Slow Summer Burn: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance (31 page)

“I thought you understood me, Cameron. I wanted to build an empire with you,” he said bluntly. “But now that’s not going to be possible.”

He was pacing now, back and forth. “I would have given you the world. With our connections and power, we could have had everything—the power, the money, the prestige—everything you could possibly want. But there’s just one little problem. One I didn’t see until just now.” He stopped and regarded her. “I repulse you.”

She shook her head, trying to deny it. “No. No. You don’t. Ted, I—”

“You don’t love me,” he said, keeping on talking as if she hadn’t even spoken. “I get that. I don’t need love. But if you’d just shown me the slightest bit of interest, if you’d have kissed me with a fraction of the passion that I’m sure you kiss Val Grayson with, I could’ve made this work.” Her eyes widened at Val’s name, but he went on. “After all, alliances are established on much less. But you didn’t give me anything to work with, Cameron,” he said. “Nothing. I see I’m never going to be able to turn you; your reputation is too squeaky-clean for that. And without sex to make you want me? Well, I’m afraid it’s a lost cause.” He sighed dramatically. “Why couldn’t you have been one of those naughty heiresses?”

“Ted, this is crazy,” she pleaded. “Listen to yourself. This isn’t you talking.”

“Oh, it’s me all right.”

“No. No, it’s not.” There was no other explanation for his lunacy. “Why would you get involved with drugs?”

“Why not?” he said, shrugging.

“Because you already have everything.”

“All from my father. I wanted something all my own.” He was calmer now, leaning back
on the railing and looking up at the sky. “Day in and day out, I spend my time prosecuting bigtime players in the drug sphere. They thought they were invincible, but eventually, they made mistakes. They slipped up and got caught. And I was there to catch them.” He straightened. “I knew I could do it better. Run an empire and have it all to myself. I know all the laws and how to get around them.”

He was a sociopath. The way he was acting, he had to be. But she couldn’t think about that now. She had to focus on keeping him talking so she could get out of this alive. “We’ll get you the help you need. Ted, I care about you. I want you to get better.”

“You do, hmm?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “You really care about me? Maybe we’re not as dissimilar as I thought, Cameron. You wanted something of your own too, didn’t you? Your boutiques. Just like I wanted this.” He put his champagne flute down and slowly, deliberately, stalked toward her, backing her up against the edge of the railing until she was trapped between cold metal and his hard body. His expression was determined.

“Ted? What are you doing?” she breathed.
Oh, please don’t touch me again
.

“Testing my theory.” Then he took her head in both hands and smashed his lips to hers.

Oh God, God, God. This is awful. Worse than awful. Please, stop. Stop!

She didn’t even realize she was yelling and pounding on his chest until he’d grabbed both her wrists and held on tight.

“Ted, stop,” she gasped. “You’re hurting me.”

“Quite right,” he said, letting her go. “We wouldn’t want there to be any bruising later, would we?” She rubbed her wrists, trying to get the circulation to return while he went to the side, pulled up a rope attached to a huge bucket full of seawater, and dragged it onto the deck.

And then she realized exactly how this was going to play out. “Hurting me won’t solve anything,” she said, backing up. “It’ll just be one more crime on your head.”

Junior shook his head. “That’s where you’re wrong, Cameron. It’s well known you’re not the strongest swimmer. I’ll just say you went for a dip and never surfaced.” He was between her and the cabins below. There was no way she could push past him to get there.

“But my body will wash up on shore.” She didn’t have any experience in this area, but from the crime shows she’d seen, didn’t the medical examiners do an autopsy? Couldn’t they figure out if she was murdered? She backed up more.

“All part of the plan. If you disappear, well, then I’ll
really
have some explaining to do.”

“They’re going to figure it out, Junior.” She’d told Val about the plane and the helicopter. She had to pray they’d traced them back to Junior. Slowly, she reached back to the rail and put one hand on it. She was going to have to jump. Without a life jacket.

He laughed. “Intelligence. That’s the difference between me and the two-bit players I’ve investigated all these years—the ones who can’t cover their tracks to save their lives. I knew I could do it better and I have. I’ve made my trail so convoluted, destroyed every bit of evidence so that they’ll never figure it out. Right now, they’re chasing a ghost. Yes,” Junior said, a smug look on his face. “I wasn’t happy to do it, because it just means I need to start all over again, but I’ve erased all traces of my role in the operation. My records, my cell phones, even my calendars are all gone. There’s only one thing left I need to get rid of.” He turned to her. “And that’s you, Cameron.”

She scrambled onto the rail, but he grabbed her by the waist and began to drag her toward the bucket.

She kicked and hit at him. “No. It doesn’t have to be like this. We could still—”

He stopped and twisted her around, searching her face. “Do you love me?” he demanded.

She kicked him again and tried to scratch his eyes out.

He grabbed her hand. “Wrong answer,” he said, continuing to drag her across the deck.

She kicked and thrashed like a wildcat, but it did no good.

“Ah-ah-ah,” he said, pulling her down right near the bucket, her arms still trapped behind her, one hand on her neck. “A lady doesn’t resort to violence.”

“You’re insane,” she said, struggling to get up. He was too heavy, too powerful.

“And you’re still so beautiful,” he said. “I would have given you everything, Cameron. And I still can. Last chance.” His lips were right up against her ear now, feather light on her skin. His touch repulsed her.

“Go. To. Hell.”

“I’m sorry, Cameron. Don’t worry,” he whispered into her ear. “I’ll do this the easy way. It’ll just be like going to sleep.”

“No!” she gritted out, trying to hurt him. It was impossible with him behind her. And then she heard it—a cacophony of sound coming closer. An aircraft. And a man on a megaphone shouting at them, but they were still so far away.

“Hard and fast it is,” he said, grabbing her ankle and tying a rope around it.

Before she knew what was happening, he’d dragged her across the deck and shoved her overboard. She came up for air fast, treading water, reaching for the knot, wiggling it back and forth. He’d tied it double, and now that it was soaked through with frigid Sound water, she just couldn’t make her trembling fingers work properly enough to untie it.

And then she felt it, a long, slow pull tugging her down.
Oh, God
, he’d tied it to the anchor! She swam harder, doing her best to keep her head above the choppy water, but that maddening tug was dragging her under. The knot was even tighter now from the weight of the anchor.

Frantically, she worked her fingers around the rope, struggling with the heavy fibers.
No. No. Not like this
. She was getting tired, and there was so much noise. It sounded like a helicopter. And another boat. And the waves crashing around her just made everything louder. Just before the water slipped over her head, she managed to catch a short breath, but it wasn’t enough. Not even close. Because the anchor was pulling her down.

She sank slowly, and it was almost like a dream. It was quiet down here. So quiet. She kept at the knot, without any luck. Her senses were dulling now, the lack of oxygen impacting her movements. Her lungs were going to burst so she let out a few air bubbles. Now she was light-headed, and her ears were popping. Her fingers kept fumbling with the rope even as she was dragged to the Sound’s floor.

Her brain grew dim. She couldn’t think. And then she took a breath.
Water. Wrong
. She struggled. White light flashed behind her eyes.

I’m sorry, Val. So sorry
.

Chapter 30

Where was she?

From his vantage point on the U.S.S.
Worth
, a Coast Guard vessel, Val strained to see what was going on aboard the
Josephina
. A moment ago there were two figures on the boat. Now he could see only one, and it damn sure wasn’t Cameron. He’d known that her pressing the alarm wasn’t an accident, confirmed by his inability to get her on her cell moments after. Thalia had traced the signal to just offshore Star Harbor.

He didn’t know how much time he had, so he’d made one phone call to a man he thought could help: Cole. His brother had come through for him, getting the Coast Guard out as fast as humanly possible.

The
Worth
pulled up alongside the
Josephina
and the Coast Guard made its usual notice of boarding through the speakers. Within moments, he, Cole, and a five-member Coast Guard team were boarding the vessel, weapons drawn. He couldn’t get up there fast enough.

“Where’s Cameron?” he roared at Junior.

“She fell overboard,” he said, sounding distraught. “She got tangled up in the rope. Dear God, help her!”

Signaling to Cole to cuff Junior, he ran to the side of the vessel, grabbed the rope, and started tugging. After a few moments, it still wasn’t budging, so one of the Coast Guard officers rushed over to help.
Cam is down there, Cam is down there
kept buzzing in his head. They all strained their muscles pulling, but after a few moments, it became clear that the rope wasn’t coming up.

“The anchor must have gotten caught on something,” the Coast Guard officer said. “We’re right over the sandbar.”

“There’s a civilian down there!” Cole yelled.

“The diving team won’t be here for another minute. Maybe even two,” the officer said.

“We don’t have that kind of time,” Val said. “And we’re just wasting time now.”
Time she doesn’t have
. “Give me your knife,” he told the officer, kicking off his shoes and tossing his keys and electronic devices to the deck. “I’m going under.”

“Be careful, bro,” Cole said.

The Coast Guard officer pulled out his knife and slapped it into Val’s hand, and without another second’s hesitation, Val dove in.

Even in the summertime, the Sound was pretty chilly, but he got over the shock fast, grabbed the rope, and started pulling himself down, using it as a guide. His ears popped and ached, but he ignored it.
Forget about the pain. Get Cam
.

About fifteen feet down, the water was so murky he couldn’t see anything. He was going by touch now, praying he’d find her fast. Praying she was still alive. Just when he was about to lose hope, he felt a foot.
Cam!
Her ankle was tangled up in the rope, and he felt her leg; she didn’t seem like she was moving. The rope was taut on both ends, so he started sawing with the knife, just below where her ankle was trapped. He was running out of breath and feeling light-headed, but within seconds, the weapon did the trick. Not bothering to untie her ankle, he simply grabbed her under the arms and kicked upward, hard and fast.

He got back up to the surface and gasped for air. A couple of Coast Guard officers were there, looking down at him, and another Coast Guard boat had pulled up alongside the first one.

“Help me get her onboard,” he said, dragging Cameron’s lifeless body to the side of the
Josephina
.

The officers pulled her on deck, and by the time he’d gotten up, some medics had already started CPR. Cameron still wasn’t moving and her skin looked way too pale, her black hair long, wet strands on the deck.
Don’t die on me
.

“Breathe!” Val shouted. He knew it wouldn’t do any good to scream at her while she was unconscious, but he felt helpless just standing there while the medics worked on her. “God damn it. Breathe!”

Cole handcuffed Junior to the rail, then came over, wrapped a blanket around Val, and squeezed his shoulder. The pressure was the only thing keeping him sane. Time seemed to stand still. The pumping and the counting and the yelling seemed interminable.

And then, just as he’d almost lost hope, she twitched.

“Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,” a medic counted.

She twitched again, and threw up all over the deck, choking and sputtering.

“We have her!” a medic yelled, holding her on her side so she could cough out the rest of what she’d swallowed.

“Val—” she said, before coughing so hard she turned red.
She’s alive!

“Oh, thank God!” Junior said, trying to move toward her but constrained by the handcuffs.

But no one was getting in Val’s way. He threw off the blanket and rushed over, a medic moving aside. Then he knelt down beside her and rubbed her back. “I’m here, Cam. Don’t talk. Just focus on breathing, okay?”

She gasped and nodded and struggled for air, making long rasping coughs that shook her body. Finally, after many minutes, she calmed down enough to catch a breath.

Val rubbed her back. “Good girl. Keep breathing.”

“Agent Grayson,” one of the EMTs said. “We really need to apply some oxygen. Can you please step back?”

“Yes, of course,” he said, giving them room to strap the mask to her face. Cameron reached out to him. He took her hand and squeezed.

“We’ve got to get her to a hospital,” the EMT said.

Cameron shook her head back and forth.
No
.

“I’m not leaving you,” Val said, and she calmed down immediately.

“Guess you’re coming with us,” the EMT said.

As if he’d leave her alone like this! “Cam, if you can, I need the answer to one question. Did Junior do this to you?”

She nodded.
Yes
.

A cold fury raced through him. He wanted to kill Junior. Throttle him until he suffocated. “Cole!” he barked. “Take him in. I’m calling my team.”

His brother nodded. “After I do cleanup. Get what you need here.”