“Bull.”
“Bull.” She mimicked his gruff tone. “As long as neither of us tells her, she won’t know.” He knew better than that. She flashed him a seductive smile. Link gripped the steering wheel tighter. Why did she want out so badly? And why that motel? Was it the lure of drugs?
Something else illicit?
Jacqueline took several deep breaths, and then resumed her efforts in a calmer tone. “Just why are you so stubborn about taking me?”
Her grandmother knew the books ten times better than he and Stone did. If Mavis quit, their business would suffer. Worse, he would have to do the paperwork. Link rubbed his temple. “Tempest can be quite a handful. I need help.” He gave her a lopsided smile. “At least a female’s perspective in dealing with her.”
“Grandma said your sister and her guy were going to be there. Why do you need me?” Jacqueline seemed genuinely confused, and for the first time her attention focused on him.
“Tempest is sort of a child prodigy.” She gave him a ‘so what’ look. He cleared his throat. “Sometimes I have a problem getting her to listen. You seem levelheaded.” May God spare me for lying? “And you’re young enough to understand Tempest.” Link felt invisible quicksand envelope him.
“You think I’m a kid?” She laughed while she shook her head. He risked a glance, and found her expression filled with incredulity. Jacqueline pushed her ponytail back over her shoulder. “I’ll be twenty-five in November.” Link grinned at that whopper. “Grandma lied about her age, huh?” She pointed to a billboard proclaiming a motel a half-mile further. “Let me off there.”
There’d been two murders there last week. Link accelerated. “What’s so important that you can’t put it on hold for a couple weeks?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
If she was that determined to go to a motel, he did not want to understand. “In the past ten years, Mavis has asked me for one favor.” He paused significantly. “I figure she’s got a good reason for it and I, for one, do not intend to argue with her.” Jacqueline glared at him. He stared at the road.
The silence became oppressive.
Though his attention was on traffic, he could feel her angry gaze. Dammit, why had everyone decided to ruin his vacation? If only he’d never answered the phone when Carmen had called.
That had been his first mistake.
Why the heck did Carmen want to haul Phillip all the way to Alaska, when it would be so much easier to take him home to meet the folks? Why was it so important to her that he be the first to meet her fiancé? Link’s jaw clenched. Then, when he went next door to see if Ariel could give him any insight into the female mind, Stone had suddenly seen his vacation as a wonderful opportunity to dump Tempest on him so he could take Ariel on a second honeymoon. Within an hour, he’d not only given up his solitary vacation to chaperone his sister and her geek boyfriend, but he’d agreed to bring along Tempest.
Mavis had found the perfect revenge, too.
He gritted his teeth.
Jacqueline continued staring out the back window. Maybe Mavis had destroyed the kid’s plans by sending her camping, but plans involving sleazy motels needed wrecking. Link swerved into the airport’s private entrance, parked the Ram, and then gestured to Linkstone’s company plane. “Decide. Are you coming with me willingly, or do I need to phone Mavis for permission to use force?” He flipped his cell phone open.
“Why didn’t you say we were flying?” Jacqueline suddenly looked cheerful.
Link suspected a trap.
4
When the Cessna’s shadow crossed a wide river, Link flicked switches, adjusted dials, then requested landing instructions in Fairbanks. Jacqueline glanced at the altimeter and sighed. So much for her unexpected reprieve. She needed to decide how to circumvent her grandmother’s well-meaning plan and going on Link's canoe trip would be a bad idea. River’s only flowed one way, so her stalker would have time to regroup after being outmaneuvered in Valdez.
After following her most of the way across the continent, she hated to imagine what motivated her stalker.
She needed to use this opportunity to break his trail, and disappear for a year, or however long it took for him to lose interest in his perverted game.
Jacqueline glanced at Link. His thick blond hair reminded her of rich honey and his gentle brown eyes made her think of chocolate. Except for treating her like a kid, he seemed like a good guy. Too bad he seemed so single-mindedly determined to bring her along on this trip.
From the air, Fairbanks looked larger than Valdez. A bigger city offered more places to disappear. Best of all, wilderness surrounded it.
Moments later, Link eased the Cessna 185 onto the runway. “Did you hear the one about the brunette who spent 20 minutes looking at the orange juice box because it said ‘concentrate’?” He turned onto a taxiway.
“When I heard that one, he was blonde.”
Link laughed.
As the Cessna taxied into the hangar, a big dark-haired man met them. He opened her door and helped her out. “Welcome to Fairbanks.” Then he reached in, grabbed her duffel and tossed it over his broad shoulder.
“That’s mine.” Jacqueline hoped her panic didn’t show as she reached for her duffel.
“You’ll do enough hauling in the next couple weeks.” He patted the strap. “The least I can do is help now.” He turned to Link. “Did you take the scenic route?”
“You were concerned?”
“Hell, yes. We took Tempest on our first honeymoon, I will not take her on the second.” Jacqueline tried to make sense of the bizarre situation, then realized the man didn’t act like an airport employee; he had to be Stone O’Banyon, Link’s partner. Oh, Lord, it was going to be harder to get away than she had anticipated. Link laughed and punched Stone in the biceps. Then the two started walking toward the exit, making it worse.
Jacqueline trotted behind them, two paces for their one, and focused on how to retrieve her bag, which contained all her necessary paperwork, including billfold and passport. With every stride Link and Stone made, her escape plan seemed more impossible.
By the time Stone parked his Suburban behind some townhouses, her lungs felt like they were full of soggy cotton candy.
“Link’s spare room and den are full up, so you’ll be staying with us.” Stone ushered her into his condo and introduced her to his wife, Ariel, a petite willowy blonde woman with a ready smile and an energetic manner. Introductions complete, Stone took Jacqueline’s duffel upstairs.
“I’m so glad you’re going with Link.” Ariel gave her a big smile.
Jacqueline watched her possessions disappear and faked a smile to cover her panic. Just then, a younger version of Ariel stomped down the stairs, blonde ringlets bouncing on her shoulders with each step and frosty blue gaze centered on Jacqueline. “Tempest,” Ariel’s tone held a warning. “Jacqueline will be sharing your room. Would you take her up?”
“It’s my room, and you can’t tell me who sleeps there.”
“Actually, I can,” Ariel said.
Tempest’s hostile glare fixed on Jacqueline; it felt as if icy venom washed over her. Jacqueline cleared her throat. “There’s been a misunderstanding,” she began.
“Shut up and come on.”
Tempest couldn’t have been better named. “I don’t think so.” Jacqueline calmly turned her back on the unreasonable teen. “Ariel, I appreciate your hospitality, but I never intended to stay the night, much less go camping. There’s been a misunderstanding. Grandma manipu— ”
Ariel touched her hand. “You don’t have any place specific to go, do you?”
Jacqueline shook her head.
“You look just like Mavis,” Tempest snarled. “Old as dirt.”
First Link treated her like a child, then the kid said she looked ancient. Jacqueline choked back a laugh. Tempest stormed upstairs. Ariel touched Jacqueline’s upper arm and steered her through an archway into the living room, then nudged her toward the burgundy leath
er sofa, all while shaking all over. “Are you okay?” Jacqueline asked.
Ariel nodded, but her watering eyes contradicted her. A distant door slammed. Ariel sat down with a thump and burst into laughter. Jacqueline looked from Ariel to the archway framing the stairs.
Above them, where her things had disappeared, the kid was pitching a screaming fit. Crash. Bang. Something heavy hit the floor. She hoped the obnoxious brat hadn’t touched her things.
Jacqueline half rose, but then heard the low tones of Stone’s voice speaking beneath Tempest’s screeching. With resignation, she sat on the sofa’s edge and steepled her fingers.
Ariel looked at the ceiling. “The look on her face,” she snickered. “You’re just what Tempest needs.”
The feeling was not mutual. “Grandma forced this on me. I want out of her plot.”
Ariel sighed and looked downward. “You’ve come so far. Is it Tempest?” Jacqueline shook her head. “Then why?”
“There was an accident where I worked, and the lab office building burned. I need to get my life back on track, find a job, a new place to live.” Jacqueline sighed. “I came to Alaska partly to see my grandmother, but mostly because there are many grants available for biologists, here.” She sighed. “The last thing I need is a vacation.”
There was movement in the foyer’s shadows. Link appeared in the archway, his expression wary. “So it wasn’t something I said or did?” Jacqueline shook her head. “I hate keeping records,” Link said. “Without Mavis.” He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling and shook his head.
“I’ll tell her you said that,” Jacqueline said.
His eyes widened. “Don’t.”
Ariel laughed. “Link and Stone both hate office work.”
“Adam did, too. He always said that he needed a hundred pounds of paper for every sheet he actually used, and that the government needed all those to justify purchasing the one sheet he needed.”
“Who’s Adam?” Ariel looked interested.
Jacqueline wished she’d never mentioned him. “He was my husband.”
“Your husband,” Link echoed.
“He dumped you, huh?” Tempest appeared on the stairs. She moved purposely toward Link and possessively looped a slender arm around his waist. Though Link didn’t seem to notice the adolescent hanging on him, Jacqueline suddenly understood the source of the girl’s hostility and her mother’s eagerness to have an extra person along.
Jacqueline looked Tempest in the eye. “Adam burned to death.”
Tempest glared at her. Jacqueline glanced at Link. What made the man think she could help him with this hellion? Could anyone manage such a venomous kid?
“I expect Mavis felt that you needed to get away,” Ariel said. “You must go. You’ll have a wonderful time.”
Tempest gave Ariel a withering glare, and then stomped toward another door. Ariel and Link ignored the behavior, but gave each other defeated looks.
What if this trip wasn’t her grandma’s idea? What if Link had ordered Mavis to find someone to help him? Her refusal could cost her grandmother her job and her dignity. Jacqueline’s throat constricted. If her suspicions were accurate, that would explain why Link and Ariel were so adamant about her acquiescing.
Ariel sighed. “Tempest is intelligent, but sometimes her personality makes sandpaper seem like silk.”
“My Mom called it PTS. When I was younger, I had a terrible case,” Jacqueline said.
“PTS?” Link straddled the sofa’s arm. “It’s not contagious, is it?”
Jacqueline shook her head. “Pre Teen Syndrome is when adult hormones start being produced and previously sweet, adorable children turn into raving lunatics.” She used her solemnest tone. “I believe either Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde patented the formula.”
Link laughed. “She's seventeen and too old for that.”
“I remember going through that stage.” Ariel sighed. “It was horrid to live through and it’s embarrassing to remember.”
Jacqueline’s tension eased. “That’s the truth.” She glanced at the empty archway and decided she could afford to take a short vacation more easily than she could financially support her grandmother, now that she was unemployed. Despite Tempest’s mood swings, she would go on this trip. Maybe she could use the time to plan her next move.
Later that night, she followed Tempest upstairs to her Mickey Mouse theme room. Tempest climbed onto a black lacquer bed topped by a red quilt with a huge silhouette of the famous rodent. The girl settled cross-legged on the center and silently studied her. The fire building in Tempest’s eyes proclaimed a brooding rage ready to burst into an inferno.
Jacqueline went into the adjoining bathroom and changed into her nightshirt. When she returned, it appeared as if Tempest had not moved so much as an eyelash. Jacqueline climbed between the crisp white sheets of the spare bed.
“Link is mine.” Tempest hissed.
Jacqueline had hoped to avoid a direct confrontation. “You can’t own another person.” Tempest’s face paled and her eyes enlarged with hatred.
“He’s mine. Stay away from him, you piece of shit.”
“I’m not interested in a relationship with Link or anyone else.”
“Why not? Isn’t he good enough for you?”
Had she ever been this impossible? “I don’t know him well enough to have an answer to that. Regardless, I don’t want a relationship.” Yes, in some ways, Link attracted her, but she needed to find herself, not live in another man’s shadow.
“If you’re lying, I’ll kill you.” Jacqueline shrugged, plumped her pillow and hoped for beautiful dreams. “Aren’t you worried about sleeping in my room? I could kill you while you sleep.”
Though she hid it well, the sheer absurdity of the threat amused her. “No man is worth committing murder over.”
“Link is.”
“Fine, he’s yours. Keep him. I already told you that I don’t want any man in my life.”
After a moment’s silence, Tempest demanded, “How come you don’t like guys?”
“I like them.” Jacqueline plumped her pillow again, and tried not to remember that her stalker killed his competitors. “Right now, I prefer to be alone.”
“Why?”
Heaving a sigh, Jacqueline rolled onto her side and propped herself up on her elbow. “For the past few years, I lived for my husband’s dream instead of my own. Now that he’s dead, I want to live my life my way.”
“Did you murder him or something?”
Jacqueline shook her head. “Somehow, after we married, I lost myself in Adam’s ambition. His wants always seemed more important than my own. I didn’t even realize what had happened until after he died.” Gooseflesh rippled over her as the truth she had never verbalized before echoed in her ears.
Tempest’s expression was a cross between suspicion and hostility. “You really aren’t after Link?”
“Nope.” Jacqueline snuggled into her pillow. “I don’t care if I ever fall for another man.”
“Don’t talk down to me. I’ll start college soon.”
“What’s your major?”
“Zoology.” Tempest rolled onto her side and propped herself on her elbow. For the first time, her eyes held something besides malice. “Why did you change the subject?”
“I didn’t realize I had. When I started college, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I’d never taken time to think about what I liked.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Jacqueline shrugged. “I guess I always took things for granted.” Tempest grunted. When the silence lengthened, Tempest looked at Jacqueline expectantly. “When I enrolled in college, I chose nursing, to follow my mother, and I earned an LPN degree. But Animal Psychology interested me.” Jacqueline chuckled. “Actually a certain professor intrigued me, so I changed majors to take his classes.” Jacqueline shook her head at her own foolishness. “I was so naïve that I spent the last few years trying to be who the person I loved thought I should be.” She raised h
er chin. “Now that he’s gone, I need to find out who I am and what I want.”
“You were real dumb,” Tempest said.
“Exactly! Now, do you understand why I’m not interested in a relationship?”
“And you agree that Link is mine?”
“Whatever bond you have with him is your business.” Jacqueline studied Tempest remembering how she’d publicly pawed Link and how everyone had accepted the behavior. She frowned. Link seemed like a nice man, but the worst child molesters were often members of the victim’s own family. She wrapped her blanket tighter and remembered that her grandmother talked about Link as if he walked on water. Who was Link? A great guy who didn’t know how to tell a kid to behave or the monster of her suspicions?
Jacqueline cleared her throat. “Tempest, is there some special reason why you think Link belongs to you?”
“He just does. And don’t you forget it!”
Jacqueline hoped the obsession was in Tempest’s mind. She felt like naming her pillow Link, then punching the stuffing out of it.
5
Link took a bite of blueberry pancake just as Phillip walked into Ariel and Stone's dining room, while reading something on his iPad. His shoulder collided with the archway separating the dining and living rooms and he fumbled with the magazine, more concerned over losing his place than the spectacle he made. Link sighed. All Carmen’s previous boyfriends were athletic; why the heck had she decided to get engaged to one who couldn’t even walk straight? In the wilderness, lack of attention could be the difference between life and death.
Was camping with two hostile teenagers, a klutz and a tense sister some sort of test?
Ariel stifled a snicker, and then began toying with her fork. Stone excused himself, quickly vanishing out of the room.
Oblivious to everything but the article, Phillip settled into a chair at the far end of the table. A few minutes later, Jacqueline slid into the seat across from Link, looked around the table and whispered, “Is something wrong?”
The fresh fragrance of her scent wafted over him. The next two weeks would be purgatory instead of vacation. “Everything is fine,” Link said. Except the thought of mollycoddling a nerd, babysitting Tempest and fighting the absurd attraction he felt for Mavis’ granddaughter, who seemed to be fifteen going on thirty. Thank goodness his parents had convinced him to teach Carmen camping skills when they were kids. Ariel laughed. Carmen’s high-pitched voice and nonstop chatter had been as welcome in his childhood fort as a polecat. He frowned at the memory.
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