Rough Waters

by Maggie Toussaint

  Too early for the bars to be open.

  Despite his resolve, doubts crept in. What if he was too late? What if Tarpley hurt Jeanie? A vicious storm howled in his gut as fear surged. He couldn’t lose her. He wouldn’t fail her. But he had to hurry. Tarpley had about a thirty minute head start.

  It only took a second to pull a trigger.

  He pushed the dark thoughts back, whipping his truck around to head for the commercial strip. Numbness blunted the chill of his rage.

  He scanned all three fast food places. No Tarpley. No Jeanie. He checked the swing sets at the city park, the big rock where Tarpley learned to smoke cigarettes, the cemetery where Tarpley’s mom was buried. Nothing.

  He drove to the creek where they used to go fishing. Deserted, except for a beat-up old junker of a car parked in the trees. Blood sprinted through his veins. Could be something. Could be nothing. He sent the dogs over. Castor lay down first near the rear driver’s-side tire. Pollox lay down beside the trunk of the car. They stared at him intently.

  He’d found her.

  His heart pumped like machine gun fire.

  Was it a trap?

  He had a knife strapped to each ankle, a Colt Defender in his hand, Jeanie’s Beretta tucked in his waistband. He signaled the dogs to stay. He circled the perimeter, listening and watching. No one was around. The car appeared to be abandoned, but Tarpley might have rigged a nasty surprise. Another bomb?

  Rock silenced the stream of what-ifs running through his head. Save the girl. He crept to the car, broke the window with his gun, hit the trunk release. Knees wobbling, he raced to the trunk. Please, let her be alive.

  “Jeanie?”

  A bloody apparition lunged at him, screaming and wielding a sharp object. He caught Jeanie as she tumbled from the car, yelling and kicking and flailing.

  “Jeanie—Jeanie!”

  What had Tarpley done to her?

  Anger tasted bitter in his throat. He’d kill Tarpley twice for this.

  “Shh.” He cradled her in his arms. “Jeanie. You’re all right.”

  Her body shuddered with wrenching sobs. He held her tighter. “It’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re safe. I’m here.” The dogs stood beside them, trying to comfort her, too.

  The coppery smell of blood overwhelmed him. He seethed in silent rage. Tarpley would pay for this.

  He picked up a T-shirt from the trunk of the car and used it to take the bottle neck from Jeanie’s bloody fingers and set it aside as evidence. Was she stabbed? Shot? He checked her head for wounds. Nothing. Her torso. Looked good there. That left hands and feet, which were bloody messes.

  “Tell me what happened,” he urged.

  “He threatened my children,” she managed between sobs. “I hate him. I’m going to kill him with my bare hands.”

  Not if Rock found him first. “Where is he?”

  “I don’t know. I couldn’t see anything. He careened all over the road, throwing me around back here. I heard glass break underneath me. I searched and found a broken beer bottle and started cutting off the duct tape. Then the car stopped and I worried I wouldn’t have enough time to get free. I was afraid to yell, afraid he’d open the trunk and shoot me. I was figuring out how to get the trunk open when I heard you fiddling with the lock.”

  “You thought it was Tarpley.”

  “I figured he would shoot me. That’s why I launched at you like a crazy woman.”

  He smoothed her pink hair back from her face, kissed her forehead. “You’re a warrior, sweet. A wonderful, fierce spirit. Thank God you’re safe. The bastard must have been watching the hotel knowing I’d have to stay there with the dogs. It’s the only place in town that takes pets. I’m sorry I failed you.”

  “We need to find him and make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone ever again.”

  “We will, but I’m still in shock. He kidnapped you.”

  She sniffed back tears. “How long did he have me?”

  “About an hour. Did another car crank up after this car stopped moving?”

  “I wasn’t listening. Finding the beer bottle wasn’t easy in the dark with my hands taped behind my back.”

  Rock had no doubt Jeanie would have caught Tarpley off guard if he’d opened the trunk. His respect for her resourcefulness grew, though he regretted she’d been put to the test.

  “I need another shower,” Jeanie said.

  “Soon,” Rock said. “First we call the cops. We need an official record of this incident.”

  She trembled. More tears spilled on her cheeks. “Do we have to?”

  “We do. Cops first, shower second.”

  “I don’t want to go back to that hotel.”

  “I’ll get us another place. I’ll take care of you.”

  She glanced at his bleeding arm. His good arm. “You’re hurt. I cut you with that glass.”

  “No big deal. You’re safe. I’m so glad I found you.” He dialed the emergency number and reported the incident. Dispatch informed him help was en route.

  As they waited, Jeanie clung to him. “Looks like he was living in this car,” Rock said.

  “Or he was headed to the laundromat. His clothes reek.”

  “Did he say anything to you?”

  “Not sure. He mumbled something as he dropped me in the car. I think I heard the word journal.”

  ****

  Mayfield’s finest were an odd couple. A gangly white male and a gum-smacking black female. But the cops listened attentively to the details of the kidnapping incident and wrote their account down.

  Rock didn’t miss the arched eyebrows over the suspect being a dead man. “Sounds crazy, but Drake Tarpley is alive,” Rock repeated. “I found Jeanie by checking out the places we used to go.”

  The cops combed through the abandoned car, lifted fingerprints from the motel room, contacted Laurie Ann in Mossy Bog, and after hearing the story four more times, let them go.

  “I have to get a shower. I reek,” Jeanie said over a late lunch of fries and burgers in the truck.

  They’d collected their belongings when they accompanied the cops to the Bromley Inn. Rock couldn’t wait to leave his hometown. “Your shower is the next stop on our agenda. I reserved a room at the nicest hotel in Mayfield.”

  “Can we afford it?”

  Her happiness was worth every dime he possessed. “We can.”

  Chapter 48

  Man-funk stink lingered in Jeanie’s nose during her shower. Her sliced foot throbbed, but if she complained, Rock would plunk her in one of those doc-in-a-box places, and she’d be sidelined. No way would she miss out on nabbing Drake Tarpley.

  He’d threatened her kids.

  On the other hand, Rock deserved a big reward for finding her. If it were summer, she darn well might be dead of heat exhaustion. Instead, she was alive and steaming mad.

  She shut off the water and patted herself dry with the plush towels. She used one for her hair, one for her body, a guilty pleasure for sure.

  Not wanting to be alone, she’d left the bathroom door ajar. She peered into the adjoining room after she bandaged her foot. In the shadowed room, she easily made out Rock’s position. He’d turned the sheets down and stretched out on the bed. His soft snores tugged at her heart. No way was she waking him up. The last twenty-four hours had been a rollercoaster of adrenaline and not enough sleep. A short nap would do him a world of good.

  A nap would refresh her as well. They’d already paid for this deluxe room. Might as well make the most of it. Still wrapped in her towels, she snuggled into the king-sized bed and drifted off to sleep.

  Images galloped across her dreamscape like frenzied horses. A heavy weight pressed on her chest. She couldn’t breathe. Screams caught in her dry throat. She struggled against her bonds, but it was no use. She couldn’t get free. But she couldn’t give up either. The kids needed her. She needed them. By God, no one would beat her.

  Moments later, clad in a Super Jeanie costume and cape, she powered off her restraints, and punched a
hole in her prison’s wall. She soared into a yellow sky full of Kryptonite and collapsed, spiraling down to the earth, dropping in a gigantic basket of beanstalk-green laundry. Enchanted vines covered her, sealing her eyes shut, imprisoning her.

  She struggled.

  She screamed.

  She sweated.

  “Water.” So thirsty. Where was Prince Charming? Why was this happening to her? Why was she so sleepy? Was it the red poppy field surrounding her? The laundry basket shook like an earthquake, disorienting her further.

  Got to hold fast. Got to survive.

  “Jeanie.”

  The voice sounded far away. “I’m here,” she tried to say, but no words left her mouth. “Help.” I’ve been enchanted by an evil wizard.

  “Jeanie, wake up. You’re dreaming.”

  She knew that voice. Rock. So handsome. So gallant. So wonderfully reliable. Desire pulsed through her as sensation ebbed in her limbs. “Rock.” There. She’d managed to speak.

  Her eyes flickered open. “I’m okay.”

  His lined face hovered above hers. “Bad dreams?”

  “Nightmare.” She sat up, the damp towel tumbling off her head. She tossed it to the floor and steadied her pulse. “A mishmash of horror, childhood fables, and superheroes. It seemed so real. So vivid.”

  He nodded, giving her the space she needed. “Crazy dreams are normal after a traumatic event. The nightmares will fade in time.”

  “You sound like an expert.”

  “I’ve had my share. Got to where I didn’t want to close my eyes because the night dreams were worse than the nightmare I was living by day.”

  She snuggled up to him, resting her palm on his chest. “I can’t imagine day after day of experiences like today followed by night after night of upsetting dreams. You’re lucky you didn’t have a breakdown.”

  “I didn’t have time for a breakdown. My squad walked into an ambush in Afghanistan. I was lucky to survive. Most didn’t. I ended up with minor injuries, and while I was recuperating my chief got word my mom was in the hospital.” He took a moment. “My discharge was accelerated, and I went from one war zone to the other.”

  “You’re a good son, and you acted responsibly in battle and in your mother’s fight against lung cancer. You didn’t blame anyone for your troubles. You just did the next thing.” She cleared her throat. “I’m glad you don’t do that kind of work anymore.”

  “Me, too.”

  “In fact, I feel pretty darn sparky because we’re both alive. How about you?”

  “I’m better.” His hand came up, caressed her face. “I was so scared when I found out he’d taken you. So sure I’d failed you.”

  “Shh. Don’t let him in your head.” She stroked his chest, felt the reassuring thump of his heart. “You found me. We’re safe.”

  He caught her hand and held it still. “Jeanie, I—”

  “I don’t blame you for what happened. But I need your help to get those images out of my head. I’m so glad to be free. To be with you.” She lifted up on her elbow to hold his gaze. “I need you to make love to me.”

  His gaze heated. “You’ve been through a lot today. Are you sure?”

  He was trying to be a gentleman about them being in bed. She let the snowy white covers slip, baring the tops of her breasts. “Very sure.”

  Rock drew her across his chest, his eyes searching hers. “You do things to me. I don’t want to take advantage here, but I need you too. I need this. You and me.”

  His heat enveloped her through his clothes. She nestled into his embrace, thrilled at the evidence of his desire. “You saved me. I’ll never forget that.”

  She sought his lips. His hands tangled in her hair, stroked the length of her bare back, and cupped her butt. She inhaled deeply of him, and nearly drowned in desire. She attempted to lift up her head and undress him.

  His laugh was low. Seductive. “This time we’re not going supernova at first kiss.”

  She unzipped his pants. “Speak for yourself. I like supernova.”

  He laughed again. Rolled her under him.

  She kissed his clothes off. Most of them.

  He touched where she burned for him. She shivered with delight. “More.”

  “Like that, do ya?”

  Impatient, she rolled them so that she was king of the mountain and tugged on his clothes, questing for his heat, ignoring the twinge of pain from her cut palm and foot. A fever for him raged inside her. Every time they made love felt like a moment stolen out of time. She was determined to bankroll as many moments like this as she could.

  When she took him in her good hand, his eyes rolled up in his head. She glowed with the shared pleasure and brought him to the same precarious brink.

  He positioned her and thrust inside, his hips firing in tandem as she set the fast pace. “Yes.” Her blood sang.

  So did everything else.

  Chapter 49

  Rock stretched languidly on the soft bed, Jeanie stuck to him like second skin. She’d said he saved her, but she’d saved him. He’d become so focused on sunken treasure, he’d forgotten how to live. Forgotten the bone-deep contentment of sharing his life with someone special.

  She’d opened his eyes to the true riches of life.

  To the joys of making love with someone you cared about.

  Cared about? He’d do anything for this woman. A fact Tarpley had already glommed onto. A fact that made him vulnerable to outside threats.

  He understood war tactics.

  Strike hard and fast at the weakest point.

  His mellow mood faded as he understood the ramifications. Tarpley’s Achilles heel, besides booze, women, and gambling, was his faked death. Thanks to the cops investigating Jeanie’s kidnapping, Tarpley’s creditors would realize he was alive.

  Tarpley owed money to more than one loan shark. He’d pay all right. Retribution. Better than justice. He deserved no less. When he’d taken Jeanie, he’d sealed his fate. For the first time, Rock had to wonder if Tarpley had been guilty after all in that incident with the base commander’s daughter.

  Either way, Rock didn’t want to look over his shoulder his entire life. He needed to get this issue of the stolen treasure and journal settled. He needed to remove Tarpley as a threat. He needed to appease his major creditor.

  The last item he could take care of right now.

  He eased from the bed, grabbed his cell, and called Wendell Huntley Lyle III from the illuminated bathroom. “The journal is yours,” Rock said.

  Lyle snorted in a breath. “You came to your senses?”

  “I’m done with treasure hunting. The stolen coins and the chest are in the wind, and I can’t find them. I tried, but all I found are dead ends. The journal is yours if you still want it. Meet me at Outer Limits Café off U.S. 264 at noon tomorrow. It has to be you or no deal.”

  “You’re not in a position to dictate to me. But I want the journal, yes indeed. The journal will make us square.” Lyle paused. Silence prickled in the dead air. “Why the sudden change of heart?”

  Rock glanced over his shoulder at the sleeping woman. “Found something better than sunken treasure.”

  “Must be that girl fogging your head. Jean-something. With the kids.”

  An icy shard pricked his heart. He tried to read between the lines. Couldn’t decide if it was a threat. “You know about Jeanie?”

  “I have my sources.”

  Lyle’s joking tone rubbed Rock the wrong way. “I’ll kill the next person that touches her. Bare-handed. Got it?”

  “No one’s killing anyone, and I have no designs on your girlfriend. My experience is that women come and go like the tide. They don’t grow in value like investments do. You’re young still. You’ll learn the truth sooner or later. But enough about that. I am interested in recouping my investment. If you don’t want to search for the Clarissa, I’ll hire someone else to do it.”

  “Hire away. I’m officially out of the treasure hunting business. See you at noon tomorrow
. Outer Limits Café.” Rock hung up the phone, set it on the bathroom counter, and stared at his reflection in the mirror. That crooked nose had been broken twice, but the bruises had faded from his scarred face. His ribs ached. His fractured arm was stronger. He had jagged scars on his face, side and thigh.

  War wounds, but not from the service. From his own personal war.

  Why Jeanie wanted anything to do with his broken down self was beyond his reckoning but damn if he’d set her straight. A movement in his peripheral vision caught his attention. Jeanie. She’d wrapped the sheet around her and stood in the bathroom doorway.

  “Everything all right?” she asked.

  “We’re good. Wanna hit the shower again before we leave?”

  She dropped the sheet. “Thought you’d never ask.”

  Chapter 50

  Afternoon sunshine warmed the back of Rock’s pickup as they approached the Outer Banks. Long shadows striped the road, strobing the cab and kicking up Jeanie’s pulse with each flicker. They were close. They had to be.

  Rock had wanted to delay the trip to the marina, but Jeanie had no time for delays. Confronting problems head on was the best way to get her family back.

  The scrapes on her palms and feet were grim reminders of her morning with a kidnapper. Tarpley would pay for what he’d done to her. For what he’d taken from her.

  “What’s our plan?” she asked.

  “We’ll check the local dives after we visit the marina,” Rock said. “Tarpley’s gotta be here. I’d rather find him than have him find us.”

  Jeanie wouldn’t be caught unawares again. Tarpley was going down. She patted the Beretta in her lap. “He won’t win the next round.”

  Rock pinned her with a sharp look. “Don’t go all Annie Oakley on me. The guns are for self-defense only. We’ll neutralize the threat and call the authorities.”

  “Right.” She’d protect her family at any cost, and Rock had become family. When this was over, she’d level with him about her feelings. In only a week, she’d come to care deeply for him. Rock did what he set out to do. He didn’t shy away from his commitments. He liked dogs and kids. And her. That was the best part. He liked her.