Jonas's Redemption: A Standalone Romantic Suspense (Titan Security Book 2)

by Cynthia P. O'Neill

  Shaking my head, I quickly put the ice cream back in the freezer and noted the thing was packed with ice cream, frozen meats, veggies, and so forth. Seeing all the goodies, I was prompted to open the refrigerator side to see what surprising things it held. There was milk, cream, eggs, butter, fresh fruits and veggies galore, along with a few fresh meat items. I put the fruit back on one of the shelves in case we wanted to pick at it a little later.

  Pointing at the fridge, I asked Jonas, “Where did all this come from? Is this all the food we have?”

  He turned my direction so we were facing one another as he explained, “Rick had arranged for the house to be fully stocked.” His hand motioned toward the appliance. “We have enough to get us going. The cupboards are mainly filled with pots, pans, plates, and the like.” Pointing toward the room around the corner, “We have a lot of canned and dry goods along with spices and a freezer loaded with proteins and veggies in that room. I doubt we’ll be here long enough to go through everything, but if need be, we can either get a food drop set up by Rick or we can go to the mainland while playing the part of the honeymooning couple to get what we need, provided Rick is fine with that.”

  I nodded in understanding. I guess I hadn’t thought things through. I was so used to things magically appearing when we were in witness protection with my family. For the longest time, I’d thought there was such a thing as the food fairy; I know it’s silly, but it’s true. I walked around the corner and poked my head in the door, taking in the size of the room, the overloaded shelves, and the large freezer in the corner. A shiver ran up my spine as I realized this was probably going to last longer than I wanted, so I might as well accept my current state and make the best of it.

  A warm hand landed on each of my shoulders, causing me to jump. “It’s just me,” Jonas said in a hushed tone, so as not to scare me. “We need to get moving if we’re going to manage even a small portion of the island today.”

  I could only say, “Okay.” I stepped out of his reach and further into the pantry, where I discovered some portable water bottles, some protein snack bars, and some dried fruit. Grabbing those items, I asked, “Do we have a backpack and maybe a flashlight we can take along with us?”

  He nodded. “There are some flashlights in the other room, and I think I saw a couple of backpacks too.” Jonas stepped away to go get the items, but turned back briefly, “Good call on the snacks and water.”

  Feeling some sense of pride for wanting to always be prepared, I smiled at his compliment. I gathered the items, took them out to the dining table, and waited for Jonas to return.

  We left the house a little past one in the afternoon with plenty of light left to explore some of the island. I’d expressed my concern about the safety of the island. Granted, it was in the middle of nowhere with few islands nearby—most were uninhabitable because of their small size—but still, couldn’t anyone just take a boat or even swim up to the beach and invade our hideaway?

  Jonas took me the opposite direction of where we’d come in at, keeping close to the tree line so we could see the beach but not actually be in plain sight. He never answered my question, just kept trudging along our little path and looking up into the trees from time to time, before finally stopping.

  He pointed out toward the ocean waves. “Do you see the buoys floating out on the water?”

  I looked out and saw quite a few of them. “Are there supposed to be so many?” I didn’t know, so I asked.

  A grin swept over his face. “Observant. I like that. Anyhow, you’re right. They are used by oceanographers to test the wave height and length, so the buoys are usually placed few and far between, but look closer.”

  He handed me a set of binoculars he must’ve grabbed from the house. Holding them up to my eyes, I looked out across the water, not really sure of what I was looking for…wait a minute. “There’s something on the buoys. Is that supposed to be there? What is it?”

  Jonas then pointed toward the trees. “Notice anything odd?”

  I did, not instantly, but there was a coconut hanging on the tree at an odd angle with an electrical wire. You could just make out the hinge on the back of the coconut, most likely to allow it to swivel on its axis, along with a small lens on the front.

  “I get the security in the trees with cameras to monitor what’s going on around us, but what do the multitude of buoys have to do with anything? Also, what happens if someone slips onto the island? Are there any motion sensors to alert us?” I know I was probably grating on Jonas’s last nerve, but hey, this was my life we’re talking about here.

  Jonas walked forward and pulled some shrubbery away from the base of a coconut tree revealing a hidden sensor. “Each buoy has a waterproof electronic sensor attached to it. Mr. Tekcraff placed them around the exterior of the island. They detect movement above and below the water. If anything gets past the buoy defense, then the sensors close to the ground should alert us to any breach in the system.”

  He went on to explain, “The whole system is wired to a security setup at the house. The computer will come up with a map of the island and locate where the breach is located and activate the closest camera feed in that area, hopefully giving us enough time to defend ourselves against an enemy or to get out of there and head to one of the escape routes.”

  Okay, I thought the only way on and off the island was with the seaplane. “What escape routes?”

  Looking a bit smug, he crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s why we’re out here today, so you can get familiar with the security measures around the island and learn where to meet me in the event of an emergency. I’m hoping we won’t get separated, but it doesn’t hurt to be prepared just in case.”

  “Okay, I’m up for some learning—anything to keep me busy and my mind focused. How does the buoy defense determine the difference between something manmade versus nature? Same question applies with the land sensors. Don’t some animals live on the island?”

  Jonas laughed. “I like the way you think, Erica.”

  Feeling a little better about myself, Jonas went on to explain that the sensors above and below the water on the buoys detect not only objects but also heat. If a device or human is trying to slip past the buoys, it will put off a heat signature, which will sound the alarm and activate the underwater cameras so we can see what the threat is. It will be the same with the sensors on land but, instead, will activate the cameras in the trees.

  I was about to ask about marine life triggering the devices, when I realized the majority of the ocean’s population is cold-blooded, except for any sea creature that breathes actual air—whales, dolphins, seals, etc—they are warm-blooded and, therefore, produce their own body heat. So if they swam through the area, the camera would activate, but we’d be able to quickly dismiss them as a threat.

  Several hours passed and I was shown where a speedboat was hidden amongst a rocky cove on one side of the island and disguised, similar to the docking area of the seaplane, to look like part of the rocky coast. No wonder I couldn’t see it from above or the side when we’d passed over in the plane.

  A little further down the coastline there was another cove, mostly sand and trees, where two jet skis lay hidden amongst the scenery, neither visible from the air or sea unless you knew where to look and how to get into the building surrounding them.

  Jonas pulled out a map of the island and pointed to the house. “We started here, and then moved down the coastline to the boat and finally the jet skis. We’re going to head back toward the house, cutting across the center of the island, because there’s a safe room there. At that point, we’ll stop for a snack and a breather before heading home.”

  The word home seemed foreign to me, but I wasn’t going to argue. I was starting to feel hot and sticky in the humidity, and the exercise, while keeping me busy, was playing hard on my already exhausted body. The idea of a rest was more than welcoming.

  I watched as he folded the map back up and stuck it in his back pocket before head
ing out. The terrain wasn’t as easy to walk as it had been closer to the beach area. There were fallen limbs, rocks, and some overgrown bushes we had to walk around.

  I’d almost given up on the idea of ever getting to the midpoint of the island, when I heard the rush of water. Around the next bend, the sound grew louder and louder until it revealed a waterfall and a crystal clear blue lake in the center of the island with a large rock enclosure surrounding it. I could easily see Mr. Teckraff and his family swimming in this magnificent pool and diving off the cropping of rock.

  I turned in a small circle as I took in the lush vegetation in this area. There were fruit trees as far as the eye could see. I saw banana, mango, avocado, and papaya trees interspersed amongst the island’s natural vegetation. I knew all these plants grew nicely in tropical climates, and this definitely was the perfect environment. At least we wouldn’t be starving for fruit, because the branches were already laden with delectable goodness I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into.

  Jonas shrugged off his backpack and asked me to do the same before extending his hand out to me. “Take my hand a second. This rock area is slippery.”

  Reluctantly, I took his hand, and he led the way along the edge of the pool of water and up to the edge of the waterfall. I thought we were going to stop there, when he jumped through, pulling me along with him. I screamed in surprise.

  “Sorry about that, but according to the directions, you have to move quickly to avoid getting soaked.” Jonas offered up.

  I looked at him like he was speaking another language. “Why are we back behind here?”

  He let go of my hand and began feeling the edge of the wall; looking for what, I don’t know. I had just barely let the thought cross my mind, when he pressed on a small rock sticking out of the top edge of the little half cave, if you could even call it that, and the wall opened up and revealed a keypad for entry. What the heck?

  My mind was in shock as I watched Jonas enter in some numbers listed on the back of the map. Once the numbers were entered, the panel sealed itself back into the wall, and a door opened, sounding much like the door of a bank vault with mechanical tumblers clicking into place.

  I wasn’t far off the description when I looked inside and found a couple cots, some food, a video feed of the island, and walls of steel everywhere. “Is this a safe room?”

  He nodded and explained we’d only use it if need be and only in an emergency.

  We didn’t spend long inside it, mainly for me to know its location. He explained he’d make another copy of the map and codes for me back at the house.

  I followed him back outside and sat down next to him, pulling my backpack up to where I could reach inside and get a snack. My stomach would pick that moment to protest the need for food.

  “Hungry much?” Jonas asked as he reached in to grab his own snack.

  I just shook it off and pulled out my water, taking a sip of the cold goodness in this exhausting heat before biting into the protein bar.

  We sat in silence for a few moments as we ate our snack and just enjoyed the scenery. The sound of the waterfall was relaxing, and the view of the crystal clear water looked inviting. I couldn’t stand this humidity any longer. “Is the water safe to swim in?”

  “Yeah, why?”

  Geez, did men need everything spelled out for them. “I want to go for a swim. This heat is getting to me. I already had one bath today, but now I need another. If you expect me to make it back to the house, I need to take a dip and cool off for a bit.”

  He shook his head. “But we don’t have any suits.”

  I stood up and stripped down to my undergarments, happy I’d at least managed to wear a sports bra and a dark pair of boy shorts, so nothing could show through when it was wet. I tiptoed to the edge of the pool and jumped in, splashing Jonas in the process.

  I came up from underneath the water feeling instantly refreshed. There was laughter evident on Jonas’s face; though he was fighting it. Why? I didn’t know. I swam over to the side of the natural pool and noticed the primal hunger going on in his eyes, with the color of his iris no longer evident and his pupils dilated. I wasn’t sure why he was acting so weird, but I decided to go for it and ask, “Are you coming in?”

  What was I thinking dragging her all over the island? I should’ve left her at the house, but if her mind were anything like mine, being pent up inside would make her go nuts. I noticed anytime her mind began to settle, she either fell asleep and had nightmares or she got snarky with me. The more I thought about it, the more I realized her line of thinking was, in fact, similar to my own: in order to keep your mind occupied, keep busy. What were the chances we were two peas in a pod? Two peas about ready to kill one another half the time.

  I’d let Erica lead the way at one point but quickly changed my position. The view of her ass swaying back and forth in those tight jeans and the fact that her shirt didn’t hide a thing, only amplified her delectable curves, made me hard enough to drive a nail through a piece of wood. I just couldn’t take it anymore, or so I thought, because my control was further tested when she stripped down to her undergarments. Granted, I’ve seen bikinis that were too damn skimpy, with women trying to flaunt what they thought men wanted to see, but, damn, this woman was a Venus de Milo, personified! Erica had hidden an amazingly curvaceous body from everyone’s sight with those god-awful clothes she used to wear. I guess you could say she tried to dress either older than her age or in a frumpy manner. Maybe it was to blend in, since her family was in hiding. I didn’t know, but it was a travesty, because she had a body to die for with curves in all the right places. The woman was the equivalent of a nineteen-fifties pinup, but prettier.

  Feeling the splash of water against my heated skin brought me back to reality, just in time to see Erica’s nearly naked form gliding with ease through the water. I looked away to allow her some modesty, when she asked, “Are you coming in?”

  Was she kidding me? Hell, I’d just about come in my pants a few times already. If I stood up now and stripped down to my boxers, I’d be giving her quite a show—one I wasn’t sure she could handle. Maybe my mind and my heart were resisting Erica, knowing we both weren’t in a situation where we could let our hormones speak for us, but my other head had a mind of its own, and right now, it was locked onto target and ready to go after her, to seek out her heat. I hoped I could think of enough things to keep my mind off her figure and on the mission at hand. Thankfully, the backpacks came in handy for more than just carrying things; it was now covering up the massive bulge in my pants. I just prayed she didn’t ask me to stand anytime soon.

  Erica swam over to the side of the natural pool and splashed me with a little water. “So?”

  I shook my head. “I think I’ll sit this one out. I don’t have anything to swim in, but go ahead and enjoy yourself. We need to leave here in about thirty minutes.”

  She countered with an adorable pout. How is it that a woman could bring a man to his knees with a look? I almost said to hell with it and got up and stripped anyway, because I was hot and the water looked and felt refreshing, but logic won the battle. I hated lying to her. “I’m going commando under my pants. You probably wouldn’t like it if I skinny dipped with you.”

  A small smile spread across her face, along with a beautiful shade of pink. Erica held her hands up. Maybe she was as naïve as I’d originally thought, who knew? “That’s okay. I’ll just enjoy the water. Maybe when we check out the rest of the island tomorrow, you can bring your trunks or some boxers so we can come back here for another swim?”

  I nodded in agreement, but didn’t say anything. There were some swim trunks in the closet at the house; I don’t know who thought to put them in as part of the attire. Regardless, maybe the combination of some skintight workout pants and the swimsuit would be able to hide my physical attraction to her.

  I looked up wondering if I was breaking with protocol by allowing us to be seen from any overhead planes, but noted the trees around the edge
of the water provided enough of a canopy to shield us from being seen. The only way we could be identified here was with thermal imagery equipment attached to a plane or helicopter.

  The splash from her kick hit my face and brought my thoughts and focus back onto Erica. She was quite the swimmer. She kept up a steady pace for about fifteen minutes, going back and forth between the longest distance of the pool, pond, or whatever the heck the actual term was, before finally settling against the side, breathing heavily. I knew what she was doing: she was trying to wear herself out by doing laps, because she was dreading sleep.

  I diverted my attention to the surrounding area, taking in the lush vegetation, not wanting to focus on her face. The beauty of her features coupled with the way she was breathing heavily had me thinking of the various ways I’d love to take her breath away in the bedroom. I thought you were trying to keep away from her, keep your libido under control. The doctor warned you that when the right woman came along, you’d know it, and your sex drive would return. But why her? My mind needed to shut the hell up. But it was right: why Erica?

  I’d been placed with some of the most stunning women in the sex club to run a scene to help me get out of my head and get past the memories that tormented me. Unfortunately, none of the women had managed to get me hard, or if they did, they couldn’t hold my interest beyond a few moments. So why was Erica so different that I enjoyed talking with her? Why couldn’t I just push her away and be done with it? I’d tried barking orders and pushing her around a bit, but she seemed to deflect my attitude easily. She hadn’t backed down but had, instead, matched my every move and had pushed back with her own wit. I shook my head trying to make sense of it. Maybe if I left her to her own devices and we kept busy and close to the house, we could manage to get along without really interacting with one another.

  I was lost in thought, still pondering my body’s reaction and whether it was feelings or just a passing interest I had for Erica, knowing she was forbidden, when she asked, “How does this island operate?” I wasn’t exactly sure what she was asking, so I requested that she elaborate.