Stormy Peril

by Victoria Pinder

  "I didn't see you. Are you all right?" Raphael asked then reached out to trace her face. Then he stopped and pulled his hand back like she'd burned him.

  She couldn't breathe, but it had more to do with being so close to him than running into his chest. He was dressed in all black, again, and his shirt clung to his muscles. Now was not the time to notice.

  Kimberly stepped back and answered, "Yeah. I wasn't watching where I was going either."

  With his hands now firmly to his side, he asked, "Why are you up so early?"

  Her heartbeat raced near him. She swallowed and hoped he'd let her go with him. "I have a lot to do today that goes beyond breakfast."

  "You can't be thinking of going outside." He crossed his arms and his fingers curled into fists. "It's too dangerous for you."

  His black eye had grown darker from last time. What could she say? She shifted her balance on her feet.

  "I want to visit the graves." She focused on his ear. It was easier to ask for help this way. "And I want to search for the man who pushed me out of the plane and figure out if I can get my suitcase from the wreckage." She and stared into his eyes. "I'll take help if you offer."

  For a moment he said nothing. Her heart ached in her chest, but she gazed at him. Finally, he nodded. "They are in the courtyard, well in the safety of my walls protecting you from the ocean and the forest. I need you to stay there and not try to go out toward the ocean or forest, not until I find Roger.”

  Her chin trembled like she'd heard the worst possible answer. He could lock her in her room and leave her a prisoner here. Her eyes misted, and she shook on her feet. "I can't stay cooped up. I can stay hidden until I find what I need."

  "That's an insane plan." He took her hand and his gaze bored into her soul. "Don't put your life in jeopardy."

  "I’ve been learning to trust myself and I need to start living again, Raphael." She stared into his hypnotizing eyes. Her plan wasn't the most rational, but there was so much to do. She couldn't stay hidden away and avoid her life. She stepped closer to him, and his muscles clenched like he was afraid to touch her. "I feel like I owe the man who saved my life on the plane. I can't sit around and wait. I've not done anything but stay cooped up here. I need to help, and to find closure, and to do…something to pay him back."

  "I'll find him and bring him home to you." He rubbed the palms of her hands, but then took his hand back and stepped backward. Was he afraid of her? Strange. He tilted his head. "And I'll look for your suitcase."

  She nodded, but her eyes were still a little watery. "I don't want to put you in danger too. I should go."

  "I'll be fine. You are a target." He took something out of his back pocket. She stared at the strange plastic shaped like a gun, but it couldn't be one. She brushed her hand against his forearm. His big muscles would overpower her, and her entire body became alive. "I'll make a deal with you."

  She tilted her head and stared at the strange gun. It had two slots. “What?”

  "I'll teach you self-defense this afternoon. I want you to keep this with you."

  "What is it?" Her fingers curled into it, and she tried to be calm, but she breathed in and the smell of cedar and pine mixed with her thoughts.

  "A Taser." His muscles contracted under her hand, but he stayed still. "I'll give this to you if you promise not to go outside and run straight into danger."

  Every nerve inside her body screamed to find the older man who'd helped her. What if he was still alive? She nodded. "But I can't stay cooped up here forever."

  "There is a murderer outside." He turned the Taser to face the ground and flipped it in his hand to offer her the handle. "I don't think you can shoot a gun."

  "I can't." Her heart hammered in her chest. This wasn’t Zen or what her teachers ever taught her. But he had a point and she valued her neck. She let go of his hand and straightened the hem of her dress. "Okay. But do I have to wait until this afternoon to say my prayers over the graves you dug?"

  His arms wrapped around her and her face pressed into the crook of his shoulder. He was her savior. Her lips tingled to kiss him. Without warning he jumped out of her embrace and she hugged the bitter coldness that remained. He pocketed the Taser, and her fingers now ached to hold it. She kept that to herself as he said, "Follow me."

  Her heart had pounded in her chest near him, but the second he walked away, she became lightheaded. Without him next to her, she could think. He headed down an unfamiliar dark hall, and she wished she had remembered her candelabrum. How had she left that in her room? She sped up until she walked beside him. "Thank you for bringing me. Eileen and her husband, Ali, were so happy. I am happy they are resting together until justice can be done.”

  Raphael's right eye ticked.

  "Did you know them?"

  "Why would you think that?" He avoided looking at her.

  She clenched her hands, but told him the truth. "You refused to look at me and you held in your breath."

  He turned and stared at her. She gazed into his succulent eyes, and her lips tingled to taste his full lips on hers. Without a word, he took her hand and offered a weak smile. "It gets darker the farther down the hall we go. Stay close."

  He changed the topic. He had done that before. She opened her mouth to stay on point, but then she rolled her shoulders and let it go. If he brushed against her smooth skin with his calloused hands, she'd burn.

  She inhaled the smell of old moss mixed with the masculine, woodsy smell of him. Time moved too fast. At last, Raphael pushed open a door at the end of a hall. "Roger likely took whatever he has on you to his camp,” he said. “Did you have anything that might identify you?"

  "My passport." Kimberly stared into his intense eyes. Empathy stared back at her, and she sighed. "And maybe on my computer."

  His lips thinned. "You had your computer?"

  Why would that be a problem? She nodded and wished she had it with her now. "I intended to work when my trip ended."

  He stared off again and not at her. "He'd have that in a safe place if he took it."

  Her mother's and sister's addresses were likely in a file somewhere, as well as the wedding invitation. She shuddered. With the man who'd saved her life out there with a murderer, she'd go crazy with even more worry. She clenched her hands together. "I'd like my computer, though it's probably wrecked beyond repair."

  "I'll see what I can do." He squeezed her arm. His touch sent a fire in her belly. "The necklace is pretty on you, Kimberly."

  Her face heated from the brush of his fingers across her chest. Then he yanked his hand back and his cheeks blushed. "I'm sorry."

  "Don't be." She reached out to him, but then stopped herself.

  He nodded, then reached behind him to retrieve the Taser. "Here. We’ll go outside this door, which leads into the courtyard.”

  He massaged his neck, then gazed at her. The warmth in her belly went all over her body. "The graves are marked. Go left, and stay inside the walls."

  If they were together, she'd be safe. "You're not coming with me?"

  "No." His one-word answers again, but he shoved the Taser into her fingers. She held it uncomfortably in one hand. "I have to go find the man who pushed you out the plane and find your belongings. I want to get started before the sun rises."

  The heavy door creaked open and dim light helped them see. He made sense, but there was something else. The fire inside her burned, but she had no reason to act on it. Perhaps he was right and she should stay here to tend to her friends right now. Her fingers curled into a circle and her heart agreed with this decision. She pretended to keep it cool and shrugged. "See you soon."

  He held the door open for her, then let it shut as he walked back into the shadowy hallway. The stones closer to the door were dark green from moss. She turned on her heels and followed his directions around the corner. The castle was wet and her nose itched from the mildew smell.

  The packed dirt under her sneakers felt worn, and the stone walls of the courtyard had dead
ivy that seemed to want to choke the walls. The walls were at least eight stories high, but as she turned to see the castle, the towers, though surrounded by mist, loomed like a beacon in the morning sky. At least she could think now, though she might sneeze. The dreariness of the stone walls that surrounded her here wouldn't help. She turned her thoughts to something else.

  Raphael Murphy made her insides quake. Ever since her major mistake where she’d left her family for a man, she’d shut them from her life. Yet there was a delicious fire that grew with every moment near him. She rubbed her arms and went further into the center. She clutched the Taser in her hand like it was a shield. She'd have to figure out a new way to block out her emotions.

  Her nose itched a little less, but a sneeze was imminent.

  The darkness of the skies matched the dreariness of the castle. She searched the grounds until she found the newly dug-up dirt mounds.

  She wiped her face and took a few steps toward the center of the courtyard. Around her the walls of the stone castle took up most of the space. At the other end of the courtyard, there were two slits and what must be a drawbridge. In every medieval story, sieges seemed the worst at the gate. Her gaze drifted to above the gate. Metallic pipes with jagged edges jetted down from the roof of the castle. In the stories, those were for sieges as a backup in case someone stormed through the walls and front gate. Oil would drip down, catching fire once someone threw a torch.

  She wished she had medieval security guards to do what they did in movies.

  Then a somber thought hit her. Had Raphael lowered the gate to get the bodies inside? What if Roger had snuck in?

  Kimberly shivered and stopped at the dirt mounds. Then she saw a small sign of the cross and a name taped on it. Eileen. She fingered the edges of the white-lined paper. The other read, Ali.

  She fell to her knees, her eyes watering. Ali and Eileen had done so much with their lives. They had deserved to live far more than she had. She picked up dirt and said, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry to both of you. I promise to make sure Roger Hellsworth gets justice."

  "How you going to do that?" a rough voice said.

  Kimberly dropped prostrate between the two mounds of dirt. Her heart raced. Was that the pilot? Her breath hitched as she brought the Taser toward the front of her body. Then she let out a loud sneeze.

  The voice called through the air, "Kimberly, you have to die too."

  Where was he? Her heart beat so fast and her ears drummed. She clutched the Taser like a water gun. "Why?"

  "Come meet your fate."

  "Leave me alone," she cried out.

  "Your boyfriend won't protect you forever."

  Raphael had to be safe, and far away from Roger. Perhaps if she stayed and kept Roger talking, he could save whatever he could from the crash site. The Taser steadied her. She took a deep breath and lifted her head. His voice had come from one of the slits on the outer wall. He couldn't be inside. She forced herself to sit up. If he could scale the walls, then she had to defend herself. "Why did you kill them?"

  "Ali and his western wife betrayed everything our country stands for."

  Politics. Eileen had died for no good reason. Kimberly closed her eyes, fingers went into a circle, and she said a prayer for them. Then she lifted the Taser and pointed toward the thick wood gate. Nothing stirred, but she needed to end this. If he came toward her, then she'd be ready. "Then you can leave me alone. I won't go anywhere but home."

  "To your privileged, pampered life," Roger scoffed. "You don't deserve that, Kimberly. You waste oxygen every second you breathe."

  After waiting to see if he would shoot something into the courtyard, she stood, her gaze narrowing on the slits next to the drawbridge. "Murderers don't get to judge."

  His voice chilled her. "I clean up my messes, and your death means no one will know the truth."

  She swallowed and held the Taser higher. He’d have to kill Raphael too.

  His voice carried from the slits where once upon a time arrows must have flown at intruders. "Harry, the man who saved your worthless life by pushing you out of the plane, is dead. I bet you never even knew his name."

  She inhaled. No, she hadn't known his name. Her spine tingled, and her neck heated. "Did you kill him?"

  "He saw what I did," Roger answered. "These walls won't keep you and your boyfriend safe."

  Images of how Roger might reach through the stone walls and get to her flashed in her mind. Raphael would know how to handle himself. What if she misfired? Roger would have to be close for her to even use the Taser. She took a few steps backward, toward the castle. Gravel crunched under her shoes. "Do you have a way off the island?"

  "Do you even know who your boyfriend is?" He laughed, low and menacing. "You might want to save us both time and come outside. It will be over fast with me."

  The words were like bullets in her heart. Her feet pressed into the ground and she refused to give this man one more second of her time. Roger Hellsworth wanted to confuse her. Her chest caved as she neared the door. Raphael was her hero, and Roger’s words were tricks.

  CHAPTER 7

  Kimberly fumbled as she lowered the Taser in her right hand. Her breaths accelerated. She had to find someone, and tell them about Roger. Harry. Raphael was gone. Meg. She nodded to herself. Yes. She'd find her. Her gaze darted down the halls then she went toward the library. At the top of her lungs she called, "Meg. Where are you?"

  She flung open the library door and searched inside. Where would the maid be?

  Her chest was tight and it seemed shadows enveloped the bleak walls. The air was like ice that tickled its way into her throat and she couldn't breathe.

  Behind her at the threshold of the door, Meg coughed. Kimberly twirled around, though she was dizzy. "Is it cold in here?"

  Meg waited with her arms crossed and shook her head. "Do you need me to build a fire for you?"

  "No." Kimberly’s legs twitched in her dress and her neck felt heavier from the medallion now as she fiddled and tried to warm herself. She was frozen in the middle of the day. "I wanted to talk to you."

  "What? I'm very busy." Meg tapped her foot. "I washed and hung your pants in the closet in your room already."

  Kimberly shivered. "Thank you, but I can do my own laundry. Do you know how to shoot a gun? Wait. Do you have a gun?"

  Meg straightened, smoothing the buttons at her collar. "Gun? I've no time for this. Master Raphael won't harm you.”

  “I want it to protect myself.”

  “I doubt he'd find you attractive enough to try anything."

  “Hey,” Kimberly said. She might not be a size zero like the previous woman of the house, but she wasn’t ugly.

  "The master is particular." Meg stepped into the hall. "Shouldn’t you be making his lunch? It’s almost noon now."

  Kimberly placed the Taser on a table, closed her eyes, let both of her hands go into circles, and said a silent prayer. Then she picked the Taser up and jumped to follow Meg into the hallway. "Wait."

  But Meg was nowhere in sight. There had to be hidden passages behind the walls, which would explain the draft.

  Kimberly blew out a few short breaths to regain control. Meg was no help.

  She needed Raphael.

  While she waited for him to return, she decided to make him some old-fashioned oatmeal. Thick, with nutmeg. Fresh muffins. Cooking kept her from worrying. He could eat this for now and she’d serve something heartier to eat later.

  Next she set the table and decided to leave the Taser in the chair she used last night. Finished with the silverware, she paced and studied the Scottish historical portraits on the walls in the dining room. It seemed like the man with the scruffy hair and a kilt stared at the diners. She crossed her arms. She'd ask Raphael to move it. She clutched the medallion around her neck like it was a shield. Her stomach churned.

  What if Roger had already killed Raphael and she was next?

  She took another lap around the table. Raphael should have been home a lot s
ooner. She’d covered the food so it would stay hot, but she wasn’t tempted to eat. Where was he? Was he hurt, or worse? She bit her nails.

  Meg might know how to handle a gun, even if she didn't say. Her limbs tingled. Kimberly shouldn't bet her life on that one. The woman blew hot and cold.

  Her heart had palpitations.

  Outside, the rainstorm continued its patter on the stone walls. She swallowed, deciding that if he wasn’t home in ten more minutes, she’d leave the castle and go outside to find him.

  The huge boom of the front door opening and slamming against the wall rattled her. Her insides quivered. Raphael.

  Her feet clattered on the shiny stone floors as she rushed out to greet him. Without a thought, she leapt against his huge chest and squeezed as tight as she could. The scent of pine and cedar made her lightheaded. He smelled better than she'd remembered.

  Her chest beat into his. She eventually opened her eyes and realized her dress was soaked. She jumped back.

  He held his gritty hands to his sides, his clothes clinging to him. A small puddle of water gathered below his boots. She stared into his deep green eyes and concealed facial expression. Her gaze stayed locked on him. "Thank God you're home."

  He dropped something that made a noise beside him and his raincoat let the water drip onto the polished floor. "I went on those errands for you."

  She stumbled back a step. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

  He gazed at her. "What are you talking about?"

  "Roger was here." She lifted her head as his eyes narrowed.

  “Are you okay?"

  Her pulse raced and she ached for him to hug her again. She caressed the necklace. "Yeah, but I thought he'd kill me for sure."

  He took off his trench coat and hung it on the hanger without trying to get any water out. "What happened?"

  She rubbed her arms. "I was in the courtyard and he spoke through one of the slits of the outer wall."

  He took a step toward her. "Did he have any weapons? Did you open the gate?"

  Her hands trembled. "No. I'm not stupid. I held that Taser you gave me for dear life."