Eye of the Storm (The Storm Series) (14 page)

Turning over, she memorized his face, softened in sleep, the lines between his eyebrows gone. She knew she was falling for him and besides not being what she wanted in this stage of her life, it would affect Lexi. They would see each other all the time, that constant reminder. All Evie could hope for was time healing their wounds and getting Jeremy locked up so they wouldn’t have to worry about that any more.

Tentatively, she reached out and ran a finger down the side of his face. When he didn’t move, she became braver. Moving down towards his lips, remembering them on her, wanting them there again.

Suddenly, her hand was grabbed and she was pinned beneath him. His eyes glowed with anger in the moonlight coming through the window. Seeing the recognition come into them his body relaxed but he did not move from on top of her.

“I’m sorry.” She was slightly scared by the look in his eyes, but knew he wouldn’t do anything to hurt her.

Dipping his head so that their foreheads touched, he said, “No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She waited for him to open his eyes and look into hers. When he did, something changed between them. He slowly tilted his head and gently captured her lips with his.

Hands gently stroked each other, the kiss deepened. Evie wasn’t wearing much in an attempt to torment him so it made easy access for him to reach down between her legs. He moaned when he found she was only wearing a very small thong.

He moved down her body spending considerable about of time teasing her nipples with his mouth and fingers before he moved further down and buried his mouth in her wetness. She thought she’d come up off of the bed with the pleasure his fingers and tongue gave her.

Feeling the orgasm build, she wanted him inside of her so badly, “Please, I need you inside of me,” she begged but he wasn’t budging until she went over the edge. Finally, Evie screamed his name. Anthony moved quickly up the bed until he was buried deep inside of her. She still quaked from her release. As he thrust harder and faster, she felt another one build around him. Evie raked her nails down his back and neither one was able to hold on and they both tumbled over the edge together.

With his weight on top of her, she ran her fingers lightly across his skin. This is where she wanted to be. This felt like home. She wanted to stay this way forever. Too soon, he moved off of her. Before she could protest he pulled her into his arms and covered them.

“Sleep, la mia belezza.”

She was unable to keep her eyes open. Drifting off to sleep quickly, they didn’t notice the reflection of the camera from a nearby balcony.

~*~

There must have been something in the air because it felt like they were on vacation. They were both lighter and flirted with each other. Heading out to the marina, the morning sky was clear and blue. In their research they found out that a Jay Ellison had rented a boat from one of the businesses at the marina.

“Good Morning, and welcome to Eilina’s Boat Rentals. I’m Kaitlin, how may I help you?”

“Hello, Kaitlin, my name is Anthony. I believe one of my associates spoke to you regarding a rental from a few years ago.”

“Oh yes, they actually spoke with my husband Jake. I think he was getting the information together, hold on.” She walked out of the room and returned a few minutes later with Jake.

“Howdy, come on back, I’ve got some stuff for you.”

“Walking into the back room, Evie looked around and saw the walls covered with pictures of their family, including a little boy that was completely adorable. She focused on what Jake was telling Anthony.

“So Jay chartered a boat for the day, leaving at seven in the morning. I’ve got down that there were two people aboard. I saw him and a young lady board, but when he came back, it was only him that came back into the office. I remember, because I thought it was strange. He told me that she was really seasick and took her to the car before coming in.”

“Did you happen to catch her name?” Evie asked.

“No, I didn’t, didn’t even think about it.” Jake said.

“Any idea where they might have gone?” Anthony asked.

“I can do better than that. I can show you.” He reached over and brought out a map and marked on it. “There is a little island out here, not too many people go out there. I’ve got all of the boats equipped with GPS and record where they go and how long they were there. It helps if a boat doesn’t come back. And I hate to say it, but sometimes people rent boats for illegal purposes. I always keep it, no matter how long.”

Evie and Anthony looked at each other with a sense of excitement and dread.

Anthony turned to Jake, “We’re going to need to rent a boat.”

~*~

After a quick trip back to the hotel and into town for supplies, they were back at the marina and on the boat preparing to set sail.

Watching Anthony at the wheel, his legs spread to keep his stance steady on the open sea, Evie was struck by his confidence steering the boat. They slowed as they neared the island.

Evie turned to him and said, “Well, at least we know why she stood you up. He met her early and she thought it was you.”

Anthony shook his head, “I just don’t understand how he can always find information out and stay one step ahead of me for so long now.”

“Me either, but he can only do that for so long. I think we’re catching up to him.”

“I hope you’re right. Based on the information Jake gave us, there is really only two places that you can get close to the island, this is one of them.” He cut the motor. “But we still have to get out and swim through the water.”

Looking at the island Evie shuddered. “Do we really have to search the whole thing?”

“I don’t think we can. He said most of it is too rocky to get too far in without climbing gear. We’ve got to assume that with that short of notice he wouldn’t do that. I’ve never been rock climbing, so it’s not something he would have to learn.”

“Good, let’s do this.” She took her clothes off so that she was in her white bikini. Catching him looking, she said, “Like what you see?”

“And then some.” He proceeded slowly lift his shirt over his head before looking up at her and giving her a wink before unzipping his pants.

All Evie could do was stare. There are men that should never wear Speedos, and then there are men that should
only
wear Speedos. Anthony was one of those men. Evie didn’t want to see him in anything else. She did have to hold back a chuckle at the fact that both of their suits were white.

Anthony dove into the water first and Evie licked her lips watching his form flow through the crystal clear water. When he came up, she handed him the waterproof bag that would hold their shoes. Thankful for her diving lessons when she was a teenager, she dove in after him. The water was warm as she moved gracefully through it.

They made a quick search of the small part of the island they could get to. Finding nothing, they went back to the boat. Watching him climb into the boat was a beautiful sight, the water dripping down his skin leaving trails of goose bumps as the breeze hit it.

They sat back and enjoyed a cool drink and snack. Looking around Evie wondered about the water. “Do you think he’d dump her in the water?”

Anthony thought about it. “Maybe. The water is really clear around here, I think it would be harder to disguise.”

“But he’d only have to have it disguised for a bit before the natural underwater life would take it over.”

“True, but it would be easier to dump her on the island.”

“You’d think, but there is so little area that we could get to.”

“Let’s look on the other side of the island, and then if we can’t find anything there, we can search the water around the island.”

~*~

Finding nothing on the other side of the island, they searched the water. At this point, Anthony wasn’t holding out much hope of finding anything. There were miles of ocean where a body could have been dumped.

It was slow work and neither of them knew what they were exactly looking for, so there were many dives down to find out it was nothing. Luckily, they’d brought snorkeling gear.

When they were almost back to where they had begun, Evie shouted, “Stop the boat.”

Watching her shaking finger point to something under the water Anthony was filled with dread. He dropped anchor and hoped it was just the shadows playing tricks on them.

Turning to Evie, he knew he couldn’t let her go down there. They had been taking turns and it was hers. “I’ll go.”

“No, it’s my turn.”

“Evie, please. Tell me, if it is what it looks like do you really want to go down there?”

Folding her arms across her chest, she said, “No, but you know I will.”

He wrapped her in his arms. “Yes, I know you would, but please, just let me do this. If it is her, let me be the one to find her. I’m the reason she’s down there.”

“Fine.”

Chuckling he said, “You’re always so gracious.”

“Go. We’ve been out here all day and it’s going to be dark soon.” She shivered.

“Yes, dear.”

Sticking her tongue out, she handed him his gear. “Be careful.”

“Always, la mia belezza.”

Taking a deep breath, he dove into the water. All the sounds became muffled and it was just him and the fish in the water. As he grew closer, it became more and more clear that it was a skeleton. He didn’t want to get too close, but he needed more information before going back up. Closing his eyes when he saw the mouth open in a silent scream, he hoped her death came quick. Swimming around, he saw there were chains around her, holding her under the water. He thought he saw a purse but he couldn’t be sure and didn’t want to disturb the evidence.

Swimming up to the surface, he wondered how Evie would take the news. This wasn’t the first time they came across a dead body together. Jeremy needed to be stopped.

Pulling himself into the boat Evie must have sensed that it wasn’t good news because she launched herself into his arms. Holding on tight, he closed his eyes in a silent prayer for the woman at the bottom of the ocean.

“Is it her?”

“I can’t tell. There is a purse, so I’m assuming it’s a woman. Hopefully the authorities will be able to tell.”

“Shit.”

“Exactly.”

“What should we do now?”

“Head back into town and I expect spend a long night with the local police.”

“Great. Well let’s get this over with.”

After they dressed, he started the boat and turned it around for the trip back to St. Thomas. Sensing her emotions were on overdrive, he held out his hand. Once it was in his he pulled her so she was in standing in front of him, resting her body on his. He could feel her shaking and wanted to take all this mess away from her.

Heading into the setting sun it would have been romantic, but the thought of a woman long dead at the bottom of the ocean couldn’t leave him. They were almost back to the island when out of the corner of his eye he saw a boat speeding towards them.

Slightly changing his course so they wouldn’t collide, he was shocked when the boat changed its course also.

“Hang on,” he shouted to Evie. She dropped to the floor and moved out of his way. Barely glancing at her to make sure she was safe, he concentrated on the game of chicken this other boat was playing. His timing had to be perfect. At the last second, he jerked the wheel to the left hoping the other boat wouldn’t do the same.

Quickly straightening the boat out, he pushed on full speed to the island. Looking back over his shoulder he saw the other boat turn around and start to chase them. The other boat was faster so Anthony had to be smarter. He wasn’t sure who was driving it but he was afraid he knew. While he wanted nothing more than to destroy that monster, even at the sake of his own life, he wouldn’t put Evie in that kind of danger.

He looked down and saw her watching him with huge eyes. “Get a life jacket and put it on.”

“What about you?”

“I can’t deal with it right now. Just take care of yourself.”

Knowing that the fastest way between two points was a straight line, Anthony didn’t deviate from the harbor. As the lights came closer, he was feeling optimistic. When he felt Evie come up by him, he checked to make sure she had the vest on and was going to yell at her to get back down when she managed to put a waist life preserver around his waist.

“I’ll take care of you.” She sat back down.

Turning around he saw the boat was too close for comfort. Taking a few extra seconds, he tried to get a look at the driver but it was getting too dark and it looked like they had something over their head.

“See if we’ve got cell phone service,” he shouted to Evie. “We’re close enough to shore now.”

Hearing her shout to someone on the other end of the line made him breathe a little easier. Now if someone could get to them quickly, everything should be fine. His heart was beating so hard he could feel it throughout his whole body. He had to keep Evie safe and out of that monster’s hands.

He kept searching the horizon for a boat to come racing from the harbor and turning around to see how close the other boat was. Now only feet separated them. Not sure what the other driver had in mind, Anthony thought about taking a chance and ramming the other boat. He was afraid with dark approaching they would have a hard time being found if the boat became too damaged to drive, or they were in the water.

The choice was taken out of his hands as the boat caught up to them and smashed into the side of their boat. It took all that Anthony had to hang on and not fall. He quickly looked down and saw Evie still hanging onto a pole with blood dripping down the side of her head.

Searching to see where the other boat was, his heart dropped as he saw it approaching them. With the motor starting to sputter he knew they didn’t have much time left before they would be dead in the water. Judging the time, he cut the engine at the precise moment so that the other boat passed by them without hitting them.

He tried to start the boat up, but it wouldn’t. “Shit. Come on. Come on. Start.”

“Anthony?”

“Stand up. You might have to jump overboard.”

The smell of gasoline filled the area. A gas line must have broken. He kept trying just in case. He could hear the roar of the other motor as it came closer. Turning to Evie he grabbed her hand. “We’re going to have to jump and try to stay together.”