He sat on the sand, arms resting on his knees. Maybe he needed to start contributing to society, to start leaving a mark, some legacy that overshadowed the saints’. Maybe he needed to prove that there was more to him than a little charm and a lot of money.
After a moment, Padma joined him. They both wore shorts and sleeveless shirts, both in shades of tan, but that was where the similarity ended. His cargo shorts almost reached his knees, and his T-shirt was faded. Her shorts were snug and short, and her shirt was the same, barely covering her belly button. Simon hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off her that morning.
“She gets a little...sentimental about pieces. I’ve seen her sit at the dining table for hours, entranced by some of the stuff she and Marley recovered. Well, not the baseball. She didn’t want to even touch it. She said it was dirty and people had written on it.” Padma took the band from her hair, shook out the braids, then pulled it into a ponytail, doubled to hold her hair off her neck. “And something like that carving... Man, it’s epic. Awesome.”
Lisette turned to face them, the odd expression gone from her face, replaced with a smile that touched on wan. “It was all epic,” she said, kneeling on the sand with her back to the ocean. “I think Padma would have sneaked out that palampore if she could have.”
“Hey, it was Indian. I’m Indian. There’s a chance—” Padma held her fingers a negligible distance apart to describe just how little a chance “—that it could have belonged in my family.”
Lisette laughed, her face softening, making Jack’s fingers curl with the desire to touch her cheek, brush his thumb against her mouth, to just look at her for hours, as entranced by her as she’d been by the art.
Then her gaze flickered, awareness slipping over her—not of him or Padma but directed outward, literally. She glanced over her shoulder to the ocean, then slowly stood, shading her eyes with her hand. About the same time, he heard a distant buzz. The helicopter returning from Santo Domingo?
A helicopter, yes, but not Deux Saints’. Jack stood and stared at it.
“That’s not yours, is it?” Lisette murmured.
“No.” Their helicopter was bigger, its paint job royal blue and gold. This one’s colors matched the sky, making it difficult to pick out. His muscles tensed, his nerves going on alert.
It wasn’t common—all the local pilots knew Deux Saints valued its privacy and normally respected that—but they saw the occasional flyover, vacationers taking the shortest route to Aruba or tourists who paid handsomely for a look at the private compound.
This didn’t feel common.
As Padma rose from the sand, they continued to watch the sky, Jack waiting for the pilot to turn one way or the other, but the helo didn’t deviate from its heading. It was on a direct course for the main house...or for them.
Blindly Jack reached for Lisette’s hand, her fingers tightening instinctively around his, then grabbed Padma’s arm. “Come on, let’s go. Head for the back trail. The trees will give us some cover.”
Lucky they were all taller than average, all active. Their strides lengthened and matched, leaving great loose ripples in the sand, their goal the trailhead that led to the village. They were a dozen yards away when a shout sounded from the right, one of a pair of security guards stationed near the harbor.
“They’re armed! Run!”
They needed no further encouragement. Padma kicked off her sandals, jerked free and shot across the sand. He and Lisette ditched their flip-flops, too, and raced after her, reaching the path seconds before the rifle shots reached his ears. Reports echoed back, shots fired by the guards, accompanied by shouts from the direction of the house. Engines revved in the harbor, powerful patrol boats that would draw the pilot away...or use their firepower to bring the helicopter down, whichever option the intruders forced.
Running full-out, they’d covered half the trail’s distance, flinching at every shot, when Lisette drew up abruptly. Jack stopped, too. “Are you okay?”
She bent forward, her breathing ragged but strong. “We can’t go to the village. It’s too dangerous. People...kids...”
Damn. He didn’t even think... “You’re right.” He gulped in a breath, then grinned. “Remember, I’m not good at playing the hero. Someone shoots, my instinct is to forget everything else and run like hell.”
“Aw, you’re doing a fine job of being my hero,” she said with a smile, but neither the teasing nor the smile could pass for real.
Hearing their conversation, Padma came back. “So we just wait here?”
Jack glanced up. The canopy overhead was so thick that not even the brilliance of the midday sun could penetrate. Nature cocooned them, turning them invisible to anyone above. “If we can’t see the men with the guns on the helicopter...”
“They can’t see us.” Lisette picked her way off the trail a few feet to lean against a massive palm before letting her unsteady legs draw her to the ground.
He joined her, and after a moment, Padma sat on her other side. He couldn’t hear the helicopter anymore, but he didn’t know if that was because it had fled or because the boats’ roars were drowning it out. Hell, he didn’t even know if the roars were from the boats or if it was his carefree-good-natured-not-used-to-getting-shot-at life facing reality awfully damn fast.
As soon as the adrenaline faded, the anger simmering at its edges would erupt. Damn David. Who the hell sent gunmen to an island filled with innocent people and instructed them to open fire? What kind of idiot thought he could breach the security of the Toussaint/Sinclair stronghold and not have to face the consequences? What whack job threatened the lives of two women just to make Jack more malleable?
And all over a painting that David had stolen, not Jack. Really, who was that mad?
A sociopathic billionaire.
Feeling the tremors ricocheting through Lisette’s body, Jack slid his arm around her and pulled her close. On the other side, his hand grazed Padma’s where it was holding on to Lisette, and she widened her fingers, gripping both Lisette’s arm and his hand.
“Simon will send someone to find us when it’s safe.”
“Not until they’ve kicked some ass, I hope,” Padma said darkly.
Lisette smiled just a little, then rested her head against him, settling in to wait.
Jack hated giving up lessons he’d learned years ago, especially lessons that encouraged him to do what he wanted, but this one was definitely getting stricken from his rule book. Sitting on a beach wasn’t always good for what ailed a person.
* * *
It wasn’t long before multiple footsteps sounded on the path, approaching from each end. Simon and Toinette came into view first, both carrying deadly-looking rifles and followed by two guards. A half moment later, four more guards appeared from the south.
Jack offered Lisette a hand. She accepted it, pulling Padma up with her. Everyone was giving them intense head-to-toe looks, checking for injuries, she assumed, then relief swept over their faces. Smaller for Simon, perhaps, when he looked at Lisette. Why not? She’d brought this danger to his island.
Guilt heated her face, and she tried to hang back as Jack and Padma returned to the trail, but they refused to release her hand.
“All the markings on the helicopter were covered,” Simon said, his voice steely, “but one of the men recognized the pilot. The guy flies tours between the islands—has brought people out here a time or two before to gawk. Ali was on his way back, but now he’s going to find him. No one was injured, though it looks like your cottage took a few shots. A maintenance crew is checking it out.” Simon’s sigh was heavy. “This is not acceptable.”
No, it wasn’t. Lisette hated her stupid plan, and she meant to do something about it. She couldn’t stay here while Candalaria continued tearing around like a wild animal. There were too many innocent people here, and sadly, she was lea
st among them. For everyone else’s sake, she had to leave the island, and for her own sake, she had to take Le Mystère with her. Much as she hated it, it would fulfill every promise the Blues had ever made.
Those vows had always been important but felt more so now that she’d actually seen and touched the statue. She’d held it the way Marley told her Levi had, in the moments before his death, when it had been ripped away and he’d been heaved into the sea like so much garbage. She’d felt his love for her mother and for her. His courageousness. She’d felt him. His essence. His life. His anger. His love. His soul.
Before this morning, retrieving it had been a family obligation. Now it was a family honor.
She would insist on leaving the island first thing in the morning, and at the last moment possible, she would retrieve the carving. She’d been working out the how and when since the moment she’d found herself face-to-face with it, and she had come up, not with an elegant Bella Donna plan but one so plain it was ugly—and had a decent chance of success.
A better chance of success at the theft, she thought, than of Jack merely agreeing to let her leave. Too bad she couldn’t pilot a boat. She could slip into the harbor—always guarded, she knew, but guards had never stopped her before—but she knew nothing of engines or charts or things nautical.
Maybe she could bribe one of the fishermen or guards to sneak her away under cover of darkness. But the idea made her skin prickle. Her parents had bribed local fishermen for their escape, and look how that had turned out.
But there was one person she could negotiate an agreement with. One person Jack couldn’t intimidate into a change of heart. One who didn’t feel safe with a known thief other than his crib brother on the premises. Simon would help her for his own reasons.
The crackle of a radio pulled her from her thoughts. A couple of the guards had left, and everyone else was relaxing, shaking off the stress of the attack. Toinette headed toward the beach, returning in a moment with their shoes, then Simon led the way between trees and around bushes on a shortcut that came out at the edge of the lawn. Maman and Eduardo waited at the kitchen door, both crossing themselves after doing a head count.
“Inside, inside,” Maman admonished, waving them across the grass and the patio and none too gently pushing each person through the door. “No meals outside while that maniac is on the loose. Toinette, show the girls to the dining room. And no excuses that you can’t eat because someone just shot at you. You need energy and strength, all of you.”
“I can eat just fine, Maman,” Toinette retorted as she walked to the far end of the elaborately carved dining table and slid into a chair. “But I was the one shooting, not the one getting shot at.”
Lisette sank into a seat, gave Toinette and her big rifle an appreciative look, then turned her thoughts inward. Usually she planned with Padma, but this afternoon she kept looking at her partner and seeing instead her best friend in the world. She already knew Padma couldn’t think of a safer place for Lisette to be than here, other than in a locked cell underneath the Denver County jail; Padma loved her, trusted her, but would put her faith in matters of security in those who had experience. And firepower.
This job she would do without Padma.
This job would be entirely on Lisette.
The meal was excruciating. Within a few minutes, everyone was giving her curious glances. Even Padma knew something was up. Remember your training, Marley had always stressed to her. Put on your best nervous, stunned-but-happy-to-be-alive face.
Lisette picked up her wineglass before glancing around the table. She forced her mouth into a smile that became real the moment it came in contact with Jack. “I’d like to thank all of you. I naively expected getting shot at would be easier the second time around, but clearly I was wrong. I can’t tell you how incredibly happy I was to see your gorgeous faces this morning. Thank you.”
Jack clinked his glass against hers, then Toinette’s and finally Simon’s. The toasts circled the table, with pleasant murmurs and laughter, then Padma’s voice cut through all the others. “Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait. What do you mean the second time around?”
Lisette was grateful her friend had caught that reference. “I didn’t mean—”
“You said, ‘I naively expected getting shot at blah blah the second time.’ What first time?” Her eyes flashing, Padma spun to face Jack. “It was your fault, wasn’t it? You got her shot at and told her not to tell me because you knew I’d beat the crap out of you.”
Jack’s brows arched as if surprised, but Lisette could see he was happy that things appeared normal again. “It wasn’t exactly my fault. I wasn’t the one with the gun. I don’t even like guns. Never have.”
“That’s true,” Simon agreed. “When my father decided we were old enough to learn to shoot, Jack always begged off. Said the noise hurt his ears and he got a crick in his neck and the rifle was too heavy to carry.”
Everyone but Padma chuckled at the litany of complaints. “Damn right,” Jack said. “Besides, Padma, I’m not afraid of you.”
Toinette leaned closer to him. “Maybe you should be. According to the guards at the harbor, she outran both you and Lisette, and I’ll bet she fights dirty.”
“Damn right.” Padma high-fived Toinette across the table before turning her attention back to Lisette, who sighed woefully, mostly for show.
“I told you I fell when Jack and I went rock climbing, and that was true. But I fell because one of Candalaria’s men shot between my feet and startled me.”
Padma stared, mouth open. It worked a few times, but only fragments of sounds came out.
Lisette gently pushed her friend’s jaw shut. “I was going to tell you, but we got home and...well, everything happened. I was just waiting for a better time.”
“Better time. Yeah, sure.” But Padma leaned across and enveloped Lisette in a rib-cracking hug. “It’s a good thing you’re all right, because I’d have to kill anyone who hurt you.” She pointed a finger at Jack. “Remember that, Charming.”
Lisette luxuriated in the embrace, at the same time whispering a silent prayer that her best friend in the world would understand when she left the island with the statue but left her behind.
* * *
The guards were the first to exit the room, but they only went as far as the hall. Simon and Toinette left next. At the door, Simon turned back. “Ladies, I’d like you to stay close to the house until Ali returns. Go no farther than the patio, please. Jack?”
Jack followed Simon into the corridor. “Am I restricted to the patio, too?”
“Padma and Lisette will respect my request. They were raised right—no offense to Aunt Amalia. You, on the other hand...” Simon shrugged. “Do me a favor. Move your stuff into the house for a while.”
“Hey, I like my cottage.”
“The fewer places security has to concentrate on, the better. We’ll have extra patrols here and at the village tonight, but if you want to stay at your place, go ahead. Just don’t expect company.”
Jack was stubborn sometimes, and he was reckless on occasion, but he wasn’t stupid. If Lisette was in his bed, it didn’t matter where that bed was. “I’ll bring my stuff over before dinner.”
His expression so dry it should have cracked his face, Simon drawled, “Nice of you to be so reasonable.” He took a few steps away. “It just occurred to me... Go by Aunt Jesula’s, will you? Persuade her to stay with someone in the village for a few nights.”
Jack snorted. “Just occurred, my ass. You’re still afraid of her, aren’t you?”
“Every reasonable person is.” With a nod to Toinette, Simon walked away, and she fell into step with him.
Lisette and Padma came to the door wearing sunny smiles. “You get to visit with Aunt Jesula.” Lisette patted his arm, sending little sparks the length of it. Then she slid her arm around his w
aist, and the sparks set his entire body on fire. “Lucky you.”
“Gee, I’d ask to go along if I hadn’t just been confined to the house.” Padma paused before adding, “And if she didn’t scare the snot out of me.”
Jack offered an easy lie. “I was going to check on her anyway. I’ll tell her you send your regards.”
Lisette walked as far as the patio with him, her body soft and pliant when he pulled her against him. How quickly could he talk to Aunt Jesula and get back to persuade Lisette to join him upstairs for a little fun?
Brushing a strand of hair from her face, he gazed at her, and she gazed back. Whatever mood had possessed her this morning, it was gone now. She was her normal self—sweet, beautiful, soft, a little mysterious. She didn’t look like a woman who’d literally had to run for her life a mere two hours ago. She looked... Damn.
He opened his mouth but couldn’t think of anything to say, so instead he kissed her, slow and hungry, letting the need build until his body hummed with it. She saved him—killed him—by ending the kiss. “You’d better check on Auntie,” she whispered.
He dragged in a desperate breath. “I’ll be back.”
“I’ll be waiting.” With a sly, womanly smile, she walked back to the house, her hips swaying provocatively, her every movement languid and tempting and incredibly arousing. He ached—literally—when he started toward Jesula’s.
With two guards trailing him, he set out for Jesula’s house. It was similar to the others in the village, though where everything else was pastel and soothing, her house beamed in yellow, purple, orange and pink. The top step creaked beneath his weight, and chimes dangling at the corner tinkled, but other than that, there was silence.
Passing between two rockers, Jack stopped at the open screen door and knocked. It was dark inside, shade plentiful from the overgrown trees. To one side, a candle burned on a table-turned-altar, giving the air a faint smoky scent.
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