Imaginary Lover [The Doms of Sybaris Cove 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Tara Rose

  She was on her way home, wondering how the hell she’d make her flight and get a new phone, but then turned around when she remembered having to pick up her bag from the floor earlier before she and Irene left the coffee shop. Maybe the phone had fallen out, and it was under the counter, or still on the floor? It would be easy to miss a phone that had a dark cover, as hers did.

  She’d already wasted close to an hour looking for it, and considered asking to borrow someone else’s to call Evan, but realized there was no one else to take her flight. Even her parents were out on runs today. This was their busiest season. She’d have to suck it up and take care of getting a new phone later today, or even tomorrow, if she didn’t find it.

  When she walked into Coffee In The Caribbean, Honor, the manager, waved her over. “We found your phone. I was busy with customers when it was turned in, but I was just about to try and reach someone at Cove Cargo to let them know we had it.”

  “Oh, thank you.” Ivy snatched it up as relief washed over her. “I was sure I’d lost it.”

  “Someone brought it up to the counter just a moment ago. It was on the floor, close to where you and Irene were sitting this afternoon.”

  She’d been right. “I’m so grateful. Thank you.”

  Honor wanted to chat, and Ivy didn’t want to be rude, but she was now seriously out of time. When she finally left the coffee shop, she put the phone back into her bag without even glancing at the screen, and hurried toward home. There was no time now for quick calls or texts. Her flight left in less than an hour, and Irwin was notoriously slow with pre-flight prep. She’d call the guys later. It would be okay. They knew how busy everyone was right now, and Evan could always tell them she’d picked up the flight.

  * * * *

  Merrick arrived at Cove Cargo about five minutes before Tom did. They asked Evan to try and reach the people that they knew on Little Cove, and then explained why. Evan looked confused. “Ivy and Irwin are supposed to make a quick flight to New Orleans in about an hour. It’s an extra run they picked up. Are you sure she told you she’d gone to Little Cove?”

  Merrick ran his hands through his hair, as Evan clicked away on his computer. Tom showed him the text from Ivy, but all Evan did was shake his head. “I don’t get it. There’s no record of the order from Little Cove.”

  Now Tom’s expression registered confusion. “Didn’t you say she texted you about it?”

  “Yeah, but I was busy with something else and didn’t check the computer until now. There’s no record of it.” He picked up his desk phone. “Let me make some calls. I don’t get any of this.”

  “Neither do I.”

  Merrick glanced sharply at the tone in Tom’s voice. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean nothing about this makes any sense. She makes an unscheduled run for a package delivery that there’s no record for, yet she’s supposed to leave on a flight we didn’t know about in an hour? Does that sound like Ivy to you?”

  Merrick shook his head. “No. And that’s why I’m worried. Something is very wrong. But we don’t have time to waste. The text came from her phone. She needs us. Fuck this. I’m taking the second boat to Little Cove to find her. And I need your help because I don’t know how to drive one well enough to navigate it in the ocean.”

  “Are you insane?” asked Evan.

  “No. Are you? Your sister is in trouble and we’re going to help her. You have our numbers. Please keep trying to reach someone on Little Cove and let us know when you do.” He held out his hand. “I need the keys to the second boat, please.”

  Evan hung up the phone. “Hang on. I have to find the spares. Only Irwin and Ivy have keys to both with them all the time, but we have extras around here somewhere…”

  His voice trailed off as he rose and walked toward the back of the office. Merrick was so frustrated that he wanted to punch something. They were wasting too much time. They lived on a fucking island, for God’s sake. A person should be able to grab a boat, and someone to drive it, at a moment’s notice.

  “We should wait and find someone who can drive it,” said Tom.

  “I can’t even wait long enough for him to find the damn keys. Is that really what you want to do? Wait?” Tom shook his head, and Merrick took out his phone. “I’m calling her again.”

  Irwin walked in, and Tom nearly tackled him. “Is Ivy with you?”

  “No, but I’m sure she’s around here somewhere. We have a flight in less than an hour.”

  “We know. We need your boat keys.”

  “What?”

  Merrick turned away and began to pace. As he tried again to call Ivy, he heard Tom explain to Irwin what was going on.

  “Then let me drive the boat,” he said. “When someone else gets back they’ll have to take our flight, and hope we can still make it to New Orleans on time to get the package on a FedEx truck tonight. You two can’t take a boat to Little Cove.”

  “I still can’t reach her,” said Merrick. “It goes to voice mail. We’re coming with you.”

  “Merrick, you—”

  He glared at Irwin. “Stop. Okay? Just stop, all of you. I’m not staying here to wait and find out what happened to her. Fuck the curse. I’m going with you.”

  Tom stepped forward. “We both are.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Ivy was surprised to see Merrick’s work truck parked outside the offices, and even more surprised to see it parked sideways, as if he’d exited it in a hurry. Why was he here? She pulled her phone out of her bag as she walked inside, where Evan stared at her as if he’d seen a ghost.

  “When did you get back from Little Cove?”

  “What?”

  “We got a text from you saying you’d taken a package there, and then Merrick and Tom were in here, all freaked out over a text they got from you, saying you were on the little island hurt, and needed their help.”

  The room started to spin. Ivy dropped into the nearest chair and stared at her phone. Why was it off? She turned it on, but of course it seemed to take an hour to boot up. Once it finally did, and then picked up the cell signal, she tried to stop her fingers from trembling as she glanced through her text messages.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered.

  There they were. Both texts. One to the company cell phone, saying she was going to Little Cove with a package, and the other to both Tom and Merrick, saying she was hurt on Little Cove and needed their help.

  “Where are they?”

  “Ah, they and Irwin took the second boat to Little Cove.”

  “What?” She jumped out of her seat. “Evan, are you out of your fucking mind? I didn’t send these texts. I lost my phone. Someone else must have…” But who? And why? What reason would anyone have for tricking Tom and Merrick like this, and…

  “Oh fuck. No.” She shook her head. “No. This can’t be true.” She stared at her brother, who watched her as if he expected her head to start spinning around in circles or something. “Call the cops. I’m calling Merrick and Tom.”

  * * * *

  Tom’s entire body trembled as Irwin eased the speedboat out of the slip and into open water. It was fucking cold, and the spray stung his face like tiny needles piercing his skin. Was that would it feel like when they died out here? This was insane. They couldn’t do this. “We should call the cops,” he shouted, over the noise of the engine. “They have boats, too.”

  “And tell them what?” asked Merrick.

  “Show them the text message.”

  “We’ll be there in five minutes,” said Irwin. “You two sit down and keep your life vests on. I got this.”

  Tom resisted the urge to check his phone again, just in case she’d called one of them. He’d never hear it ring over the engine. But then an image of him taking it out to check it while the ocean snatched it out of his hands flitted through his mind. No doubt maniacal, demonic laughter would echo all around them as that happened, and that’s the last thing he would remember.

  He watched cold, gray, chur
ning waves, just as he’d done his entire life from the safety of solid ground, wondering what had flashed through the minds of Iago, Agapito, William, and Robert right before they died out here. Had they been thinking of the women they loved, as Tom was now doing? Or had they only wanted to get off Sybaris Cove and never return?

  Did they know they’d been cursed? Had Iago told all of them his vision? Had any of them really believed it? And even more important, had they regretted what they’d done? Had they felt any remorse? Were they truly the rotten men most of the natives and even some of his own family members made them out to be? Or had they merely been seduced by greed, money, and power?

  They must have done something right, because Daniel and Emilio started a legitimate business. They must have passed on some good genes to their sons. And Asa and Tim, for all their stubbornness and questionable motives at times, weren’t crooks.

  Phoebe’s Playthings was above-board, and Asa contributed more to this island and to charities than anyone in either of their families would ever believe if they found out. Had the Durante and Raleigh men truly redeemed themselves? Had the curse ever been real, or was Shona’s diary and all those stories merely scare tactics? Colorful tales invented to explain four bizarre and coincidental deaths?

  He could see the island now, as close as if he were driving up to the compound that housed Cove Cargo and McMurphy Flight. They were almost there. He saw the docks, and the slip with a sign over it that read “Cove Cargo.” That must be where they docked the speedboat when they came over here to deliver packages.

  But why was it empty? Where was the first boat that Ivy had driven here?

  Tom stood, swaying while his legs shook, and glanced up and down the docks. But the distinctive blue and white Cove Cargo logo wasn’t anywhere in sight. The boat wasn’t here.

  So where the hell was Ivy?

  * * * *

  Kate had to ask Ivy to slow down at least ten times while she tried to explain what was going on. Finally, Ivy saw understanding dawn in her eyes. She turned to the two officers with her. “Radio Little Cove and ask them if they’ve seen or heard anyone with Cove Cargo’s boat today, and then try to reach Irwin on the boat he took out.” She pointed to the second officer. “We need to get a boat out there now.”

  Kate turned her attention back to Ivy. “Have you tried reaching them again?”

  “Yes. They’re not answering.”

  “They probably can’t hear their phones over the engine.”

  “I can’t see the water on the south side from here. We have to take the boat around the eastern edge. I want to see the water to the south. I need to see them.” She was going to pass out. She just knew it. They were out there, in the water, on a boat, because someone had tricked them into going. They were doing to die, and she’d never see them again.

  This couldn’t be happening.

  Ivy struggled not to cry as she and Kate turned toward the sound of raised voices on the eastern edge of the compound. The officer that Kate had sent to get a boat launched flagged her down. “Ah, detective, the first Cove Cargo boat isn’t on the little island. It’s here.”

  Two other officers frog-marched a tall blonde woman, who was screaming obscenities so loudly that Ivy heard most of them.

  What the fuck?

  “Nadine…” Her stomach gave a horrible lurch. “She did this. She took my phone. She was in the coffee shop this afternoon.”

  “All right,” said Kate. “Stay here. Let me get this sorted out first.”

  Like hell I will. Ivy ran after Kate, and heard enough of the conversation before the pair reached Nadine and her armed escorts to figure out what happened.

  “You took my phone.” Ivy started toward her but Kate, who was much stronger than she looked, held her back. “You fucking bitch! You took my phone and sent those texts!”

  “Fuck you, Ivy! I told you that you’d be sorry.”

  “What did she do with the boat?” asked Kate.

  “She hid it,” said one of the officers. “We caught her pulling it into the slip just now.” He handed Kate a key ring. “And she had this.”

  “My keys…” Ivy stared at them. “You took my phone and my keys? They’re out there right now! Irwin, Tom, and Merrick. They went to Little Cove to find me. He’s your brother. I don’t give a shit if you hate me this much, but how could you do this to your own flesh and blood?”

  Nadine’s face turned so pale that Ivy was sure she’d faint. Too bad the curse wasn’t real for the female descendants, because if anyone deserved death right now, it was Nadine.

  “I didn’t mean for it to go this far. It was a prank. It was only a joke. I tried to stop them when they got on the second boat but I couldn’t reach them in time.”

  “Where did you hide the boat?” asked Kate.

  “Near the rocks, where it makes that tunnel, just before you head out to the ocean.”

  They all knew where she meant. Anyone who had grown up on this island did. Even Kate who hadn’t lived here all her life knew what she meant by the tunnel.

  “Get her out of here,” said Kate. Then she turned toward Ivy. “You didn’t know your keys were gone, too?”

  “No. I rarely use them. Only when I drive. But I have keys to both boats with me at all times. So does Irwin.”

  “Why would Nadine know that?”

  “She wouldn’t, but Scott would.”

  “I imagine you’d have missed them eventually.”

  “Yeah. Maybe.”

  “She’s fast, I’ll give her that. She reached into your purse, took your phone and keys, and then sent the texts to your company and to Tom and Merrick. And then she hid the speedboat.”

  “Why? To play a trick on us? What kind of a person plays such a sick joke? What did she think they’d do?”

  Kate shrugged. “Who the hell knows? Maybe she only wanted to scare them, or you. We’re placing her under arrest. Let her tell the tale to a judge. But for now, we need to find your men and your brother.”

  * * * *

  Merrick stood on the dock with two of the cops on Little Cove, and listened to the police radio exchange between them and the cops on Sybaris Cove. The first speedboat had never left the island. Nadine had hidden it in a cleft of tall rocks that everyone called the tunnel. She’d taken Ivy’s keys and cell phone earlier when Ivy had left the table briefly with her sister, Irene. They’d been having lunch in Coffee In The Caribbean.

  And then, after she’d sent the fake text messages, she’d gone back to the coffee shop and pretended to find Ivy’s phone on the floor. She’d then stolen the speedboat and hidden it. She knew how busy both companies were today, so was right in her assumption that no one would even notice her on the docks or driving the boat around the eastern edge of the compound.

  Ivy had never come here. The first speedboat was now back where it belonged, and Nadine was under arrest. And Ivy was safe and sound, back on Sybaris Cove, probably losing her mind with worry by now.

  “Can we call her now?” asked Merrick.

  “What?” The cop looked distracted and confused. “Sure. Yeah. Of course. Call her.”

  “How soon can we head back?” asked Tom.

  “In a minute,” said Irwin. He was on the phone with Kate Morgan.

  Ivy finally answered her phone, and Merrick had to blink back tears. “Hey, beautiful. Guess where we are?”

  “Oh my God…are you okay?”

  Her voice was filled with panic, and it nearly killed him not to be able to hold her right now. “Yes. Safe and sound.”

  “I don’t know how you did it and I don’t care. Please come back.”

  “We’re on our way in a moment. The cops here are fascinated by all this.”

  “Merrick, I’m so sorry. Irene and I left the table for ten minutes, tops. I swear it. I wasn’t even watching. You know how it is here. No one does shit like that. There were hardly any people in the coffee place. No one saw Nadine do it.”

  “She’s a sneaky shit. This wasn’t
even a prank. It was downright cruel. Tom is still in shock. He’s already called Asa and told him what she did.”

  “He’ll probably fire her. Why wasn’t she at work?”

  “I don’t know and I don’t care. All I care about is getting back to you.” Merrick’s heart raced. If he died returning to the island, it wouldn’t be without her knowing this. “We’re coming back in a second, but before we do, I have to tell you this, just in case…I have to say this. I love you, Ivy. We both do. We love you so much, and we want you with us always.”

  “I love you, too, Merrick. You and Tom both. I think I always have on some level. You were my imaginary lovers.” Merrick gripped the phone as he fought again not to cry.

  “And you were ours, sweetheart.”

  “I want to be with both of you the rest of my life.” He wanted to jump through the phone at the way her voice cracked. It was clear she was crying now.

  “And we want you with us, love. Always and forever. Nothing will keep us apart now. Nothing.”

  “You still have to get back…”

  “Ivy, hang tight. We are coming back to you. I promise you that.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Ivy glanced around for Kate, who was now off the phone. “Can we go out to meet them?”

  “Let’s just stay here. We don’t need to send out a boat now that we know what happened. There’s no point in all of us being out there.”

  “But I can’t see them approach from here.”

  Kate smiled. “Come on. I know a shortcut.”

  Kate drove like a maniac, but Ivy didn’t care. She took the patrol car off road and climbed dirt trails over hills that Ivy had no clue how Kate had found. “I’ll bet by now you wish you’d stayed in New Orleans, right?”

  “Are you kidding? This is awesome. Ancient curses, hills, and an island full of batshit crazy people. It’s NOLA without the street crime and gangs. I love it here.”

  When they finally crested the hill, Kate made the descent down more dirt roads. They were now close to the tunnel where Nadine had hidden the boat, and Ivy could hardly stay in her seat. Now she knew where Kate was going. Once they emerged and stood on the break wall, they’d have a clear view of the southern waters of the Gulf.