“Do they really think I’m going to make a run for it?” Tori asked. “Why would I want to do that? Where would I go?”
The waitress came over and hovered by Josh--a beautiful woman with a heart-shaped face and a Creole accent.
“What can I get you, sir?” she asked.
“Nothing, thanks. I can’t stay.”
The waitress arched an eyebrow but Josh paid her no attention. He seemed to have said it as much for Tori’s benefit as for hers.
“Let me know if you change your mind,” the woman said, and hurried away.
Tori tried not to think about the irony.
“So, how much trouble are you in?” she asked.
“I’ll be all right,” Josh replied. He nodded toward Voss and the others waiting on the dock. “That’s why they’re over there watching us, actually. So if us meeting like this comes up at all, it’s on record as having been part of the case, and under supervision.”
“It was actually pretty cool of Rachael to go along with it,” Tori said, picking up her iced tea. “She’s the boss, right? Of your unit or squad or whatever?”
Josh nodded. “And cool of your babysitters over there to cooperate. So, have you decided where they’re taking you? I know it isn’t the life you chose, but it’s a pretty unique opportunity to get to start your life all over again, even after—“
Tori smiled at his loss for words. After she had already been declared dead once, already started over? After she had taken part in crimes that could have landed her in prison for years? She took a sip of iced tea.
“I hear Oregon is beautiful and quiet,” she said. “Somewhere on the coast, I think. In high school I worked in this café, and I’ve always loved books, so I’m thinking of a little bookstore café. Someplace people would come and sit for hours.”
“Someplace peaceful,” Josh said.
And a warmth spread through her. He understood. She sipped her iced tea again, and over the rim of the glass their eyes met.
“Have you decided on a new name?” he asked, his voice tight with uncertainty.
“Yeah. I have.”
And that was all. Nobody had put a price on her head, but this new life she was getting was much like witness protection. For the second time, she would be declared dead and would become a new person, with a new name.
Josh gave her a sheepish grin. If she didn’t want to tell him her new name, that spoke volumes.
“Listen, there are some things I want to say. Some things I should have said—“
“Please, don’t.” She smiled to take the sting out of it. “We’ve said what needs saying, I think. I only wanted to see you to tell you goodbye, and that I’ll miss you.”
Josh dropped his gaze and gave a slow shake of his head. “I wish things had been different.”
Tori laughed. He looked up, maybe a little hurt, until he saw the real mirth that must have been in her expression.
“Which part?” she asked. “Getting beaten up and shot, or running for our lives?”
The absurdity of it touched him, then, and he chuckled softly. A silence fell between them and several long seconds ticked by. Tori wondered if Josh filled those seconds with the same thoughts that she did, memories of the days they had spent flirting in the galley on board the Antoinette and the few precious hours they had passed making love in her quarters. She thought perhaps he did.
In all of the ways that mattered, when she parted company with him here, she would be leaving Tori Austin behind as well. By the end of the day, she would have a new identity, a new name, and Josh Hart would be the only person in the world who had ever really known a woman named Tori Austin, and who cared that she had been erased from the world.
“You know,” he said, “you could get a new name and a new life right here in St. Croix.”
Tori gave a small sigh and rose from her chair. Nothing more could come of the conversation. “Somehow, I don’t think Rachael would like that. She wants you all to herself.”
Josh stood as well. “I already told you, we’re partners. It isn’t like that between us.”
Tori glanced over at the dock, saw the way Voss stood tensed, watching them, and turned back to Josh. She reached up and touched his face, fighting the bittersweet feelings that welled inside her. Holding her breath, she slid her hand behind his neck and pulled him down for a kiss—to hell with what her FBI handlers might put in their report. Her lips brushed his and she breathed in his breath.
“If you don’t think it’s like that between you,” Tori whispered in his ear, “you’re just not paying attention.”
She withdrew from him, chuckled at the confusion etched on his face, and then touched his arm. “Sit a minute, Josh. Finish my iced tea. It’s probably better all around for me to leave first.”
“Okay,” he said, but he didn’t sit. He only stood and watched her go. “Take care of yourself.”
“You, too. Maybe work on not getting shot in the future. Try not to die.”
That earned her a grin. “Not dying,” he said. “Pretty much my whole plan.”
Tori nodded. “Mine, too.”
And she left him there, drinking the rest of her iced tea, and headed off to begin again. She only hoped that this time she would get it right.
Christopher Golden is the New York Times bestselling and two-time Stoker Award winning author of such novels as THE PANDORA ROOM, ARARAT, DEAD RINGERS, SNOWBLIND, TIN MEN, THE MYTH HUNTERS, WILDWOOD ROAD, THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN, STRANGEWOOD, THE FERRYMAN, and OF SAINTS AND SHADOWS. He has also written books for teens and young adults, including POISON INK, SOULLESS, and the thriller series BODY OF EVIDENCE, honored by the New York Public Library and chosen as one of YALSA's Best Books for Young Readers.
Golden co-wrote the illustrated novel BALTIMORE, OR, THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER AND THE VAMPIRE with Mike Mignola, which became the launching pad for the cult favorite comics series BALTIMORE. As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies HARK THE HERALD ANGELS SCREAM, SEIZE THE NIGHT, THE NEW DEAD, and THE MONSTER'S CORNER, among others, and has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, a BBC radio play, the online animated series GHOSTS OF ALBION (with Amber Benson), and a network television pilot. Visit www.ChristopherGolden.com
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