Randi intended to keep Lilly talking while she worked her hands free of the rope. With her skill in karate, even with her feet bound, if she could get her hands free, she could overpower Lilly.
“Where is Kendra?” Randi asked.
Lilly chuckled. “I gave her a shot from my tranquilizer gun, but a heavier dosage than I gave you, so she will be out for a while. Once I take care of you, I’ll go back and take care of her. Imagine her surprise when she returned from her walk on the beach to find me in her house, waiting for her. I never liked the bitch. She bragged about being Doyle’s first girlfriend, always saying she could get him back whenever she wanted.”
Randi saw the evil in Lilly’s eyes. “I plan to have a little present for her husband whenever he gets home. He’s going find his wife cut up in little tiny pieces.”
Randi was convinced Lilly Patterson was stone crazy.
Determined to keep her talking, Randi asked, “Does Louis or Doyle know about what you’re into?”
Lilly rolled her eyes. “Of course not. All Louis wants is for Doyle to be mayor of Beverly Hills. All Doyle wants is to please his daddy. He had the nerve to tell me this morning over breakfast that his father wants us to have a baby. I don’t want a damn baby to ruin my figure. He’s crazy.”
Randi wanted to tell her that she was the crazy one. She felt a little wiggle room in the rope and knew she was slowly loosening it but needed more time. If she kept Lilly talking for just a few more minutes, then she might be able to free her hands.
“Quasar loved you, you know,” Randi said. “You hurt him when you married Doyle.”
“I had to marry Doyle.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted the Patterson name and I didn’t care which brother gave it to me. Then Levan came along and—”
All of a sudden, a loud hum rose above the waves. Lilly looked out over the waters. “Damn, someone is headed this way on a Jet Ski. I can’t be seen.”
Before Randi could react, Lilly rushed over. With a strong push to Randi’s chest, she sent Randi tumbling overboard into the cool waters of the Pacific Ocean.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
QUASAR KNEW THE MOMENT Randi hit the water. He quickly brought the Jet Ski to a stop and dove into the ocean after her. It seemed to take forever for him to reach her, and he didn’t bother trying to untie her. He quickly grabbed hold of her around the waist and rushed to the surface. She sputtered out water and drew in a deep gulp of oxygen.
In between breaths she said, “I thought you’d left.”
He took several deep breaths, as well. “I had. I sensed you were in danger.” Before she could ask anything else, he said, “Turn around so I can get you untied.”
Quasar had freed her hands and was just finished untying her feet when the sound of the motorboat got their attention. “She’s coming toward us,” he said.
“She has a regular gun and a tranquilizer gun,” Randi informed him.
He quickly calculated the distance to the Jet Ski and knew they couldn’t chance it. The motorboat would plow into them before they could reach it. However, he refused for them be sitting ducks. “Let’s split up. I’m going to get her to come after me while you swim over to the Jet Ski. Take it back to shore and get help.”
He could see the mutinous glint in her eyes. “I can’t leave you out here.”
“Yes, you can.” He didn’t have time to argue with her. “Do it, Randi. That’s the only chance we have.”
Randi nodded, and then they both dived underwater so Lilly wouldn’t know what direction either of them had gone.
Moments later Quasar quietly resurfaced and saw the motorboat was idling while Lilly scanned the waters to see what direction they had taken. Luckily he had surfaced behind the boat. Quasar saw the waters stirring ahead. Randi was near the Jet Ski but had tossed something in the water in the opposite direction, causing it to ripple. Lilly took the bait and began firing her gun in the area.
Quasar knew he had to do something before Lilly figured out she’d been fooled. He moved to swim underneath the boat and with all the strength he had, pushed. The boat rocked a couple of times before toppling over. He heard Lilly’s splash and after making sure she was no longer armed, he immediately swam over to her, ignoring her kicks and screams. Grabbing her around the waist, he lodged her hands between them. “Stop it, Lilly. It’s over.”
“No!” She continued to struggle. “I need to kill that bitch for killing Levan. I promised him I would kill her.”
Levan? Was she talking about Levan Shaw?
Before Quasar could ask what in the hell she was talking about, they were surrounded by several boats filled with men wearing FBI jackets, guns drawn. He gave a sigh of relief when he recognized Agent Riviera on deck.
“You okay?” Riviera asked as agents jumped into the water to take Lilly off his hands.
“Yes, I’m fine,” he said. He was more than happy to turn her over to the authorities.
“Where’s Dr. Fuller?” Riviera asked anxiously, glancing around.
“I’m here,” Randi said, swimming toward them. When she reached them she said, “Lilly shot Kendra Biltmore with a high dose from a tranquilizer gun. Please send someone to her home. She’s going to need medical treatment.”
Quasar told Riviera where Kendra lived. The agent immediately used his phone.
“We got here as soon as we could,” Riviera said when he ended the call. He and the other agents helped Randi and Quasar on board and handed them huge towels.
“How did you know what was going on? I figured that kid’s parents would report I hijacked his Jet Ski, but I didn’t figure they would send the FBI after me,” Quasar said.
“We were already on our way. To clear his conscience, Agent Conway told us about the promise some woman made to Shaw to kill Dr. Fuller. Unfortunately, he didn’t know the woman’s name. When I couldn’t reach either of you on the phone, I figured something was wrong. Then, when Sutherland told me they got a call about a naked man who fit your description on a Malibu beach commandeering a Jet Ski from a teenager and heading out in the ocean toward some motorboat, I put two and two together.”
Quasar frowned. “I’m not naked.”
Riviera chuckled. “Pretty close to it.” Then, on a more serious note, he asked, “Either of you know the woman?” Lilly was behaving like a raving maniac with her screams and foul mouth.
Quasar ran a hand down his face. “Yes. She’s Lilly Patterson. My brother’s wife.”
Riviera blinked. “Your brother’s wife?”
“Yes.”
“And she had connections to Levan Shaw?”
“Evidently,” Quasar said. “Although I find it hard to believe.”
“Believe it,” Randi said quietly. “She bragged that they were lovers for years and blamed me for his death. Said he’d set her up in all kinds of illegal business operations. She promised him that if anything happened to him before he could kill me, she would finish the job.”
Riviera shook his head. “What a mess. I hope your brother can afford her a good lawyer.”
“His problem, not mine,” Quasar said, glancing over at Randi. They hadn’t had time to say a whole lot to each other, and he knew there was much he needed to discuss with her in private. Right now he was glad the nightmare was finally over and she was safe.
Another agent approached. “We’re ready to take statements now,” he said.
“Good,” Quasar said. He was ready to give his. The sooner they could get this part over with, the sooner he and Randi could talk.
* * *
RANDI CAME DOWN the stairs feeling totally refreshed. It had taken longer than she thought for Quasar and her to give their statements to the federal agents. A lot of questions had been asked as they pieced together the depth of Lilly’s inv
olvement with Levan Shaw. Lilly, while verbally spouting her excessive anger, revealed more than she probably intended, and agents were following up on those leads, as well.
From all accounts, Lilly Patterson had been living a double life that no one, including Doyle and Louis, knew about. She had been Shaw’s lover and protégé and was set to take over a number of his sleazy operations. It was rumored there was a list of businessmen, politicians and others included in the seedy operations, and Riviera and his agents were scrambling to uncover the list.
A group of numbers mixed with letters kept popping up in Randi’s head. Not certain if the numbers could mean anything or were somehow connected to the case, before her bath she had phoned Riviera to pass the numbers on to him. He would be meeting again with Agent Conway to see if perhaps the numbers meant anything to him.
Kendra Biltmore had been rushed to the nearest medical facility and admitted for close observation. All reports indicated she would recover and was lucky to be alive. Since Randi had gotten shot with the tranquilizer gun, as well, she’d been checked over by paramedics and deemed okay. From what Kendra told the authorities when she finally came to, Lilly had been waiting inside her home when she came back from her walk on the beach and had come up with this plan to lure Randi on the boat to kill her.
Now, after a long bath, Randi felt ready to talk to Quasar. Before she’d headed upstairs, he’d said they needed to talk when they finished washing up.
The first thing she noticed when she descended the stairs was that it was getting dark outside. An entire day had gone by, and although her life had been in danger, another seasoned criminal was off the streets. If Agent Riviera had his way, there would be more. Because Quasar lived in a private community, the media hadn’t been allowed inside, although reports were already popping up in the media. Randi had called her parents to assure them she was okay.
Her parents were glad she was safe and anxious for her to return home. Her father also mentioned he couldn’t wait to meet Quasar to thank him personally for protecting her. She didn’t have the heart to tell her parents that wouldn’t be happening.
Randi rounded the corner, stepped into the huge great room and stopped. Quasar had his back to her as he stared out the floor-to-ceiling glass window that overlooked the ocean. Soft music was playing in the background, and the majority of the lights were either off or turned down. The quiet room felt calm and tranquil.
The dimmed lights cast a soft glow over Quasar, who seemed lost in his thoughts. He’d said in his statement to the FBI that he’d come back after sensing she was in danger. No one had questioned his ability to do that. Was he now questioning it himself?
“Thanks for saving me yet again today, Quasar,” she said, deciding to get whatever talk he wanted them to have over with.
He slowly turned to face her, and the look on his face was unreadable. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his slacks. Her gaze automatically went to his physique. He was truly a masculine, well-built man. She could see how many people considered him practically naked in just his boxer shorts. Randi knew there were swimming trunks that were skimpier, but she doubted any looked on a man like Quasar’s boxers looked on him. Sexy didn’t even come close.
“I would do anything for you, Randi.”
His words touched her, yet she wished they could go deeper than a touch, because she knew he wouldn’t do anything for her. The one thing she wanted him to do that he couldn’t or wouldn’t was love her.
“You did it, Quasar,” she said, smiling, reminded of one obstacle he’d successfully faced that day.
He arched a brow. “I did what?”
“You went back into the water, and I’m happy for you.”
He stared at her a minute before saying, “Honestly, I didn’t think about diving into that water. All I knew was that I had to get to you. My fears of being in the water took a backseat to everything else. I couldn’t lose you.”
He couldn’t lose her? Did he not realize that because of his words this morning, he had lost her? He’d made it pretty darn clear he didn’t want her.
He walked over to the breakfast bar. “I poured glasses of wine. Would you like one?”
“Yes,” she said, moving toward the sofa to sit down, folding her legs beneath her. “You said we needed to talk.”
“We do,” he said, handing her a wineglass and then taking the wingback chair across from her.
“Thanks.” She took a sip of her wine. “I really don’t know why we should talk. I think you said everything this morning, and personally, I don’t have anything to add.”
“I do.” Quasar drew in a deep breath. He’d known he’d loved her when he’d asked the driver to turn the car around. He just hadn’t known how much until he’d looked into those binoculars and seen her tied up on that boat.
“I now understand what you’ve been dealing with, Quasar,” she broke into his thoughts to say. “With your fear of the water. When Lilly pushed me overboard, in my mind I knew I would drown, but a part of me refused to accept it. I held my breath underwater, not knowing how long I could, and knowing when I couldn’t hold it any longer it would all be over. I prayed for a miracle. And then there you were, swimming toward me. I thought I was hallucinating. I didn’t believe you were real until you touched me.”
He nodded. “I hope you don’t have a fear of water after this.”
She drew in a deep breath. “I don’t think I’ll have a fear, but more apprehensions. I won’t be able to swim anywhere without remembering what almost happened. What could have happened had you not been there to save me. Let’s just say I have no desire to go near that much water anytime soon.”
Quasar was quiet. Then, after taking a sip of his wine, he said, “When I left this morning, I had no intention of ever seeing you again.”
“I know. I regret that your intuition where I’m concerned put a monkey wrench in those plans.”
Was that what she thought? If so, then he needed to straighten her out about that now. “It wasn’t my intuition of you being in danger that made me come back, Randi. I had already instructed the driver to turn around and bring me back here even before I sensed you were in danger.” Quasar could tell from the lifting of her brow that she was surprised to hear that.
“Why were you returning? Had you forgotten something?”
He chuckled slightly. Yes, he’d forgotten something. Something he hadn’t been aware he’d left with her. His heart. “Yes.”
Instead of telling her what it was just yet, he said, “I had a very talkative driver. He told me about how his daughter was bullied in school and how he and his wife had helped her through that difficult period in her life, but only after finding her suicide note. She had planned to end her life at fourteen.”
“How awful.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “It was. But with their support, she got through it and is now a doctor, married and doing fine.”
“Good. I’m happy for her.”
“I’m happy for her, as well. What inspired me most about what he told me was the fact that his daughter was able to come out of the dark and into the light because she had someone who believed deeply in her. Someone who truly cared. In a way, that’s what helped me through my years in prison. Sheppard Granger truly cared. And because he cared, he pushed for policies that would benefit the prisoners. He had our best interests at heart.”
He paused before continuing, wanting to get this right. “The same thing holds true for Striker and Stonewall as well as a lot of the other guys. We were able to build a bond because of Shep. That’s why we’re still close today. Closer than any brothers could be. I never felt the affinity toward Doyle that I feel for those guys.”
“From what I gather, Doyle never tried to be the brother you needed,” Randi said softly.
“No, he didn’t. His expectations of me were even worse tha
n Louis’s. Instead of a brother, he thought of me as nothing more than a scapegoat.”
He paused a minute and stared into his wine before saying, “Both Louis and Doyle called while you were taking a bath. I wish I hadn’t answered. Do you know what they asked me to do?”
“No. What?”
“Take part of the blame for Lilly’s downfall. After all, she used to be my girlfriend. Louis felt it wouldn’t make Doyle look so bad if I did. His political supporters are backing off. They feel if he couldn’t manage his business at home and had no idea what was happening in his own house, then he couldn’t manage a city like Beverly Hills.”
“Does make you wonder. So what was your response to their request?”
He shrugged. “I told Doyle to shove it up his ass. I wasn’t that disrespectful to the old man, but I basically said the same thing. And I warned them if my name gets linked to Lilly’s in any way to take the heat off Doyle, then I will go to the media and announce to the world how I was railroaded into serving time for a crime Doyle committed.”
“I’ll bet neither of them was ready to hear that.”
“No, they weren’t. I don’t see how, after our conversation in his study last night, Louis would ask such a thing of me. Evidently he didn’t get the message. I think he did this time.”
Quasar took a sip of his wine and leaned forward to rest an arm on one of his thighs. He looked at Randi, held her gaze and said, “As far as someone not being ready for something, I wasn’t quite ready for you, Randi.”
He wanted to cross to the sofa and kiss her, ask for her forgiveness for being so stupid, but he knew more than anything he needed her to understand why he’d been so determined to walk away from her this morning and not look back. And why, in the end, he hadn’t been able to.
She broke eye contact with him, glanced down at her wine and then back at him. “You weren’t quite ready for me in what way? I’m not a complicated person, Quasar.”
“No, you’re not complicated. What you are is too good to be real. Or at least I thought so. It was hard to believe there was any woman who could melt the cold casing around my heart. When it came to women, it was all about sex and nothing more. You proved me wrong and showed me there could be more. The sex was good. But in a way, the relationship we were developing between us was even better. You respected who I was and what I did. You didn’t put me down. In fact, more than once you lifted me up.”
Seized by Seduction--A Compelling Tale of Romance, Love and Intrigue Page 31