Her attacker had his forearm pressed against her throat and his weight holding her against the wall. Her senses, shocked at first, recovered, and she felt her wits settle back into place. “Who the hell are you?” she asked.
“Shut up.” The man shoved against her throat, cutting off her air. “I ask, you answer.”
A wash of red swam unexpectedly over her vision, and Dar felt her temper snap before she could get a handle on it. A low snarl erupted from her throat and her body convulsed, shoving against the wall and arching with all her strength. She got her hands up against the man’s chest and pushed hard, getting him off her long enough for her to take a bouncing step forward.
He cursed and grappled with her, grabbing her throat with 200
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both hands, but made the mistake of letting Dar lean forward at the same time as he was spreading his legs for balance. Dar immediately brought her knee up with explosive force, slamming her kneecap into the pit of his groin.
He choked and released her, reaching down in pure reflex to protect himself. Dar took the opportunity to duck past him and whirl, then turn sideways and kick out, catching him in the buttocks and sending him hurtling into the wall head first. She whirled as she sensed someone else coming, and her hands came up into fists at shoulder level as she spotted another man close by.
He held up his hands, but they were palm out. “Whoa, tiger.”
Dar glared at him. “Don’t you know when the fuck to leave people alone?” she asked. “What the hell does it take, DeSalliers? A damn court order?”
“Well, damn it, Roberts. You keep showing up in my business; what the hell am I supposed to do?” DeSalliers answered. “If you’d mind your own, and get the hell out of my way, I’d be glad to never set eyes on you again!”
Dar put her hands on her hips. “You’re nuts,” she stated flatly.
“You wanted your spot on the ocean? Fine. We left. We came over here, and haven’t thought about you all the damn day long. So what are you talking about?”
DeSalliers eyed her suspiciously. “You’re searching the shops for what I’m after.”
Dar rolled her eyes. “We were searching the shops for pearl earrings. You into that? I never woulda guessed.” She backed a step to keep her attacker in her sight, since he was now getting to his feet.
“You’re lying.”
“You’re a jerk. I guess we’re even,” Dar shot back. “Now get the hell out of my way before I call the cops.” She pointed at him.
“We don’t want any part of whatever the hell you’re after.”
“How much did he offer you?” DeSalliers countered, as though he hadn’t heard a word she’d said. “I’ll double it.”
Dar glared at him. “You’re really pissing me off,” she warned.
“Triple it. What will it take?”
It got to the point where it became, oddly, funny. “Okay.” Dar held up her hands. “I give.”
DeSalliers folded his arms. “I knew I could find your price.”
“English isn’t working,” Dar went on. “What language would you like me to tell you to fuck off in next, one you’ll understand?”she asked. “Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Habla Español?
Parlez-vous Français?” She held up her left hand, middle finger extended. “American Sign Language? What?”
With a sudden motion, she closed on him and grabbed his shirt, twisting her hands in it before he could jerk away. She lifted up and
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pushed him against the garbage dumpster, surprising him with her strength. “I DO NOT WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU OR
YOUR BUSINESS!” she bellowed at the top of her lungs. “DO YOU
UNDERSTAND ME, MISTER??”
His eyes were as big as saucers, Carvel flying saucers, in fact.
“Roberts, I don’t think you want to do this.”
“All I want to do,” Dar’s voice dropped to a low rumble, “is go get some clothes, go back to my hotel, and spend the night necking in the moonlight with my partner.” She got nose to nose with him.
“And you, mister, are all that’s between me and what I want.” She shook him. “
You
…are the one who doesn’t want to do this. Trust me.”
“Boss, you want me to shoot her?” The thug behind her spoke in a voice that was a touch hoarse.
“Put that away, you idiot,” DeSalliers snapped nervously. “She can probably catch the bullet.”
Dar snorted. She released the man’s shirt and let him up off the dumpster. She looked over her shoulder at the thug, who was uncertainly juggling a small handgun. With a shake of her head, she returned her eyes to DeSalliers. “What will it take to convince you I don’t want any part of this?” she asked in a normal tone. “We got involved by accident; I got uninvolved on purpose.”
He studied her. “All right,” he said. “Explain why you had your people jump my men out on St. Richard last night, and maybe I’ll believe you.”
“My people?” Dar stared at him.
“Pity we had to hurt them.” DeSalliers gave her a thin smile.
“They didn’t get what they were after. Maybe you,” his long finger poked Dar in the chest, “should take a lesson from that.” Now his tone turned dark. “You listen to me, Roberts. Keep out of my way.
If you get in it again, I’ll take you out. Permanently.” With that, he turned and stalked off, his thug trotting behind him.
Dar stared after him. “My people?” she whispered. “What in the he…” Her mind went back to an empty restaurant and a quiet, still home that morning. She pulled out her cell phone and recalled Bud and Charlie’s number from memory, then dialed it. It rang three times, then went to voice mail. Dar waited for the beep, then spoke. “Hey. It’s Dar. Give me a ring when you get this. I need to talk to you guys.” She hesitated, then hung up, closing the phone and tapping it against her chest. “This is getting to be like a bad episode of Twilight Zone,” she muttered. After a moment of indecision, she headed toward the boat. She’d pick up their clothes, then go back to the hotel and let Kerry in on what had happened.
And then?
Christ.
Dar shook her head in honest bewilderment.
Who the hell knows what then?
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KERRY DIDN’T REALLY remember falling asleep. One moment, she was looking at the little area guidebook she’d found in the inn room, the next moment she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She rolled over and blinked up at Dar. “Oh, Jesus. Did I conk out?”
Dar sat down on the bed next to her. “Apparently.” She smoothed Kerry’s hair back and felt her forehead. It was cool.
“Might have been better if I’d stayed here and joined you.”
“Uh oh.” Kerry gazed up at her, seeing the turmoil in Dar’s expression. “Now what?
“DeSalliers.”
“Again? What the hell is it with that guy?”
Dar collapsed next to Kerry and spread her arms out across the covers. “He’s a self-absorbed, megalomaniacal moron.”
“Well, yeah, but besides that.”
“He and one of his goons chased me down on the way to the boat. He still thinks we’re part of this stupid game he’s playing.”
“Chased you down?” Kerry sat right up, wide-awake, her eyes going big and round.
“Easy, slugger,” Dar drawled, faintly amused at the always surprising ferociousness Kerry displayed on her behalf. “Yeah, we yelled at each other, and he left.” She sighed. “Problem is, he also hinted that he’d run into friends of ours, and they’d gotten hurt.”
She lifted her phone. “I left a message for Bud, but there’s been no answer.”
“Yikes.” Kerry became concerned. “Dar, this isn’t funny. I think it’s time we called in the cops.”
Dar nodded. “Me, too,” she said. “I stopped by the police station on the way up here.”
“And?” Kerry settled back down next to her.
“It’s Christmas Day.” Dar gave her a wry look. “There was only one man in the place, and he was cleaning it. I think the rest of them are out on patrol.” She paused. “At least, I hope so.”
“Crap.” Kerry frowned. “Is there anyone else we can call?”
“All the US offices are closed.” Dar drummed her fingers on the covers. “I don’t know if there is anything we can do before tomorrow. I wish Bud would call me, though. “
“Stupid jerk.”
Dar’s eyebrows lifted. “He’s not that bad.”
“I meant DeSalliers.” Kerry scowled. “Should we go back to Bud and Charlie’s island? What about Rufus?” She eased over onto her side. “Dar, this sucks.”
“I know.” Dar gazed at the ceiling, considering. “We could go back there, but what if they didn’t? It’s a big ocean, and there’s dozens of islands around here.”
Kerry sighed. “No, it sucks because, damn it, I wanted to
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celebrate your birthday with you tonight,” she complained, plucking at the fabric underneath her. “God, that sounds so selfish, doesn’t it?” A faint laugh was forced out of her.
Dar reached over and scrubbed Kerry’s back with her fingertips. “Nah.”
“Urmph.” Kerry arched her neck. “Yes, it does,” she grumbled.
“Well,” Dar snuggled closer and nuzzled the side of Kerry’s face, “it’s on my behalf, so you’re excused.”
Kerry slid her arms around Dar’s body and drew her closer, detecting a hint of wood smoke on her clothes. She tucked her head into Dar’s shoulder and exhaled, simply wanting the comfort of her lover’s presence.
Dar was more than glad to oblige. She gently rubbed Kerry’s lower back while she gazed at the ceiling, trying to figure out what to do next. It was almost dark outside, and with only the dim bed light on, the room settled into a peaceful twilight.
So quiet, that Dar’s cell phone going off nearly caused both of them to jump right off the bed. “Shit.” Dar scrabbled for the ringing cell. She flipped it open and held it to her ear. “Yes?”
Kerry put her head back down on Dar’s shoulder, willing her heart to stop trying to climb out her ears. She’d been half asleep, in that hazy place just before you went completely out, and her body was feeling a sense of shock at being jerked so rudely out of it.
“Yes.” Dar’s voice was serious. “All right. We’ll be right over.”
She folded up the phone and set it on the bed, letting out a long breath.
“What is it?” Kerry asked.
“Charlie,” Dar murmured after a moment. “He’s in the hospital, here, on St. Thomas.” She turned her head and looked at Kerry. “It’s not pretty.”
Kerry could easily have lived her entire life without seeing another hospital. She gave Dar’s side a pat and hitched herself up on an elbow. “Let’s get going, then,” she said. “Like it or not, we’re buying into this, aren’t we?”
Dar sat up. “Looks like it. Yeah.” She got up off the bed and clipped the phone to her waistband. “You can stay here if you want, Ker. If you’re not feeling well, no sense in both of… Ah.”
Kerry had gotten up and was running her brush through her hair. “Sweetie, if I can’t spend the night with you in that bed, then I’ll take what I can get.” She tossed the brush to Dar. “Besides, I like Charlie. I hope he’s okay.”
Dar brushed her hair, hoping the very same thing.
THE HOSPITAL WAS busy. It was a relatively small group of buildings not far from the town they’d been staying in. Dar led the way inside and they went to the front desk. Giving Charlie’s name, they were directed upstairs.
Exiting onto the third floor, Dar spotted Bud near the end of the hall. She called out in a low voice and he turned, closing his cell phone and walking toward them.
Kerry drew in a breath. Bud’s face was half-covered with an ugly bruise, though he appeared oblivious to it. His shirt was ripped, exposing his shoulder, and the back of one hand was scraped raw.
“What happened?” Dar asked quietly.
Bud looked up and down the corridor, then motioned them over to a bank of chairs. He sat down in one and let his elbows rest on his knees. He studied the floor as Dar took a seat next to him.
“You ever hear of something being too stupid for the Navy?”
Dar stifled a wry chuckle. “Heard that around my house growing up a time or two, yeah.”
“Well,” Bud’s voice was very soft, “I done something too stupid for the Navy.” He glanced at the back of his hand. “I stuck my mug someplace it didn’t belong, and got Charlie hurt for it.”
His pain was evident. Kerry settled in the chair on the other side of him and put a hand on his back, rubbing it sympathetically.
“I’m sorry.”
“Not half as much as I am,” Bud said. “And you know, it kicks my ass to admit being this stupid.” He turned his head and regarded Dar. “Shoulda taken you up on your offer. Worst that’d caused is givin’ me a week’s heartburn.”
Dar managed a relatively sympathetic look. “What’d you get into?”
Bud appeared to struggle with himself for a moment longer, then he shook his head. “That damn kid offered us a chunk of change to go on and dive that site. We did.”
“The wreck?” Kerry asked. “The kid… You mean, Bob?
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Bud nodded. “He approached us the other day when you dropped him off at the island. Said it was a dark dive—get in, get out. Didn’t seem too dangerous to me. No big deal,” he said. “They caught us out there, but we got on the boat and headed out.”
“They followed you?” Dar hazarded.
“Chased our asses all the way back here.” Bud nodded. “We didn’t want to go back home.” He exhaled. “They caught us.” His eyes lifted toward a set of doors. “They had pipes and bats.
Charlie’s got a busted kidney. He couldn’t get away from them,
’cause of his leg, and I—”
“Stayed with him,” Kerry said.
“Something like that, yeah,” Bud admitted. “That piss-ant kid ran. Took the boat and left us there.”
Kerry’s eyes narrowed. “That skunk.”
Dar rubbed her temple. “How much did he offer you?” she asked quietly.
“Doesn’t really matter,” Bud muttered.
“HOW MUCH?” It was amazing how much force Dar could project in her voice without raising its volume.
Bud blinked. “Ten grand. Why?”
“That what the nut is on your place?”
Bud nodded.
Dar checked her watch, then dialed a number on her cell phone.
She waited for it to connect, then she started punching in numbers, leaning back and concentrating on what she was doing.