The room suddenly flooded with light, Mason walked down the stairs in his jeans, no shirt, looking sharp-eyed and concerned, if handsomely ruffled in his sleep. He watched her as she clutched the phone to her chest.
“What’s going on?” he asked. Gina had no choice but to tell him, and she also knew it was going to change everything.
G
INA JERKED IN SURPRISE
, crossing her arms defensively, the phone flying from her fingers as she did so.
“I had to find out if Tracy was okay,” she said stubbornly, avoiding Mason’s eyes. That was harder when he descended the stairs, coming up and making her face him.
“Where did you get the phone?”
“At one of the shops, earlier. I didn’t tell you because…I knew you wouldn’t break the rules. You wouldn’t let me call her against the FBI’s orders.”
His jaw was tense as he nodded shortly. “You’re right. But now that you did, what did you find out?”
“She’s alive. She’s with Rio, and Dupree has them both. He answered her phone.”
“You spoke to Dupree? You’re sure?”
“Certain. He shot Rio, and he’s threatening to kill Tracy if I don’t get him what he wants.”
Mason shook his head. “They shot Rio? Damn,” he swore under his breath, and Gina saw the color leave his face, making the sharpness of his strong features even more stark.
“You have to tell Agent Kelly. If you call Tracy’s phone again, make up some reason, maybe they can trace the call, find out where they—”
“No! He said no cops, no FBI. He has contacts, people inside. That’s how he got the pictures.”
More surprise registered on Mason’s face. “Wait—he has the pictures? He said that?”
“Yes. Maybe that’s why they rushed us here, and you said you had heard something about a leak…someone got the pictures for him.”
“So if he has the photos, then what does he want?”
“Tracy apparently stole some kind of notebook with important information in it. She and Rio were trying to use it as blackmail, but it backfired.”
Mason let out a low whistle. “That’s playing some serious hardball. She really should have just taken that directly to the FBI.”
“I know. I guess they were thinking that if they had something over Dupree’s head, we would all be safe. They made copies, and they handed over the one they had, and Tracy’s lawyer—”
“Fitz? John Fitzgerald?”
“Yes. They sent him a copy, and Dupree sent guys to get it, and they did a job on the lawyer, Fitz. He took pictures and showed them to Tracy, told her it was her fault,” Gina said, fighting back tears. “He’s in the hospital. I guess Dupree figured this would get the message across. Fitz probably never even saw what was in the envelope.”
“Maybe the only reason he’s still alive.”
“Yes.”
Mason sank to sit on the sofa, his head in his hands. “Fitz is a good guy. He and his wife just had a baby. I can’t believe this,” he said.
“Dupree is evil. He obviously has no value on any life but his own. But we can’t tell anyone—he’ll find out and then Tracy is dead, too, and he’ll come after us. I have to find that book, and I have to give it to him.”
“No. Kelly said the guy leaves no loose ends. He’ll get what he wants, and he’ll kill you both. The only option is telling the feds.”
“No. You have to promise me you won’t do that, Mason. Please.”
“I don’t know that I can make that promise, Gina. This is way out of our control.”
“What would I tell them, anyway? I don’t know where the thing is.” Gina felt her eyes sting again, frustration causing her tears more than sadness. “The notebook could be anywhere. But he said if I don’t find it, he’s going to kill her and come after us. He gave me until tomorrow night,” she reported in a shaking voice.
“He didn’t tell you a drop spot?”
“No. He said he would when I call him with the book in hand.”
Mason stared at her hard. “He might kill you, you know. You and Tracy, whether you have the thing or not,” he said stiffly. “Are you willing to go that far for your sister, who got you in this mess in the first place?
Who’s only used you to get herself out of the messes she gets into over and over again?”
Gina’s back stiffened. “What else should I do? Just walk away? Let her die?”
“No,” Mason said, pushing a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I just can’t stand the thought of anything happening to you.”
Gina believed him. She saw the fear in his eyes. That set her back for a minute. He was afraid for her.
He let out a heavy sigh. “I guess if it was Ryan in the same situation, I wouldn’t want to take chances, either. But if you are determined to do this, there’s no way I’m letting you do it alone.”
She shook her head. “No way. My sister, my problem.”
“You make your choices, Gina, and I make mine, too. If you are determined to do this, then it’s safer for both of us to do it together. Rio is—was—my client, too. Let me help.”
She started to object when she realized what was scaring her even more than Tracy’s predicament. Gina was more than willing to risk her own life, but Mason’s? Even so, she couldn’t think of a single reason to argue with him. And if she didn’t let him help, he most certainly would call the feds. Tracy would be dead for sure, then.
“Okay, but we’re going to need a plan.”
G
UILT STABBED AT
M
ASON
as he stood over the stove, making them some eggs. He’d seen Gina slip the phone into her purse at the store, and he’d guessed why she
bought it. He’d already alerted Kelly about the matter, but now he had a choice to make. Did he tell Kelly what he knew, or did he stick by Gina? If he told Kelly, and something happened to Tracy because of that, he’d lose Gina forever. But at least she’d be alive.
It was an impossible choice. How had things gotten so complicated so quickly? Mason had thought that Gina’s call would lead to a dead end, no pun intended. He’d never expected that Dupree would have Tracy, or answer her phone. Kelly had thought the same. But what now?
If Mason had thought that Tracy would get caught by Dupree, or that he might get anywhere near Gina, he would have taken the phone and tossed it in the ocean the first chance he had.
He’d inadvertently put Gina in danger. If anything happened to her, how could he not feel responsible? The only way he could live with himself was to stay at her side and help her in any way he could, no matter what.
So that decision was made. He walked to the wall phone on the other side of the kitchen, picked it up and dialed nine—all that was needed to make contact.
He simply said, “Nothing came of the call. No new developments.” He hung up and walked back to the stove just as Gina entered the kitchen.
“That smells so good. I don’t know how I can be hungry, but I feel like I could eat the whole cow.”
“Adrenaline will do that,” he said casually, though his insides were in knots.
He brought plates piled with scrambled eggs and
toast to the table, glancing out the window. The sun wasn’t up yet.
“So, have you come up with anything on where that book could be hidden?”
Gina dug in to her eggs, nodding.
“Something Tracy said does keep playing back for me. I thought maybe she was drugged or delirious, but she said something about being in a shack, and Dupree being like a pirate after his treasure.”
Mason frowned. “That is weird. Do you think she was trying to tell you where she was?”
“Maybe, but I was thinking…my folks used to spend a lot of time out on Caledesi Island. It was a hangout for us when we were teenagers, too. We used to play this pirate king game we made up. We would hide things all over the island, and whoever found the most treasure won.”
“Huh. That does sound like a good possibility,” Mason said. “Smart of Tracy to give you a clue like that under the circumstances. Have to give her credit. Not everyone would be able to think that clearly under that kind of pressure.”
Gina smiled. “Tracy was never stupid. She’s impulsive, and she likes attention, but she was more like my mother, more social and flirty—she would just jump into anything, living life to its fullest. I think I took more after my father, at least from what my mother said.” She took another, absent bite of her food, lost in thought, before she continued.
“He was more quiet, more reserved. I think they were attracted to each other for the contrast, opposites attract and all of that. I always liked thinking I took after him. My stepdad, who’s wonderful, really, is the same as Mom and Tracy.”
“What does he do?”
“He ran an extreme sports tour service. He used to partake in most of the activities, though now he mostly writes about it. Though he did get my mom to bungee jump last year.”
“How about you?”
“Me? Jump off the side of a bridge? No thanks. I guess I kind of separated off after college, lived my own life. I love them, and I know they love me, but we’re all very different. They go scuba diving for Christmas, and I would rather decorate the tree and make cookies.”
Mason finished his eggs, and looked at her with admiration. “And yet here you are, ready to take on a killer who has your sister. I’d say that takes a lot more courage than jumping off a bridge attached to a safe cord.”
“There’s nothing safe about this situation, it’s true,” she admitted, sighing. “Anyway, I guess the first step would be heading to the island and hoping it pays off. If we can’t find it there, then I don’t know what to do. Maybe we would have to call in the FBI at that point,” Gina said worriedly.
“It’s not far. There’s a ferry that goes out to the island, and we can catch a taxi there. If it looks like
we’re just taking a casual day trip, no one should suspect a thing.”
Gina nodded. “I appreciate you sticking by me in this, Mason, but at any point, if you want out, I understand. I—I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Mason’s heart stuttered a beat. There was something in her tone…Was there a chance that Gina felt the same way about him as he felt about her? He walked around behind her, rubbing his hands over her rigid shoulders. They would have to sort out their feelings later. They had to keep their wits about them right now.
“No way, I’m in this as far as you want to take it. I promise you that, Gina, okay? No more talk about bailing out, unless you change your mind. Like you said, if we can’t find the book, we may have to clue Kelly in.”
He was rewarded with a slight softening of her frame as she turned her head to run her lips over his knuckles where they rested on her shoulder.
“Thank you, Mason. In a way, I wish you weren’t involved. I hate that this is messing up your life. On the other hand, I’m so grateful to you, and glad you’ll be with me. It makes me feel safer than all the FBI agents in the world. I know I can trust you.”
Mason wrapped his arms around her, not saying a word, emotions clogged in his chest. When this was done, when they were safe and Dupree was put away, he’d make sure she had no doubt that he wanted her to be his. From what she said of her family, it sounded like Gina had always felt the outsider, the odd man out. An
introvert living among adventurers, and it had convinced her she wasn’t as interesting as her family. He planned to convince her differently.
“It’s too late to go back to bed, too early to leave. Want to take a shower, get under some hot water, try to relax?” he asked, leaning down to nibble the back of her neck.
“I do need something to distract me until we can go look for this book,” she said, her voice hitching slightly.
A little while later, in the shower, where he washed her silken skin from head to toe, he tried to drive away the demons in her eyes with sparks of pleasure. When their bodies came together, rising and falling on the ebb and flow of passion, he didn’t say anything more, but hoped she somehow knew that he was already utterly hers.
A
S THEY CROSSED THE BLUE WATERS
to the island where she’d spent so much time as a child, Gina felt separated from the rest of the human race buzzing around her. Others were fishing, enjoying the beautiful November day, and she was preparing to meet a killer. She just hoped they found the book.
There was one beach on the island that they had gone to regularly, and through a patch of woods, a cabin that had been used for shelter in storms or overnight camping. The island was a popular spot, and hosted a Ranger station and a marina, as well as some snack shops and picnic areas, though it was largely undeveloped otherwise.
The entire interior could be hiked in an hour or two,
so it shouldn’t be hard for them to find where Tracy might have hidden the book. There was one shelter they had liked to play in, in particular. Gina hoped it was the right spot.
It was a weekday, so the ferry wasn’t very crowded. They sat in their seats, Mason’s arm around her protectively as they made their way across the water. The way he protected her, touched her so sweetly, it made her want to cry sometimes. It just added to the surreal feeling of it all. As if she had stepped into someone else’s life for a while, full of adventure and passion, and her real self was just waiting on the sidelines for her to be finished. Mason said he wanted to see what could be between them when this was all over.
It was a tempting proposition, but what if all of their chemistry, and his interest in her, faded away? Could she take that? Her heart was blossoming for him, even as she tried to fight it. To find this was nothing but a fantasy would be pain she would rather live without.
“Almost there,” Mason whispered in her ear, and in spite of their dire situation, a flash of need shimmered down the center of her body. Making love in the shower that morning had been a first for her. Most things with Mason were firsts, it seemed.
“If it’s still there, it’s just past those trees,” she said, pointing.
“We’ll know shortly. You okay?” Mason asked.
“Fine. I just want this over with.”
“Amen.”
A few minutes later they were at the ferry dock, and gray clouds blocked the sun, making Gina pull the hood of her light jacket up. It was still warm, but she shivered just the same as they stopped to buy bottles of water—advice from the Ranger greeting anyone who was hiking the island—and then set off on their search.
It was all on her, she realized. If she didn’t find the notebook in the spot she’d remembered, she would have wasted all of this time for nothing. Was Mason right? Should they have called Agent Kelly and just had the number traced? Nerves tightened in her chest as they pressed on, doubts assailing her.