Dont trust anyone, he said.
I certainly dont trust you.
He pulled her back around to face him. You know what? Ive about had it with this.
Oh, you have, have you?
I got a long lecture. You can have one, too. You read a lot into a number of situations that just wasnt there. You never had the right not to trust me. It was just that, to you, the minute a phone or a radio didnt work, I had to be doing something. With someone. And you know what, Alex? That kind of thing gets really old, really quick.
Sorry, but its over anyway, isnt it? You received the divorce papers and said, Hey, go right ahead.You were probably thankful you didnt have to deal with any annoying baggage anymore. And now youre suddenly going to be my champion, defending me from a danger that doesnt exist?
Alex, you know me. You know what kind of man I am. Hell, hate me til the sun falls from the sky, but trust me right now.
There are dozens of people here. I dont think Im in any danger in the middle of the Tiki Hut. And trust you? She sounded angry, then a slow smile curved her lips.
What?
I just find it rather amusing that youre suddenly so determined to enjoy my company. There were so many times whenwell, never mind.
He stared at her blankly for a moment. What are you talking about?
It doesnt matter anymore. Its over.
Actually, its not, he said. Again he waited for lightning to strike. Not that it should. He was doing this out of a very real fear for her life.
She waved a hand in the air. All over but the shouting, she murmured.
Maybe thats what we were lackingthe shouting.
Great. We should have had a few more fights?
It was strange, he thought, but this was almost a conversation, a real one.
And then John Seymore chose that exact moment to return, tapping him on the shoulder. Since youre on the dance floor and not actually dancing?
And its a salsa, Alex put in.
Salsa? John murmured. Im not sure I know what Im doing, but
I do, David said quickly, grinning, and catching Alex in his arms once again. Ill bring her back for the next number.
Since when do you salsa? Alex demanded as they began to move.
Since a friend married a dance instructor, he told her.
She seemed startled, but he really did know what he was doing. Hed never imagined the dance instruction hed so recently received from a friends wife would pay off so quickly. Alex was good, too. Shed probably honed her skills working here, being pleasant to the guests in the Tiki Hut at night.
After a minute, though, he wasnt quite sure what he had gained. They looked good together on the floor, and he knew it. But the music was fast, so conversation was impossible. At the end of the song he managed to lead her into a perfect dip, so at least he was rewarded by the amazement in her eyes as they met his.
In fact, she stayed in his arms for several extra seconds, staring up at him before realizing that the music had ended and the gathering in the Tiki Hut was applauding them.
He grinned slowly as she straightened, then pushed against his chest. The dance is over, she said firmly, then walked quickly away.
You really are a man of many talents.
Turning, he saw Alexs assistant, the pretty young blonde. She was leaning against the edge of the rustic wood bar.
Thanks.
Do you cha-cha? she asked, smiling.
Yes, I do, he said.
Well, will you ask me? Or are you making me ask you?
Laurie, I would love to dance with you, he said gallantly.
As they moved, she asked him frankly, Why on earth did you two ever split up?
Actually, I dont really know, he told her.
I bet I do, she told him. You must be pretty high maintenance.
High maintenance? Im great at taking care of myself. I may not be a gourmet, but I can cook. I know every button on a washing machine. I usually even remember to put down the toilet seat.
She laughed. Well, there you go.
Excuse me? How is that high maintenance?
You dont need anybody, she said. So its high maintenance for someone to figure out what they can do for you.
She wasnt making any sense, but she was sincere, and she made him smile.
Then the music came to an end, and he regretted that he had been so determined on proving his mettle with Alex, because he found himself being asked to dance by almost every woman in the Tiki Hut.
And somewhere, in the middle of a mambo, he realized that Alex had slipped awayand so had John Seymore.
Somehow, just when things had begun looking a little brighter, David had walked back into her life, and now he was ruining everything.
Johns arm sat casually around her shoulders as they strolled toward her cottage. Hate to admit it, he said casually, but you two looked great out there. Did you spend a lot of time out dancing while you were married?
No. We didnt spend much time together doing anythingother than diving for treasure or facing great whites or experiencing some other thrill.
Strange, he said.
What?
The way you sound. You love the sea so much, too.
Actually? Im not into sharks. I was terrified every time I went into the water with them, but with the crew of hard-core fanatics that always seemed to be around, I didnt want to look like a coward. I love the sea, yes. But Im into warm-blooded, friendly creatures, myself.
You really love your dolphins, huh?
She shrugged, liking the way his arm felt around her, but feeling a sense of discomfort, as well.
David. Telling her that they were still married. But they werent; they hadnt been for a year. Not in any way that mattered. All he was talking about was legality. His words shouldnt mean a thing.
Except that
She was traditional. Shed been raised Catholic.
Damn David. He would know her thought process, that she would feel that she shouldnt be with another man, that it wouldnt be right, and
Just how many women had he been with in the last year? What was wrong with her that she couldnt see how ridiculous it was for her to be concerned over anything he had to say? Why had seeing him again made her uncertain, when she knew that an easy confidence and charm were just a part of his nature?
I do love my dolphins, she said, realizing she had been silent for too long after his question. They are the most incredible animals. What I like most is that they seem to study us just as we study them, and just as we learn their behavior, they learn what our behavior is going to be. Sometimes their affinity for man, especially in the wild, can be dangerous for them, but still, the communication we can share is just amazing.
They are incredible, he agreed. Ive seen them used in the navy in the most remarkable ways. Never worked with them myself, he added quickly. But Ive seen what they can do.
They had reached her porch. Strange, her thoughts had been filled with Davids behaviorshe wished she could begin to understand the male of her own species half as well as she understood her dolphinsand then with Johns company, which, she had to admit, she had found all the more intoxicating just because she knew that it disturbed David.
Now, despite the light burning on her back porch, it seemed that the shadows of night were all around her, and she remembered the body on the beach. It wasnt that she had ever forgotten, but despite her determination, the doubts of others had crept into her mind.
Was she insane, thinking the woman had been dead?
Or was she more insane now, trying to do what Jay had demanded, keep silent about the possibility of a body on the beach?
John had escorted her up the two wooden steps to her little back porch, with its charming, gingerbread railing. They were standing by her back door.
He was probably waiting to be invited in.
And just this morning, she had thought that if this moment came, she would invite him in.
She mentally damned her ex-husband again. Her almost-ex-husband.
She smiled up at John Seymore. His dimple was showing as he offered her a rueful smile.
Youre really something, he said.
So are you, she murmured. Blond hair, handsome face, shoulders to die for, arms that were wonderfully secure
She slipped into them. He lowered his mouth to hers, and she allowed herself the kiss, but she couldnt stop herself from analyzing it. Firm mouth, coercive, not demanding, fingers gently suggestive in her hair, tongue teasing at her lips, slipping into her mouth, warm, very warm, definitely seductive
On a physical level, he was incredible.
So if she could just forget about David
She couldnt. Not when he was here, on the island, so irritatingly in-her-face.
She stepped back, stroking Johns cheek.
Youre around for a little while longer, right? she inquired softly, hoping he understood her signals. Im interested, but its been a very long and strange day
I can arrange to be around for a very, very long time, he told her. Then he grinned. Id like to come in. But I understand perfectly. Okay, well, not perfectly, and I am disappointed, wishing I could be sleeping with you tonight.
She felt a flush touch her cheeks. I didnt mean tolead you on, to suggest
You didnt. Youre just the most fascinating woman Ive met in aeons, andhell, good night. Ill be around.
Iwell, I know youve been talking to David. We are divorced. Theres just some ridiculous technicality.
Im not worried about a technicality, he told her.
Neither am I.
But I will step back if the technicality isnt just on paper, if its something a lot deeper.
His words made her like him all the more. He wasnt about to step into the middle of a triangle, or be secondstring to any other man.
Its only a technicalityreally. She meant to sound sincere. She wasnt sure if she really was or not. And she wasnt sure what he heard in her denial.
Well he murmured.
He drew her to him, kissed her forehead. Then he walked down the steps, and started back along the foliage-bordered path.
She watched him disappear, realized she hadnt opened her door, and felt the pressure of the night and the shadows again. She quickly slid her key into the bolt for the glass doors, then stepped inside, feeling a rise of anger. She had never felt afraid here before, ever.
And now
Though the image had faded for a moment due to skepticism and doubt, she could now vividly recall the corpse on the beach. A corpse that had disappeared.
She locked the door, making certain it was secure; then, still feeling an almost panicky unease, she walked through the little Florida room, kitchen and living room, assuring herself that windows were tightly closed and the front door was locked.
Damn David a million times over for both the trials haunting her tonight. If it hadnt been for him, John Seymore would be inside with her. Then she wouldnt be afraid of the shadows, or the memories stirring in her mind.
She slipped through the hallway to the first of the two bedrooms in the cottage, the one she used for an office area. She checked the window there and even opened the closet door.
Davids suggestion that she might be in danger seemed to be invading her every nerve. But the office was empty and secure.
Finally she went to her own room, found it safe, then prepared for bed and slipped under the covers. The night-light she kept on in the bathroom had always provided her with more than enough illumination, but tonight it only added to the shadows.
Usually the sound of the waves and the sea breeze rustling through the trees was soothing, but tonight
She lay there for several seconds. Wavesbreezepalms. Foliage that seemed to whisper softly in the night, usually so pleasant
A sudden thumping sound startled her so badly that she nearly screamed aloud. She did jump out of bed.
Shed heard a thump, as if something heavy had just landed on her roof.
She stood dead still, waiting. And waiting
Nothing, no sound at all. Had she been deceived? The sound might have come from elsewhere
Or might not have come at all.
She almost let out a loud sigh of pure frustration, but swallowed it back, and slowly, silently, tiptoed from her bedroom.
Into the hallthrough to the kitchen. From there she could see both the living room and the little Florida room and the glass doors that led out back. The curtain was partially open. Had she left it that way?
The noise had come from the roof. There was a fireplace in the living area of each of the cottages. Despite the fact that this was sunny Florida, in the winter, during the few days that dipped into the forties or even the thirties, a fire was incredibly nice. But the chimney was far too small for a man to slip through.
So she was safe. There was nothing.
She was letting the simple sounds of nature slip into her psyche and scare her because she was still so unnerved by the happenings of the day.
A coconut had probably fallen off a palm. Still, just to be sure
She walked to the back, trying to stay behind the curtain, then peeked out the glass. She pulled the drape back just a little more
And screamed.
Chapter Four
Everyone was gone, Laurie thought. First Alex and John, then David. There were people around, but the Tiki Hut seemed empty. The band had reverted to calypso, very pleasant but also, in her current state of mind, sleep inducing.
Alex was crazy. Shed been married to David Denhem and divorced him.
Alex had never been to Date Tournament. Had she realized what was out there, she would undoubtedly still be married.
Maybe Alex thought that nights spent at a place like Date Tournament were simply not in her future. Then again, maybe she would never have such a nightbecause there was something about Alex that attracted men.
Laurie wished she had that innatething, whatever it was. Maybe it would come with age, but Alex was only three years her senior. Well, maybe things werent as perfect as they seemed for Alex, either.
Youre up late, arent you?
She started. It was Hank Adamson. She hadnt seen him before, but the Tiki Hut had been hopping, earlier, so he could have been lost in the crowd.
She saw Jay Galway on the other side of the bar, conversing with Seth Granger and a few of the other guests. He was staring at herglaring, reallyand giving her a big smile. Sign language, Jay Galway style. She was supposed to be as nice as possible, suck up big-time.