by Vicki Hinze
Carefully, she tipped the knife end over end and then began sawing the rope. “You’re going to jail. I’m going to be free—and so is my mother.”
“So Annie is still alive.”
“No thanks to you. But, yes, she’s alive and doing well.” Lisa prayed it was true.
“No matter. We’ll be dead within an hour, and she’ll still be alone.” He scooted on the floor to the wall and then shouldered his way into sitting up. “You’re out of your mind if you think you’re going to escape.”
He shifted his weight, leaned back, and grunted. “Such a shame things worked out like this. I was looking forward to getting monthly tapes of you fighting for your life. But knowing you’re going to die with me will have to do.”
She spun and squared off at him. “I am not going to die.”
“We both are.” His eyes were laced with a knowledge that turned her blood to ice. “Being a doc and all, you’re surely not stupid enough to think Masson would leave us here unless he was certain we’d die. He’s a professional cleaner, girl. They don’t leave loose ends.”
She had deduced the same thing, and Dutch had a point. Masson was a professional. One of the ropes binding her wrist sliced in two and fell free. One down, one to go. “We’ll get untied and walk out of here.”
“Hate to break it to you, but you’re a lousy listener. We’re on a very small island. Islands are surrounded by water. Like Masson said, the only way to walk out of here is if you can walk on water. Contrary to what your mother thinks, you can’t. There is no boat. There is no ferry. There are no neighbors. And this”—he pointed to his abdomen—“is no belt.”
Belt? She looked over and saw explosives strapped around Dutch’s middle. “Did you do that, or did—?”
“Masson.” Dutch grimaced. “He’s got tripwires rigged all over this place, inside and out. In fact, I’m surprised you haven’t already snagged one.”
A chill slid up Lisa’s back.
Dutch chuckled. “See, I told you. Deader than dirt.”
Lisa refused to believe it. “Did you see where he put them?”
“Some of the explosives and wires, yes. Others, no. I just heard them. But it doesn’t matter. Here or somewhere else, I’m a dead man. NINA won’t let me live.”
Lisa tried to focus, to think, sawing at the rope. “You could turn state’s evidence. Tell all you know on NINA and enter a witness-protection plan.”
He laughed. “You’re stupid and insane. NINA members turn up everywhere. Nobody outruns ’em.” He blew out a long breath. “I’m dead. And that’s a fact.”
The rope fell off her wrist. She quickly untied the other piece and tossed the rope onto the countertop, then put down the knife and glanced out the open door to the little porch. They were surrounded by water. “So if I cut you loose, you’ll refuse to leave. You’ve decided to just sit there and die, right?”
“Actually, that’s not my plan.”
Frustrated, she shoved her hair back from her face and swiped the grit from her hand on her red dress. “Okay, so you’ve been blowing smoke, trying to get me all freaked out and weepy. I’m not a kid anymore, and I don’t get weepy. So spare us both your stupid games and just tell me. What is your plan, Dutch?”
“I’m going to get out of here and blow the place up so NINA thinks I’m dead. Then I’m going to get Annie out of the hospital, and we’re going to take off for parts unknown. I plan to live for a long time.”
“You’re not getting near my mother, but the rest of your plan works for me. Let’s go.”
“No, Lisa.” He separated his arms as if they weren’t tied at all. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Reaching for his side, he pulled out a gun and took aim at her. “Sit down.”
Lisa didn’t pause to think. She lunged toward the table, using it as a shield, dropped to the floor, and rolled out onto the porch. At its edge, she shot a quick look for stumps, saw none close, and flung herself off.
“No!” Dutch’s scream followed her.
The ten-foot drop into the water seemed to happen in slow motion. She hit the water, sank down, then floated up and broke the surface. The loud splash still echoed through the bayou. Cold water surrounded her, stole her breath. She bumped the soft, squishy bottom and shoved off, heading away from the camp.
The water wasn’t deep, four to five feet, but it was likely teeming with water moccasins. Dutch had talked about shooting them off the porch all the time. Were they out in winter?
Having no idea, she grabbed a frosty gulp of air and stared up at the door, thankful she hadn’t hit one of Masson’s tripwires. No sign of Dutch.
Daybreak was coming, and in the sleety gray, she studied the piers beneath the house. One after another was strapped with explosives and charged with tripwires. Everywhere.
For once, Dutch hadn’t been lying. And it was a miracle she’d moved inside at all without tripping one.
Dutch still could.
Her heart still careening, she swam out away from the house and tried to get some bearing of which way to go. In the distance, something metallic glinted in the weak morning light. She started swimming toward it—and heard a gunshot.
Forced air streaked past her ear, whistling. Water off her right shoulder splashed. She dove, kicked hard, propelling herself farther away and out of his line of fire. When she thought her lungs would burst, she surfaced and dragged in air, stole a look back toward the house.
He stood on the little porch, his feet and hands oddly bound. He would shoot her like he had the snakes, and he’d had a lot of practice, so he was probably good at it.
Terrified by that truth, she sank low so only her nose protruded above the water.
“You can’t hide from me.” He took aim to shoot.
She dove deep and swam a jagged path toward that metallic glint.
When she next broke the surface, Dutch was shouting at her, cursing, raging. “I’ll kill you! You’re going to see what happens when you get in my way, girl. You’ll find out just like your daddy did. I hated him and I hate you. You hear me, you sniveling brat? I’ll kill—”
He’d killed her father. Killed him because he was in the way. Dutch wanted her mother and to get to her, he had to—oh no. No. The Spider hadn’t randomly abducted her the first time. It’d been deliberate. Dutch had done it. He’d paid Masson to kill her father and abduct her!
Logic told her to be quiet. Her heart wouldn’t let her. All of her fury erupted in a shout. “Why did you do it? You killed my dad! You murderer!”
A memory snapped in her mind. Dutch at the dinner table with her mother and father. Lisa had complained about dressing for dinner, and her mother insisted she be respectful. Dutch was their guest. “You were there. You were at our house. I saw you at our house. You ate at our table.”
“Your father was a fool. Taking his money was like taking candy from a kid.”
He swindled the money from her father in a Ponzi scheme. “You stole it.” She gasped. “You tried to steal my mother, but she loved my father. She’d never have left him for you. So you stole his money and—”
“He left her.” Dutch cackled.
Dutch had done it all. Outrage burned like acid, and Lisa bellowed, “How dare you destroy our lives!”
Dutch shot at her again. And then again. Both bullets landed far to her left. He’d lost her, and her voice was echoing off the water; he couldn’t peg her position.
His raging turned to a guttural scream that echoed over the water and pierced her ears. She covered them and lurched back until only her nose to the top of her head was out of the cold water.
Cursing her, Dutch moved closer to the edge of the porch. He tripped and fell. Prone on the wooden deck, he fired yet again; rapid-releasing bullets wildly into the air, into the water, hoping to hit her. Water sprayed and showered her face.
The house exploded.
Dutch went flying, his clothes on fire.
Lisa jerked, watched debris fly aflame and smoke billow
from the house. Horror flooded her. He’d hit a tripwire.
She should swim back. She should—she had to—swim back.
The battle to let him die or try to save him was fierce. He should die. He deserved to die.
Vengeance is Mine.
Disappointment hit her hard. She had to go back—or become like him.
Paddling in an arc, she saw Dutch draped on a tree stump, sticking up from the water like a spear. His head hung at an odd angle. His back bent in a way it shouldn’t be. The explosives on his body hadn’t detonated.
A secondary explosion went off.
Flames shot up into the sky; burning debris fell like rain. Keeping a safe distance, she swam in a wide circle over to Dutch. Still and lifeless, he appeared dead. She felt for a pulse but found none.
In trying to kill her, he had killed himself.
“Lisa! Lisa, where are you?”
Mark. She swam hard toward the voice, toward the glint, and saw it was sunlight skimming over the water to the bank of land and catching on the bumper of a distant car. “Mark! I’m here! I’m here!”
A pirogue appeared at the edge of the fire. Mark sat in it, an oar in his hand. “Where? I can’t see you.”
“Here!” She waved wildly.
He spotted her. Eating through the water with strong, efficient strokes, he pulled alongside her and lifted her into the boat. “You’re okay?” He wrapped her in his coat. “When I heard that explosion—”
“Dutch did it, Mark.” She sniffed and words frantically spilled from her mouth. “He’s dead. Masson rigged the place to blow. Explosives were everywhere and tripwires. I got free. Dutch made it clear he was going to kill me, so I escaped. He was shooting and shooting at me, and he triggered a tripwire. The next thing I knew, the whole camp was exploding and Dutch got thrown into the water and there was fire everywhere and—”
“Honey. Honey, shh.” He covered her lips with his fingers. “Where’s Masson?”
“He left.” She shivered, snuggled closer to him. Mark was so warm. “I heard the boat. He didn’t come back.”
Relief shone in Mark’s expression. Some of the tension left his muscles.
“Dutch said NINA would demand blood for Mexico. Masson will hide for years.” She shivered uncontrollably.
“I heard the shots and was terrified I wouldn’t get to you in time.” Mark held her close to him, paddled from around her. “I told you not to scare me like that anymore.”
Her hair dripping, her teeth chattering, Lisa smiled. “You weren’t too late. But how did you find me? I didn’t even know about this place.”
He returned her smile. “Annie.”
Lisa brightened. “My mom told you?”
He nodded, his eyes glistening. “She’s awake, Lisa. She’s awake and fine and she sent me here to get you.”
Lisa gasped. “She’s really okay?”
“Really.” Mark blew out a shuddery breath. “And I’m under direct orders to bring you to her.”
“Are there any residual effects from the attack? Medically, I mean.”
“She’s going to be fine.” He pulled the pirogue ashore. Two cars were parked side by side. His and, she presumed, Dutch’s. “Actually, she’s planning on moving into the Towers with Nora.”
“No. She’s coming to live with me in Kelly’s beach house.”
“She and Nora phoned me on my way over here. They’re going to live at the Towers—Nora shouldn’t be alone with her eyes. And you and I are going to live in the beach house.” He cleared his throat. “At least that’s their version—after our wedding of course, which they’re also planning.” He offered her a hand to get out of the beached boat. “What do you think about that?”
“I think it’s going to take both of us to slow them down. We might need your team to help stop them.” Lisa crawled out and stood facing him. “And for the record, I’m not opposed to marrying you. But I think we need some time to be a normal couple before we start talking about weddings.”
“Me too.” He smiled, touched a fingertip to her nose. “You’ve got some catching up to do.”
Lisa wrapped her arms around him and kissed him soundly, loving the solid and steady feel of him. “Maybe not as much as you think.”
29
M om.” Lisa burst into tears, stretched across the hospital bed, and hugged her mother.
“Oh, Lisa. Lisa.” Her arms were warm, her head burrowed into Lisa’s shoulder. “I can’t believe it,” she said in a trembling voice. “Finally. I-I can’t—Mark.” Annie reached for him. “Mark, come here, darling.”
He rounded the bed and bent low so Annie could wrap an arm around him too. Along moment passed while she sobbed—a moment in which Lisa knew a feeling so long absent from her life: contentment.
“It’s beautiful,” Tim said, his deep voice gruff.
“Yeah it is, bro.” Joe sighed.
Sam sniffed.
Nick elbowed him. “Think steel.”
“No way, bud.” Sam sniffed again. “This needs to be felt. It’s what makes everything else worthwhile.”
Nora and Peggy flanked Sam and linked their arms.
Ben, Kelly, Mel, Harvey, and Clyde were there, along with Selene and Gwen, and few had dry eyes. Then gasps of expelled breaths began and the magical moment faded to the thunder of everyone laughing, talking at once, and details of all that had happened were shared, commented on, and digested.
“Excuse me.” A woman walked deeper into the crowded hospital room, winding between Nick and Nora toward Annie’s bed. Lost in the crush, she raised her voice. “Excuse me.”
Everyone stilled.
Tim and Nick moved in, blocked her entrance.
“It’s okay.” Harvey Talbot stepped forward, looking anything but gentle or welcoming. “Roxanne, what are you doing here?”
Lisa looked at Mark and then at the woman.
“Roxanne?” Mark asked. “Roxy, do you know Harvey?”
“Apparently better than I thought she did,” Lisa whispered.
“Um, yes, I do.” She looked at Harvey through bright eyes, clearly hungry for the sight of him. “Hi, Harvey.” She swallowed hard. “It’s been a long time.”
“Roxy?” Harvey glanced over to Lisa. “This is your FBI friend Roxy?”
Lisa nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Harvey was clearly flabbergasted.
“Tell you what?”
“I’m Harvey’s wife, Lisa.” Roxy sounded almost shy. “Well, I was his wife.”
“You’re kidding me.” Lisa looked at Mark, and from his expression he hadn’t known that tidbit of information either. “Why didn’t I know that?”
“I was jealous of all of you and the time Harvey spent at the center, so I stayed away.”
“What are you doing here now—at the hospital, I mean?” Harvey couldn’t seem to grasp the fact that his wife was in the room.
“Harvey,” Peggy said. “You know she’s an FBI agent.”
Joe told Selene, “Roxy’s been working on a human-trafficking case linked to NINA for a year.”
“Actually, for three years,” Roxy corrected him, then spoke to Harvey. “Since just after our divorce.”
Harvey’s face turned red. “You didn’t divorce me because I neglected you for my work. You divorced me so NINA wouldn’t use me to get to you on this case.”
“Can we talk about this later?” She worried her lip with her teeth. “Privately would be good.”
“Might as well do it now, I’m thinking,” Nora said, as interested as the rest of them. “We’re gonna speculate anyway, dearie. Best get the truth straight from you.”
“Nora, you’re heartless.” Peggy nodded, adding weight to her claim. “This is about their marriage. They’re entitled to privacy.”
“Fine. Let everybody down at Ruby’s add their little twists on it, then. Because you know they will.”
“She’s right,” Roxy told Harvey. “I’d forgotten about the village grapevine.”
&nb
sp; “Roxanne, I couldn’t care less about gossip. I can’t believe you did this to me.” A muscle in Harvey’s jaw ticked. “Answer my questions.”
Looking more afraid of him than of the terrorists, Roxy turned to face her ex-husband. “Yes, Harvey. I got the NINA assignment and divorced you to keep you safe so they wouldn’t hurt you or use you to hurt me.” She looked down at his chest, as if unable to hold his gaze. “I didn’t tell you because you wouldn’t have listened to me, and you would have pitched a fit about my taking the job. Speaking of which, I need to share some information with the people here. Now that’s all I’m saying about us publicly, and that’s that.”
“He looks a little too dumbfounded to talk more now anyway, don’t you think?” Mark asked Lisa.
“Yeah, he does.” Her heart twisted. “We would be too.”
“She divorced him. I can’t believe it.” Mark sent Lisa a loaded look. “Don’t you ever think about pulling anything like this on me. Walking out on him for a job? That’s crazy.”
“You know she had her reasons. She protected him too.”
“Watch Lisa, Mark. She’ll do what needs doing, promise or no promise,” Annie said. “Don’t glare at me, darling. It’s the truth. You’ve always been that way.”
Mark nodded. “True. But what can I say, I love her.”
“She loves you too, though at the moment …”
Roxy cleared her throat. “Listen up, everybody. We’re putting out the word that two people were in the fishing camp and one of them was Karl Masson.”
“What?” Lisa straightened.
“You can’t be saying what I think you’re saying.” Mark squared off on Roxy. “Masson is not going to walk.”
She stiffened. “Just listen to me, okay?” She slid an uncertain glance at Annie. “I’m trying to be consid—”
“I know Dutch is dead, Roxy, but thank you for being careful to spare my feelings,” Annie said softly. “Or do you prefer to be called Roxanne?”
“Roxy.” She shrugged. “Sorry if I sounded cagey. I wasn’t sure you’d been told yet, and I didn’t want you to hear it this way.”