Mason nodded. “She’s right.”
Agent Kelly scowled. “Okay. Let’s get you back to the safe house. We’ll call Dupree from there. We’ll get you wired and prepped to go in. But if he doesn’t agree, if he won’t meet you, we’re going to be tracing that call, and we’re going to move in on him. We’ll do what we can for Tracy and her husband, but we’re not letting this guy slip away.”
Mason squeezed Gina’s shoulder and tried to offer
a comforting smile. She stepped away, letting his hand fall.
Ouch
.
Without a word, she followed the agent to the car and slipped in the backseat. She wouldn’t even look at him, and Mason sighed. There was nothing he could do about it now.
B
ACK AT THE SAFE HOUSE IN
Tarpon Springs, Gina sat on the sofa, feeling far too calm. She was about to call Dupree, the agents around her having set up their phone monitoring to trace the call.
“Are you okay?” Mason asked, detecting the slight quiver in her hand as she picked up the phone, four FBI agents standing by, watching carefully, saying nothing. She was so angry at him for telling them about the phone, for exposing Tracy to more risk, that she hadn’t been able to deal with Mason yet. In spite of her obvious rebuff, he remained caring and at her side. It was…distracting.
“It’s going to be fine,” he reassured her.
“I hope you’re right,” was all she said to him, the most they’d spoken since she’d gotten off of the dock at the ferry. Maybe things would be fine, but could she trust him? She had sneaked the phone call, but he had ratted her out to the agents and let her believe no one knew. Without trust, how could they go forward?
“We’re ready anytime you are.” Agent Kelly motioned to her, breaking her train of thought.
She wasted no time calling Tracy’s number. It picked up on the third ring.
“You have the notebook?” It was Dupree.
“Yes.”
“So you did know where it was.”
“I remembered.”
“Right.”
“It’s quite interesting reading, actually. Especially the baby announcement at the back.”
“Don’t play with me, Gina.”
The way he said her name made her cringe. “I’m not. It just hits me that this is a very valuable item. And if I bring it there, I know I’m probably dead, along with Tracy and Rio.”
“I guess that’s the chance you have to take.”
“No, actually, I don’t. Since you will kill us anyway, and as much as I love my sister, I’m not giving this to you unless I know we’ll be safe, so you can meet me. In the town square, Tarpon Springs. You bring Tracy, healthy and sound, and we trade. In public.”
Gina was quite sure that she could feel Dupree’s rage right through the telephone. There was a long pause and for a split second, she wondered if Dupree had hung up.
“You’re taking chances—”
“I’m not stupid,” she said tersely, playing her role as a tough cookie dealing with an international criminal. Over her shoulder, she turned, seeing one of the other agents tap Agent Kelly on the shoulder, apparently with some kind of news. Finally, Dupree spoke.
“When?”
“Two hours.”
“Fine.”
That was it. He hung up, and she started shaking so hard that Mason had to take the phone from her ice-cold fingers.
“We just got a report from the Coast Guard,” Kelly said, shaking his head in disbelief. “They said they got a distress call from a woman saying she was on Dupree’s boat, and that her husband had been shot, and that she was going to, and I quote, swim for it.”
Gina’s hand went to her lips as she sucked in a breath. “Oh, my God, it’s Tracy. It has to be Tracy,” she said, giddy that her sister was alive and had somehow managed to make contact from the boat. “But swim for it—what does she mean?”
“She jumped off the boat,” Mason said with a grin, barking out a laugh. “She escaped. Did they go to rescue her? Do they know where?”
“The Coast Guard didn’t have any position on her, though, so their hands have been tied, but now that we traced the call, we’re coordinating the search location.”
“So Dupree was bluffing. He doesn’t have Tracy at all,” she said.
“He couldn’t give up his bargaining chip on the call—that means he’ll show up, probably intending to still get the book and kill you, counting on the fact that Tracy hasn’t made any contact.”
“Even if Dupree knew about the distress call, he
figures all’s well, she didn’t know where to send the Coast Guard,” Mason reasoned aloud.
“Very likely. But we know now. He’s desperate though, and he’ll be looking to get out of the country fast. It makes him more dangerous.”
“So do I still have to meet him?”
Agent Kelly shook his head no. “We’ll be waiting at the square, and the Coast Guard is heading to the boat. We have him one way or the other.”
Gina felt faint with relief, and didn’t object when Mason hugged her tight.
“I can’t believe this is almost over.” She looked at Agent Kelly. “You said she told the Coast Guard that her husband was dying—not dead?”
“That’s what they said.”
“Oh, I hope that’s true, for Rio’s sake. I don’t like the man, but I never wanted him to be killed.”
Kelly nodded and turned to brief his agents, moving on to the next phase of their plan.
As they all dispersed, he leveled a warning gaze at Gina and Mason. “Stay put. I’m leaving a car outside with two guys. You don’t leave this house until I call and clear you to go.”
Mason nodded, answering for both of them. “Got it.”
Chaos milled around them, and Gina just watched as the house emptied out as quickly as it had filled. Quiet settled upon them, sudden and stifling. She rubbed her arms, alone with Mason and feeling awkward with him for the first time.
“I hope Tracy is okay. She’s a strong swimmer, but it depends on how far they were from shore,” she said.
“I bet when the Coast Guard finds the boat, they’ll find her, too, probably on one of the nearby beaches. Or maybe she’s found help by now.”
Gina nodded, the silence falling thick between them again.
“So now I guess we just wait.”
“Yeah,” Mason agreed, and then heaved a frustrated sigh, stood and paced in front of the sofa. “Listen, I can’t take this tension. I know you’re pissed, but like you said, these are extraordinary circumstances. You took the phone, and you didn’t trust me enough to tell me about it. I thought it was the right thing to do, telling Kelly—I wanted to make sure you were safe. That’s all.”
Gina took that in, nodding. “I know, I don’t like this, either, but what does that say about us? When the chips were down, we didn’t trust each other, did we? That’s because regardless of what’s happened between us, we don’t really know each other.”
“Or we know each other all too well. You knew I wouldn’t agree with you making that call, and I knew you were going to try to go off, half-cocked on your own after your sister. You two have more in common than you think,” he said, hands in his pockets, looking out the window at the sedan parked in the drive.
“Excuse me?”
“You and Tracy. She may be more overt about it, but
you are just as likely to take off and do something crazy, especially when it comes to someone you love.”
“I don’t think—”
“I didn’t say it was a bad thing, babe,” he added with a half smile, deflating her objection. Could it be true? Was she more like Tracy than she thought?
“Maybe you have a point. I suppose I also tended to play it safe because Tracy was adventurous enough for both of us.”
Mason sat down at her side, taking her hands in his. “But you are as much a wild woman inside, aren’t you?” he said, teasing, but also serious.
Gina felt her cheeks warm. “I don’t know. I thought I knew who I was, what I was, but now…everything has changed.”
“Like what?”
She focused on the wonderful feel of his fingers rubbing over hers, how warm and strong he was.
“Like not knowing if I want to keep doing what I do for a living. I think I gave up on my dreams too easily. It’s been in the back of my mind for a while, but I…I always…” She started to say something, but bit her lip, stopping.
“What? Tell me.”
“I always had this crazy fantasy about being an investigative reporter. It’s why I got into journalism in the first place, but I just never had the…I don’t know what it is. I guess I thought it was more of a fantasy, not a reality. Not something I was really cut out for.
There was a job opening I was looking at, before this whole mess exploded. It’s probably not open any longer, anyway…but if it was, I think maybe I should rethink it.”
“I think you should, too. You should always go for what you want. We both know fantasies can come true,” Mason said in a velvety voice, his gaze fastening on to hers and not letting go.
“Do they? I mean, fantasy by its very nature is fleeting. In real life, nothing is as exciting as we expect it to be.”
Mason barked out a laugh, startling her.
“What?” she asked.
“Honey, while the events of the last few days have been crazy, they’ve certainly been real. I don’t know if I could take this kind of reality on an everyday basis, but life is as exciting as you make it. You make your own luck, your own opportunities,” he said, leaning in to kiss her neck.
Gina shivered under his touch. “You really believe that?”
“I do,” he whispered against her ear. “For example, I want you more than I can say, and I promise you, I plan to go for it….” he promised sexily, biting the lobe of her ear, and Gina closed her eyes as her mind went blank.
“Really?”
His hands slid up her thigh. “Oh, yeah.”
“Reality can be pretty boring,” she cautioned, trying
to maintain some kind of control under his mischievous touch. “You’ve never seen me in jeans. Loose ones, with a ratty T-shirt,” she warned, but didn’t move away.
He smiled against her skin. “Would you be wearing a bra under that T-shirt? Could it be one of my T-shirts, maybe?”
“Sometimes,” she said, a grin flitting around her lips. “Nothing puts you off, does it?”
“There is nothing you can say, do or wear that could turn me off, so you might as well get used to that fact,” Mason said, pushing Gina back into the cushions of the sofa.
Her eyes shone with excitement, but her tone was serious. “Mason, there are federal agents outside, in the driveway.”
“So, they aren’t looking,” he said, wedging a knee in between her thighs.
“They probably are doing exactly that,” she said, pushing him away, but without any real effort as his lips claimed hers.
After long kisses that left her pliant and warm beneath him, he pushed back, looking down at her.
“So can I assume I have been forgiven?” he asked.
Her hand came up, pushing his hair away from his face, and he closed his eyes, enjoying the tenderness of her touch.
“Yes. I know you are a man who will always do what’s right, or at least, what you believe is the right thing to do. I know I shouldn’t have made that call, but—”
“But if you hadn’t, things might not have worked out as well as they have. Dupree will be captured, the evidence found. It worked out just fine, thankfully,” Mason said, dipping in for another kiss.
“I guess it did, though I’ll be happier when I know Tracy is safe, and when we hear about Rio, too.”
Remembering that his client might be somewhere, murdered, sobered Mason’s mood. He’d been a little giddy with relief, with anticipation for the future, but it was too soon for that, just yet. And very likely, after their little stint the night before, Kelly probably
was
watching and listening to their activity within the house.
Anything more interesting than kisses would have to wait.
“I’m sure we’ll hear soon,” he said, pulling Gina into the secure circle of his arms.
“And in the meantime?” she asked, trailing a finger down his chest.
“We wait, and we hope.”
She nodded, but then lifted her head up, kissed him quickly and stood. “I can’t sit and let my mind wander, though. I have to keep busy. Kelly and his agents should be grabbing Dupree almost anytime now, and I can’t just sit here and think. I’m going to make some dinner.”
“Want help?”
“Let me cook for you for a change. You can read or take a nap, or whatever.”
“Well, that’s an offer I can’t refuse. It’s been a while
since a beautiful woman cooked for me,” he said, grabbing a magazine from the nearby table and stretching out on the sofa.
“Prepare to be impressed,” she taunted saucily, and walked to the kitchen.
“I’ve been impressed all along,” Mason said to himself, smiling, and settling back to read.
U
NFORTUNATELY, COOKING DIDN’T
take Gina’s mind off of what was happening with Agent Kelly, or wondering and worrying about Tracy, though it did give her an outlet for nervous energy.
Peeking into the living room, she saw Mason had fallen asleep with his magazine, and envied him his positive outlook, the confidence he always seemed to have that things would work out well. Gina peeled some apples, making a pretty fruit salad, and wondered when and why her own view on life had become so negative. Why did she always assume the worst, or that things wouldn’t work out?
That was something worth trying to change, starting with being more hopeful and letting herself be happy about Mason’s obvious interest in her. The real her, after they went back home. He said she should go for what she wanted. Maybe he was right.
After all, if she could sing on stage and try to take on international criminals, couldn’t she find the courage to take a risk on love? And she thought she might love Mason…or could love him. Given the chance, and some
time to believe what they had was real, she could love him very much.
Grabbing a fresh lemon from the fridge, she hummed to herself, willing her eyes not to travel to the clock, where time was ticking by far too slowly. What was going on with the FBI? Why was there no news yet?
Returning to the cutting board, Gina reached for her knife and found it missing. Frowning, she scanned the counter, and then froze as she heard movement close behind her. Instincts had her opening her mouth to scream, but before she could, she was hauled backward, a hand tight over her mouth. Her head swam, but she felt, and saw, the flash of the knife she had been using as it was held against her throat.
“Hello, beautiful. I was disappointed when you didn’t keep our date,” the man said, and Gina recognized his voice from the phone.
Peter Dupree.
Her vision blurred as she tried to gasp for air, tears stinging.
“Did you really think I wouldn’t check the place out before I walked out into the middle of that square?” he hissed.
Gina moaned, from fear and from the loss of air, her vision darkening as she found herself pulled backward.
“No, no, no passing out,” Dupree warned, loosening his grip and allowing her air as he half dragged, half walked her backward.