Road and cruised along until they reached the hotel where Gracie said she was staying. Several new apartment blocks were under construction and work trucks lined the road. He turned into the car park of the hotel and looked across at her.
“Room number?”
She opened her small purse and pulled out a key and turned it over to show him. “Twenty-one. Second
floor.”
He pulled into the parking space allocated for that room and looked across at her. “No car?”
“No, I flew in and caught a taxi from the airport.” Her face was pale and she returned his gaze and held it for a moment, her eyes wide.
I’m a total jerk.
That’s what he was. Suckered in by a crying woman. He fell for it every time and he could kick himself for kissing her because now he couldn’t get the feel of her lips and her skin out of his head. They were imprinted on his mind.
Too much of the voyeuristic photo-taking at night and the first female body that came close to him, he’d practically jumped on her in the car.
Shit, I am such a total dumb ass.
It was time to get out his little black book and catch up with one of his female friends who lived in town and scratch the itch that had been building over the past few weeks. He’d keep his distance from Gracie, look after her, and make sure she didn’t pull any more stupid stunts until they found her sister, although he was pretty sure that was her in the red sarong on the Midas.
Gracie, little kindergarten teacher, was too much of an innocent for him and didn’t have a clue about keeping herself out of trouble, so she certainly didn’t need him in her bed.
Realizing he was still staring at her, he cleared his throat and turned the ignition off. “I’ll wait here while you get changed.”
“All right,” she said slowly. She reached down and picked up her shoes from the floor of the car and looped them around her wrist. “I’ll be as quick as I can but I’m going to take a long shower.” She looked down at her mud-splattered legs.
“Gracie?” He put his hand on her arm and encircled her narrow wrist with his fingers. “Can I trust you?”
“As much as I can trust you,” she replied with the first spark he’d seen since she’d come on to him last night.
“Don’t worry, Jake. I want to wash my hair and get rid of the makeup as well as the mud. Trust me, I won’t take off on you. I want to see those photos. And besides, I think you are going to be useful to me in other ways, too.”
With a coquettish smile, she opened the door and then slid out of the car and slammed the door shut without a backward glance at him. If he didn’t know better, he would have taken that as an invitation. She ran lightly up the steps to the second floor of the hotel and let herself into a room halfway along. Jake put his baseball cap over his eyes to block out the bright sunshine, turned the radio on low, and settled back to wait for her, brooding over the possible scenarios of how her sister was involved in the activities on the cruiser. A bad feeling jittered in his gut and when he had been a cop that feeling had never let him down.
No…it hadn’t let me down until that last sting went to shit and got me shot…and bloody retired at thirty-three.
…
Gracie walked quickly along the outside corridor leading to her hotel room. The housemaids were collecting fresh towels from the cleaning trolley outside room nineteen, two doors up from her room.
“We’ll be servicing your room in about half an hour,” the housemaid called to her as Gracie put her key in the lock.
She nodded and gave them a wave. “I’m just going to shower.” The woman smiled at her and disappeared into the room, her arms full of fresh linen. Gracie let herself into the hotel room, leaned her back against the door, and took a deep breath. She was about to take a huge risk.
A stiff breeze from the water blew the curtains in front of the sliding glass door on the other side of the room and they were snagging on the lamp beside the bed. The back of her neck prickled and goose bumps stood up on her arms despite the heat. She’d locked all the doors before she left last night and had closed up her suitcase. The housemaids hadn’t been in her room but the sliding door was open. Her suitcase was open on the bed and her clothes were hanging out over the sides and on the bed. They’d been folded in neat piles and the case closed when she’d left the room last night. Over on the table next to the window her laptop was plugged in and her e-mail program was open to the last e-mail she’d received from Regan. She’d left it in the case next to her suitcase on the bed. The small wooden tray on the fridge was empty— all the small bottles of spirits were missing from the minibar.
What the hell?
Someone had been through her things. The bathroom door was slightly ajar. For a moment she thought of running out to the balcony and screaming for Jake, but that would mean the end of her plan. Gripping her hands together, she pressed against the wall and inched silently along until she reached the bathroom door. Her heart lodged in her throat as she leaned forward and peered around it.
It was empty but her toiletries were spread all over the basin. She had a feeling it was more than a random break-in and her stomach turned.
“Oh, Jesus.” Gracie dropped into a crouch and put her hands over her face, fighting the temptation to run straight to Jake. But if she did that, she’d have no chance of going to the marina. She rocked back on her heels, grabbed the edge of the basin, and pulled herself to her feet. A white face with huge eyes ringed by smudged mascara stared back at her from the mirror. She turned on the tap and ran her wrists beneath the cool water, taking a deep breath as her heartbeat slowed to a normal rate.
I can do it. I’ll worry about who’s been in here when I get back.
Moving fast, Gracie pulled the tight dress over her head and scrabbled quickly through the piles of clothes for a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. She ran a brush through her hair, splashed some water on her face, and passed a quick flick of lipstick over her mouth. Then she grabbed a towel and scrubbed the dried mud from her feet and legs. She picked up her purse and moved over to the window next to the entry door and looked down at Jake’s black car. His window was down and his elbow was resting on the frame.
She moved across to the other side of the room and then stepped through the unlocked sliding glass door leading onto the front balcony, before slipping out and closing it behind her. She hurried along to the fire stairs at the far end of the building and then quickly ran down the single flight of stairs. Standing on the last step, she peered around the corner to the car park. From this angle, she couldn’t see Jake’s car, so he wouldn’t be able to see her.
The road at the front of the hotel was busy; it was almost lunchtime and the workers were heading down to Airlie Beach Gracie waited a couple of minutes for a break in the traffic and then scampered across the road to the hill above the marina. She stood and looked down; it would be much quicker if she risked the steep, grassy hill rather than walk around the road to the marina office. Tucking her purse under her arm, she sat down and half slid, half clambered down the grassy slope. A family having a picnic lunch at the bottom of the hill looked up in surprise as a miniavalanche of stones preceded her and she jumped down beside them
“Sorry.” She flicked them an apologetic glance and ran along the short road to the complex of buildings in the marina. A quick glance down over the water confirmed the Midas was still berthed there. As she ran up the stairs to the first level of the square-shaped building above the Harbormaster’s Office, Gracie scanned the signs above the offices and sighed with relief. When she pushed open the door of Crew Queensland, the counter was free and a young girl sat in front of a computer idly flicking through a magazine.
She looked up with a smile when Gracie crossed to the counter. “What can I do for you?”
Gracie put her hand to her throat and tried to catch her breath. “Sorry, I’m in a hurry. I just want to know if the housemaid job on the Midas has been filled?” Her breathing slowed slightly and she took a deep breath. “I was talking to a crew member yesterday and he told me to inquire here at the office.”
“Sorry, no jobs,” the girl replied.
“Have you hired someone else today?”
The girl shook her head.
“But there was a job yesterday. Are you sure?” Gracie stared at the girl as she turned away to the computer on the desk behind the counter.
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br /> “We…ll.” The girl spoke slowly as she clicked the keys on her computer. “They are one short at the moment, but I think they rang this morning and said not to hire. That’s the message that was here when I started my shift.”
What the hell was going on? There had been a job and now she was here, there wasn’t one anymore?
“What do I have to do?” she asked. “I’m really keen, and I’m a great worker.”
“There’s some paperwork to fill out and then I can give you a call if a job comes up.
“Can I take it with me and drop it back later? I’ve got a lift waiting.” She dropped her voice and rolled her eyes as she jerked her head toward the door. “And he’s really impatient. You know how guys can be?”
The girl laughed. “Sure do, I’ve got one like that myself. Does your man want a job too? They are hiring sail crew.”
“Oh, no thanks,” Gracie replied quickly. “He’s already got a job.”
The girl frowned as she looked at the screen. “You know, I think there has been a mix-up. There probably will be a job and I haven’t had any other inquiries this week. It’s too close to Christmas. A lot of the backpackers have gone home.” She passed Gracie a dark blue folder with a gold insignia in the top corner. “Drop it back as soon as you can. I’d say you might get a call in the next couple of days.”
Gracie took the folder and headed for the door. “Thanks heaps. I’ll drop it back first thing in the morning.”
…
Jake glanced down at his watch, swallowing the irritation nagging at him before he looked up at Gracie’s hotel door. He spent enough time sitting around at night taking those damn photographs and he’d never had a lot of patience. Being in the thick of the action out in the field had suited him. Bitterness filled his throat and he pushed it back down.