Serpent in Paradise

by Jayne Ann Krentz

  “What any sensible person does when dealing with an armed gunman: We run.” Grabbing her wrist, Jase suited action to words, pulling her across the sand and into the tangle of palm trees and ferns beyond.

  “You think he’s coming after us?” she panted, trying not to stumble as they pelted through the undergrowth. Overhead several angry birds screeched their disapproval of the activity on the ground.

  “I haven’t heard him start the boat’s engines. So yes, I think we have to assume the worst,” Jase told her dryly.

  “Maybe... maybe he doesn’t know you made it to shore,” Amy suggested in a hopeful tone.

  “Maybe.” Jase sounded skeptical. “He’ll figure out there are still two of us soon enough, though. We’re leaving a path a mile wide.”

  Crushed ferns and broken leaves were indeed marking their wake. Amy cast a despairing glance behind her and then concentrated on saving her energy. Already she was getting short of breath. Just when she was beginning to think she couldn’t go much farther, the distant sound of pursuit began.

  “The birds,” Jase muttered, glancing back over his shoulder in the direction they had come.

  The birds, which had screeched so disapprovingly when they had plunged into the jungle, were once again setting up a raucous protest. Haley must have found the point at which his prey had started inland.

  “Jase,” Amy pleaded, swinging around to face him honestly, “I don’t think I can go much farther. Maybe it would be better if I tried to hide. You could keep going without me...” Even as she stood there, gasping for breath, Amy could feel her knees trembling. “I’ll only hold you back.”

  Instead of either a plea to keep on trying or a reluctant agreement that she might be right, Amy got a narrow-eyed, savagely intimidating expression in response. Jase’s turquoise eyes burned brilliantly and threateningly. “You will keep running until I say you can stop. Is that clear? You were stupid enough to get yourself into this mess, so we have to assume you’re probably not bright enough to get yourself out. Therefore you will obey orders. Run, Amy, or I will take a belt to your backside when this is all over, I swear it.”

  Fear and intimidation, Amy discovered, were underrated motivators. She was amazed at the renewed energy she felt as Jase turned around and yanked her after him, plunging deeper into the jungle growth. She supposed ultimately she would simply collapse, but in the meantime her legs kept moving. The only thing that made it possible for her to go as far as she did was the fact that the undergrowth was really too thick for an outright dash. Several times they had to slow as the ferns and greenery became more lush.

  “Are... are we just running blindly?” she finally managed to gasp out as the pace slowed once again. “Or do you have a destination in mind?” she added with sarcastic emphasis. She still hadn’t forgiven Jase for his threat, effective as it had been.

  He flicked her a faintly amused glance. “I have a destination in mind. But we need to get there with a little time to spare. Come on, let’s get moving.”

  “Oh, God,” she groaned, but she grabbed for air and started moving as quickly as possible after him. The sound of pursuit in the distance sent a spurt of adrenaline through her. “Why doesn’t he just give up,” she mumbled, “take the opportunity to escape in the boat?”

  “Because he knows what I’ll do to him when I eventually find him,” Jase retorted bluntly. “He knows his best bet is to make sure I’m dead.”

  “Oh.” Amy decided she didn’t have breath enough to ask him exactly what he would do to Dirk Haley.

  The jungle began to thicken around them. Huge ferns the size of small trees arched overhead, and gigantic tropical blossoms occasionally hit Amy in the face. If the situation hadn’t been so desperate, she would have been entranced by the lush greenery around her.

  “Just a little farther, Amy.”

  She didn’t respond. She didn’t have breath enough left to answer. Then the faint sound of rushing water caught her attention. A few moments later Jase pulled her through a natural gate of tall, waving ferns and into a scene that could have been created by an artist trying to paint a seductive vision of a tropical island paradise. In fact, Amy thought suddenly, it had been painted by such an artist. This was the place Ray had depicted in his latest painting.

  As Jase came to a halt, Amy stared, gasping for breath and trying to take in the incredibly lush spectacle. At the far end of the jungle glade a wall of water cascaded down, veiling the shadowy entrance to a huge rock grotto. A wide pool captured the downpour of the waterfall. All around, the foliage grew with a luxuriance that seemed surreal.

  “Jase, it’s fantastic,” Amy whispered, panting.

  “It’s also a dead end,” he returned practically. “Which is something Haley should realize as soon as he sets foot inside the entrance. He’ll think he has us cornered.”

  “Then why are we here?” she demanded quizzically, looking up at him

  “Because we’re going to try to turn the whole place into a trap. It’s our only chance, Amy.” He released her arm to reach down and begin rolling up the wet cuff of his khaki trousers. As Amy watched in amazement, he revealed a long length of ultrathin nylon rope wound up his calf to the knee. Thrust between the coils of the rope was a wicked-looking knife

  “I thought you told Haley you were unarmed,” she remarked dryly.

  “I lied.”

  “That’s funny,” she managed with a weak grin, still drawing in great gulps of air. “I trust you implicitly.”

  He gave her a short, level glance as he removed the nylon rope and lowered the cuff of his trousers. “You can. Haley shouldn’t. But then, I’m sure he doesn’t.”

  “Sounds fair enough to me. Now what?”

  “Now we set a trap and hope Haley is so anxious to get us that he’ll step into it.” Jase was already coiling the nylon rope in a strange fashion, forming an elaborate knot that secured the wide loop at the bottom.

  “You’re going to rope him like a calf?” she asked in disbelief.

  “Not quite. I never had any experience as a cowboy. I’d probably miss!” he retorted, laying the loop of the rope out at the entrance to the clearing. “But some of the islanders have developed their own methods for catching two-footed game.”

  “You think he’ll come in through the same entrance we did?” Amy asked dubiously.

  “He won’t have much choice. There’s no other way into the grotto, and as soon as he sees that there’s a cave behind the waterfall, he’s going to think we’re hiding in it—I hope.” The last two words were spoken in an almost inaudible mutter as Jase strung an end of the rope into a thicket of ferns and fastened it to a small palm trunk. Then he walked across the mossy entrance and tugged at the other end of the rope.

  “Where are you going to be, Jase?” Amy demanded suddenly as she realized that he intended to activate the trap from the concealment of the shrubbery.

  “Here, behind these ferns. I can use this rock as a partial blind. You’re going to be over there in that thicket beside the waterfall. I don’t want you hiding in the grotto itself, because it’s too obvious. The first place Haley will look if something goes wrong here at the entrance is inside the cave.”

  “But, Jase, you’ll be within five feet of him when he comes through that bunch of ferns. If he sees you, he’ll have you at point-blank range.”

  “Let’s hope I’m good at looking like a part of the landscape,” he growled. “Now listen, Amy. If I don’t get him up here, I think he’ll head straight for the grotto. As soon as he goes behind the waterfall to find you, make a dash for the exit, understand? Run and keep on running. That grotto extends quite a distance, and with any luck he’ll waste so much time searching it that you’ll have a chance.”

  “I won’t leave you behind,” she insisted stubbornly, furious that he should even suggest such a thing.

  “Why not? You did this
morning, didn’t you?” he shot back cruelly.

  Amy went white, unbearably hurt that he should misconstrue the situation deliberately. Wordlessly she stared at him, her eyes full of pain.

  “Oh, hell, I didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” he groaned. “Go on, get over into that thicket. Bury yourself as deep as you can.” The distant sound of disturbed birds grew closer. “One way or another this is going to be over pretty damn quick. Move, Amy!”

  There was nothing to argue about. Amy spun around and did as ordered. She scrambled toward the dense foliage to one side of the grotto entrance.

  “Go through the water so there won’t be any footprints around the edge to lead him to you,” Jase called softly after her.

  Obediently she stepped into the bubbling pool and waded toward her destination, sticking close to the edge. She could see that toward the center the water was very deep. At the far end she turned to glance back at Jase. He was already out of sight. For a moment she was tempted to run back to his side and take her chances there. The only thing that stopped her was the knowledge that Jase would be furious. With a sigh she edged her way deeply into the mass of green that formed a massive wall beside the grotto. As soon as she had penetrated a couple of feet, she realized that there was a real wall of rock behind the heavy undergrowth. Jase was right. They were in a dead-end canyon. The rock wall extended on either side toward the entrance, where Jase was concealed.

  The rush of the waterfall was almost deafening this close. She had a glimpse of the black yawning grotto beyond and was glad that Jase had decided they shouldn’t try to use it as a hiding place. It seemed dark and eerie. She’d rather take her chances in the open.

  The rising clamor of birds was canceled out by the roar of the falling water, so Amy didn’t have any warning a few minutes later when Dirk Haley suddenly appeared just outside the entrance of the tropical canyon. She was crouched low, peering intently in that direction, and was startled when his trouser leg came into her line of vision. She could see little of him because of the depths of her own concealment, but it was obvious he was still beyond the range of the loop trap Jase had set.

  Oh, Lord, she thought helplessly, if Haley saw Jase first, there would be no chance at all for the man she loved. He would be a sitting duck at that range. Silently she tried to talk Haley into the clearing. It was obvious he was hesitating, trying to assess the situation.

  “Come on, Haley,” she whispered, as if trying to exert her will over him “Another couple of steps. That’s it.”

  The bit of trouser leg in her field of vision shifted cautiously. Amy thought the man must be searching the canyon, perhaps sensing the trap. What was needed, she realized suddenly, was a little push. Something to convince him it was worth his while to walk toward the grotto. Why was he suddenly being so cautious? He must suspect something. They mustn’t lose him now!

  If Haley decided that they were in the grotto, he might decide to outwait them. How long could she and Jase stay huddled silently in their respective niches?

  “Lassiter!”

  The birds renewed their scolding as Haley called Jase’s name.

  “Lassiter, you and the woman haven’t got a chance.”

  But Haley didn’t move into the trap. Damn it, Amy thought desperately, this is all my fault. Any second now Haley would decide to try outwaiting his quarry, or perhaps he would catch a glimpse of Jase in hiding. Jase was so close to the other man! All it would take would be a breeze catching the concealing foliage or a bird landing on a branch and making it sway.

  It was the thought of Jase’s imminent danger that made up Amy’s mind. Without giving herself time to think, she leaped to her feet and dashed through the waterfall and into the dark grotto. For a few vital seconds she presented a target Haley couldn’t resist.

  He fired once, more out of reflex than anything else, and then he raced forward, straight into the trap Jase had set.

  It was Amy’s natural clumsiness that saved her life. Her foot struck a small protrusion as she ran through the pounding water. The jolt sent her into a stumbling spill. She wound up flat on her stomach as Haley’s bullet whistled over her head and struck a far corner of the cave. For a long moment she lay where she had fallen, grateful for the first time in her life for her physical awkwardness.

  Haley’s scream of startled rage, penetrating even through the noise of the waterfall, made her scramble back to her feet. Bracing herself with one hand against the clammy rock of the grotto, she tried to peer through the cascading water. When she could see nothing, she dared inch back out the entrance.

  The battle taking place on the floor of the canyon was the most violent spectacle she had ever seen. It was far different from the brawl the drunken sailors had waged in The Serpent. This one, she thought in horror, came under the heading of “Life or Death.”

  It was obvious Jase had caught one of Haley’s ankles in the loop of hidden rope and jerked the other man off his feet. Then he must have leaped from hiding to take advantage of the one chance that would be available.

  The two men flailed viciously at each other on the ground. Amy’s pulse pounded and her mouth was dry with the shock of the battle, but she made herself run toward the pair. Somewhere on the scene there was still a gun to be reckoned with.

  She saw the weapon within inches of Haley’s scrabbling hand. The flash of the knife in Jase’s fingers registered simultaneously on Amy’s consciousness. But Haley was strong, managing to hold Jase temporarily at bay as he tried for the gun.

  Then she had it, scooping up the heavy weight of the cold metal in her palm and instantly stepping back out of reach. When Haley saw his chance at the weapon disappear, he tried for Jase’s throat instead

  But Jase, who was half underneath the other man, twisted his weight to one side. When Haley automatically shifted to compensate for the change, Jase rolled over rapidly, pinning him. An instant later he held the point of the knife at the base of Haley’s neck.

  “Move and I’ll slit your throat,” Jase snarled.

  Haley lay still, his chest heaving with the effort he had been exerting. In sullen fury he regarded the man who held the knife. Apparently he believed the threat of chilled rage in Jase’s brilliant turquoise eyes.

  Amy also remained quite still, momentarily immobilized by the violence she had witnessed. The male of the species, she decided half hysterically, had a streak of savagery that rivaled in sheer primitiveness the female’s primeval propensity for risk-taking.

  Here, in the tropical forest, civilization suddenly seemed very far removed.

  Chapter Eight

  “What are we going to do with him?” Amy shouted above the roar of the motor launch engines. She glanced disgustedly at the stern of the small craft, where Dirk Haley crouched sullenly, securely bound. He had said almost nothing during the trek back to the beach, but Amy had the feeling he’d remained alert to even the slightest possibility of escape.

  “We’ll dump him in Cowper’s lap,” Jase told her, concentrating on guiding the launch out of the cove. “He can figure out what to do with him.”

  “Cowper?” Amy frowned and then remembered. “Oh, yes. The local government man you once threatened me with.”

  Jase’s gaze slid sideways to focus on her innocent expression. “I never threatened you with Cowper,” Jase growled. She could barely hear him above the engine sound.

  “Sure you did,” she retorted breezily, leaning complacently against the bulkhead. “You were going to make me go to him the night my room was searched, remember? If I didn’t go home with you, I was going to have to explain the whole situation to Fred Cowper. I call that a threat.”

  “Given the way things turned out, I should have gone through with the idea. We’d probably both be sleeping peacefully in bed right now if we’d turned the whole mess over to the proper authorities.”

  Amy chose to ignore that bit of hindsight
. “It must have been Haley who searched my room that night.”

  Haley flashed her an icy glance from the stern and then continued his disinterested perusal of the horizon.

  “Maybe Cowper or someone higher up can find out what’s so important about that damn mask.” Jase guided the little craft just beyond the breakers, hugging the shoreline as close as possible. “We can get it off the bottom of that cove with a tank of air.”

  “That will be exciting,” Amy said enthusiastically, receiving another sidelong glance from the man at the helm. “I want to go with you when you retrieve it.”

  “You’re really feeling your oats now that this is all over, aren’t you?” Jase drawled coolly. “Have you already forgotten how close you came to getting us both killed?”

  That sobered Amy at once. Impulsively she touched his arm, eyes instantly full of apology. “Oh, Jase, of course I haven’t forgotten. I’m so sorry for getting you involved in all this. I had no right to do that. It was my problem and I should have kept innocent bystanders out of the situation.”

  “Oh, for God’s sake!” he growled in deep annoyance. “I didn’t mean you shouldn’t have involved me! You know damn well I meant to be involved, right from the beginning! What I meant was that you had no business not keeping me fully involved and informed! Why in God’s name didn’t you tell me about that note from him?” He gave a short nod toward Haley in the rear.

  “Because I knew you probably wouldn’t have let me meet him alone,” Amy tried to explain, keeping her tone rational. It was becoming increasingly obvious that Jase was at the end of his patience.

  “Full marks for second-guessing me on that issue,” he gritted. “You’re damn right I wouldn’t have let you meet him alone. We wouldn’t have had to go through this morning’s exercise if I’d known what was happening.”

  “But, Jase, I had to find out what I could about that mask! That’s what I came to Saint Clair to do. It was the whole reason for my trip!”