“Shut up, Ernie,” Jolly ordered.
“After we dumped the Jeep,” Shane said, “we got lost. Wandered around for hours. Then the storm hit. Do you really think I could have given her precise directions on how to find us? The fact that she’s here now? That’s just because she’s having the same rotten luck we’ve been having since this storm hit.”
Kate silently agreed with that.
Jolly thought about that. The silence that descended over the men and the situation was interrupted by the creak of the tree limbs, the muffled throbbing of the generator, and the sound of thunder that was finally starting to sound more distant.
“How did she know about the money?” Jolly asked finally.
“It’s been on the news,” Shane said in a calm tone. Damn, but she was good. She’d done a hell of a job on the frame. Her act had tripped every paranoid feeling inside Jolly. “Every station on the radio was running it. Probably all the local television stations too. And Ernie and Deke have been spending it every time they’ve thought about it. Which has been a lot. Or don’t you remember those conversations?”
Finally, after another long, tense moment, Jolly reached into his pocket and took out a pair of handcuffs. “Cuff her somewhere where she won’t get into trouble.” He tossed the cuffs to Shane. He looked at the shower. “That water warm?”
“There wasn’t any steam,” Shane said, “but she didn’t look like she was freezing.”
“Good. Get her out of there. I’m going to take a shower, then I’m going to eat me one of those steaks Ernie and Deke are fixing. After that, we’re all going to get a good night’s sleep and see what tomorrow brings.”
Shane took Kate by the elbow and led her back to the living room. Meat was sizzling in the frying pan on the propane cook stove. Deke and Ernie were debating culinary skills, talking about cooking shows they’d seen on cable TV at prison and arguing about how best to prepare the meat.
Kate didn’t look at Shane while he closed one of the cuffs around her left wrist and the other around a boat anchor he’d had Deke bring in from outside. They’d found Woodrow’s little flotilla and were evidently hopeful about the boats they found there.
“You can probably pick up the boat anchor and carry it,” Shane told her. “But you’ll have a hell of a time swimming with it.”
Kate just stared at him.
“You get the couch,” Shane told her, “but I’ll be here.” He sat in the overstuffed chair on the other side of the room.
Knowing her escape was temporarily foiled, Kate made herself comfortable on the couch. The semi-wet clothing made that almost impossible, but she tried anyway. If she lived through the night, tomorrow would offer more possibilities. That was one thing she’d learned while fighting Bryce. She needed to rest if she was going to make the most of them.
Closing her eyes, she pushed her breath out and tried relaxation techniques she’d learned about while dealing with the anxiety problems Bryce’s legal attacks had caused. Even then, she could feel Shane’s eyes on her.
Worse than that, she could still feel his kiss. The sensation of his lips against hers followed her right into oblivion.
Kate woke early the next morning. She didn’t move for a while. Snoring sounded to her left. Turning her head, she found Ernie and Deke asleep on the floor. Pillows cushioned their shaggy heads.
Dim sunlight shone on the window above her, promising better weather than the day before. She took hope in that. The storm season could last for months, but there were occasional days of perfection.
Shifting, Kate readied herself to get up, gripping the handcuff chain to keep it from making noise. Her arm was asleep from the uncomfortable positions she’d been forced to sleep in to manage the cuff, and her wrist was chafed from the rough contact.
“Don’t get up,” Shane said, his eyes opening. He was still seated in the overstuffed chair. “We’re not going to get out of here till later.”
“I’ve got to go to the bathroom.”
Shane was quiet for a moment, then he sighed and pushed up from the chair. “Let’s go.”
Kate walked down the hall. In the bathroom, she discovered the propane space heater’s controls had been wrecked. Disconnecting the unit from the gas line was beyond her present ability without tools. She’d woken up with the idea of turning the mobile home into a raging bonfire, saddened that she hadn’t had the chance and hadn’t thought about it last night.
Afterwards, she washed her face then rejoined Shane out in the hallway. She thought about trying to talk to him, but she had no idea about how to approach him.
In the living room, she put the boat anchor back on the ground beside the couch and sprawled again. At least during the night her clothing had dried. With the sun bright and shiny outside the window, she hoped she’d get to stay dry.
Rolling over on to her side, she closed her eyes and found sleep once more.
By noon, after a breakfast of sausages, bacon, hot biscuits and gravy, they were ready to move. Unfortunately, the storm had moved back in, bringing echoes of the power and fury back, and a steady light rain as well. Tropical storms had a tendency to gather in an area for days and linger, petering out, and strengthening periodically.
Only one of Woodrow’s boats left tied to the tall pole next to the mobile home was operational. As the water from the storm surge had come in, the boats had floated up, secured to the pole by large metal rings and chains. Woodrow had always been prepared for flooding.
One of the boats didn’t float. It sat midway down in the murky depths, barely visible as it shifted and turned at the end of its tether.
Clad in a poncho, Kate carried a cardboard box containing food they’d raided from Woodrow’s meager supplies to the waiting boat. She had to climb down the ladder to reach the boat. She couldn’t be certain, but she thought the floodwaters were already starting to recede.
The craft was a twenty-foot johnboat equipped with a powerful outboard motor. Shane had had to work on it for a little while to get it operational, but the motor ran steadily and sounded powerful enough at the moment.
Kate put the food in the center of the boat, then took a seat in the prow at Shane’s direction. Jolly stood watch on the porch above, using a pair of binoculars that Woodrow had left behind.
Ernie and Deke were finishing the scavenging.
For the moment, Kate was alone in the boat with Shane.
He spoke to her in a low voice. “You got two kids, right, Kate?”
Bile rose in the back of her throat. If you threaten my kids, you bastard—
“I saw their pictures in your Jeep,” Shane said. “They’re good-looking kids. You should be proud.”
Kate made herself breathe out and not be sick. The hard lines of the straight razor were still in her pocket. She was tempted to try her luck at overpowering Shane and stealing the johnboat. Everglades City wasn’t far away. It was possible, barring an accident, that she could reach the town in a few hours.
But Jolly remained only a short distance away. She didn’t think he would miss with the pistol at close range.
“What I want you to think about,” Shane said quietly, “is getting back to them. Safe and sound. You want to live long enough to do that, right?”
After a moment, she nodded. She still didn’t know how badly hit Everglades City was. The admission seemed to give her focus and lift a million pounds off her shoulders.
“I want to see you get the chance to do that, Kate,” he told her. “Don’t do anything stupid and lose those kids their mother.” He paused. “Let me do my job and we’ll get out of here.”
My job? The words sounded strange and it was hard to put any real meaning to them when she thought about Shane. Guys like Shane didn’t have real jobs. They just cruised through life like nothing could ever touch them.
“I’m sure they want you back, too, Kate,” he said. “All you have to do is wait a little longer.”
Kate swallowed the lump in her throat.
“
Do you hear me?” he asked.
Unable to speak, she only nodded again. But she slid her hand across the straight razor in her pocket. He was a damn fool if he thought she was going to put her future and that of her kids in his hands.
Looking out at the flooded swamplands, Shane felt as though the world had suddenly turned apocalyptic. It seemed that there was nothing left alive for miles around. He was tired and edgy, constantly trapped between Kate Garrett and Raymond Jolly. Both of them had their own ideas about what they were going to do, and it was totally screwing up Shane’s agenda.
He had a job to do, but he was feeling more protective of Kate. The woman had surprised him with the shower scene. There was cunning in Kate Garrett that he hadn’t seen, and when she went for something it was obviously no-holds-barred. He respected that about her.
But it was making everything he had to do even harder.
He peered through the rain, looking at the deliberate set of Kate’s shoulders. All during the day she’d maintained vigilance, ready to seize any opportunity that came her way. He saw that in her, and so did Jolly. That was why Jolly had handcuffed her to the boat.
Shane hadn’t liked that, but Jolly hadn’t given him much choice. If the boat turned over, Kate’s chances of survival turned slim. And maybe if Jolly hadn’t handcuffed her, she might have decided to jump from the boat and take her chances in the water when they got around some of the thick groupings of trees.
If he wanted to escape, Shane knew that’s how he would have done it. He manned the tiller, going slowly so they wouldn’t hit any submerged obstacles that could rip out the bottom of the boat.
“When are we gonna get the ransom money?” Ernie asked.
Shane listened quietly, knowing Jolly was watching him. Even though Jolly wasn’t pushing the issue about Kate’s comment last night, Shane also knew the man hadn’t forgotten it. If Shane hadn’t dangled the Get-Out-of-Florida-Free card in front of Jolly—complete with a savvy sea captain who was totally fictitious at this point—he was certain he’d never have made it off the bus.
“We’ll get it soon,” Jolly said. He consulted the GPS unit as he’d been doing all morning. “We need to make a trip into Everglades City first.”
“How soon?”
“Tonight or tomorrow.” Irritation sounded in Jolly’s voice. “Be patient, Ernie. You’ve already waited for months. Another day won’t kill you.”
Unless we get caught by one of the emergency agencies, Shane thought bleakly. Then we’re all dead in the water. Twice during the day they’d seen Coast Guard helicopters flying overhead.
Shane stared at Jolly’s back as the man looked out over the floodwaters and took another reading. Up till now, Shane had thought Jolly was looking for a landmark. But a landmark didn’t explain the need to go into Everglades City.
So what are you looking for, Raymond? Shane wondered.
Near dusk, Jolly spotted another mobile home in the trees. The rain continued to fall as the sky rumbled and lightning flickered.
Kate was relieved to see that this trailer was dark too, meaning, she hoped, that none of the residents were home. She pulled reflexively at the handcuff securing her to the longboat. All day long she’d had to fight the constant terror of drowning if the johnboat flipped over on a submerged tree.
Shane guided the johnboat in and they tied up at the ladder leading up to the mobile home twenty feet above.
“Stay with the boat,” Jolly said. “We’ll check out the house.”
Nodding, Shane pulled at the orange jumpsuit under the poncho. “See if they have anything my size.”
“Sure.”
Kate noted that the relationship between the two men remained strained. She thought she’d probably have taken more satisfaction in that if she hadn’t been in harm’s way too.
“Thinking about your kids, Kate?” Shane asked from the stern.
She turned to him then, anger boiling over in her. “Listen, you sick son of a bitch, I may not have much of a choice about the company I keep at the moment, but I can tell you that it’s generally a whole lot better. I don’t want you talking to me. Don’t mention my kids again.”
He looked at her and he looked apologetic. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just need to know what you’re thinking. The last thing I need is for you to go off half-cocked. It’s the last thing you need too.”
Kate shook her head. “I don’t understand you at all.”
A small smile flirted with his bruised lips. “I’m a simple man, Kate. You just caught me in a really complicated situation.”
“You,” Kate told him distinctly, “weren’t the one who got caught.”
“I don’t know about that,” Shane said. “Getting stuck out here in the middle of a hurricane with Raymond Jolly probably wasn’t the brightest move I ever made. But there’s a reason for it.”
“What?” she dared him.
“You know about the Martini kidnapping?”
“Yeah. The ten million dollars in ransom money gets mentioned frequently around here.”
Shane smiled a little. “Ernie’s got a one-track mind just about big enough for a BB to roll through. But the money wasn’t the only thing that went missing during that kidnapping. Mr. and Mrs. Martini didn’t get their daughter back either.”
“She’s dead,” Kate said before she realized how crass that sounded.
Nodding, Shane said, “I think you’re probably right. But Mr. and Mrs. Martini haven’t gotten the chance to bury their daughter. That’s why I’m here.”
Kate looked at him more closely then. What makes the daughter’s missing corpse your business?
Just then, Jolly, Ernie and Deke reappeared on the porch and climbed down carrying boxes and plastic bags. Jolly and Ernie wore street clothes now. Jolly handed a bag to Shane, who stood in the johnboat and stripped off.
Kate turned away, but it was difficult. In the waning sunlight he looked robust and fit, and she had the terrible impulse to run her hands over his body. Heat warmed her face. Get a grip, she told herself. This is ridiculous.
But ridiculous or not, proper place or not, those feelings and thoughts insisted on surfacing.
“I need to go to the bathroom again,” she said as Shane continued to dress. If he was putting on a show for her, she was going to pass.
Jolly unlocked her cuff and instructed Ernie to take her.
Climbing up the ladder, Kate felt the man’s eyes on her the whole way. She didn’t like the idea of being in the house alone with him. The straight razor in her pocket made her feel a little safer.
After she’d finished in the bathroom, she stepped back out into the hallway. That was when Ernie made his move. He slammed a big hand against her throat, leaned in against her to pin her against the wall with his weight, and fumbled for the front of his pants.
“I think it’s time me an’ you had a little fun, girlie,” Ernie said, grinning wolfishly. “The way you got Jolly an’ Shane riled up at each other, I’m thinkin’ maybe somebody needs to teach you a lesson.”
His stale breath pressed against her face. She started to scream, but his other hand came across and covered her mouth. She tried to pull the straight razor from her pocket but couldn’t get to it.
Lifting her left arm, she swept it across her body as hard as she could, knocking both his hands off her face and throat in a martial arts move she’d learned while training with the Asp. Then she bunched her right hand into a fist and punched him in the eye.
Ernie cried out, putting his hands to his face.
Kate turned and ran, but she hadn’t taken two steps before her attacker jumped her from behind and dragged her down to the floor. She struggled to roll free, struggled to get a hand free to go for the straight razor, but he was all over her. He kneed her legs apart and reached for her belt.
Then a flashlight beam fell over them.
Ernie went still at once, lifting a hand to shield his eyes from the brightness.
“Dammit, Ernie! Don’t do that
! C’mon, now! Get off her!”
Kate took the opportunity to drive a palm into his nose, hoping that she hit him hard enough to break it. He screamed and his head snapped back.
The light shifted and Kate saw that it was Deke. For a moment she was afraid that he was going to help his cousin. Until he pulled his cousin off her and helped her to her feet.
Deke led the way to the door, obviously leery of his cousin’s wrath. He went down the stairs quickly. “I’m sorry, Miss Garrett. I should have gone with you. I should have known he might try something like that. He’s my cousin, but he’s one rapist son of a bitch when he gets the chance.”
The young man sounded so worried and distraught, Kate felt the need to tell him that everything was going to be all right.
“I never did any of that,” Deke was saying as he reached the bottom of the ladder. “I know people thought I did, but I never did. I—”
Below the young man, the water roiled and shifted. Something hit the johnboat where Jolly and Shane stood staring at Deke at the bottom of the ladder and at Ernie above. When the boat tipped, almost lifting out of the water, Kate knew exactly what was about to happen.
But it still surprised her when the alligator leaped up out of the water, opened its jaws to expose its pink-white throat, and tore Deke from the ladder.
Chapter 10
Deke vanished into the murky water without even an opportunity to scream.
Above, Ernie yelled hoarsely after his cousin. In the boat, still rocking from the collision with the alligator, Jolly and Shane stood stunned.
Kate reacted at once, knowing that there wasn’t much time. She could still see the alligator below, Deke still in its mouth. Bubbles exploded across the surface. Reaching into her pants pocket, Kate took out the straight razor and opened it. Then she stepped from the ladder and plummeted into the water.
Sinking at once, Kate hoped there was only one alligator. Sometimes there were more. With the flooding in the park, though, she thought maybe they might have gotten scattered. Otherwise she’d just dropped to her death.
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