“What?”
He looked up, thought about putting Maggie off, just until he could give the situation more thought.
“You’re wondering if this was an accident,” she said, before he had to decide whether or not to lie to her. “I’m the only person on Windfall who knows why you’re here. Me and your genealogist. And your employer.”
“None of them want me dead.”
“Hell, I’ve wanted you dead a couple of times, and I barely know you.”
“There’s a lot of money at stake, Maggie. One of the Stanhopes might think it’s a better idea to leave the past alone in order to secure a brighter future for themselves.”
Maggie’s hands fisted, then opened before she shoved them into pockets. “It has to be an accident. No matter what the people here think of you, nobody on Windfall would do this where Mort or Jessi or I could happen along and get hurt. And if they did, the only way to create this kind of mess is dynamite.
“And even if the village is too far away to hear a small blast, there’s always someone at the airport—Jessi during the day, but I live there—and Mort has a room at the hangar for when there are early-morning or late-night flights.”
“There was a storm last night. It could’ve been done under the cover of thunder.”
She shook her head. “I think I’d have noticed.”
“All it would have taken is a small charge. Just enough to shift the supporting rocks at the bottom of the pile.” Dex walked around the rockslide, studying it with new eyes. If there’d been any sort of charge, there’d be smaller rocks and dirt blown all over the damn place. Except, he reminded himself, it had rained hard last night. The roadway would have been washed clean of dirt and small rocks, made it look more like a natural occurrence. His gut didn’t buy it. Too much of a coincidence that it had happened at that particular spot on a road only he or Maggie would be likely to use. “A couple of M-80s would have done the trick. Those are big firecrackers.”
“I know what M-80s are,” Maggie shot back. She crossed her arms, clearly troubled. “Your room was searched and now this. You think it was deliberate?”
The itch between his shoulder blades sure as hell did. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“So what do you think was the point?”
“I don’t know. It feels more like a warning than an attempt to cause harm.”
“Tell that to my car.”
Chapter Eighteen
The short ride to the airport was quiet and tense. When they arrived, Maggie slammed out of the car and stomped off without giving Dex so much as a backward glance.
Best to let her cool down, he decided, aiming himself toward her house and the mound of paperwork that waited inside. Just as he was climbing the steps Holden Abbot, complete with his trademark smart-aleck smile, stepped out onto the porch.
“Good to see you, Dex,” he said in his lazy Southern drawl. “Alec tells me you’ve got yourself some trouble here.”
Dex shook the hand Hold offered, but his eyes strayed to Maggie, disappearing into a small building that looked like a tool shed. “That’s putting it mildly.”
“You’re not going after the lady pilot?”
“I’ve grown attached to my head. I’m afraid she’s looking for something to take it off with.” As if her temper wasn’t enough.
“What did you do?”
Dex pulled his gaze back, smiled a little. “I’m wondering that myself. She loaned me a car—”
“ ’54 Jag Roadster. I heard. That’s a lady takes her machinery seriously.”
“There was a rockslide on the road in from town, around a blind curve.”
“And you had her opened up, right?”
Now Dex grinned. He couldn’t help himself. “Point is, I managed to miss the rocks and the ocean.”
“So, is she upset about her car, or about you?”
Dex stared after her again. “If she was concerned about me, she did a good job of hiding it.”
“Well now, she would, wouldn’t she? A woman never likes to tip her hand on her feelings. ’Least not before the man she has feelings for does.”
Now there was a concept that had never crossed his mind. Maggie had made it clear she wasn’t in this thing for the long haul. Hell, she couldn’t wait to see the back of him. It occurred to him now, though, that perhaps she was protesting a little too much. And now that it had, it didn’t mean the subject was open for discussion. “I’m not here for romance.”
Hold took a seat in a rattan chair, crossed one ankle over the opposite knee. The expression on his face was… skeptical.
“Do you want to invent a love life for me, or talk about why you’re here?”
“Why can’t I do both?”
Because, Dex thought, Hold couldn’t begin to imagine what was going on between him and Maggie. Hell, Dex couldn’t figure it out himself. “I’m working on the Stanhope kidnapping,” was what he said. “Still want to talk about romance?”
But he already had his answer, because Hold surged to his feet, grabbing his head with both hands.
“I thought that would get your attention.” Dex had known Hold Abbot for a handful of years. They’d never worked together, but a case like this had to be the Holy Grail to a genealogist.
“The family thinks Eugenia survived the kidnapping?”
“They’d like an answer once and for all,” Dex said.
Hold whistled between his teeth. “The Stanhopes could be running on hope. But you don’t think so.”
“I think it’s possible she lived, but not likely.”
“And yet here you are,” Hold said. “If Eugenia is alive, it’ll make your career.”
“It will make my career either way.”
“Only if you solve it.”
“We,” Dex said. “If we solve it.”
Hold tipped his head, gave the idea some thought. “I can do a genealogy,” he said at length. “Shouldn’t be too difficult, seeing as I only have to go back a couple of generations.”
“You don’t know these people. First off, they don’t keep records, and even if they did, they won’t share them with you.”
“But I’m so damned charming,” Hold said with a grin.
“Yeah, the women will appreciate that, the men will want to shoot you.”
“Damn, son, how do you expect me to accomplish such a Herculean task?”
“Jessi Randal, Maggie’s partner. She doesn’t know anything about this yet, but I know she’ll be willing to help. And Maggie trusts her, so that’s good enough for me.”
Hold pursed his lips in a way that told Dex he was considering his next words carefully.
“Spit it out.”
“I told Jessi I’m a genealogist.”
“You told—” Dex ran a hand back through his hair. “Could you keep your profession—hell, keep everything to yourself except your name.”
“Sure,” Hold said in the same good-natured drawl. His eyes told a different story about his mood. “I’ll hold my conversations to my companion’s health and the weather.”
Dex sucked in a breath, let it out. “I know you think I’m crazy, but Windfall Island is… unique. And there’s a lot of money involved. If the islanders get wind of it—”
“I get the picture.” Hold smiled, at ease again. “Don’t reveal my profession to the locals.”
“This local already knows,” Maggie said, coming up the steps. “And since I’m a definite minority, you might want to think about that before you discuss it out in the wide open where anyone can sneak up on you.”
Hold gave a little shake of his head. “I wasn’t prepared for this to be a… situation.”
“That’s one way to put it,” Dex muttered. He turned to Maggie. “What about Jessi?”
“If you want to know if she can be trusted, the answer is yes. If you’re asking how much she knows, she knows everything because I told her. And before you say something you’ll regret, I just heard you say you were going to tell her anyway.�
��
“You didn’t know that when you went back on your word.”
She met his gaze, hers hardening. “Keeping it from her is one thing, lying when she asks me point blank? Never going to happen.” Her eyes shifted to Hold, who, for the first time, looked a little shamefaced. “If you didn’t want her to know, you should have muzzled Southern Comfort here.”
“You could have said something to him on the trip in from the mainland.”
“I could have. But you made it crystal clear you were running the show, so I figured you’d gagged him already.”
Yeah, she was pissed off at him, Dex thought. He wasn’t feeling too forgiving himself at the moment. “I hope you asked her to keep it quiet.”
“I didn’t have to. She knew without being told what kind of fallout there’d be if your purpose got out, not to mention she’s been on the wrong side of island gossip enough to steer clear of it.”
“Now,” Hold said, “There’s a story there.”
“It’s Jessi’s story,” Maggie said coolly before she turned back to Dex. “You really ought to stop underestimating people.”
“Knee-jerk,” Dex said. “The last few years haven’t exposed me to the nobler side of humanity.”
Maggie shook her head, seemed to relent a little. “Windfall hasn’t raised your opinion much, what with our penchant for gossip.”
“I take it you don’t indulge,” Hold said. “Else Dex wouldn’t have confided in you.”
Maggie sent Dex an arch look. “I didn’t give him much of a choice.”
“I do love a woman who knows her own mind.” Hold took her hand, lifted it to his lips.
Dex’s irritation notched up a couple more degrees, especially when Maggie laughed, a low, flirtatious sound that grated along the nerves she’d already scraped to hell and back.
“I have a feeling I’m going to like you,” Maggie said to Hold.
“That’s good, because I already like you.”
“If you two are done bonding,” Dex scowled, “maybe we can get back to the reason Don Juan here showed up in the first place.”
“Absolutely,” Maggie said. “Right after I deal with business.”
She’d spied Mort crossing the wide expanse of open area between the office and her house, a weed whacker in his hands. Maggie clattered down the steps, her stomach still tied in knots so tight it was a wonder she could stand upright, let alone keep it from showing on her face. Hold’s easy humor and friendly manner had helped, but she could still remember her first glimpse of the Roadster, sideways across the road, its front bumper mere inches from the rocks, its front tires a hairsbreadth from the edge of the sheer drop-off into the ocean.
It wasn’t the car she’d been worried about.
Sure, she’d checked the Jag for dents and scratches, but only to keep from throwing herself into Dex’s arms, running her hands over him instead. And giving her feelings away to him. It was more than she could stand just to admit to herself she’d done anything as stupid as fall—as develop feelings for Dex Keegan.
What she could do, all she could do, was to get through this insanity Dex had brought with him to Windfall, and remember that Solomon Charters would be her life long after Dex Keegan had left the island—and her—behind.
“Saw you come out of the tool shed,” Mort said in his economical way. “Figured you were looking for me.” He gave Dex and Hold a passing glance, then seemed to put them out of mind.
Mort wasn’t what Maggie would have called a sociable person. Hell, he made her look like the life of the party. But he was dependable. “There’s a rockslide about five miles out on the east road.”
Mort slipped his hands into his pockets, his plain face placid as he mulled that over. “Wasn’t there this morning.”
“What time did you come in?”
“ ’Bout five, give or take.”
“That’s pretty early,” Dex observed.
He could have been the wind for all Mort noticed, so Maggie answered instead. “He arranged it a couple of days ago because he wanted to get off early today.”
“Why?”
“Dex,” Maggie murmured, but her eyes were on Mort’s face, and she could see he’d taken offense. “Get the little tractor and go shift those rocks off the road,” she said to him.
He sent Dex a final dark look then took himself away.
“He’s taking his mother to the mainland this afternoon,” Maggie said to Dex, “She’s starting chemotherapy in the morning. And I’m only telling you this to shut you up.”
“And make me feel like a heel.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. You didn’t know.” She swung around and clattered back up the stairs, giving Dex a wide berth. She would have preferred to send him packing; she could have used some time alone to deal with… everything.
Instead, she walked straight through the house and back to the dining room, figuring to put Dex and Hold to work on the journals.
And caught Jessi elbow deep in paper.
Maggie sighed; she wasn’t going to get so much as a moment to herself, at least not in the next little while. And if she ever got that moment, she was really, really going to need it.
“Find anything interesting?” Dex said to Jessi.
Her gaze shot to Maggie. “I, um…” She flicked a glance at Hold, then turned to face Dex, squaring her shoulders. “Maggie told me why you’re here, and I’m going to help. Whether you like it or not.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” Maggie took a couple of deep breaths, working hard to rein in the temper that had nowhere to go. “You were mad five minutes ago. Now it’s okay?”
“I wasn’t mad; you jumped to conclusions.”
He just stood there, a slight smile on his face, and here she was, spoiling for a fight. “I went back on my word, you said. It was stupid of me to give you my word, at least where Jessi is concerned, which is why I didn’t keep it. We’d be even stupider not to let Jessi help with the genealogy because we all know that nobody is going to willingly talk to Hold—no offense, it’s just that you’re an outsider, and why are you grinning like an idiot,” she finished, her eyes narrowing on Dex’s outrageously amused face.
“I think that’s more words than you’ve spoken to me in all the time since we met.”
“So?”
“So, I think it’s cute that I make you nervous.”
“You don’t make me nervous.”
“Yes, I do. You don’t like making me mad.”
Maggie threw her hands up. “You are mad, crazy as a loon.”
“Maybe, but you broke your promise.”
“You conned me into making it in the first place,” she grumbled.
“I used logic.”
“You used manipulation.”
“Maybe a little.” He grinned even wider. It was infuriating.
Maggie punched him in the arm.
He grabbed her. “I told you what would happen the next time you hit me.”
“Then let me make it worthwhile.”
But Dex was already wrapped around her, his arms banding hers to her sides, his legs bracketing hers… and he was aroused as she was. She’d be damned if she let him know it. “I still have teeth,” she said, and tried to sink them into his biceps.
“Ouch. Damn it, Maggie.” He overbalanced her, took them both to the floor. But she fought like hell to keep him from incapacitating her again.
“Maybe we should leave,” Hold said, his voice cutting through Maggie’s anger.
There was still a red haze crowding her vision, but it was embarrassment now.
“Man, it was just getting good,” Jessi said. “Why did you have to open your mouth and ruin it?”
Because Dex had gone as still as she had, and because he was draped over her like a hundred and eighty pounds of sandbag, she shoved at him with every ounce of strength she possessed. “Get off me.”
He did, climbing to his feet then holding a hand down to her. She took it, let him help her up, and sta
red back at her audience, one eyebrow lifted, daring them to comment.
Hold just stood there, grinning hugely.
Jessi huffed out a breath. “Great, the first interesting thing that’s happened around here in years and Charm Boy with his pretty southern manners has to go and ruin it.”
“Sugar,” Hold said to Jessi, “if you want exciting, stick with me.”
“I’d rather eat a cake of soap. Lye soap. The whole thing.”
“Well, now, I hope you get to like the taste of it, because from the sound of things, we’re going to be spending a lot of time with one another. You and I. Together.”
Still grinning like a lunatic, Hold slipped his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.
Maggie worked hard not to smile, especially when Jessi, irritated and more than a little frantic, appealed to her.
“Do we really need him, Maggie? I mean, it can’t be that complicated to draw a bunch of squares and circles and write names inside them.”
“There’s more to a genealogy than that. Especially when you’re tracing a whole community.”
“Windfall isn’t that big,” Jessi insisted. “Maggie, tell him. There can’t be a hundred families, if you go right back to the salvaging times.”
“We don’t have to go back that far,” Dex said, “but time is an issue. The longer it takes to solve this, the more likely my reason for being here will get out, especially with Kentucky Joe and his big mouth. And then we’ll have a problem on our hands.”
“Now, I’m about done with all the name-calling and insults,” Hold said. “If Dex’d made secrecy a matter of record, I’d’ve taken more care with what I said.” He looked at Jessi. “And who I said it to.”
“And I’d still be in the dark,” Jessi said.
“Truth is,” Dex said to her, “I’d already decided to ask for your help with the genealogy. It’ll be much easier for you to gather information than Hold.”
“In other words, I was right,” Maggie said.
“Sure, we can use those words, if that’s what’s important to you.”
Maggie shot Dex a cocky smile. “Right at this moment? Yeah. And you haven’t actually said the words yet.”
Temptation Bay (A Windfall Island Novel) Page 21