by Kim Alexis
“Thirteen, you said?” Juliette smiled at an image of father and daughter in a stadium at a ball game, arms around each other as they grinned for the camera.
“Yeah. Thirteen going on thirty, I guess.”
She chuckled. “She could be a model.”
“Don’t tell her that.”
Handing the phone back, Juliette asked if they’d gone on to have any more children. Immediately Marcus’s face clouded over.
Wrong question.
“Like I said, some disasters took a higher toll than others. We, uh . . . We lost another baby, a boy. Only this time it wasn’t a miscarriage. He was stillborn. At eight months. Again, I was away, that time at the World Trade Center. Eva never forgave me—and she never got over it. Eventually she decided to leave. I thought it was just a temporary separation, especially because she left Zoe behind as well. Eva went back to live with her family in France, saying she had to sort things out. Next thing I knew, I was being served with divorce papers. I tried as hard as I could to reconcile, but she wouldn’t even consider it. She remarried a few years later, and that was that.”
“Oh, Marcus. I’m so sorry.”
He nodded, avoiding her eyes as he caught the waitress’s eye and gestured for the check. Juliette was stunned. Marcus had lost a child. A son. She couldn’t fathom a deeper, more agonizing pain! And she couldn’t even think about the wife part of the equation. The whole thing was just such a tragedy.
Finally he met her eyes. “The good news is, I got full custody of Zoe. She was only three when Eva first left, so I had to make some big changes. No more government job for me, and no more disaster recovery. A buddy and I started a company of our own, one that focused primarily on disaster prevention—like, training, consulting, evaluating. That allowed me to stay local for the most part—or at least to plan my trips in advance rather than having to run off at the drop of a hat every time disaster struck. And we’ve done pretty well. Just celebrated our ninth anniversary.”
“That’s great, Marcus. Sounds like you and your friend were starting your business right about the same time Didi and I were launching ours.”
“Brilliant minds think alike, I guess.”
They shared a smile, then silence descended. Juliette looked down at the table. Had it been too long since their first meeting? They were different people now. Older. More battle-scarred. And twenty-five years was an awfully long time to carry a torch for anyone, even someone as special as Marcus.
“Anyway”—his voice drew her gaze back to his face—“I didn’t mean to focus on just the bad stuff. There’s been some pain, sure, but overall I’ve had a very happy life. Great job, great kid. I’m doing well. I really am.”
She gazed at him for a long moment, an odd sort of joy filling her heart at the thought. “You can’t imagine how thrilled I am to hear that, Marcus. Over the years I’ve thought of you so often, prayed for you sometimes. Wondered about you. To know that you’re happy . . .” She couldn’t finish the sentence for fear she might tear up again.
“I feel the same about you.” His expression intense, Marcus reached out and laid the back of his hand on the table, opening his palm to her. After a moment’s hesitation, she slipped her hand into his.
“Juliette, this may sound crazy, but I need you to understand what a tremendous impact that one afternoon you and I spent together had on my life. More than you could ever imagine.”
She shook her head. She didn’t have to imagine it. “It was the same for me too. You gave me the courage to change my whole world.”
His fingers tightened on hers. “The weird thing is, that one day we spent together feels more real to me than any of the thousands of days I’ve lived since.”
She nodded, so close to tears. Thankfully the waitress showed up then with their check, giving her time to regain her composure.
In the car, as they drove toward the resort, Juliette reached out and gave Marcus’s arm a squeeze. Her hand lingered there for a moment, comforted by the warmth of his skin, the hardness of his muscles underneath. When she pulled it away, Marcus reached out and took it again, placing it back on his arm. Smiling in the darkness, she kept it there, feeling utterly connected to him as they drove on in silence through the night.
When they finally reached the resort, he drove to her building and pulled to stop, putting the car in park and turning off the lights but leaving the engine running. Looking over at the small strip of guestrooms, Juliette was reminded of Didi . . . Oh, was she ever going to be shocked when she learned the truth about Marcus.
“Something wrong?”
She glanced at the man next to her, pulse quickening at the sight of his handsome face in the moonlight. “I was just thinking about Didi. I have to tell her who you really are.”
He cleared his throat. “Good luck with that. I don’t think she likes me very much.”
Juliette gave him a reassuring pat. “She’s just watching out for me. I don’t usually get so friendly with a man so fast.”
“Yeah, right. Twenty-five years fast.”
Juliette smiled. “She tends to be a tad overprotective. She’ll get over it.”
Didi did need to know the truth, and soon. It wasn’t fair to keep her in the dark any longer. Juliette had enjoyed having this special secret, but now she had to tell Didi that not only was Marcus not a stranger, he was, in fact, her TOTGA.
“How about your mom? Does she know about us?”
“No, not yet.” He grinned. “I couldn’t tell her ahead of time because I was afraid you’d reject me, and I didn’t want anyone to witness that.”
“Which I did, actually. I totally rejected you.” Juliette pressed her lips together.
“That was a matter of bad timing on my part.”
“But you couldn’t have known.”
“At least we got another chance.” Marcus’s voice was thick with emotion. “Not everyone does, you know.”
She gazed into his eyes. There was just enough moonlight to see his tender expression. He was too good-looking, her real-life white knight.
Marcus leaned toward her, a flash of shyness in his eyes. Her pulse raced.
He’s going to kiss me.
She caught her breath. “Maybe Didi’s right. Maybe we are moving too fast.”
Marcus tilted his head to one side. After a beat, they whispered in unison. “Yeah, right. Twenty-five years too fast.”
They shared a smile, and then Marcus brought his lips to hers. The kiss was gentle at first, then strong, almost fierce. As she slid her hand up to his cheek, felt his arms wrapping around her and pulling her in closer, a small moan escaped from her throat. This was what she’d wanted, longed for, craved, half her life. When the kiss was over, she could scarcely breathe.
“Well,” Marcus whispered, also trying to catch his breath. “I’d say that was definitely worth the wait.” A slow smile eased across his features. “And then some.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
CRYSTAL COULDN'T BELIEVE SHE was getting to work so early. When Andre asked her to handle Brooke’s duties this weekend, he mentioned a “morning hike” but hadn’t specified until later that it was a sunrise hike. Thanks a lot, boss.
Night still blanketed the scene as she turned into the resort, though the promise of morning hovered on the horizon, offering just enough light so she could see the buildings ahead. The quiet of the dawn felt like a lull before a storm. She didn’t know why she had such an odd sense of foreboding, but she hoped she could shake if off before they embarked on the hike.
Crystal pulled up to the employee gate as usual, but then the guard came out and told her there was no one available to escort her up from employee parking right now so she should use the main parking lot instead. She was happy to comply, though as she steered around the cluster of palm trees and the main lot came into view, she was surprised to see a police car near the entrance of the resort. Several of her fellow employees clustered around.
When she spotted Ms. Taylor’s business
partner among the group, her heart sank. The hikers were supposed to meet at the nearby fountain. Surely nothing bad had happened to one of those sweet ladies from the retreat!
Crystal parked and joined the others. Drawing closer, she saw that a Palm Grotto golf cart was parked on the grass, its headlights illuminating the big sign on the lawn, the one that had been put up yesterday to welcome people to the Juliette Taylor Event. Didi was near the sign, bending over and snapping pictures of the ground with her camera phone.
Crystal took a closer look at the sign. It read, as it had before:
It’s your turn . . . . . .
to be nurtured . . .
to be pampered . . .
to be restored.
Then she gasped. Underneath the last line someone had added a few more words, spray-painted a vivid, dripping red:
. . . to be murdered.
MARCUS DREW IN A deep breath of the clean morning air. He felt energized and rarin’ to go despite getting less than five hours of sleep. It was 8:00 a.m. and already a beautiful day. The sun shone, the birds sang, and all was in place for an impromptu breakfast picnic. He’d gotten the food and found a relatively private rendezvous point.
Now all he needed was Juliette.
What was taking her so long? She only had an hour to spare, and Marcus could feel himself growing more impatient with each passing minute. Finally she appeared, coming around the corner on the path, all done up for the day and looking like a million bucks. The very sight set Marcus’s heart to pounding. Adrenaline coursed through his body.
Brother. What a woman.
“There you are.” Juliette came to a stop, a shy grin on her face. “Why do I feel like a sixteen-year-old girl meeting up with her big crush?”
Grateful for the cover of the thick foliage surrounding them on three sides, he stepped closer and took her into his arms. “I was just wondering the same thing.”
Marcus leaned in for a kiss but Juliette held back, a teasing glint in her eye. “Really? I make you feel like a sixteen-year-old girl?”
He growled. “Such a comedian.” Then his mouth was on hers and he didn’t want to come up for air.
Why did she feel so right in his arms?
Why had he waited so long to find her again?
Finally they pulled apart, then he took her hand and led her to the bench where their breakfast was waiting.
“The flowers are beautiful.” She sat and looked around. “You were right, Marcus. This is a great spot.”
He nodded. “Not to mention secluded enough to steal a kiss or two.”
“Steal a kiss? If you say so.”
Juliette playfully reached for him and pulled his face to hers. Once more he was lost in the feel of her lips on his—like they’d been custom-made to fit right there, soft and warm and willing.
He was falling too far, too fast. How could this possibly feel so right even though they barely even knew each other?
When the kiss ended, he lingered there for a long moment, lightly kissing her cheeks, her forehead. He knew he could stay like that forever—but time was short and they had a lot to talk about. Finally he wrenched himself away.
“Hungry?” He sat back and reached for the two take-out boxes on his other side. “I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I just went down the buffet and tried to get a little of everything that was even remotely healthy.”
He handed her one of the boxes then opened his own, inhaling the delicious scent steaming up from the food within. As he unwrapped his plastic utensils and dug into a fresh-made waffle, Juliette poked through her box and opted for the melon balls, spearing one with a fork and nibbling it delicately.
“Oh, I got coffee too.” Marcus handed her one of the insulated cups then sipped at his own. “I know you don’t have much time, so I guess we should jump right in with ‘Operation Raven.’”
“Operation Raven?”
He smiled. “Whatever you want to call it. If we want to figure things out here, I think we should start by brainstorming, just like I used to do with my team before going into a disaster situation. It never hurts to toss out ideas. Information. Concerns. Suggestions. With the right combination of people, things can really get done.”
“Sounds good.” She speared another melon ball.
“We can start with just the two of us now, but maybe later we could widen the circle a bit, bring in a few others who might be useful as well.”
She nodded. “Didi, certainly. She should be a part of this.” Juliette thought for a moment. “We probably need an insider, too—a spa staff member—though I don’t know who we could ask. I trust Brooke, but she’s in the hospital. Other than that . . .”
Marcus set aside his take-out box and grabbed the pen and small notepad he’d brought from the room. “Well, we can decide as we go. For now, why don’t we start with the sequence of events? I’ve read the news reports and you’ve given me some of your own details, but it would help if I was a hundred percent clear on how everything played out, beginning to end.”
“Okay.”
“You said you flew in on Thursday, right? What time did you get here?”
Sitting back against the bench and taking an occasional bite of her breakfast, Juliette recounted everything from the moment she got off the plane Thursday afternoon until she was released from the police station last night. He took notes as she talked, and he wasn’t surprised that in the process he learned a number of details he hadn’t known before, like how Raven had wrangled her way into a room right next to the three men who were here under fake names. Once Marcus constructed a time line of events, they went back through and added in other details. Finally he asked Juliette if there was anything else she could think of that they might have missed.
She was quiet for a moment, sipping her coffee. “Yes. There is one other thing. Did I happen to mention that Raven was extremely adept at self-defense?”
“No, you didn’t.” He made note of that.
“She knew street fighting, and, trust me, she could really hold her own. I told this to the detective, but he didn’t seem very interested. Didn’t even write it down.”
Marcus rolled his eyes. “Like I said, hayseeds.” He took a bite of turkey sausage.
“I know, right?” Juliette shook her head sadly. “I just keep thinking about how she was killed. It makes so much sense, the place and the timing, I mean. No way could someone have overpowered Raven, like to strangle her or stab her or something. They must’ve known that they’d have to wait until she was all wrapped up, arms bound at her sides. And even then they did it with some drug overdose, rubbed in through her skin, rather than confronting her directly. She probably never even realized what was going on—and then it was too late.”
Marcus studied Juliette’s face as she talked, wishing more than anything that he could protect this woman, prevent this pain, preserve the sweetness of her very soul. She wasn’t naïve or foolish, but there was an odd sort of innocence to her all the same, a kind of trusting vulnerability that shone from her eyes and spoke through her words. By this age, most folks had had that childlike innocence crushed out of them, but not Juliette. At heart she was still the same, sweet girl he met on that fateful stormy day so long ago. Only now she was older, wiser, and even more beautiful.
“I’m sorry you’re having to go through all of this.”
She looked at him, her eyes filling with tears. “At least I don’t have to go through it alone.”
His heart surged with protective tenderness. There were no words, so instead he simply set aside pen and paper and took her into his arms.
He was still holding her tight, gently rocking back and forth, when her cell phone began to ring.
THE LAST THING ON earth Juliette wanted was to tear herself away from the warm embrace of this dear, sweet man, but she couldn’t ignore the call given all that was going on. With a sigh, she sat up straight, pulled out her phone, and glanced at the screen. Didi.
“Where are you?”
&nb
sp; “Didi? Why? Is something wrong?”
Didi grunted. “You can’t imagine.”
Juliette felt a catch in her breath. “What is it?”
“In person. Where are you right now?”
Juliette glanced at Marcus, who was watching her, a frown on his brow. “I’m on a bench out past the grapefruit orchard. Should I come to you?”
“No, there are too many people around. Is it quiet there?”
“Very.”
“Then I’ll come to you. How do I get there?”
Juliette explained which path to take, again glancing at Marcus, who began to gather the trash from their breakfast.
“Perfect. I’m not far from there at all. Stay put, I’m on my way.” Didi hung up without a good-bye.
In less than a minute, the short, heavyset woman came huffing and puffing up the trail. She and Juliette spotted each other at the same moment, but then Didi’s eyes shifted to Marcus and she hesitated, a shadow crossing her features. Obviously she’d expected her friend to be alone.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize you were with someone. Can we speak privately, please?”
Juliette glanced at Marcus, who nodded and excused himself. Carrying the trash, he moved away toward a large can a short ways up the path.
An odd lurch in her gut, Juliette gestured for Didi to have a seat on the bench. “What’s up?”
“You’re not going to believe this.” Didi heaved an exhausted sigh. “Elsa just called. The FBI showed up at JT Lady headquarters with a warrant and now they’re walking out the door with our computers, our files, and who knows what else, even as we speak.”
CRYSTAL WALKED INTO THE break room and headed straight for the vending machine. The combination of dry desert air and the various aromas and scents of the products she worked with sometimes made her feel so parched. She put in her quarters and pressed the button for mineral water, which dropped into the tray with a liquid thunk. Pulling out the bottle, she twisted off the lid and began to drink, glad she had this fifteen-minute window between treatments.
Finally she took a moment to catch her breath, have a seat, and look around. The room was empty except for a pair of spa staffers, Lisa and Beth, and a nice, older man from the maintenance department named Vin. They were also on break, drinking coffee together two tables away. She glanced their way and saw they were all peering at her oddly in return.