by T. S. Ryder
Her lip trembled again and Bobby immediately wrapped his arms around her. He hated seeing her in pain like this.
“And what about the others?” The question slipped out before he could stop it.
Noel sighed. “I don’t really know what’s going on with them. Maybe it just got too close to them boning each other again and they freaked out.”
Diana turned a glare on him. “You really need to check that attitude,” she said, then sucked in a deep breath. “I didn’t mean to snap like that. I just . . . I don’t want my child to grow up in a place where if they’re not straight they’re shamed for it. And that means everything: gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual. If this child loves women or men or both or neither, I want them to have a good life and to be comfortable in their own skin. Kurtis and Ricky, regardless of what their feelings for each other were or are, had their friendship broken by rumors. I don’t want that to happen to . . . ”
Her hand rested on her stomach and her eyes widened as she stared back at the dumbfounded expressions on Noel and Bobby’s faces. She chewed on her lip. Bobby wasn’t certain whether to feel elated or terrified, so he settled on a confusing mix of both.
“I didn’t mean to tell you like this,” she whispered. “I found out yesterday when Ruby and I went to town.”
Noel pulled her into his arms. Bobby sandwiched her on the other side. The two of them kissed her. Bobby’s heart was so full that it was difficult to breathe. They were going to have a baby!
“We’ll figure this out,” Noel promised her. “And as for that other thing . . . we’ll work it out, too. I’ll talk with Kurtis and Ricky. We’ll get everything sorted out.”
Bobby nodded and rested his head on hers. They would figure this out. No matter what it took.
Chapter Eighteen – Noel
Noel’s talk with Kurtis and Ricky did not go as planned. He had thought, since they were united on the issue of opening up Black Sands territory for Flatlands fields, they would have been getting along.
He was wrong.
So wrong that when he got them together to talk about the issues with Diana, he’d ended up having to break up a fight before they even started to talk. Now, both of them childishly refused to take his calls.
Noel had never thought of himself as especially mature. Strong, smart, the best hunter on the island, for sure. At the heart of him, however, he felt like a twenty-year-old suddenly saddled with running a clan when he was more interested in wrestling sharks than handling finances. But at least he had swallowed his pride and actually talked out a solution with Diana.
The sharp bow of his kayak sliced through the water cleanly as he paddled against the undercurrent, his big arms bunching with effort. Sea sprayed into his face as he headed for a little island to the north of the clans’ territories. He wouldn’t be out of radio signal, but he needed a little time to himself.
It was ironic. When everything started, he would have been gloating over the fact that Ricky and Kurtis were fighting so much. To his mind then, it would have left Diana for him alone. Bobby hadn’t been worth thinking about back then, and he had expected her to treat him like everybody else did.
Now, though . . . He ached to be able to comfort her but had no frigging idea how to go about it. Bobby was the one she was curled up with on the bed while he slept on the ground outside. Not willing to leave her, but having no space in the camper to be with them. He’d even insisted that he was fine on the rocky ground by himself when Diana suggested that she sleep out with him — he didn’t want her to suffer from restless nights. And Bobby was a much more comforting source to her. He was able to calm her tears during the night.
If only he knew how to get Kurtis and Ricky to talk to her. Or even just Ricky. He had a gut feeling that Kurtis was keeping his distance because he blamed himself for what was happening between Ricky and Diana. That damned fool was acting like they were all out to get him.
If they knew about her pregnancy, perhaps they’d come around. Diana didn’t want to tell them until she had things more worked out between them all, though. He understood why . . . One of them had a child growing inside of her. While it could unite them more, it might tear them even further apart. It made the situation far more permanent.
As he got closer to the outlying island, he saw something sticking up out of the water. Noel frowned and adjusted his course toward it. Tourists were constantly coming out onto the ocean and getting themselves into trouble. More than once, he’d had to radio the mainland with a casualty.
It was a sunken boat, alright. The white outline rippled under the surface of the water. He cursed when he got close to it. It wasn’t just any boat . . . it was the one that Diana’s ex had taken when he left the island. Noel leaned out of the kayak and tugged on the boat’s hull. From what he could see, it was intact. It was almost as if somebody had dunked it under the water on purpose . . .
Noel saw no sign of the man himself, so he paddled to the shore. Threads of the stench of dead flesh wove through the clean salt of the sea, and he growled. Half-hunched, he followed the scent to a shallow tidepool near the edge of the ocean. His stomach churned when he saw the body lying half in the water.
He’d seen many human corpses in the sea. He didn’t need to look to know what the fish would have done to the body. Its foot was caught in a jagged rock; otherwise, it would have been washed out to sea and most likely never seen again. It was entirely possible that the body had been tossed in at high tide, only to get wedged in this little pool.
A quick glance told him what he needed to know: it was Diana’s ex.
And there was a bullet hole sitting dead center in his forehead.
“Shit,” he growled as he unclipped his radio. He turned it to the channel that only the alphas used in times when cellphones didn’t cut it. Out here, he’d have little to no service. “Bobby, this is Noel. Come in.”
After a moment’s crackling, Bobby’s voice came over the line. “What’s up?”
“I’ve just come across a body. It’s Diana’s ex. He’s been murdered.” Which could only mean one thing. His blood ran cold. “Get her back to the main house and lock it up. And get Ricky and Kurtis on this, too.” His heart slammed against his ribs.
Only a crackle of static answered him. He glanced at the sky. It was starting to cloud over. The taste of the air changed, and he bristled. All these years on the island, and he was still an idiot when it came to reading the weather. It had been clear as a bell when he had headed out, but he hadn’t paid attention. A storm was coming.
Fitting, considering what he had just learned.
There was still no response on the radio, so Noel headed back to the kayak. He paddled hard, muscles straining. His stomach churned and bile crept up his throat. What would he do if something happened to her? What would he do if he lost her?
Suddenly, the week he had taken on that hunting trip felt like utter nonsense. He should have just stayed, found a way to talk to her, explain things without being such a hard-headed idiot. He had only just been able to figure out how to go back to her. If he lost her now when he had just gotten her back . . .
When he got closer to the island, he saw a motorboat speeding away from it toward the mainland. His heart jumped into his throat when he saw the dark hair whipping in the wind. Diana.
What the hell was she doing? She headed right for the rocks that had capsized her boat the first time she had come out here. With a curse, he strained to intercept her. When he dashed in front of her bow, she cut the engine abruptly.
“What are you doing?” he shouted, pulse-pounding. “You’re headed straight for rocks! You’ll capsize again!”
Tears streamed down Diana’s face. “I’m not staying! You killed him! He threatened to tell the world about the bears here, so you killed him!”
Noel’s shoulders tensed. His first instinct was to snarl back at her, to try to subdue her like an alpha would with an unruly subordinate, but Diana wasn’t a subordinate. He sucked in a deep breath
, reaching to grab the edge of her boat.
“No. I know that this is frightening, but you can’t accuse us of something like that. Okay? We need to talk this out, something we can’t do if we’re getting all defensive over—”
Diana suddenly leaped from the boat. She landed with a splash, sending a spray over him and started swimming toward the mainland. Noel reacted on instinct. He lunged, flipping the kayak over as he did so and seized her around the waist. He expertly flipped her back around and held her close to his chest, her legs straddling the kayak. She spluttered and spat out seawater. She shook her head wildly.
“I can’t,” she sobbed. “I can’t deal with this anymore. I just can’t. The only reason you guys even wanted me was that I was a damsel in distress. I’m not strong enough or smart enough or—”
“Diana.” Noel clutched her tighter. He kept his voice a low rumble. His mind jerked every which way, trying to figure out what to say to her. Eventually, it settled on one thing . . . She needed to know how he felt. “I know you’re frightened. And I know that this situation is messy for all of us, but you know that we would never have killed your ex . . . Well, I would have killed him in a heartbeat if he had hurt you, but he didn’t.”
Her eyes widened and she stopped struggling. “You don’t mean that.”
“Don’t mean . . . what?”
“You wouldn’t have really killed him.”
It was ironic, considering that she had just accused him of doing just that. He looked into her eye and nodded slowly. “I would have. If he had hurt you. I have to hold myself back from beating the crap out of Ricky and Kurtis because of how they are hurting you. And I never thought I’d feel like this, but I . . . I regret my own role in your pain more than you can imagine. I l—”
“Don’t.” Diana pressed a hand over his mouth. “I can’t right now. Not now.”
Fear shone in her eyes. Because there was still someone after her or because of his near-confession? Noel tried to ignore the bitter disappointment in his stomach and nodded instead. He set her back in the motorboat and climbed in after her. He tied a bit of rope to the front of his kayak and they headed back to the island.
***
Diana shivered from head to toe by the time they returned. Noel wasn’t certain if it was entirely from the cold or repressed sobs as well. When they docked, the other three alphas were awaiting them.
Ricky pulled her out of the boat and hugged her tight. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, combing his fingers through her wet hair. “I’m so sorry. I was such an idiot.”
“Me, too.” Kurtis put his arms around both of them.
Noel averted his gaze to give them some semblance of privacy as he climbed from the boat. When he turned back, Bobby wrapped a blanket around Diana. He stepped into the group embrace, holding Diana between the other alphas as he put his arms around them. It was weird but also nice.
He didn’t miss the way that Kurtis and Ricky’s heads touched as they bent over her. A twist of guilt wrapped around his stomach as he stood watching them. He had played a big part in the rumors that the two of them were sleeping together . . . Was it his fault that they were such bitter rivals now? He hadn’t considered it before, but what if his children weren’t straight? What would he do? Would they even have the courage to come out to him?
He buried his face into Diana’s hair. This was unacceptable. He needed to work out his own issues, but the amount of homophobia on the island had to stop. After all, if it was acceptable for three men to have sex with the same woman at the same time, why should it be such a big deal if there wasn’t a woman involved at all?
“What’s the plan?” Bobby said. He looked at Noel.
Ricky and Kurtis both turned to him as well. Diana stared at him with big, trusting eyes. His arms tightened for a moment before he nodded. He knew what to do.
“We find the killer. And we take care of them in whatever method is required to keep Diana safe.”
The others nodded in agreement. Diana shivered and buried herself in his arms again.
Chapter Nineteen – Ricky
Kurtis’ face was a shade of green Ricky had only seen on him the first time when they were boys and he showed him a dead calf born prematurely. Then, he had teased him mercilessly. Now, Ricky kept his arms folded over his chest as he listened to the medical examiner explain what he had managed to find out.
It wasn’t just so that he looked tough . . . Ricky had never seen a human body in such a condition, and it made him feel like he was about to vomit. As much as a ‘tough guy’ he knew he was, something like this . . . It was just awful.
The autopsy had revealed that Diana’s ex had died the day that he left the island. He’d been submerged or partly submerged since then. Cause of death was a bullet from a handgun to the forehead. The angle of the bullet and the staining on the inside of the skull indicated that death was not instantaneous.
“Thank you,” Kurtis said when the ME was done. “If you learn anything else of interest, just let us know.”
She nodded and looked at the decomposing body on her table. “I’ve never had a murder victim before. Plenty of drowners, but never murder.”
Ricky nodded at her sharply before he turned and walked away. Until today, he thought that having a trained ME on the island was a waste of money. True, she also served as a doctor, and once, when the vet was at a convention to brush up on his skills, she had helped with an emergency they’d had with one of the cows. Now, though, he was glad to have her.
“I guess we ought to call this in,” Kurtis said as he pulled his phone from his pocket. He made a noise of disgust looking at his non-functioning phone. “Radio it is. We’re gonna get a doozy of a storm if it’s already knocking out cell service.”
Ricky grunted in response. He wasn’t happy with how Noel had decided to divide them up. He and Bobby were with Diana, guarding her, while Ricky and Kurtis did investigatory stuff and led the search parties. If he didn’t know better, Ricky would have thought that this was a cheap trick to get him and Kurtis back together and out of the way when it came to Diana.
“I was thinking,” Kurtis said, voice stiff, as they headed for the car. “There aren’t a lot of places here on the island where someone would be able to hide.”
Ricky tensed, already knowing where he was going to suggest going. He opened his mouth to argue against it but closed it again. He nodded, keeping the glare off his face. “We can’t be the only ones to have found that cave.”
“No, but it’s a place to hide and a place not many people know about.” Kurtis started the engine of his car. “I would have mentioned it to the others, except . . . ”
“Except for what we left there.”
Kurtis nodded.
Ricky stared at the passing scenery, remembering the nights when he and Kurtis would camp out in that little cave, thinking that they were the only ones who’d ever be able to find it. Spray-painting the walls, laughing as they did so. He cleared his throat as they headed that way.
“I was thinking . . . The reason we’ve never built anything higher than three stories is that they’ve never been stable, but technology is changing. They have skyscrapers all over the California coast. We just need to get an architect with modern building techniques that withstand storms. Then we can open up more land near town for farming. It’s better than anything with the Black Sands. Fertile. Flat. Very few rocks.”
Kurtis was silent for a moment, his shoulders tense. “So, you’re going to let yourself be bullied down, huh?”
“No. I’m trying to not be a bully.”
Kurtis’ shoulders slumped.
Ricky gestured at the scenery as they passed into Black Sands territory. “We don’t have endless room. The town can’t keep expanding. We need to rethink . . . well, everything.”
“Houses with flat roofs so we can build gardens on the tops of them.”
Ricky glanced at Kurtis in surprise. Where had that come from? “Yeah . . . I mean, it wouldn’t be great fo
r the Flatlands clan, but—”
“But if we’re really going to combine the four clans into one, then we need to stop thinking about what’s good for my clan versus what’s good for your clan. There’s a huge push these days for locally-grown products. If we work together, maybe we can get a few booths at a farmer’s market on the mainland. Start bringing in some money that way.”
“Why do we need to bring in more money? Don’t you have huge reserves of gold?”
Stress lined Kurtis’ face, making him look years older. “Our island is headed for economic devastation, Ricky. You know those diamonds I bought for Diana? Those were three months’ worth of salary and they’re lab-made. And I returned them so that we’d have enough money for college applicants this year. The Ridgeline has no money, not with the increased cost of education and living on the mainland. It used to be that one of our students could get a part-time minimum wage job and pay off their loans. Now they’re working full-time and barely make it month to month with anything left over to pay us back.”
They pulled to a stop. Kurtis’ hands clenched tight on the steering wheel as he stared straight ahead. There was actual fear in his eyes. Ricky unbuckled his belt, not certain what to say or do. It had been a long, long time since Kurtis had opened up to him like this. And that was as much his fault as anybody else’s. He was the one who had turned his back on what they had.
“Yeah, well, we don’t even know if this whole queen thing is going to work out,” Ricky grumbled. “So—”
“It has to. You know that. If we don’t start working as a team, then the island is going to collapse. It can’t stay the way it’s been.”
Ricky didn’t want to talk about it. He got out of the car and glanced around. It had been so long since he’d been there that it took him a couple of minutes to remember which direction the cave was. He started that way, but Kurtis caught him by the arm and jerked him to a stop before he’d gone more than a few feet.
“Rick, come on. Staying silent in these matters isn’t an option anymore. Just look at what it’s done with you and Diana. All because of a stupid comment I made when I was mad that she was siding with you rather than me.”