Part 13 (2/2)
”Oh, h.e.l.l, Nicky. Stop trying to rub my nose in what I did.”
”I haven't the foggiest idea what you're talking about.” She glanced around and realized how far out in the lagoon they were and started doing a backstroke toward the shallower water. Max followed her.
”Of course you do. Everything you say to me has a sarcastic undertone.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her against him, so she could hold on to him while he treaded water. ”If I remember correctly, I didn't exactly force myself on you. You were as willing and, yes, eager as I was. You're just mad at me for deceiving you. Okay, I'm profoundly sorry. But how the h.e.l.l could I tell you I thought you were another woman when I wasn't sure myself?. Then when I was sure--well, h.e.l.l, shoot memI just didn't want anything to mess up what was happening between us.”
She clung to him, her arms wrapped around his neck, her mouth a few inches from his. He was having trouble concentrating. ”Nicky, you have to get over your anger. Be mad at me when this is all over with. But right now, for your own good, let's call a truce.”
”Fine. Now will you shut up and help me get where I can stand up? I honestly don't think I can swim an other stroke.”
”See where always trying to be the winner gets you?”
”Tired?”
”That, too, Montana. And sometimes dead.”
”Sorry, I'm not as strong a swimmer as I It's a little humiliating.”
”Don't let go of me.
using his strong backstroke. Her body settled on top of his as he carried her to shallow water. When he was certain her feet could touch bottom, he stopped, pried her arms from around his neck and started wading toward sh.o.r.e.
”Okay, New York. You win. I'll do whatever you want, without the lip service and sarcasm.”
He glanced over his shoulder but kept moving. ”Sure, and I believe in fairies. You better movemthis isn't a Montana river. There are things in this water that just love little white toes.”
She went very still, then turned in a complete circle, searching the surface for a triangle fin. When she realized he was teasing, she didn't so much as jump at him as dive, catching him around the waist and dunking him.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN.
THE PLAYFULNESS and banter of the morning swim set the tone for the rest of the day. Nicole decided she'd allowed the instant attraction she'd felt for Max to overrule her judgment and good sense. It was a bad habit a flaw, this expecting others to feel the same way about her as she felt about them. She berated herself for her foolishness.
So he hadn't told her he thought she was another woman. And when he realized she wasn't Sandra, why would he have told her in the first place? It was a convoluted excuse, but it worked for her. It was obvious Max was attracted to her, and they had been lovers, but that didn't necessarily mean he had stronger feelings for her. Her problem was that she cared more about him than she wanted to admit even to herself.
As she'd stood in the shallows earlier that morning watching him walk away, she'd made a promise to herself. Why she ever thought there could be anything serious between them, she had no idea. They were miles apart. As opposite as day and night. When all this was over and she returned to Montana, she wasn't going to regret whatever happened between them on the island. She wasn't going to beat her head against a wall the way she had with her ex-husband, trying to figure out what she'd done wrong.
”Are you listening to me, Nicky?”
Max was amused by her faraway expression. He'd been taking her on a tour of the island, the places she needed to be familiar with. She'd changed dramatically after their swim. She seemed more relaxed and open.
He'd been so used to the tough capable Nicky that the delicate beauty who stopped to ooh and aah over some wild profusion of exotic flowers made him laugh.
”It's paradise lost, Max. Only we've found it.” They were at the rear of the compound and heading toward the other lagoon and the boat dock. She glanced over her shoulder at the way the green hills rolled toward a thickly forested volcanic mountain that ended in a sheer dropoff into the ocean. ”How can Dr. Gibson bear to leave it?”
”He spends most of his time in England working on his cancer research.”
Max glanced around. ”It is beautiful, but I still don't think it compares with your mountain, the river by the lodge or the warm spring by the cliffs.”
By speeding up and walking ahead of him, she was able to hide how it thrilled her to hear him compare her home so favorably with this paradise. When she reached the steps leading to the wooden dock, she paused and let him catch up with her. ”When will Helen call Gillman?”
The dock looked like a long bony finger bleached gray by the sun and left to stretch out across the water. The deepening colors, from dark turquoise to almost midnight dark, and the fact that the doctor's yacht was tied here, made her realize the lagoon was very deep.
”We figured you'd need at least three days to get
familiar with the island and your role.” She was so busy taking everything in he took hold of her arm and led her around a coil of rope
before she tripped over it. ”Helen's in Miami waiting for me to give her the word to start her part of the sting. She'll call Gillman, tell him the miraculous news that Sandra's alive. Then she'll sadly explain that Sandra has amnesia and doesn't remember who she is.
”Gillman's going to die by seconds and inches until he sees Sandra. I hope the sight of you doesn't give him a heart attack--that would be too d.a.m.n easy.
”Helen knows she's not to tell Gillman much beyond the fact that Sandra's been found. It's believable that she'd be so excited her details would be sketchy and jumbled. But she'll make sure he knows the location and the name of the island. After the call her jet will fly her to St. Thomas, then one of our men will bring her to the island.”
”What if Gillman doesn't take the bait?” They were at the end of the dock, and she gazed into the water. ”And if he does, how will you know when he's coming?”
”He'll have to come. How can he not? A couple of things are going to happen very quickly. Never forget, Nicky, that John Gillman is a cunning man. First off, because he's guilty, he's going to suspect everything and everyone--a setup, a trap. When he sees you, everything will fall apart. He'll realize if Sandra's alive it'll cost him her inheritance, and he'll have to pay back the life insurance. Furthermore she's a time bomb waiting to blow up in his face. He'll never know when she might remember and expose him.
”So he'll be ecstatic his wife has no memory of the no it. He'll be thinking of ways to get you away from the island, and somewhere down the line, say in a couple of days or months, another accident will happen.”
Nicole felt a chill. Since they'd arrived on the island, the mere mention of John Gillman gave her the oddest feeling. A sick kind of fluttering in the pit of her stomach. A sensation she couldn't exactly put a name to, other than maybe fear. But that was strange. She'd known all about Sandra's husband back in Montana and hadn't had this feeling, this premonition.
They headed down the dock, and with the hypnotic slapping of their rubber-soled sandals against the wood planks of the dock, Nicole fell into the darkness of her thoughts. She hadn't realized she'd been so lost in her own world or that they'd walked so far until she was startled by Max's tug on her arm to stop. She lifted her gaze to the long sleek lines of the yacht, the gleaming bra.s.s and dark wood, and the man pus.h.i.+ng the mop as he scrubbed the deck. She recognized him as one the bodyguards who'd met them at the airport. ”Is he really working or just keeping an eye on us?”
”Not me. You, Nicky. Even when I'm with you, you're still under their protection.”
”That's a comforting thought.” And it was. She was just beginning to realize how seriously everybody took his or her job and how really dangerous the situation was.
They came alongside the yacht and Max stopped. ”Nicky, this is James Thamesrowe call him Big Jim. When Gillman gets here, Jim will always be near you. He's an expert in self-defense, weapons and explosives. And don't let his size fool you. Jim moves as quickly and quietly as a cat.”
Nicky smiled as the big man made an effort to clean his ma.s.sive hand before he shook hers. ”I don't think with Jim around I have anything to worry about.” The man grinned, and she had a feeling his heart was as big as the rest of him.
As they moved on she asked, ”Besides the four I've already met, how many of your people are here?”
”Including Doug, about eight. Three are on St. Thomas watching for Helen and Gillman. One will ferry Helen over as soon as she arrives, and the other two will wait and follow Gillman over.” He ”began to count off the ones on the island. ”The ones who attached themselves to you at the airport are Jim, LeRoy and Elyis, your bodyguards. Where you go they go. Paul and John are setting up the outside surveillance, cameras, things like that. And Karen, a woman of many talents, is going to be our cook on this operation, and she's quite good at it. But don't let her culinary talents fool you--her expertise is languages, electronics and handguns.
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