Falling Darkness--A Novel of Romantic Suspense

by Karen Harper

  He looked shocked. Then dazed. Then, thank heavens, happy.

  “I—I should have known, my love. I’m paid big bucks to put cases together. But that’s why I hired you in the first place to psych out people for me. But—that statue with the baby in her arms that upset you, your wondering about a hospital here, your extra exhaustion and stomach upset... I should have guessed.”

  He looked down at her midriff as if she would be showing after such a short time. She burst into hysterical laughter with her tears.

  “And my missed period, and what an emotional mess I am,” she added as he hugged her hard to him again. “Nick, with all we’ve been through—not to mention my heavy meds I’ve been on and off—I can’t be sure, but a pregnancy is a big possibility. I wish I could have gone to a doctor first, planned us a private, lovely dinner for two and told you then for sure yay or nay but—”

  “But just the idea of it,” he said, expelling a big breath and rocking her against him as if she was a frightened child. “I know we’re in a mess here still, but just the thought of a child of our own is amazing. Lexi would love it too, I’m sure, as soon as she gets through her hard times. And, my love,” he added, setting her back a bit and smiling with a devilish gleam in his dark, teary eyes, “we will get to a doctor, and if he says it’s true, we’ll celebrate both with a romantic dinner and in this bed. But it will be our secret until we know for sure, maybe until you show.”

  Until you show. The words echoed in her head as she reached over to snap out the light. Until you show that you can survive all this, can conquer the bad guys, can help Lexi, can love Nick and not Jace for ever and ever...

  “Claire. Feel better now?”

  “Yes, of course. Thank heavens you’re not upset. But then, I must admit our courtship and marriage was hardly normal, so why should starting our family be?”

  In the dark, he kissed her soundly, salty tears and all. He turned her back to him, and they lay together spoon fashion under the covers with his lips in her tousled hair.

  “Claire,” he whispered, “we’ll make up for these tough times. We will make it, all of us, including our new son or daughter if that’s what we find out. Just think, maybe floating inside you like a little island in a sea, just like us now here on Mackinac.”

  His arms tightened around her. He put his hand under her nightgown on her flat belly. “I love you, Claire, and no matter what happens, always will.”

  “Then I will treasure this moment and have it always in my heart.”

  She heard Jace’s voice boom a laugh from the first floor. She cuddled close to Nick, warm and weary, and finally was swept away, swimming into sleep.

  * * *

  Claire woke still in Nick’s embrace, but were they swimming in the sea? No, she stood on a marble pedestal with a baby in her arms. People were leaving flowers at her feet and taking photographs. But was her baby stone-cold dead? And the other child standing so stiff below...that little girl. Where was she? Was she missing? Had someone taken her?

  She managed to pull herself from her fears. No, she’d found her daughter, but she wanted to leave the island. She had to get off the island!

  Had she remembered to take her medicine, that terrible drink that made her sleep and gave her strange dreams? But was she having a dream now, or was this real?

  In some far-off cemetery, she walked and walked in a circle, dragging her heavy stone feet. Where was her husband? Where was her daughter and her baby? Someone said they had buried the baby at her feet but now it was in her arms, a miracle.

  “Claire! Claire, you’re having a nightmare.”

  Nick. It was Nick. She was safe here, somewhere, lying in his arms. Oh, right. On the island, in the widow’s house, in bed, safe from Clayton Ames and his other house surrounded by poison plants with vicious fish swimming past. He’d taken Lexi, and he’d made Nick marry her, so he could watch them, hurt them all.

  “Are you all right, sweetheart?”

  Nick’s voice again. That was real, even though they had to have fake names and pretend not to be themselves.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “Just a bad dream.”

  “No more of those. Sleep. We need our sleep. Lexi’s safe with Nita and Gina. We’ll make it, get to go back home when this is over.”

  She nodded and sighed, fighting now to slip away again. Nick knew how powerful her night meds were, in contrast to the stimulants for narcolepsy she sometimes took during the day. He understood. But then, she’d made the terrible mistake—really a sin—of not sharing her disease with Jace when they were married, and then when he’d found out and felt betrayed...

  She tried to relax. Jace had been away so much, flying international routes. It was partly his fault too. But Jace loved planes. She’d seen that hungry, hurt look on his face when he’d seen the naval planes on the tarmac at the airfield across the harbor from Guantanamo, and then at the air base in New Orleans. And the same expression when he’d looked at Julia...

  She suddenly remembered where she’d seen the Grand Hotel on this island before, the place Julia wanted them to see. Funny how things came to her clearly when she woke up for her second dose at night or even in dreams. Years ago, she and Darcy had loved that old movie with Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve they’d seen in reruns on TV, the one filmed at that hotel on this very island. What was the movie’s name? Her mind was clearing now. Oh, yes, Somewhere in Time, where he fell in love with a woman who had lived years before and managed to slip back in time and into her life. But then he lost her, like the woman who once lived here lost her beloved, like the man in Havana lost his wife and baby in the statue, like maybe Julia lost her husband...

  She sucked in a big breath and became even more alert, but this time Nick did not wake up. He breathed steadily, on his back but still pressed against her. Claire shifted slightly away, propped herself up on one elbow and pushed her hair back from her damp face. She looked at the clock and reached for the midnight dose of liquid medication and vowed that, somewhere in time, they were going to help convict and imprison Clayton Ames before they were all lost forever.

  13

  The Grand Hotel was grand indeed. Claire couldn’t believe the size of it as it curved around a hill over the water, with a lower level graced by bright yellow awnings. Above that, a pillared colonnade sheltered a long porch with clusters of white rocking chairs and American flags flapping in the crisp October breeze. Above that were rows of rooms with fabulous views. Below the vast expanse of the building were the famous flower gardens, though the frosts had turned them all to dead plants now, and gardeners were working to take them out and pile them in sad heaps on carts.

  “The building is beautiful,” she told Julia as they took turns climbing down from the large wagon she had hired to bring them in. “Like a palace from the past.”

  “Which indeed it is,” Julia told them while Bronco steadied Nick as he got down slowly with his cane. When they were all out, the young man who held the reins drove the two-horse team of big Clydesdales off to a resting spot. In her best tour-guide voice, Julia went on, “Grand Hotel—correctly said without the word the—was built in the 1880s in the Victorian Age but what they call the Gilded Age here in North America. It was built for the elite but is now open to all—for a fee. Let me give you a tour. Then we’ll have that lunch I promised and talk about plans for your employment while you’re on the island. We’ll be in a private dining room I’ve arranged.”

  “You sure know the ins and outs of this place,” Jace said, walking ahead with her. “I’m sure you’d be an excellent companion anywhere on the island.”

  If that was an innuendo, Claire thought, she admired Julia for ignoring it. “I know this hotel too well,” she told them. “When I first returned here to be with my father and daughter, jobs were scarce in the winter, so I was one of the night guards here. It’s a ghostly
place once they close it until the season starts again, but it needs watching, of course.” She lowered her voice, perhaps so Lexi wouldn’t hear. “Pretty spooky, all closed up at night with the lights off and everything shrouded.”

  Jace opened and held the door for all of them to enter. Indeed, there was a charge to just view the interior, but Julia whipped out some sort of pass to give to the woman at the table. For the first time, Claire noted she wore what appeared to be a wedding band, but on her right hand. An heirloom? Or was she widowed, or even divorced, and still wanted to wear the ring? Claire scolded herself for slipping. She’d been curious about Julia, but, for once, hadn’t looked at something as obvious as a wedding ring to help psych her out.

  Suddenly nervous, she began to twist her own rings around her finger. Maybe it was the poster ahead that did it: the two doomed lovers from the movie Somewhere in Time she’d remembered last night. The poster was advertising a yearly convention here next weekend for fans of the movie.

  Julia must have seen her looking at it. “You were probably a bit young in 1980 when that came out,” she told Claire. “TV reruns?”

  “Exactly. My sister and I loved that movie.”

  “Aunt Darcy?” Lexi asked, though she’d seemed too tired to chatter today. And, miraculously, they’d talked her into leaving Shark-Killer back at the house to keep an eye on it. “Or does she have another name now too?”

  “No,” Claire said, stooping to whisper as they went farther down a carpeted hall, “but she’s a secret here. People named Meggie and Jenna have to keep secrets. Real soon you and I will have a talk about all that again.”

  “Guess what, Meggie?” Julia asked. “There was another movie made here too called This Time for Keeps, and there were a lot of swimming-pool scenes in it. My father has a copy of that with his cowboy movies, so I’ll borrow it for you, and you can all watch it.”

  As Julia gave them a tour of the main, massive dining room and several side rooms, Claire was entranced. The carpets were all flowered and so dramatic, as if to bring the gardens inside even in the colder months. The carpets would have overwhelmed most places but not these vast hallways and public rooms. Polished antique furniture, framed art and chandeliers overhead kept everything in balance.

  “It’s not a palace. It’s a castle, like in Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella,” Lexi said, and even the men seemed in awe. Gina and Nita were all eyes.

  “The dining room seats seven hundred and fifty, but we’ll be all cozy in our smaller room. Down this hall—this way,” Julia said, though Claire saw all of them were hanging back for one last look.

  “I’m paying for our meal,” Nick told her as they went into a private dining room with a round white linen–covered table elegantly set. The wallpaper flaunted bright green tropical leaves and the floor was beige and green.

  Julia countered, “You’ve paid enough already, in more ways than one.” Once they were inside with the door closed, she told him, “One time here, Jack—it’s all part of the account. But after this, you’re on a budget, and I know you’ve worked out support with Agent Patterson.

  “Meggie,” she went on, “I’ve ordered really the best dessert here for all of us, called the Grand Pecan Ball—that is, if you like nuts, and I know my little girl didn’t when she was young.”

  “Pecans are Southern nuts,” Lexi told her. “So they are okay.”

  “Southern nuts,” Bronco said. “Aren’t we all? And here we are up North, and I’ve never seen snow.”

  “Me neither, have I, Mommy—or have I, Uncle Seth?”

  “Nope, so that will be a lot of fun,” Jace said. “I’m thinking there will be some real good things to do on the island this winter.”

  Claire rolled her eyes, but he wasn’t looking at her. At least he wasn’t ogling Julia, but he’d managed to take a seat beside her. Could he be trying to make his ex-wife jealous? No, Claire scolded herself, that was too conceited a thought, but sometimes she was sure that—

  “All right,” Julia was saying. With everyone seated, Claire noticed there was one extra place at the table. Maybe, in an old building like this, they had a ghost who ate here. She shivered and scolded herself for such a silly idea, but she could imagine what all this looked like when deserted, as Julia had described it—shrouded.

  When everyone quieted and turned toward her, Julia said, “Let me toss out possibilities for employment this winter to help defray costs and so you all won’t get cabin fever once the snow starts, which will be sooner than usual, they say. Seth, one of the men who goes out on the tarmac at the airport and brings the planes in to the gates is ill, and you certainly know the territory. It’s a small airport with minimal traffic and seldom even a small private jet this time of year, but that’s a possibility. Orders are, though, you would not identify yourself as a pilot, just as someone who has worked at an airport. Frankly, it would give you a good way to be aware of any strangers coming here in the winter.”

  “And are there some?” he asked. Claire noted he’d looked excited at first, but what a letdown. To be near flying but not to fly, not to even let on he knew how, but they were all knee-deep in lies to survive here.

  “Strangers coming in who aren’t just tourists this time of year?” Julia asked. “Rare, but it happens. For instance, rich guy flew in recently from Las Vegas, who is harassing my father to sell his Gene Autry memorabilia collection for a Wild West Museum on the Strip there. He came on a rental plane and complained about having to leave his own jet off island because it was too large for our runway.”

  “And you wish he’d skidded off that little runway,” Jace put in. “As for the airport job, thanks for realizing how much planes and flying mean to me. That sounds fine. I’ll go nuts at Widow’s Watch.”

  Julia finally smiled back at him, then went on, as she quickly turned to the others, “Jenna has said she wants to homeschool Meggie, and Lorena can certainly help as her nanny. Gina, since you’ve been a medical student, there’s a doctor at the Mackinac Island Medical Center on Market Street who can use your help as an assistant.”

  “I want to go to school somewhere in the US, but I’ll need money to do that, so, yes. Very good.”

  “That will be an excellent cover story while you are here,” Julia said. “Our friend Mr. Patterson has also suggested that, if asked, you say you are Lorena’s sister, Gina, and you came along with her for the winter. Lorena, is that all right with you?”

  “Oh, yes. I am happy to help and perhaps we even look at bit alike, yes?”

  “And Gina?”

  “I would be blessed to have a sister as kind as Lorena—or Jenna.”

  “Then that’s settled. And once the snow hits and a bicycle won’t get you to the med center, I know a very nice doctor who can pick you up on his snowmobile, but we’ll get to all these details later.”

  Speaking of details, Claire was impressed, but she saw Heck wasn’t. She was hoping he and Gina would not take her father’s parting words to heart about getting married soon. Still, she didn’t doubt that Julia or Rob Patterson could come up with legal papers for Gina and then a wedding license. She was starting to think of Julia as their fairy godmother.

  “Jack,” Julia said, turning to Nick, “we have a cover story that you’re a writer, working on a novel, so in case locals ask, you’ll need a general description of it. You’ve read the dossier about your supposed successful business background in Orlando, and we’ve covered for you there, in case anyone checks, but I bet they won’t. However, instead of writing a novel, you’ll be consulting, through me, with our agent friend to prepare a case against Ames High, et cetera. Writing affidavits, taking information from Jenna and others—from Seth too, who has also dealt with him.”

  Jace just grunted and mumbled something under his breath. Claire knew he felt he had a score to settle with Ames, though maybe not one as deeply felt as Nick’s.<
br />
  Claire studied Lexi to see if she was getting any of this, but she was unfolding her elaborately arranged linen napkin and seemed oblivious for once.

  Nick asked, “Since you speak of the devil, any word on arresting and extraditing him from Cuba for prosecution?”

  “Not yet,” Julia said. “Red tape. Delicate international ties. And we’re not even sure he’s still in Havana, though our man spotted him there just as Berto and Gina did.”

  “Meaning he is tight with the Castros, yes?” Gina blurted, throwing her hands up. “I tell you, even though we are being careful in a private room miles away, it feels so good to just say things about and against them out loud!”

  Everyone applauded, and Heck put his arm around Gina’s shoulders. How Claire wished they could all feel free and safe here, but she was starting to relax for the first time in months—really, since she’d first met Nick.

  “And, Berto,” Julia said, turning to Heck, “your tech skills make you invaluable for working with Jack, and I hope, with me. Everything will have to be encrypted before it’s sent, so we must be careful. Meanwhile, we can let it be known that you can do basic computer repairs, because islanders could use that here. I know I can. And my daughter runs a business here and has an online sales site she could use some help with.

  “And last, but not least, Cody,” she said, turning to Bronco. “Jack has said you’re invaluable to him as a guard and assistant. Two things. Do not think you are a glorified errand boy, but you will be our go-between so we do not use phones or internet for passing key information back and forth. And, if you are willing, it would be invaluable to me too if you could spend some time with my father. He’ll latch on to you with a name like Cody Carson, and in a week you’ll know everything there ever was to know about the old Wild West.”

  “Suits me,” Bronco said with a nod. “Sorry I can’t tell him my other name, ’cause he’d like that too.”