The Island

by Heather Graham

  The other dancers had arrived. Mauricio stood beside Maria.

  The Masons were there, ringed around Eduardo, Maria and the dancers.

  Then, in the crowd, she saw Matt Albright, and a small distance from him, helping himself to a glass of champagne, Lee Gomez.

  Still, no sign of Keith. But then, he’d said he wanted to stay unseen, and apparently he’d meant it.

  As she greeted some of the members, Commodore Berry came to her side. “Beth, this is incredible. Already a hit, and we’ve hardly even started.” He lowered his voice. “I know the place is crawling with police, but how can you tell who’s who in such a crowd?”

  He had a point, she decided. In a moment of panic, she excused herself and threaded her way through the crowd.

  She breathed a sigh of relief. Ashley was still with Amber. Sticking like glue.

  The band stopped playing just then, and the commodore asked everyone to start taking their places for dinner. People began to file to their tables. An older man, tall and well built, with thick white hair, beard and a mustache, and sea-green eyes, passed her and smiled. She smiled back, though she had no idea who he was. There were too many guests from their sister clubs that night, she decided. She watched the others file into the dining room and take their seats. The dance instructors were together at a table with Manny and Eduardo Shea. The Masons were all in attendance, including Gerald. They were at a table with Matt and Lee.

  If Brad and Sandy were present anywhere, she hadn’t seen them.

  The commodore gave his welcome speech. Beth joined her own family at last. When she sat, she was at Jake Dilessio’s side. Ashley was beside her husband, and Amber was on Ashley’s other side, with Ben next to her, and Kimberly next to him.

  She tried to relax, tried to eat.

  Whoever the man was with the white hair and Colonel Sanders mustache, he must have been a friend of Commodore Berry’s, because he had a seat on the dais.

  The commodore announced the menu, welcomed the members and guests, and hoped that all the docking arrangements had gone smoothly. He thanked the chef and the staff, and made a special announcement, thanking Beth, as well, and introducing her. She was startled when he demanded that she rise, which she did, and she tried not to feel awkward as she received applause.

  Her brother clapped with the others, politely, but he stared at her as if he felt he had nurtured a traitor. She wondered if she would ever be able to fix things between them.

  Yet again, she wondered where Keith was.

  Dinner was served, and it was as delicious as the chef had promised. Kim and Amber chatted; even Ashley and Jake seemed casual.

  As courses came and went, people hopped sociably from table to table. Amanda joined them for several minutes, complimenting Kim and Amber, flirting with Ben. Hank dropped by, then Gerald.

  There was a tap on Beth’s shoulder. She nearly jumped a mile. It was Matt Albright. “Hi. I just came over to see how you’re doing,” he said cheerfully.

  “Great. Good to see you,” she told him.

  “Have you seen Keith?” he asked her. “He was supposed to be here with us.”

  “No, I haven’t seen him in here,” she answered honestly.

  “There’s just no telling with that guy,” he said, and shrugged. “Well, I hear there’s dancing later. Save something for me, huh?”

  “Sure. Though I hear it’s salsa—and your best partners are over at that table,” she said, pointing to Eduardo and his group.

  “I have a feeling you’d be a great partner,” he told her.

  “Well, thanks,” she murmured.

  Roger Mason stopped by next to greet her brother.

  Amber rose. “Where are you going?” Beth asked sharply.

  Amber stared at her, surprised by the tone of her voice. “The bathroom, if it’s all right.”

  “I’ll go with you,” Beth said.

  “Aunt Beth, I know where it is.”

  “I know, but, um, I need to go myself.”

  “We’ll all go,” Ashley said cheerfully, rising. “Kim, join us?”

  “I don’t really have to go,” Kim said, bewildered.

  “But you don’t want to have to go during the dancing, right?” Beth asked. She didn’t know why; she just wanted the girls together, no matter what, and with Ashley or Jake at all times.

  She didn’t understand, either, why she was nervous all the way to the ladies’ room and back. The place was swarming with people, guests, members, staff, everyone having a good time. Ashley was as casual as could be, making the girls laugh. Beth thanked God for her friend—and for the fact that her friend was a cop and married to a cop.

  Back at the table, she sipped champagne, realizing that throughout the day she had become more tightly wound with each passing moment. She had to calm down or she would wind up jumping out of her chair and screaming.

  Dessert was served, and as the flaming soufflés went around, Commodore Berry rose again, announcing their entertainment.

  Mauricio escorted Maria to the dance floor out on the patio, open to the dining room and surrounded by additional tables.

  The music began.

  For several minutes Beth found herself as transfixed as the others. As she had felt earlier, it seemed impossible that anyone could move so fast, that steps could be so sensual and erotic, that anything could appear as miraculously, glitteringly swift and elegant, all in one.

  Then the music broke, and Mauricio and Maria stopped dead, dramatically posed. The old cliché was true, Beth thought. She really could have heard a pin drop.

  Then the moment was over. The music began again, and the dancers swirled into motion once more until at last the performance came to a halt.

  Everyone in the room rose; the applause was thunderous.

  Beth blinked. Eduardo was walking forward to thank his dancers. He was carrying a cordless mike, and he announced that there would be lessons for the guests, then introduced the rest of his staff. He had been speaking for several minutes before Beth realized that he hadn’t come from the direction of his table, he hadn’t been seated during the performance.

  Her heart thudded as she wondered if that meant anything.

  She looked around. The big cop who was dressed like a waiter was standing by one of the serving stations.

  He was still staring at the dance floor. Everyone had been staring at the dance floor. Had anyone seen Eduardo come and go?

  “Miss Elizabeth Anderson.”

  She started when she heard her name. She looked around, certain she must seem like a stunned child to the spectators.

  “Come on.”

  There was a roar of applause. Eduardo was looking at her, an arm outstretched toward her.

  “Get up, Aunt Beth. Go!” Amber said.

  “Go where? What?” Beth demanded.

  “He wants to use you to show everyone how quickly they can learn,” Kim told her.

  “What?” Beth said. “After that—after Maria, he wants me to get up there?”

  “Go on, sis,” Ben said, staring at her. “You were the one with the idea to bring in Eduardo Shea, weren’t you?”

  He had no idea how true that was, she thought. She was the one who had insisted on prying, on putting his child in danger. She knew that somewhere inside, her brother still loved her. But right now he wanted her to get up there and trip over her own feet.

  She had no choice. She rose, forced a smile and walked toward Eduardo. She tried to remember everything she had learned in her brief workout during Maria’s practice session.

  She met the man’s eyes. Tried not to betray the fact that she knew he might be conspiring with murderers. He stepped toward her. Her fingers curled around his in proper rhythm form. The band began to play.

  She was no Maria Lopez. But Eduardo Shea was good. No matter what else he might be, he was a great dancer. With him leading, she was shocked at how quickly she fell into the rhythm and how she could turn at his command without missing a beat.

 
Mauricio’s voice rang out as he invited everyone to rise and join them. He walked to the dais and selected the commodore’s wife. Maria beckoned to the commodore. The other teachers went to different tables, inviting the guests to rise.

  There were evidently, and perhaps naturally, many people in the room with some knowledge of salsa. Soon the floor was so crowded, it was almost impossible to move. Dancers began to spill out onto the lawn, in front of the docks.

  Dinner was officially over, it seemed. But the party had just begun.

  She was breathless when Eduardo stopped, bowing to her. “Thank you for being such a lovely volunteer! Regretfully, I must dance with others now,” he said.

  “May I?” someone said behind her as Eduardo turned away.

  She turned. Before she could protest, she found herself dancing with Hank Mason.

  “Quite a party,” he told her.

  “Thanks.”

  “Are you doing all right?” he queried.

  “Of course.”

  “You look a little nervous,” he said. “I heard about the prank with the skull, of course. Did you really see a skull when we were on the island?” he asked her.

  She shook her head, staring straight into his eyes. “Must have been a conch shell—that’s what Ben said.”

  He smiled. “You still seem awfully jumpy.”

  “I’ve got a lot riding on tonight, you know.” She looked nervously past his shoulder. Eduardo had led Amber out on the dance floor. “Excuse me, Hank.”

  She extricated herself from his hold and hurried across the floor. She needn’t have worried. Jake had already cut in.

  “Beth?” It was Roger Mason. “Do an old man proud, would you?”

  Before she knew it, she was in his arms. He knew how to salsa, and once again she found herself moving at the speed of light. She tried to see where Amber was and frowned, unable to see Kim, her brother, Amber or Ashley.

  The music suddenly changed, with the singer announcing that they were going to take it down to a rumba.

  “Excuse me. If I may?”

  Someone else was cutting in, neatly slipping her away from Roger.

  Beth was startled to swirl into the arms of the whitehaired man she had seen sitting with Commodore Berry.

  To her surprise, he knew how to rumba. She knew the basics and was able to move, but she was so concerned about Amber, she was thinking only about escape. “It’s all right. Kim’s parents are coming for her. The girls are out front. Ashley’s with them.”

  She nearly gasped. She never would have recognized him, as well as she thought she had known him.

  She nearly said his name out loud.

  “Close your mouth, please. Relax. You can’t be that tense for a rumba.”

  She stared at him, amazed. She wondered where he had learned to do such an incredible camouflage job with makeup. It was impossible to tell that the beard and mustache were false, that the hair was a wig. He was wearing green contacts, she realized. “Your own mother wouldn’t know you,” she told him.

  “That is the idea.”

  “Matt and Lee don’t even know you, do they?” she asked.

  He was silent for a moment. “No.”

  “Do you still think something’s going to happen?” she asked him.

  He shrugged. “Shea got up and started to disappear when Maria and Mauricio were dancing. I followed him. He was getting a beer.” He shook his head, looking a little disgusted. “I hope to hell I wasn’t wrong. It will be hard to swing law enforcement around to my way of thinking a second time. They can be pretty unforgiving. Like someone else I know.”

  She arched a brow. “Interesting. Let’s see, I have no idea what you’re really trying to do—ever. And I realize now that you’re as much a chameleon as any criminal out there. I thought I knew you, at least a little bit, but now I don’t know if anything I thought I knew is true.”

  “Could you trust me for a little while? Please?”

  She tilted her head, staring up at him. “I just don’t know how far you would go to achieve what you’re really seeking,” she told him. She became aware of a ringing as she spoke, then realized that it was her phone, clipped to her skirt.

  “Excuse me, will you? I’m sure there are others you need to dance with tonight,” she said smoothly, and stepped away, quickly slipping through the crowd to reach a spot on the edge of the dance floor, a breath of air and enough semi-isolation to hear.

  She glanced at the caller ID and quickly answered.

  “Aunt Beth?”

  “Amber, what is it? Where are you?”

  She heard something that sounded like a sob.

  “Aunt Beth, come quick. I need you!”

  17

  KEITH WATCHED HER GO, feeling an actual pain in his heart. Even after last night, she didn’t intend to forgive him.

  Had he been an idiot? he wondered. He’d spent the day in various forms of disguise, joining in with the electricians, the wait staff and then the guests. He’d listened in on conversations between the Masons, the dancers, and even Matt and Lee. There had been nothing to hear. The only moment when something might have been amiss had been when Eduardo Shea had risen, and he’d followed the man, only to see him with one of the waiters, getting a beer.

  He’d studied every guest. No sign of Brad or Sandy.

  “Hey there, handsome!”

  He turned to see an attractive older woman in a stunning blue gown that was complemented by the blue tint in her hair. “Spare me a dance?”

  He was about to find a way to beg off when he saw that Matt Albright was on the floor with Amanda. He smiled at the woman.

  “You must be from one of our sister clubs,” she said.

  He introduced himself as Jim Smithson, friend of Commodore Berry. He whirled her on the floor, close to Matt and Amanda. She began to talk as they moved, complimenting the party.

  She knew the steps; dancing was not a problem. She was very talkative, which was.

  Still, he caught snatches of conversation.

  “…and just disappeared,” Matt said.

  “I had a lovely night. I told you, I really like boats,” Amanda replied.

  “I saw that,” he heard Matt say.

  “Don’t you, Mr. Smithson?”

  He looked down into the eyes of his dance partner. He hadn’t the least idea what she had said.

  “Yes,” he replied, wincing, praying she wouldn’t speak again.

  “…the boat…but not me, I take it?” Matt said.

  “I had an appointment,” Amanda said. “Forgive me?”

  “What’s not to forgive?” Matt said a little harshly. “You took the tender and left.”

  Amanda giggled. “Sorry about that. I needed to get back to the club. I was meeting—”

  “I’m so glad, Mr. Smithson. I think you’ll find I have a lovely home,” the blue-haired lady said. He realized she was staring into his eyes, enraptured.

  “Excuse me?” Keith asked his partner.

  “And I’m glad that you feel the way I do about sex for our generation,” she said.

  “What?”

  Matt and Amanda had rumbaed away. “And since we agree that when a couple of our…maturity feel such an urge, there’s nothing wrong with acting on it…we can slip away right now,” she said.

  “I’m afraid I can’t, ma’am. I have a commitment this evening. You’ll have to excuse me.”

  Keith apologized, thanked her for the dance and left as quickly as he could. He wandered out to the edge of the patio. The music was loud, the lights brilliant. He saw one of the cops he’d been introduced to and nodded. The cop nodded in return, then accepted an empty glass from a gray-haired woman who was looking helplessly around for a place to put it down.

  It appeared as if she was about to approach him. He turned, circling around, searching for Matt. At last he found him, standing out on the dock, staring out at the water.

  He strode down to the dock to join him. “Evening,” Matt said, though he didn�
�t look as if he was eager for company.

  Screw the disguise. “What the hell was that all about?” Keith demanded.

  Matt stared at him. His eyes widened. He swore softly. “What was what about? And what the hell are you doing, looking like Colonel Sanders?”

  “Watching,” Keith said, eyeing him. “Listening.”

  Matt flushed a brilliant shade of red. Then he winced. “I—should have told you.” His shoulders hunched down. “Lee went barhopping with Gerald. I…I wound up with Amanda.”

  “And you took her out on the boat?”

  Matt hung his head and nodded.

  Keith stared out at the water. “Well, did you learn anything?”

  “I learned she knows how to spike a drink.”

  “So, you think she was prowling around?”

  “God, I hope not,” Matt said. Then he shook his head. “Yes, I think so.”

  Keith was silent for a minute. He felt Matt shuffle miserably at his side. He looked at him. “Did you say anything to Lee yet?”

  “I was too embarrassed to say anything to either of you.”

  Keith nodded. “Keep it quiet for now.”

  “Now that you know, I feel like I should tell Lee, as well,” he said with self-disgust. “Then I can get my feelings of absolute mortification over with once and for all.”

  “Let’s just see how things progress for the time being, all right?” Keith said.

  “You’re the boss,” Matt muttered.

  Keith stared at him and wondered.

  BETH’S SENSE OF PANIC GREW as she searched for Amber out in front, near the driveway, and couldn’t find her. She tried Amber’s cell phone and got voice mail. Just when she was about to panic, Ashley called.

  “Ashley?”

  “I’m here. Amber’s phone died, and she wants to talk to you.”

  “What is it? What’s the matter? Are you all right? Where are you?” Beth demanded as soon as Amber got on the line.

  “With Ashley.”

  “Are you all right? Is your father all right?”