Terror Stash (42 page)

“Couple of things I’ve arranged that you should know about,” Patrick finished. He held up a long forefinger. “One—I’m now your personal solicitor and attorney, in perpetuity and
gratis
. Wherever you are in the world, you just reach out for me and I’ll be there. That’s my thanks to you.”

“I have my own thanks,” Arrabella added in her tiny voice. After Patrick’s big, booming tenor, she sounded even more delicate and pixie-like. “Patrick will have to process the paperwork for you, but I have a house up on The Hill, overlooking the ocean, that Caden assures us you adore. It’s yours. I’m giving it to you and I hope that you get to use it many, many times.” There were tears in her eyes and she blinked them away furiously.

Montana glanced at Caden again, looking for guidance, for support. He was watching her with his black eyes. Enjoying it, damn him.

Steve cleared his throat and Patrick glanced at him. Steve nodded in greeting and Patrick nodded back. It was the neutral greeting that Australian men tended to give each other when they were complete strangers thrown together in social settings.

Steve grinned. “You don’t remember me at all, do you?”

Patrick frowned. “We’ve met? I’m usually very good with names and faces.”

Steve’s grin broadened. “I don’t think anyone would blame you for this lapse. The morning after your bachelor party. I came to your house and turned off your Wurlitzer.”

Patrick’s eyes narrowed as his brain kicked into gear. “Then you have to be Steve Scarborough, the cop I’ve been hearing so much about.” He thrust out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you in a condition when I can actually remember you.”

“You know how to celebrate, mate, I’ll give you that,” Steve told him, shaking his hand.

Patrick looked around the beach. “I dunno. I think this mob could teach me a thing or two. This looks like a pretty fine affair of its own and I bet it didn’t cost nearly as much as mine did.”

“Or annoy the neighbors as much,” Steve replied.

* * * * *

Caden put the bottle of wine in the sand, screwing it in deep so it would stay upright, and glanced at the wetsuit lying next to Montana on the table. “Nice present.”

“It’s an O’Neill suit. One of the best,” she said and blinked. “I’m really feeling this wine.”

“Drink up, then. Soon you won’t feel it any more. So they gave you a wetsuit because...?”

“Australia’s one of the few places in the world you can surf without a suit most of the year.”

“Ah.”

She leaned towards him. “I don’t have the heart to tell them I probably won’t do any wind surfing in New York.”

“That’s where you’re heading back to?” He was watching her with the steadiness of someone who was lot more sober than she had originally thought him to be.

Steve had left for home about fifteen minutes before. He had stood and stretched after glancing at his watch. “Time to let everyone here relax and let their hair down again.”

Despite her protests he had insisted. “I know these guys. They’re just waiting for me to leave so they can pull out the hard stuff. For the sake of my job, I’m going to go home so they can. Then all of us can look each other in the eye in the morning.” He had hesitated, then leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Merry Christmas, Montana.”

She had wished him the same absently, trying to process the meaning behind his words. “You’re staying here in Margaret River, Steve? You’re keeping your job, despite everything?”

“Of course he is,” Caden said. “He has even more reason to, now.”

Steve stepped back and shrugged. “Borelli was bad crooked and he bent Chris Goonewardene, too. Who else did he get to in the station? I have to clean the station out and I have to protect the town until there’s good cops in place.” He looked vaguely uncomfortable saying it, but there was a core of determination, too.

“They’re making you captain?” Montana asked.

“Acting, until they sort things out.” He shrugged again. “I’ve got some sorting out to do, too.” He nodded at Caden. “See you tomorrow, Rawn. You, too, Montana. I’ll dig up some more Plantagenet I think I’ve got tucked away in a cupboard. You can sip it while you’re on the swing.”

He had headed up the beach, fading into the darkness while Montana watched.

“He’s a good guy,” Caden observed. “They could do worse than making him the permanent Captain.”

But now Caden sat looking at Montana expectantly, waiting for her answer to his question.

Montana shrugged. “New York seems like the logical place to locate to. I’ll have to head to DC to sort out all the paperwork and stuff they’ll want before I’m completely quit of the State Department.”

“Call Patrick in. I have a feeling he’ll cut through all that bullshit, lickety-split. He means every word he said. Just in case you were wondering.”

She shook her head. “I hadn’t got around to processing Patrick’s offer, yet. Anyway, New York is only an hour away from DC and I’ve only ever visited there.”

But Caden didn’t seem to be very interested in her answer. His attention was wandering.

“What is it?” she asked him. “You’re trying to find a way to tell me something.”

“Ask you something,” he amended. He picked up the bottle and took another big mouthful from it.

“Tonight, you can ask me anything.”

His smile was slow. “Anything?”

She kept her expression straight. “Anything at all.”

He leaned closer, to defeat eavesdroppers. She met him halfway by leaning toward him.

“I wanted to ask you why you didn’t walk away from me at the consulate.”

She pulled back from him, startled.

He straightened up and took another swig at the bottle. He looked cool and complacent, but she knew that asking the question had cost him a great deal of courage. Her answer was important to him. She couldn’t afford to pass it off casually.

She settled for the truth. “I wouldn’t have been able to explain it to you that day, but I can now.” She grimaced. “It’s going to sound corny,” she warned him.

His gaze wouldn’t let her go. “I won’t laugh.”

It reassured her enough to speak. “You’re one of those rare people who have the ability to influence the world around them and make it a better place. You make a difference. It’s something I’ve always wanted to be able to do myself. At the consulate, I couldn’t leave you to the wolves when you’d already made such a difference to my world.” She tore her gaze from his eyes and plucked mercilessly at her torn and ragged fingernails—a product of weeks of frantic physical work. “I will never be able to make a difference the way you can,” she confessed.

The silence that followed was long. Finally, she felt his hand on her knee. “Hey.”

She looked up. He was smiling. “
No influence, huh? Have a good look around. Tote up what you’ve managed to achieve here. Greg had it right. You’re a hero. You’ve touched every single life here on this beach. These guys came hotfooting into the forest despite every despised authority figure already there—and they came looking for you, to tell you about Steve because they knew you could do something about it.”

She stared at him. “I hadn’t thought of that.” She considered it in this new light.

“Do I really have to point out that it was purely your influence over Nelson that brought the US Army Rangers, Canadian Mounties and every SAS team in the area racing to the caves? They didn’t mount that operation based on hard evidence. They did it on your say so.” He sat back. “Don’t forget Steve and how he got caught up in this. He was doing it because of you.”

He settled himself at the table beside her and rested the bottle there. He took his time over it. Montana knew he was bracing himself to say something important and marveled at how well she could already read him.

Caden pushed his hand through his hair. “How long do you figure it’s going to take you to finish up in the States?”

“A few weeks, at least. Why?”

“When you’re done, why don’t you come out to Singapore for a few months?”

“You mean, come out to
your
place?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, revealing his awkwardness. Finally he let his hand drop with a sigh and just looked at her. “Please?”

“Well, perhaps. Just this once....” She smiled, dizzy happiness singing through her and let Caden pull her down to the sand and into his arms.

.

They would do anything to get him.
He would do whatever it took to bring them down.
It was the wrong time to fall in love.

Ten years ago, Sophie and Jack survived a small plane crash. They fell in love in the five days they were stranded on a mountainside, but Jack’s injuries were ultimately fatal. Jack’s love and death left indelible fingerprints on Sophie’s soul and completely changed her life.
Sophie is now a stressed single mom in a small Montana Rockies town, running a café and warding off the attention of the town’s corrupt Chief of Police when a drifter called Martin arrives in Serenity Falls.
Martin holds the key to Sophie’s heart, along with a secret that will rip apart the town. He plunges her into after-shocks caused by the five days she spent with Jack in the mountains, stirring up state governors, district attorneys and one of the deadliest crime lords in the land. Martin’s secret puts Sophie directly in their cross-hairs.
For Sophie, life is about to change all over again…
___
Suspense fans will find it
difficult to put down
. This is
one of the best books I’ve read
in quite a while. I literally could not put it down. I highly recommend
Dead Again.
Edie Dykeman
– Vine Voice Reviewer for Amazon
THIS WAS FABULOUS
…yes, in shouty caps. I couldn’t read it fast enough. What a RIDE! I
highly recommend
this one for a great afternoon’s reading pleasure. Kathie –
Goodreads
 

Buy
Dead Again
now:
http://bit.ly/1HW3qZn
.

Tracy Cooper-Posey is an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author. She writes erotic vampire romances, hot romantic suspense, paranormal and urban fantasy romances. She has published over
80 novels since 1999, been nominated for five CAPAs including Favourite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award.
She turned to indie publishing in 2011. Her indie titles have been nominated four times for Book Of The Year and
Byzantine Heartbreak
was a 2012 winner.
She has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she taught romance writing at MacEwan University.
She is addicted to Irish Breakfast tea and chocolate, sometimes taken together. In her spare time she enjoys history, Sherlock Holmes, science fiction and ignoring her treadmill. An Australian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada with her husband, a former professional wrestler, where she moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line.
Her website can be found at
http://TracyCooperPosey.com
. Tracy appreciates hearing from readers and can be reached at
[email protected]
.

Blood Knot
Southampton Swindle
Broken Promise
Vale
Amor Meus
Blood Stone
Blood Unleashed
Blood Drive
Blood Revealed (Upcoming)
 

Bannockburn Binding
Wait
Byzantine Heartbreak
Romani Armada
 

Kiss Across Time
Kiss Across Swords
Missing
Kiss Across Chains
Kiss Across Deserts
 

Carson’s Night
Beauty’s Beasts
Harvest of Holidays
Sabrina’s Clan
 

Beth’s Acceptance
Mia’s Return
Sera’s Gift
 

Solstice Surrender
Eva’s Last Dance
 

Red Leopard
Black Heart
Blue Knight
White Dawn (Upcoming)
Silver Noon (Upcoming)
Golden Day (Upcoming)
 

Delly’s Last Night
The Royal Talisman
Vivian’s Return
Ningaloo Nights
Sian’s Run
 

Diana By The Moon
Heart of Vengeance
The Perilous Maiden (Upcoming)
To Soothe a Savage Heart (Upcoming)
The Heart of the Enemy (Upcoming)
The Cherlebury Rose (Upcoming)
The Duchess of Winter (Upcoming)
Despite The Sands Of Time (Upcoming)
 

Forbidden
Dangerous Beauty
Rhys Davies’ untitled story (Upcoming)
 

Dead Again
Fatal Wild Child
Dead Double
Terror Stash
Thrilling Affair (Compilation)
 

Lucifer’s Lover
An Inconvenient Lover
 

Chronicles of the Lost Years
The Case of the Reluctant Agent
For reviews, excerpts, and more about each title, visit Tracy’s site and click on each title in turn:
http://tracycooperposey.com/books/tracys-trilogies-series/

This is an original publication of Tracy Cooper-Posey
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.
Copyright © 2013 by Tracy Cooper-Posey
Text design by Tracy Cooper-Posey
Cover design by Dar Albert
Wicked Smart Designs
http://wickedsmartdesigns.com
Edited by Kathryn Wallis
http://
www.katherynwallis.com
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
FIRST EDITION: April 2013
Cooper-Posey, Tracy
Terror Stash/Tracy Cooper-Posey—1st Ed.
1. Romantic suspense 2. suspense romance 3. Suspense 4. suspense in books 5. romantic thrillers