Carolina Isle

by Jude Deveraux

  By the end of the day, David decided that in the morning he would set out to find them. While Ariel soaked in the tub he’d filled a backpack he’d found in Phyllis’s basement. While he was down there, he’d made himself check inside the freezer, and, yes, Nezbit’s body was still there.

  The full pack was now hidden in the closet nearest the door. His plan was to leave about 4:00 A.M. He had an idea what had been in Brompton’s head and where he wanted to go. What no one knew—or did they?—was that David knew a great deal more than they thought he did.

  He went to bed, but he couldn’t sleep. He kept trying to remember a story he’d written when he was in the fifth grade: “What I Did This Summer.” An ordinary assignment, but David had made an extraordinary story out of it. His teacher had liked it so much that she’d entered it in a state essay contest and David had won second place. His mother had been so proud of him that when she got a computer a few years later, she had it posted on the Web. On the Tredwell genealogy site, when one clicked twice on David’s name, up came photos of him and the essay that had won a prize.

  For the last twenty-four hours, David had begun to wonder if that essay was why John Fenwick Nezbit had been killed. The man had been safe as long as he alone knew where his treasure was. But if someone else knew, then Nezbit would become redundant, unnecessary. Maybe the someone else who knew where his gold was was David.

  “David,” he heard Ariel whisper. “Are you asleep?”

  He looked at the clock: 1:23 A.M. He needed to get up in just two and a half hours. He was tempted not to answer, but he couldn’t. “I’m awake. The storm scare you?”

  “No,” she said, then to David’s disbelief, she came into the room, pulled back his blanket, and got in bed with him. “Ariel, you can’t do this,” he said, moving as far away as he could get from her. If the bed weren’t up against the wall, he would have gotten out. But what was he to do? Climb over her?

  “I was good today, wasn’t I?” she asked softly.

  Her arms were behind her head and she was staring at the ceiling. Light came in from the hallway and made her face look like that of an angel’s. “Ariel …”

  “Yes, David?” she said, turning and looking at him.

  David’s back was slammed against the wall. There was about two inches of space between their bodies. “Exactly what are you playing at?”

  She turned over on her back again. “Remember the day you took me out on the motorcycle?”

  “Yeah. Could you move that way a bit and give me some room?”

  Ariel didn’t move. “Why didn’t you kiss me that day? We were sixteen and alone and—”

  “Untouchable,” David said, beginning to become annoyed. “You were and are the ice princess. No one dares touch you.”

  She turned her head to look at him. “My mother is the ice queen so that makes me the ice princess?”

  “Ariel, you may think I’m just your boy companion, but I can assure you that I’m a man.”

  “I know,” she said softly. “I am at last beginning to realize that.”

  “Ariel …” David said as he reached out his hand and touched her cheek.

  In a second, she was in his arms.

  David held back. He looked into her eyes and said, “Are you sure?”

  “Totally,” she said. “Completely.”

  Smiling, he kissed her lips gently, knowing how innocent she was, how completely untouched she was.

  Ariel drew back. “Is this how you feel about me? Is this all there is?”

  “Ariel,” David said softly, “you’re a virgin. You’re—”

  Frowning, she sat up in bed, then grabbed the front of the nightgown with both hands and pulled. Fabric tore; buttons went flying. “I’m a woman!” she said.

  Laughing, David grabbed her. “Yeah? Are you?” He put his hand behind her head and pulled her down on the bed. When his mouth came down on top of hers, all Ariel could do was murmur yes.

  Chapter Twenty

  STRETCHING, ARIEL OPENED HER EYES slowly. So that was what it was all about, she thought. “And well worth all the fanfare,” she said aloud, smiling. She turned to share the joke with David, but he wasn’t there. Still smiling, she listened for the shower, but heard nothing.

  During the night they’d moved from his narrow bed to the two beds in the other bedroom. In between, they’d made love on the two couches and the rug in the sitting room. At 3:30, they took a shower together, soaping each other’s bodies, Ariel’s hands exploring every growing inch of David’s anatomy. They’d made love for the fourth time in the tub.

  At 4:30, David said he couldn’t do any more and had begged for sleep. Ariel had called him a wimp, but she’d happily nestled in his arms and fallen asleep. “I didn’t know we fit together so well,” she said.

  “I did,” David whispered. “I always knew.”

  Smiling, more content than she’d ever been in her life, Ariel fell asleep.

  Now, awakening slowly, she listened for David. No sounds. She looked at the clock: 7:14. It was still early yet, the stores were closed today, so maybe they could…. Dreamily, she thought of their night. “Make love all day long,” she whispered.

  She waited for David to return, but she still heard no sounds. Did he go downstairs to make breakfast to serve it to her in bed? A fitting ending—or beginning, she thought.

  She waited another fifteen minutes, then got up. David wasn’t in the apartment. Good, she thought. She’d have time to make herself pretty. Yesterday she’d asked for and received a whole new, clean outfit, plus cosmetics. With forty-five minutes and a good hair dryer, she knew she could look like herself again.

  An hour later she was clean, dressed, madeup, and her hair was as good as she could get it since her styling brush was at home. But David still hadn’t returned to the apartment.

  Frowning, she went downstairs. Phyllis was standing in front of the coffeepot. “Where is he?” Ariel asked.

  “David?” Phyllis had on an ancient chenille bathrobe, a guarantee that no man was within three miles of her.

  “Yes, David,” Ariel said, her hands gripping the back of a chair. If she’s touched him, I’ll murder her, she thought.

  “I heard him leave about five,” Phyllis said.

  “Five? This morning?”

  “It wasn’t last night, was it? Not from what I heard upstairs. David may have come, but he didn’t go.”

  “There’s no need for vulgarity,” Ariel said haughtily. “What David Tredwell and I do is—Bugger it! ”she said and dropped the attitude. “Where’d he go, and if you tell me you don’t know I’ll tell you the truth of what’s going on, then you’ll be an accessory.”

  “Eula Nezbit,” Phyllis said quickly.

  “Nezbit,” Ariel said, blinking. She knew without a doubt that David had gone to help R.J. and Sara. Without me! she thought. “What did he take with him? And don’t you dare tell me you didn’t spy on him. If you were sober enough to eavesdrop on us, and you were awake enough to hear him leave, then I know you spied on him.”

  “Yesterday, I liked you,” Phyllis muttered. “He had on an old backpack he stole out of my basement. I wonder what else you people have stolen? I’m going down there and—”

  “Don’t,” Ariel said quietly as Phyllis started toward the door to the basement.

  Turning, she looked into Ariel’s eyes, then sat down at the table. “Something awful has happened, hasn’t it? I knew it would. When Larry came to me and said he and Fenny were going to do it again and I had to take you in, I begged him not to.”

  “Why do they do it?”

  She shrugged. “Larry needs the money. Fenny enjoys making people miserable, and the judge likes the power. It’s just a game.”

  “Not to us it wasn’t and it’s not a game anymore.”

  “What’s happened?” Phyllis asked, then raised her hand. “No, don’t tell me. What do you want from me?”

  “Do you have another backpack?”

  “Yeah. A cute li
ttle thing, but not very sturdy.”

  “I need it.”

  “For what?”

  “I have no idea,” Ariel said and for a moment she almost lost her resolve. Damn all of them, she thought. Damn all three of them. R.J. and Sara went off together, leaving her behind, then David left her. Obviously none of them thought Ariel could help do anything.

  “So what should I put in it?” Phyllis asked.

  “Water, sandwiches, and … and …”

  “Nail polish?” The look Ariel gave her made her say, “Sorry.”

  “You pack it while I change shoes. Where can I get some hiking boots in size six?”

  “I’ll call Helen Graber. Her daughter—” Phyllis closed her mouth.

  “The telephone cable wasn’t cut, was it?”

  Phyllis shook her head. “Does this mean that I don’t get the trip to New York at R.J.’s expense?”

  “I don’t want to think about what he’s going to do to this island when he finds out the extent of what’s been done to him.”

  “Maybe he’ll throw enough gold at it that it sinks.”

  “You wish. I’m going after my friends and I want a rescue helicopter here as soon as it can get here. If you don’t do this, the consequences will be catastrophic. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yeah, sure,” Phyllis said. “All of you snobs from Arundel make yourselves clear. You think you can order everyone around. You think—”

  Striding across the room, Ariel flung open the basement door. “Shall I show you how we snobs ‘control’ things?”

  Phyllis shook her head. “It was just a way to get money. We never meant to hurt anyone.”

  “You have. You did. I need the pack and I need the shoes. And keep your mouth shut about everything!” With her head high, Ariel turned and left the room, then went outside onto the porch. She didn’t trust anyone enough to believe they wouldn’t lock her in the prison apartment upstairs.

  She sat down on a chair and wondered who she should be angry at. David? The residents of King’s Isle? Her mother?

  It took only twenty minutes before Phyllis handed her a filled backpack and a pair of shoes, then she gave her a ride to the Nezbit house.

  “Where does this Gideon live?” Ariel asked, looking out the car window when Phyllis stopped the car.

  “Somewhere back there. I don’t know,” Phyllis said, anxious to get away from Ariel.

  “I want you to answer a question honestly. Are you the mother of Gideon’s children?”

  “Am I—?” Phyllis began, astonished, then she smiled. “Eula is a lying snake. The whole town has heard her husband say she should be pretty like me, or like any woman. That man makes his whole family crazy. As for me and Gideon, yeah, I got drunk once and ended up in bed with him. Once. As for being the mother of his kids, he’s sixteen and the kids are four. Do the math. Any more questions?”

  “No,” Ariel said. “But I’m warning you that you’d better help us now. When the police get involved in this, you’re going to need evidence to make the jury believe you weren’t a ringleader.”

  “Right. Helicopters and police.”

  Ariel got out of the car and adjusted the pack on her back. She didn’t know if she believed Phyllis or not.

  “Go to the left and stay in the woods,” Phyllis said. “Eula has three daughters who look just like her and are as mean as she is.”

  Ariel nodded before Phyllis sped off, gravel flying.

  Alone, Ariel looked around her at the country road. There was nothing but trees and fields. To her right was a mailbox and a dirt road that disappeared down a hill. Between the trees, in the distance, she could see the water.

  Ignoring the two roads, she headed to the left of what she assumed was the driveway. She had to climb over two fences and walk around what looked like poison ivy growing in a puddle at the base of three trees.

  When she wasn’t far from the water, she saw a path and cautiously followed it. Turning a corner, she saw a cabin—and on the porch was a man’s body. At first she thought it was David, but as she ran, she saw he was younger and he appeared to be unconscious.

  She ran up the porch steps and bent over him. He was still breathing. Cautiously, she touched his face—and her hand came away bloody. She dropped her pack on the floor, then ran inside to get a towel and water. As she ran, she looked about the cabin but saw no one.

  She threw a big towel in the sink, wet it with cold water, then ran outside to the young man. She put the sopping wet towel on the top of his head.

  Groaning, he turned his head and opened his eyes. There was an ugly cut on the side of his forehead. Blood was caked down the right side of his face; it had soaked his hair and shirt.

  “Help me up,” he gasped.

  Ariel put her body under his arm and helped him to a chair. She put the towel around his neck, then used the edge of it to dab at the gash.

  “How did you get out?” he whispered.

  For a moment she thought he meant Phyllis’s house, but then she realized he thought she was Sara. Maybe she could trick him into revealing something. “I found a way out,” she said. “After what you did to me, it’s a wonder I’m not dead.”

  He took the towel from her. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. You must be the other one. I heard there were two of you.” He tried to push himself out of the chair, but fell back down again. “I have to go! I have to find the twins.”

  “I don’t think you can walk. I’m assuming you’re Gideon.”

  “Yeah. And what have you been told about me?”

  Ariel couldn’t answer, but just stood there looking at him. Was he a friend or a foe? Eula said the boy was “evil,” but then she’d said the children were— Right now Ariel didn’t have the luxury of taking time to decide whether someone’s character was good or bad. He didn’t make her skin crawl and his main concern was lost children. That was good enough for her. “Where are the children?”

  Tears came to Gideon’s eyes and again he tried to stand. “I have to go get them,” he whispered. “They followed me. They’ve been out there all night.”

  “Where are R.J. and Sara?”

  “Trapped in one of those damned holes. I told them not to go, but R.J. thought he could find Fenny’s killer.”

  “They told you about that?”

  “Yes. But that doesn’t matter now. I have to go find the twins. I saw them. Lightning came and I saw them.”

  “I’ll find them,” Ariel said. “I’ll—”

  “You?” In spite of his pain, his expression was one of contempt. “Is that pack Gucci?”

  “And my earrings are real diamonds,” Ariel snapped. “If you can get up and go with me, do so. If not, then sit there and wallow in your own superiority.” She grabbed her pack and headed down the path to the left, hoping it was one that led to wherever R.J. and Sara and the children were.

  She expected the boy to follow her, and hoped he would, but she walked for nearly thirty minutes alone. When he did show up, it was abruptly. He had a bandage on his head that was already spotted with blood, a pack on his back, and a rifle in his hand.

  “Sorry about what I said. We King’s Islanders are a bit standoffish with outsiders.”

  “Don’t get me started,” Ariel said. “I’m going to recommend this place for atomic bomb testing.”

  “We’re not that bad,” he said. He was trying to keep up with her but with every step he was wincing in pain.

  “Are those children yours? Phyllis said they aren’t, but—”

  “You’ve been talking to Eula.”

  “Your mother.”

  “I don’t think so. I think she—”

  Ariel held up her hand. “The less I hear about the people on this island, the better I like it. Tell me about R.J. and Sara.”

  “Her leg is broken. She’s okay, but she’s in pain. They went off by themselves yesterday but I followed them. The twins must have followed me. A tree came down in the storm and I thought it had hit
them, but by the time I got to them they’d fallen into a hole. This area is pocketed with them. I climbed over the tree to get to them, but then the lightning flashed and I saw the kids. I also saw a person behind them. R.J. and Sara seemed to be okay, so I went after the kids. It was raining hard and I couldn’t see much, couldn’t hear anything. I climbed all over the mountain. I went to the springs, and I—”

  “The hot springs?”

  “What used to be hot springs.”

  “Did you see the children?”

  “Yes. I saw them twice and each time I thought I saw someone with them.”

  “Old? Young? Man or woman?” asked Ariel.

  “It was too dark to see.”

  “How did you hurt your head?”

  “There was a sound. It was like a shot, but it could have been lightning striking a tree. I don’t know. One minute I was standing, then the next I was falling. I tried to catch myself, but it was all loose gravel. I thought I’d fallen into one of the pits, but it must have been down a hillside. I think I was knocked unconscious.”

  “How did you get back to the cabin?”

  “I don’t know. I was lying on gravel, rain was hitting me in the face, my head hurt, then the next thing I knew I was on my own porch and an angel hit me in the face with a wet towel.”

  Ariel didn’t smile. “David must have found you.”

  “Who is David?”

  “Did you see a man, tall, blond, handsome. Beautiful, really. He left Phyllis’s house early this morning.”

  “I saw no beautiful men,” Gideon said. “And no beautiful twins.” Again, there were tears in his voice.

  “We’ll find them. I think that first we should—”

  “Get R.J. and Sara out. What took me so long to get here was that I got a winch and some rope. The tree fell across the hole. I’ll tie the winch onto the tree and haul them up. You can stay with Sara while R.J. and I look for the twins.”

  “You’re injured, so you stay with Sara.”

  Gideon gave her a sideways look. “I bet you rule your household, don’t you?”

  “I don’t have a household. I live with my mother and she rules everybody.”