by Rebecca York
She had a bad moment when she couldn’t find the key. Then she spotted it on a peg on the far wall. After lifting the ring free, she hurried up the winding stone steps. At the top she stepped onto a small landing, where she found a stout metal door with only a small barred window in the center.
Inserting the key into the lock, she pushed on the door.
It creaked open, giving into a small stone cell, with a narrow cot and a dim bulb dangling from the ceiling. In the far corner, she found Dawn cowering near the stone floor. She was dressed in clothing that must have come with her from New York. Jeans and a T-shirt. Her face was pale, and her long dark hair looked as if it hadn’t been washed since she’d arrived on the island.
When she focused on Maddy’s face, she gasped.
“Oh, Maddy. It’s really you.”
“Yes.”
“Juanita told me you were here. But I was afraid to believe her.” As she spoke, she crossed the small room and threw her arms around Maddy’s neck, a small sob escaping from her lips. “I’m so sorry. I was such a jerk. I never should have put that stuff in your drink and run away.”
Maddy gave her a tight hug, then released her. “I know you want to talk. But we’ll have to do that later. Right now, we have to get the heck out of here.”
“Oh God, yes. I thought I’d never get away. I thought he was going to kill me.”
Maddy’s fingers tightened around the girl’s arm as she remembered her own recent experiences. If Reynard had done anything sexual to Dawn, she was going to enjoy shooting the man. “Did he…do anything to you?” she asked softly.
“No. I mean he didn’t molest me or anything. He just locked me up here.”
Maddy nodded as she turned and ushered the teenager out of the cell. Together they descended the stone steps.
When they reached the bottom, Jack turned to face them, and Dawn cringed away from the man in the guard’s uniform.
Maddy was quick to reassure her. “It’s okay. This is Jack Connors. He came here with me—and he’s going to help me get you off the island.”
Dawn nodded.
“Pleased to meet you, Dawn,” he said. “We’ll get out of here as soon as I put the guard and my clothing where nobody will find them.”
The girl nodded again.
Jack picked up the man and carried him into the tower. He was still inside when Maddy stepped through the doorway of the courtyard—and came face-to-face with a snarling panther padding out of the darkness.
13
EVEN AS PANIC BUBBLED in Maddy’s chest, she thrust Dawn protectively behind her back.
A small electric shock seemed to ripple over her skin as she realized Jack wasn’t here.
He wasn’t in back of her. He’d carried the guard into the building. So he was out of sight. Could he get a shot at the animal without hitting her and Dawn?
The panther snarled, lifted a paw and slashed at her with its unsheathed claws.
The needle-sharp tips penetrated the fabric of her shirt, grazing her skin. She managed to hold back a scream, but she knew from the animal’s eyes that it heard her indrawn breath.
Ducking, she pulled out the knife that Jack had taken away from the guard. If she held it pointed upward, the cat might come down on it when it sprang.
But the animal never got a chance to make its move. A sharp command stopped it in its tracks. The command was accompanied by a yank of the chain attached to the collar around its neck.
Only then did she realize that the panther wasn’t running around on its own. It was on its leash. And Oliver Reynard was holding the other end. As he’d done the night of the party, he secured the handhold to a post.
“Stay,” he ordered the beast. The panther obeyed. Lowering itself to the ground, it made a low, growling sound, keeping its eyes on Maddy. But at least she knew it wasn’t going to rip her to shreds.
The gun in Reynard’s other hand was an entirely different problem. Two armed guards stood beside him, their machine guns also pointed at her.
“Drop the knife,” he said to Maddy.
She dropped it, hearing Dawn make a sobbing sound behind her. “It’s okay,” she soothed, reaching to sling an arm around the girl’s side and gather her close.
One of the guards came forward and scooped up her knife. Then the Master of Orchid Island stepped forward into the light that shone down from the wall, and Maddy could see the look of triumph in his eyes. He was riding on a power trip. Did that make him more dangerous, she wondered. Or could she use his mood to her advantage?
“Don’t try anything cute,” he said.
“I won’t. I know when I’m beaten.”
“Very astute of you.”
Beside her, she could sense Dawn shaking. “Steady,” she murmured.
Reynard was looking around the courtyard. “Where’s your partner, Jack Connors? That’s his real name, I believe?”
Praying that Dawn wouldn’t give him away, she said quickly, “He’s arranging transportation.”
“Where?”
“He didn’t share that information with me. He’s in charge of this operation. I’m just working for him.”
Reynard snorted. “You’re lying. You’re the security chief at Winston Industries. You brought him in to help you get Stan Winston’s daughter back. Winston thought she’d vanished into thin air. Then you showed up less than a week after I snatched her.”
Maddy shrugged.
“I’ll get all the information I want out of you. Maybe I’ll give you another dose of that drug you just enjoyed—tie you down, and let you writhe around until you tell me what I want to know.”
Maddy struggled to keep her face calm while her mind screamed God, no! Not that nightmare again. And with her in Reynard’s clutches. The idea made her shudder inwardly, but she managed not to reveal the reaction.
“Let’s hold that in reserve.” Another voice joined the conversation. A man stepped out of the jungle, and Maddy’s mouth fell open. It was Ted Burnes, the guy who’d come to her that night with the warning about Jack.
Maddy stared at him in confusion. He worked for her. What was he doing with Reynard? Somehow she didn’t think he’d come to rescue her.
He took in the look on her face and shrugged. “Sorry, sweetheart. I’m on the other team.”
“But you helped me get out of the mansion,” the girl insisted. “You were my friend.”
Maddy struggled to take in that piece of information. “Ted?” she questioned.
He kept his gaze focused on her. “Yeah, I helped Dawn get away from you. I gave her the Mickey she slipped into your drink.” He laughed. “You seem to have bad luck with beverages lately. Maybe you’d better start having your food tested.”
“You bastard. You were in on this all along. Why would you turn on Stan? He’s been good to you.”
“Well, I do want your job. I’ve wanted it for a long time. And you know I want your body, too, of course. Now it looks like Oliver and I get to enjoy you here on the island. Then I’ll go back to Winston Industries with the sad news that you failed in your mission. You won’t be coming back. Which leaves me in the perfect position to feed Oliver information about what’s going on at Winston Industries.”
She could only stare at him, trying to take in his words.
“It’s just business, Maddy. And lust—for you and for power. I want to be at the top of the Winston food chain.”
“You didn’t earn that position,” she spat at him.
“Maybe not by your standards. But I think I’ve done some pretty good work lately.”
Reynard cut into the conversation. “Yes, Ted’s been quite a valuable asset. Too bad he couldn’t get a message to me earlier. I’ve been trying to dig up information on Connors. But no harm done. Ted’s here now. And you and Mr. Ex-CIA agent won’t get away. I’ve got you as a hostage. And from what I’ve seen of his behavior, he’s not going to abandon you.”
“Jack will cut his losses,” she said, trying to play for time.
She saw his gaze shift in back of her. “Where the hell have you been?” he asked sharply. “You’re supposed to be guarding this place.”
She knew the only man standing behind her was Jack. But he was dressed in a guard’s uniform—apparently with his face hidden by his cap.
She imagined him with his head bowed, looking contrite. She also imagined the machine gun slung over his shoulder, and her whole body tensed as she waited to find out what he was going to do—although she thought she knew.
“Connors hit me over the head,” he said in English—with a pretty good Island accent.
“You’ll be disciplined for letting him get close enough to you for that.”
“Yes, sir,” Jack answered meekly.
She could hear him moving slowly forward, and she got ready to react, praying that Reynard didn’t figure out who he was. If that happened, the show was over.
Every muscle in her body tensed for action.
Then Jack shouted, “Maddy, down.”
Pulling Dawn with her, she hit the stone pavement of the courtyard, covering the girl’s body with her own as machine gun bullets sprayed over their heads.
Taken completely by surprise, the guards never had a chance to fire their weapons. They went down like bowling pins, along with Ted, Reynard and the big cat that had been his pet.
The hail of bullets ceased, leaving an eerie silence around them in the jungle.
Maddy sat up. Beside her, Dawn had started crying. “Oh God, oh God,” she repeated between sobs.
“It’s over,” Maddy murmured, pulling the girl’s head against her shoulder so she couldn’t see the carnage and soothing her hands over Dawn’s back. “It’s all over,” she repeated. “We’re getting out of here.”
Jack came down to her, his hands urgent as he ran them over her arms, her head. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
“You did that perfectly.”
She gave a strangled laugh. “I guess I had to.”
“Yeah.”
He stood again and looked in all directions, his gaze probing the darkness. “If we’re lucky, nobody heard that burst of fire.”
“Or if they did, they assumed it was Reynard’s men shooting.”
“Right,” Jack agreed, walking to the bodies, where he checked for signs of life. Then he turned back to her, and their eyes met.
When he shook his head, she nodded. They were all dead. But her heart was still pounding in her chest, and she knew she wasn’t going to feel safe until they got off Orchid Island.
“Do you think his people will be angry? Or glad he’s gone?” she murmured.
“Let’s hope it’s the latter.”
Just then a voice called from the jungle, “Do me a favor and don’t start shooting again. It’s me, Alex. Glad I was behind a tree, by the way. I wasn’t exactly expecting a fusillade of bullets coming in this direction.”
Jack’s head jerked up. “Alex Shane?”
“Yeah.”
A tall, dark-haired man stepped into view, walked forward and clasped Jack’s hand.
“Nice to see you, buddy. Sorry you were in the line of fire.”
“I didn’t know you were in back of the women with a gun. I was thinking I’d wait for you to show up, then we’d get Maddy and Dawn out of trouble. When another guard came out of the tower, I figured the odds had gotten a little worse—until I found out it was you.”
Jack nodded, then turned back to Maddy and Dawn. “This is Alex Shane, formerly of the Howard County, Maryland, P.D. He works for Randolph Security now. Cam Randolph and I have a working agreement to share information and personnel. He grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, so he knows his way around boats. He’s here to get us out of this place.”
“Hank Daniels is acting captain at the moment.”
“Good. So how did you know where to find us?”
“Hank and I have had plenty of time to study your notes and the maps of the island. And we have some more current information—courtesy of Mr. Burnes.”
“What?” Maddy asked.
“The reason he wasn’t able to get in touch with Reynard is that he’s been restricted in his movements—by some Randolph and Connors men who are at Winston Industries right now.”
He inclined his head toward Jack. “Too bad we couldn’t get a message to you. After you left for the island, we found Burnes’s fingerprints on the packet from the knockout drops Dawn used. So we searched his apartment and found a hidden stash of messages to and from Reynard. When he broke out of our security net and headed down here, we knew we had to make our move. So if you hadn’t called us, we would have come anyway.”
Jack’s jawline tightened as he heard the explanation. Maddy felt her own anger rise.
All along Ted had been playing her for a fool—which must be why he’d told her about Albania. He’d wanted her to mistrust Jack so they’d have trouble working together. The bastard. She glanced over at his body with narrowed eyes.
“I’d suggest we get out of here,” Alex said.
“Yeah,” Jack agreed.
Maddy helped Dawn to her feet.
“The boat’s in the cove?”
Alex nodded.
As he took a step in the direction of the jungle, Dawn grabbed his arm. “Please, we can’t go without Juanita. She helped me. She told Maddy I was here. You can’t leave her. She’s from New York. She used to work at my father’s house. Then she came back to Orchid Island because her family’s from here.”
“So that’s why she helped you,” Maddy said.
Dawn nodded. “When I was little, we used to be friends. Please. Can we take her with us?”
“Stopping for her means extra risk for us,” Jack answered.
“I’m sorry,” Dawn murmured. “But I know how much she hates it here.”
“Okay,” Jack answered. “But you’re going to the boat.”
“Thank you,” she breathed.
Maddy led Dawn inside the wall while the men dragged the bodies into the jungle.
Alex came back and put his hand on Dawn’s arm. “Come on.”
“Let me stay with Maddy.”
“I’ll meet you at the boat,” Maddy said. “Go with him. Jack and I will be right there.”
Alex took Jack aside for a moment; then he and the girl started for the cove. Jack and Maddy headed toward the servants’ quarters. When they were several yards into the underbrush, he turned and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly.
“When I saw that cat go for you, I almost lost it,” he whispered.
“Thank you for keeping your cool. And thank you for taking Reynard down,” she answered.
“It didn’t look like we had much choice.”
Maddy nodded against his shoulder. All she wanted to do was hole up with him somewhere safe and find out where the two of them stood now. But they weren’t out of danger yet.
“I’m so proud of you,” he murmured. “I didn’t know how well you’d be able to function after what Reynard did to you this afternoon. But it seems you’re in fighting shape!”
“Well, I’m not quite up to par.”
He laughed softly. “Par enough to think about taking on a panther with a knife.”
She couldn’t hold back a little grin. “It was a desperation measure.”
She liked his light teasing tone. Liked his praise. But there wasn’t time for an extended personal discussion now, and they both knew it.
She felt him slowly, reluctantly ease away.
“We’d better go,” he whispered, then stopped. Reaching into the waistband of his uniform, he withdrew the pistol he’d taken away from the man outside their room and handed it to Maddy. “I think you could have used this earlier.”
“Yes. Thanks,” she said, back to business as she tucked it into her own waistband.
“By the way
,” she asked, as they started moving again, “what did Alex tell you a few minutes ago?”
“That he’s planning to blow up the security office—if he has the time.”
Maddy laughed. “Good thinking. Do we have an ETE?”
“Estimated time of explosion? As soon as he can manage it. So we’d better get in and out of Juanita’s place as soon as we can.”
Jack was excellent at navigating the darkened jungle, and it took only about fifteen minutes to reach the servants’ compound.
From under a clump of palm trees, they studied the scene. It looked peaceful enough, but Maddy had learned that looks could be deceiving here.
“I could go in alone, but I’d probably frighten her,” Jack said.
“No, she’ll be more likely to trust me.” She turned toward him. “You know which house?”
“Yes. But I’m staying with you. Just look relaxed. Like we’re two lovers out for a stroll.”
“Sure,” she answered, feeling the thickness in her throat.
Jack gave her a quick glance, but said nothing. After pulling his uniform cap low over his eyes, he took her hand. Together they stepped from behind the palm trees. At this time of night, there were few people out and about. Casually they crossed the stretch of greenery that bordered the compound, then ambled down the dirt road lined with low, whitewashed buildings. Maddy cast him a sidelong glance. He still had the machine gun slung over his shoulder, and she wondered if he’d be carrying it off duty.
Maybe, she decided, as they stepped toward the door of one of the small houses.
Maddy let him take the lead.
He knocked softly on the door. Then knocked again.
“Who is it?” a woman’s voice called out.
“Friends,” she answered.
Seconds stretched. Then the door opened a crack.
Maddy heard Juanita’s indrawn breath.
“Let us in,” Jack said. “We can’t talk out here.”
Without giving the woman a chance to answer, he pushed his way inside. Maddy followed and stepped into a sparsely furnished room that served as a combination living room and bedroom. Juanita, dressed in a frayed robe over a white cotton gown, was backing toward a small kitchen area, her eyes filled with terror.