Nautier and Wilder

by Lora Leigh

  He hesitated for a second, then pulled Elena into his arms for a hug. “I’m always careful.”

  He stepped back, cleared his throat. “Go with Pete. I’ll worry less knowing you’re with him.”

  She nodded and he walked away, leaving her with Jed.

  She should leave. Pete was waiting for her. But something held her there.

  She didn’t want to go.

  Jed moved next to her. “I know you want to come along, but it’s not safe for you.”

  “I need to be there.”

  “Your safety has to come first.”

  The logical part of her knew that. She’d be in the way. She wasn’t feeling very logical right now. She laid her hand on his chest. “You stay safe. If it’s a trap . . .”

  He wrapped her hand in both of his. “I’m good at taking care of myself.”

  She sighed. “Okay. Take double good care of yourself this time. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  Jed cast a look at Grange, who leaned against the car, his arms crossed, staring at both of them.

  “Ah, hell.” He pulled Elena into his arms and kissed her soundly.

  When he broke the kiss, she smiled at him.

  “I’ll be back soon. Stay close to Pete.”

  She nodded and squeezed his hand. “I will.”

  She climbed into the helicopter. As it rose, she watched Jed walk toward Grange.

  THIRTEEN

  The silence in the car was deafening. The one thing Jed knew about Grange was that he didn’t have to say much—or anything—to speak volumes about how he felt about something.

  And he hadn’t said a word since the helicopter lifted and they drove off.

  Which meant Jed was going to have to speak first.

  “I care about Elena.”

  No comment.

  “I care a lot about her.”

  Still no comment.

  “I realize that getting involved with her wasn’t part of the assignment. It just happened.”

  Zero. Zip. Nada. Not even a glare in his direction.

  “And frankly, sir, and with all due respect, my personal relationship with her is none of your business.”

  That got him a look. The death glare. The others had warned him about the death glare. They were right. That was some scary shit.

  “You can stay the hell away from my niece, Templeton.”

  “Kind of hard to do, General, since my assignment consists of protecting her and working this case with you.”

  “You’re off the case. As of right now.”

  “You’re in charge and you have the right to do that. But I won’t stay away from Elena.”

  “I can fire you.”

  “You can.”

  The silence this time stretched into five minutes. Then ten. A muscle in the general’s jaw twitched. “You hurt her and I’ll hunt you down like a rabid dog and shoot you.”

  “Okay. But I might be falling in love with her.”

  That got him another look. “Might?”

  “Never been in love before, General. Not really sure if that’s what this is or not, and circumstances haven’t exactly been ideal for the two of us, if you know what I mean. But yes, I might be in love with her. I’d like to get this assignment over with, get a real relationship going with her and see if maybe she feels the same way.”

  “Hmph.”

  That was better than the death glare, at least. And the general hadn’t shot him, so Jed would call that progress.

  Now they had to find Elena’s mother.

  And he couldn’t believe he’d just blurted out he was in love with Elena.

  Was he? They barely knew each other. But what he felt was strong, something he’d never felt for any other woman before. When he wasn’t with her, he wanted to be. That meant something.

  And how did Elena feel about him?

  They needed time together. Time that didn’t involve danger and assignments, where they could just be two people hanging out together.

  The general’s niece. He was in love with the general’s niece.

  Christ, he sure could fuck up his life, couldn’t he?

  Grange drove them to the garage where Elena’s car was housed. He tossed Jed the keys and gave him the address where one of the credit cards had been used.

  “We’re going to have to split up to save time. Follow this up. Keep in constant contact. I want to know as soon as you find something.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And knock off that ‘sir’ shit. I thought we went through that already.”

  “Okay, General.” He headed toward the Chevy.

  “Jed.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m not planning to kill you yet. And obviously my niece sees something in you, so try not to die.”

  Jed grinned and flipped the keys around in his hand. “Will do, General.”

  * * *

  Elena paced the path in the living room, her eyes on Pete’s cell phone, which sat near him on the table.

  It had been two hours. Nothing. It hadn’t rung once.

  She hated standing around here doing nothing.

  Pete had offered to play cards with her, but that would require sitting and she couldn’t sit. Pacing was much better.

  He was reading a magazine. Reading! Calmly sitting there flipping pages when who knew what was going on with Jed and Grange.

  “How can you sit there so calmly and just read?”

  He lifted his gaze and peered at her over the top of the magazine. “What?”

  “You. Reading. It’s driving me crazy.”

  “My reading is driving you crazy?”

  “Yes. No.” She dragged her fingers through her hair. “I’m sorry. I’m the one who’s crazy. It’s the not knowing anything. Shouldn’t they have called by now?”

  His lips curved in a half smile. He laid the magazine on the table and put his phone in his pocket. “You wouldn’t enjoy surveillance duty.”

  “What?”

  “Patience. Missions take patience.”

  She crossed her arms. “This isn’t a mission. It’s my mother.”

  His smile died and he stood. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be insensitive. These things take time. They’ll call as soon as they have something to call about. Come on.”

  She followed him outside. “Where are we going?”

  “If standing around doing nothing is making you restless, I have something you can do to help me around here.”

  “Anything to keep from watching the clock and your phone.”

  He led her down the path past the pool and the main house. She hadn’t explored this area yet. It went through the woods and beyond the back of the house. There was another building back here.

  “What’s this?”

  “Storage. We’ll replenish supplies.”

  “Okay, great.” Something physical would help to allay some of her stress.

  It was a two-story stone building. He pulled keys out of his pocket and unlocked the heavy door, holding it open for her.

  “Just step inside. I’ll hit the light when I follow you in.”

  She moved in and waited for him. It was cold in there. She shivered, and didn’t much like how pitch dark it was in here. She hoped he hurried up with the—

  He turned the light on and she saw racks of supplies, mostly nonperishable food and paper items, piled as high as the ceiling.

  “Wow. Planning for world domination from your island here?”

  He laughed. “No, but sometimes I don’t have access to the helicopter, so I have to make do with what I have on hand. I just make sure to have a lo
t on hand.”

  “Probably a smart move.” She put her hands on her hips and turned to him. “So what do we need to take back with us, and do you have a shopping cart?”

  He was scanning the racks, but dragged his attention away. “Actually, I do have a cart. It’s in the other room. That way I don’t have to make as many trips. Through that door on your left. Down the hall, second room on the right. If you wouldn’t mind. I’ll get the ladder and start pulling what we need from the racks.”

  “Okay, sure.”

  “Light switch is just inside on your right.”

  She opened the wide door and flipped the light switch on a long hallway with multiple doors. It was even colder back here. She rubbed her arms and headed down to the room where Pete had indicated the cart would be.

  She turned the knob and pushed the door open, then fumbled around for a light switch. It wasn’t on the right side of the wall, so she stepped farther in, propping the door open with her foot.

  She was shoved in the back and went flying to the hard floor, the door slamming shut behind her.

  Her knees screamed with pain where she’d scraped them, her heart jamming double time from the fear and shock.

  What the hell just happened?

  She scrambled to her feet and ran back to the door, pulled on the knob, but it wouldn’t turn.

  It was locked.

  She banged on the door.

  “Pete? Pete! I’m locked in. Pete! Can you hear me?”

  Her heart pounded. Someone had pushed her down and locked her in the room. Was Pete okay? Had he been knocked out, or even worse?

  “Pete!” She banged on the door. “Pete, answer me!”

  “He can’t hear you.”

  She whirled around at the voice behind her.

  “Who’s there?”

  “I’m over here.”

  Her stomach fell, hope and terror mixing as she realized who had spoken to her.

  “Mom? Is that you?”

  “Elena?”

  “Keep talking. I’ll find you. Or a light.”

  “He never turns on the light in here, so I can’t see him. Only at the end of the hall out there. So I only see him in shadow.”

  “There has to be a light in this room.”

  She fumbled from the door to the wall, using small steps to make her way around the room. The walls were icy cold, made of stone. She wasn’t sure if the building was artificially air-conditioned or if the source of the cold air came from somewhere else, but it was frigid in here. She’d made it halfway around the room when she wrapped her fingers around the metal bars.

  “You’re in a cell?”

  Her mother’s cool fingers found hers. “Elena.”

  Tears sprang to Elena’s eyes. She slipped her hands through the bars to reach out and touch her mother. “Mom. Mom. Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. What are you doing here?”

  Relief warred with worry. Her mother was alive. That’s all she had to concentrate on right now. “We came to rescue you. Only we didn’t know you were here. How did you get here?”

  “I don’t know. And who is ‘we’?”

  “Me and your brother. And one of his employees.”

  “Grange is here? Grange told you who he was?”

  “Yes. How did you end up on this island?”

  “I’m on an island? I don’t even know how I got here.”

  Pete. It had to be Pete who brought her mother here, who shoved her into this room. This was his island. But why would he do this? Why her mother? Why betray Grange? “What’s the last thing you remember?”

  “I had an appointment with a realtor to buy a house. I had seen the house a few times before and really liked it, so I was ready to close the deal on the property. I was going to settle down, get a job, go back to school.”

  All those things she had heard about, but her mother hadn’t told her about.

  “We met at the house. He offered me some tea. That’s all I remember until I woke up here.”

  “It must have been Pete.”

  “Who’s Pete?”

  “A friend of Grange’s, or at least we thought he was a friend. He owns this island we’re on.”

  “Oh, no. I’m sorry you’re involved in this, Elena. We’ve tried so hard to keep you safe. Grange has always been worried that his job would harm you or me. I told him not to be concerned. I guess he was right. I never took him seriously.”

  Elena squeezed her mother’s hand. “It’s so cold in here. Are you warm?”

  “There’s a blanket. And I have a sweater and some socks.”

  “Are you fed? Do you have water?”

  “Yes, to both. It’s just so dark in here. I miss the light, the warmth of the sun.”

  “How long have you been here? Do you know?”

  “Without the sun or the night, I have no idea. Weeks, maybe?”

  “Oh, Mom. I’m so sorry.”

  Her mother reached through the bars and caressed her cheek. “I’m the one who’s sorry. I haven’t taken care of you like I should. I guess I waited too long to grow up and become responsible.”

  Elena laughed. “I’m responsible enough for both of us. I’ll get us out of here.”

  “This is all so touching,” a voice said in the darkness. “Listening to the two of you get reacquainted. It’s too bad Grange isn’t around to hear it. It would only add to his guilt. But don’t worry. I recorded it all and I’ll make sure to play it for him.”

  Pete. Elena’s blood boiled at the thought of the torment he’d put her mother through. “Pete, let my mother go. You can keep me as a hostage. Grange will do whatever you want.”

  Pete laughed. “Why would I let either of you go? I have both of you now, and you mean everything to him. And now that you’ve got that new boyfriend, the two of them will go crazy trying to save you. And they’ll both fail.”

  “Let my daughter go,” her mother said. “You can do whatever you want to me. Let Elena go.”

  “How sweet that you’re both willing to sacrifice yourselves to save the other. Too bad Grange wasn’t so noble. He’ll likely let you both die before he puts his own ass on the line.”

  He went silent.

  “Pete?” Elena asked. “Pete!”

  She would not let her mother die. She didn’t plan on dying, either. Whatever plan Pete had, she wasn’t going to go along willingly. No matter what it took, she was going to fight.

  FOURTEEN

  Jed entered the restaurant where Carla had allegedly used her credit card. He flashed his I.D. and asked to speak to the manager, then reviewed the video surveillance of everyone who’d been at the restaurant during the time period her card had been swiped.

  No one matching her description had eaten or had a drink there. The person using the card was a middle-aged woman with sunglasses and brown hair. She’d worn a scarf, but made no effort to hide her face from video surveillance. She’d stopped at the bar, had a cocktail, used the card and left.

  But it wasn’t Carla. She had the same build and hair color, but it wasn’t Carla.

  He’d called Grange, who reported the same thing at the retail store where her card had been used. A woman with the same type of description had bought two blouses, used the card and left the store.

  “So two women fitting Carla’s description both use her card for small purchases, make no effort to hide from video surveillance then leave,” Jed said. “Smells like a setup to me.”

  “Agreed,” Grange said. “It’s like someone wanted us to go on these wild-goose chases. Why?”

  It hit Jed right away. “To separate us from Elena.”

  “We need to get in touch with Pete right aw
ay. We have to warn him. I’ll meet you at the helicopter pad.”

  Jed broke speeding records on his way to the helicopter pad. When he got there, his heart fell to his feet. The look on Grange’s face was grim.

  “What?” he asked.

  “Pete’s not answering his phone. And I can’t get in touch with the copter pilot. I’ve made arrangements to get another helo here pronto. ETA is thirty minutes.”

  When every second counted, thirty minutes just didn’t seem fast enough.

  Jed paced, ran his fingers through his hair, watched the sky and paced some more, trying to formulate a battle plan. While he walked in one direction, Grange went in another, neither of them saying anything to the other. When Jed heard the whir of rotor blades, he almost yelled in triumph. As soon as the helicopter landed, they were airborne again and heading to the island.

  He hoped they would find the other helicopter standing by and Pete waiting for them with an explanation of cell trouble.

  His hopes were dashed when he saw the helicopter gone and no Pete standing there wondering why the hell there was another helo landing on his island. Because if Pete were able, he should be waiting there with a gun in his hand ready to fire on an intruder.

  Grange and Jed pulled out their weapons and ran through the jungle.

  “I’ll take the right, you take the left. Shoot anybody that isn’t Elena or Pete.”

  That was Jed’s plan anyway. By the time they got to the house, Jed already knew Elena was in deep trouble. Maybe they were connected in some emotional way, because he knew she was gone. He didn’t feel her nearby.

  She wasn’t in the house. Neither was Pete.

  “We tear this island apart,” Grange said.

  Jed was right on his heels as they moved through the island with precision, looking through the jungle, checking trees, bushes or anyplace Elena could be held. When they broke through the clearing and saw the other house, Jed looked at Grange.

  The front door was partially open.

  “Supply house,” Grange said. “And Pete always keeps it locked.”

  Jed lifted his weapon as they pushed the door open. It was cold in there.

  The main room was clear, so they went in through the next room, a hallway leading to other doors. They checked each door, which was locked. Jed kicked them in one by one.