Her throat squeezed shut, and it took every ounce of strength she had not to bust up again. “Ross is my responsibility.”
Jack moved her to the couch and sat down next to her. He had his answer. Knew what drove her; why she did what she did, why she wrapped herself in a shell of invincibility. She needed forgiveness. Not from Ross, not from her deceased parents, but from herself and he doubted she was going to find it in her brother’s medical file.
“Take it.” He held out the folder. “There’s enough in here to convince you Black’s Cove Clinic did everything possible to help your brother, but he didn’t respond to the treatment.” He laid the file on the coffee table and reached for her chin with his fingers, tipping up her face.
“It was a tragic accident, Olivia. You’re no more to blame than I was for my parents’ car accident. Forgive yourself. Move past it.”
If his words touched her at all it didn’t show in her eyes or the pull of her mouth. He let go of her and felt the void open between them.
“If only it was that simple.” She turned out of his grasp, picked up the file and stood up. “I’ll return this to you ASAP.”
She disappeared into the bedroom and closed the door.
Jack stood up, feeling discontent pulse in his blood. He couldn’t expect years of guilt and resentment to dry up in a matter of minutes.
He turned for the door, knowing it was going to take longer for her to forgive herself and drop the facade she hid her heart behind. In that respect, they were very much alike.
OLIVIA STEPPED OUT of the cottage onto the porch and turned her attention toward the main house. Her gut-wrenching admission to Jack an hour ago had left her feeling torn. Unpacking her emotional baggage on his doorstep was risky, but she’d seen the sympathy in his eyes. Genuine? Yes. But could she take his advice and forgive herself?
Gunner took off like a shot for the driveway, warning her that someone or something had roused him from the doggie bed next to the cottage’s front door. So much for staying around to guard her.
She closed the door and headed across the expansive lawn to investigate the commotion. If nothing else, she intended to bring Gunner back with her. She kind of liked the ninety-pound puppy with razor-sharp teeth, a tail that wagged at the sound of her voice and a master who had trained him to protect on command.
Go to the lake.
Olivia stopped, unsure where the wayward thought had come from. Granted, she wanted to take a walk out onto the dock for a look around, but now wasn’t the time.
A chill brushed across her skin and penetrated her body. She shuddered and turned around, her gaze drawn to the lake’s edge, to the dock rocking gently in the ripples driven by the breeze.
Come to the water.
She took a step forward, then another.
Gunner’s piercing bark broke the odd trance she found herself in and she stepped back.
What the hell was happening?
She had to find Gunner.
Olivia turned and jogged forward, pausing when she heard the sound of voices near the right side of the house, the spot where she’d last seen the dog.
“You can’t keep her here! She needs to leave, before she destroys us all.” The female’s voice hit a note of recognition inside of Olivia’s head and caution sang through her.
It was the same woman who’d called her this morning and lured her into the path of an oncoming freight train.
Ducking in next to the corner of the house behind a juniper bush, she went still, watching Jack and the woman carry a large box past her hiding place and stop next to a koi pond in the middle of the yard.
“I have it under control, but I need to know if you tried to hurt her again this morning by forcing her car into the 11:55?”
“No!”
The woman’s high-pitched denial ground over Olivia’s nerves. Anger flared inside of her, ignited by a shot of betrayal. No one controlled her, but she wondered if they were in on it together? Had Jack somehow been involved in trying to kill her to shut her up? Normally she was great at untwisting the spin. Maybe venting to Jack had weakened her position, made her vulnerable…easy to manipulate.
“I haven’t gone near her since you stopped us from mowing her down on Main Street.”
Olivia put the flame of anger out in favor of eavesdropping, even though she really wanted to smack the shapely brunette in the teeth for lying.
“What about Rick?”
“I don’t keep tabs on him. You’ll have to ask him yourself.”
“I will.” He bent over and opened the top of the box. “I can get this, Diana. I’ll see you next week with the rest.”
“Are you sure?” She stepped close to him, reached out and put her hand on his arm.
Olivia recoiled, suddenly consumed with an emotion that made her mad all over. Jealousy?
“Why don’t you come to me anymore, Jack?”
He straightened and took a step back.
Olivia’s cheeks heated, every nerve ending in her body frayed, spilling information she didn’t want to accept, much less witness. There was familiarity between the two of them. It made her bristle.
“I can’t anymore.”
“But we need each other. We’re alike.”
Alike? Horror surged in Olivia’s veins, her stare going to the woman’s flip-flop-clad feet, to a spot on her left ankle where three distinctive black dots could be seen.
She was one of the test subjects from the clinic? She had the mark and abilities like Jack’s?
His jaw clenched, he pulled his shoulders back and crossed his arms over his chest. “I won’t be back.”
“Are you sure about that, Jack?” She stepped toward him, a seductive sway to the movement of her hips. “You liked it once.”
Olivia nearly gave up her hiding place to charge in, but she pulled back. Did kissing him give her the right to object?
Jack reached out and caught Diana by the upper arms. He squeezed until he saw her eyes widen. His decision was final, although he didn’t know why the woman he’d once lusted after no longer held any appeal in his mind or for his body.
“Leave, Diana, and don’t come back. And if you ever try to hurt her again…I’ll make sure it’s the last thing you ever do.”
He released her. She rocked back, dusting at her arms where he’d touched her.
“You don’t frighten me, Jack. She’s made you fuzzy in the head. We’ll all go down if you don’t do something. I’ve got milking to do at the shop. Call me when you come to your senses.”
He turned back to his task, ignoring her as she strode across the lawn toward the driveway.
Releasing Diana was something he should have done long ago, and just the thought of touching her ever again left him stone-cold.
Dipping into the lined box, he netted the first koi, and released it into the pond. Catching its mate, he put it into the water and watched it swim away, disappearing into the murky depths.
He had Olivia to thank for his newfound need. Kissing her the first time had been spontaneous. Doing it a second time had negated his resistance. Now he wanted more. So much more.
“Who was that, Jack?”
Surprised for the first time in a long time, he swung around to find Olivia standing a couple of feet away. She stood with her fists at her sides, ready to fight. Tension tightened her features and sent warning currents rippling out around her.
“What’s wrong?”
“That woman, you know her?”
“Yes.”
“She’s the one who called my cell this morning and lured me into the path of the train. I recognize her voice.”
Caution slipped down his spine and fanned out across his nerves. What was Diana’s game?
“You’re sure?”
“What is she to you, Jack?”
“Nothing that can’t be remedied.”
“Where does she live? I’m going to interrogate her. Find out what’s going on. Find out why she tried to kill me.”
“Hold
on, Olivia.” Jack dropped the net and stepped in front of her, blocking her path.
“I’ll take you. Just promise you’ll calm down and you won’t charge in.”
“Why?”
“She’s dangerous.”
She stared up at him, her features softening as understanding undid her resolve.
“She’s like you.”
“Yes.”
“YOU’RE KIDDING ME.” Olivia tried to relax on the seat next to Jack, but it was impossible as she stared at the Exotic Pet Shop sign hanging over the door. “And I thought she was going to milk cows or something.”
Her attempt at humor didn’t faze Jack and he wouldn’t even crack a smile, a fact that bothered her. Somewhere inside the obscure shop at the end of Main Street was a milking room filled with deadly king cobras.
“Next you’re going to tell me her special abilities allow her to handle venomous snakes without being bitten.”
“Something like that.” He climbed out of the car and she did the same, following him across the street.
It was 6:00 p.m. and most of the shops were already closed, their blinds drawn.
They made the sidewalk at the precise moment a young girl opened the pet shop door, stepped outside and turned to lock it.
“Molly?”
She started and whirled around, her hand going to her heart. “Oh, Mr. Trayborne, you scared me.”
“Is Diana inside?”
“Yeah, she’s in the milking room.”
“I need to speak with her.”
“Sure.” She pivoted and reinserted the key, unlocking the shop door. “Just turn the dead bolt once you’re inside.”
“Thanks.” Jack took Olivia’s hand and pulled her into the shop, heightening his senses before he turned the dead bolt and waved at Molly through the glass.
Caution sang along his nerves as he moved through the dimly lit room, glancing down the store aisles as he moved past, aiming for the door into the back.
A high-pitched hiss hit his eardrums. He lunged for the door. He’d heard that sound once before while helping Diana milk cobra venom for the Trayborne Research Labs in Atlanta and L.A. It was distinctive to a king cobra in a defense mode.
He paused at the door and squeezed Olivia’s hand. “Something’s wrong, stay close.”
Olivia beat back the creepy crawlies with the knowledge that Jack was beside her. She had her very own Phantom protector and she wished like crazy he’d shield them in an energy field like he did to stop the bullets because more than any slimy creature on earth, she hated snakes.
Jack turned the knob and ease the door open. Terror forced her heart rate up and she clung to him as he pushed through the door and into a large room.
In the center was a glass cubical.
Diana lay sprawled on the floor, an agitated cobra inches from her body, hood deployed, his body coiled to deliver another strike.
Jack let go of her hand. “She’s barely alive! Get the antivenom hypodermic out of the cooler in the corner. It’s banded in red.”
She hurried to the refrigerator and pulled it open, spotting the syringe.
Movement, long, dark and fast, sliced across the peripheral field of vision on her left. She whirled around.
“Snake!” But her warning came too late.
The reptile reared a fraction and lunged at Jack, catching him on the leg.
Olivia yanked the lid off the large trash can next to the fridge and picked it up.
Pain slammed into Jack’s body, taking his breath with it. Realization pounded in his brain and he reached for the cobra, raising it up off the floor in a beam of telekinetic energy.
He could feel the effects of the neurotoxin entering his blood stream and fanning out over his body. He didn’t have much time.
“In here!” Olivia shouted, moving closer with the trash can. “Put him in here!”
Jack lowered the snake into the can and collapsed against the door to the milking room just as she slammed on the lid.
“9-1-1,” he tried to focus, feeling his diaphragm muscles begin to fail. “Call 9-1-1.”
She rushed to Jack’s side and folded on the ground next to him. Jerking up the sleeve on his shirt, she pulled the cap off the needle with her teeth. She had no idea what the hell she was doing; she worked on instinct.
“In the vein?” Jack’s eyes rolled back in his head. She slapped his cheek with her free hand.
“Yes. In half an inch…that should do it.”
She said a prayer and pushed the needle into Jack’s arm.
Catching the top of the plunger with her thumb, she eased the clear liquid into his arm, pulled the needle and sat back.
He would live or he wouldn’t, but every cell in her body needed him to survive. She’d be toast without him.
“Toast?” Jack said as he dragged open his eyes, feeling the load of bricks lift off his chest.
The antivenom was working. Olivia’s quick thinking had saved his life. But Diana…
Straining to hear, he listened for her heartbeat. Nothing.
“She’s dead.”
Olivia’s head drooped forward, before she looked back up at him.
His breath caught in his throat. She was the most beautiful thing he’d seen in a long time and he reached out to her.
She huddled next to him and he closed his eyes, feeling his strength return from the neurotoxin cocktail the cobra had injected.
He’d never known Diana to make a mistake with the deadly snakes. She always used her telekinetic energy to manipulate them and erase her risk of being bitten. So how had it happened tonight? Had she lost focus for an instant? Or had someone else interfered?
“I need to cage the snakes. Call 9-1-1.”
Reluctantly, she pulled back from Jack and helped him stand. She watched in awe as he reached out his hand and lifted the cobra from next to Diana’s body, floating it in midair, up and back into its glass case.
Looking away she spotted the telephone on the wall next to the door and walked toward it.
They would never know why Diana had lured her onto the tracks, but she did know one thing for certain.
She cared for Jack Trayborne.
Chapter Nine
Olivia toweled her wet hair and slipped a robe on over her pink skin. She’d let the hot water blast her for half an hour, but she still couldn’t rid herself of the chills.
Diana had been pronounced dead at the scene. That was a given considering she’d been bitten more than five times and it was doubtful that even the syringe of antivenom she’d administered to Jack would have saved Diana’s life. Another small fact continued to contribute to her state of worry.
One of the deadly king cobras was still missing.
A shudder ripped through her and she hugged her arms around her body as she left the bathroom and headed for the kitchen and a cup of cocoa to break the chill.
Gunner lay next to the front door. He raised his head when he saw her.
She’d grown quite attached to the big lug since Jack had demanded she keep him with her at all times. Considering the turn of events lately, maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea. Another line of defense in a battle of invisible phenomena she’d yet to get her head around, wasn’t a bad idea.
Opening the pantry, she stepped inside and rummaged a doggie treat out of its box, before grabbing a packet of hot chocolate.
A growl, low and ominous raised the hair at her nape. She stepped out of the pantry and closed the door.
“Gunner?” Taking cautious steps, she eased around the corner and stared at the German shepard. His ears were erect and he sat watching the door, a growl rumbling in his throat.
Olivia’s stomach tightened and she reached for the phone. Something was out there. She didn’t want to know what.
Come to the water.
JACK MOVED THROUGH the trees, cognizant of every sound emanating from the woods near the cottage. He attempted to blend in with the darkness, to become one with the element of cover surrounding
him.
His nerves had been on edge since they’d returned from town, and the foreboding had only grown stronger as night set in, so he’d chosen to patrol, to pace, to watch, rather than rest.
Now he stared at the front door as the porch light flipped on.
Was she as restless as he was? Caught up in thoughts that drove sleep away and churned desire deep inside his bones?
He heard the door latch click open in amplified decibels.
Caution and worry stretched over him. It wasn’t safe for her to go out.
Gunner hustled out the door, and stood at attention, his snout thrust up into the night air.
Jack pulled in a breath. What had alerted the dog? He scanned the darkness, catching movement on the far side of the cottage. But whoever it was vanished before he could get a clear fix on their location or intended direction.
He stepped out of the trees, moving across the lawn toward the threat.
The clouds parted, unmasking the half moon overhead. It illuminated the grounds, taking away his cover.
Jack froze in place, watching Olivia step through the front door of the cottage.
What was she doing? She shouldn’t be out. He moved toward her, watching her stride along the path leading to the lake.
“Olivia!” he shouted.
No response. Her almost-robotic movements were worrisome.
Concern lengthened his strides.
She reached for the belt on her robe and untied it in slow motion. Peeling the garment off, she dropped it on the ground and continued her move toward the water.
His mouth went dry, his body churning up a desire hot enough to scorch metal.
Moonlight illuminated her naked skin and wet hair, shading and highlighting the curves of her body.
“Olivia. Stop!”
She reached the dock and walked the length of it, her trance-like state impervious to his voice.
Jack broke into a run. He reached out and surrounded her in a field of energy. Panic consumed him as he raised his hands, drawing her toward him several feet off the ground.
The moment she touched down, she jerked awake, staring at him with her mouth open, until she realized she didn’t have any clothes on.
He snagged her robe off the grass and handed it to her. “What are you doing out here?”
The Phantom of Black’s Cove Page 9