She nodded, pulled her waterlogged cell from her pocket. “Damn. It’s dead. Can you walk?”
“Gonna have to, aren’t I?”
He ignored the regret in her eyes. Ignored the little stab in his chest when she looked at him like that or the way it made him wish he’d met her a year ago, before his world had turned to shit. “There’s another house about a quarter mile away. We can get a ride there.”
“Fine, let’s go. I’ve had enough of the fucking Everglades to last me the rest of my life.”
He pushed to his feet—one bare, one in a soaking wet Nike—and focused on the pain in his leg as he picked his way across the ground behind her. That, at least, was real. And just what he deserved. Not some fantasy he didn’t have any right daydreaming about.
CHAPTER TWELVE
He was working up a good case of ticked off. And she wasn’t exactly sure why.
Though Shane’s surly attitude irritated her to no end, Hailey cut the guy some slack. If she’d been bitten by an alligator, then pushed down a hill and pinned beneath someone while rocks and branches and bugs and other things she didn’t want to think about stabbed into her back, she’d be in a pretty foul mood right now, too. Not to mention the fact he had no idea where they were heading, or that he had to be in a bit of pain.
They’d been driving south on Highway 1 for the last hour. Her uncle’s backwater neighbors had been happy to help them out, no questions asked, as if alligator bites were a common occurrence to them. They’d given Shane a pair of flip-flops and some bandages, then driven them as far as Homestead so they could get another rental. She’d figured it’d be faster to drive, so she’d called Steve and left the plane on standby, then phoned Graham and told him what had happened. Though still in a daze from the news about Bryan, he’d assured her he was fine and that he knew how to defend himself, should anyone come poking around. That didn’t exactly put Hailey at ease, but she’d learned long ago Graham did what he wanted when he wanted.
She flipped on the air conditioner as she drove down the Overseas Highway. Shane sat in the passenger seat, arms crossed over his chest, head back against the headrest, eyes closed. He hadn’t said much since they’d climbed into the car, but that was fine with her. After everything that had happened today, she wasn’t in the mood to chat, either.
Her mind spun as she thought about the male voice in the swamp. The same one she’d heard in the elevator just before the lights had gone out and she’d been given a black eye as a “warning” to step away from Roarke Resorts. There was no doubt in her mind the two voices were one and the same. Which meant someone was following her. But how?
She wiped her brow. It was muggy tonight. Darkness had already set in, and her headlights reflected off the road, making the pavement hard to see. When she realized the air conditioner wasn’t working, she turned the knob to high and wiped her forehead again. Her hand was shaking when she set it back on the steering wheel.
Okay, that was weird.
Shane tilted his head sideways at her. “Are you trying to freeze me out now?”
She might have found the comment funny, but as she gripped the steering wheel and blinked several times, looked out at the water on both sides of the car and remembered what had happened back in that slough, she realized nothing about this was funny. “Um. No, I…”
His brow dropped as he took a good look at her. “What’s wrong?”
She gave her head a swift shake. Tightened her fingers. “I’m not sure.”
“Hailey.” He sat up. “You’re sweating.”
“I know. I—”
It hit her then. A wave of nausea that rolled through her stomach like a hurricane on the gulf. “Oh…I don’t feel so good.”
“Pull over.”
Somehow she did. And Shane was around the car in a flash, bad leg and all, helping her out of the driver seat and walking her to the passenger door.
“Jesus, you’re cold. Do you feel like you’re going to get sick?”
“I don’t…know.” She wrapped her arms around her stomach as he opened the door and helped her inside.
He looked up and down the road, while she worked simply on breathing and not losing her lunch. A few cars passed by, but traffic was relatively light this time of night. “How much farther?” he asked.
She took deep breaths, leaned back in her seat much the way he had earlier and closed her eyes. “Um, another half hour. Maybe. I don’t know.”
“Do you always get carsick?”
She shook her head. “Never.”
She didn’t hear him climb back in the car or the door close behind him, only registered the vehicle was moving. But she caught the curse that slipped from his mouth, just before another wave hit her gut and this time sent blinding pain right into her skull.
For a fleeting moment it registered that this wasn’t car sickness. But before she could figure out what else it could be, she was too wrapped up in the pain to think of anything else.
Billy felt like he’d just competed in the Ironman. And the Tour de France. And the Boston Marathon, all rolled into one. Holy hell, did he have any fluids left in his body? Even his eyes were bone-dry.
The bathroom door opened, the light flipped off, and Nicole came skipping across the room, draped in some sheer nightie thing Billy didn’t remember seeing her in before. She took one flying leap and bounced on the bed on her knees. “I’m starving. Aren’t you hungry?”
Billy groaned from the mattress jostling his aching body. Four rounds? Five? He’d never thought it was possible to be completely limp from sex, but then he’d never met Nicole Roarke. Jesus, maybe she was a serial killer and this was her MO: screwing guys until they were so weak she could pick them up and toss their bodies to the sharks.
Considering she came from a family of bottom-feeders, that idea probably wasn’t too out there.
That lovely thought got pushed out of his head as she leaned across his chest and reached for the phone on the bedside table. “I need protein. Scrambled eggs and bacon. What do you want?”
“Ice water,” he croaked. “A great big pitcher. And ooh, cinnamon rolls.” He lifted his head slightly from the pillow. “You think they have any of those in the kitchen this time of night?”
“They have everything. With cream cheese frosting?”
His stomach rumbled. A good sign he wasn’t on death’s doorstep after all. “Yeah. And a steak. A nice big juicy one.”
She laughed and relayed his order into the phone, adding juice and toast and a big plate of pasta as she twirled her finger around his naked chest. When she hung up, she laid her palms on his chest, looking up at him with big, dark-as-night eyes that weren’t nearly as satisfied as he’d thought earlier.
If he hadn’t known this girl was Hailey’s sister, he’d never have picked her out. The two looked nothing alike. Unless you counted that mischievous glint in both their eyes.
“So, Billy,” she said all innocent. “Not that this hasn’t been fun, but don’t you think it’s about time you tell me what’s really going on here?”
He probably should have been surprised by the question, but over the past few hours, he’d discovered Nicole Roarke wasn’t at all what he’d expected. Though she’d done a good job at keeping him busy with her hands and mouth, even before this little Q&A he’d had a feeling she was working hard to keep him distracted. And not just because she had a competitive streak where her sister was concerned.
His eyes narrowed on the mole that was a little too perfect just under her left eye. “What do you mean?”
One manicured index finger circled his right nipple. “You’re not sleeping with my sister.”
“How do you know?”
That mischievous glint flared. “My sister couldn’t handle you.”
He barked out a laugh and ran his hands down her barely there top. “So confident.”
“I am. I also know my sister. And she’s not the kind of woman to have a fling with just any guy. Especially not with a guy who
goes around banging women he meets at a beach bar.”
“Is that what you are? A girl who hangs out at beach bars waiting for guys to bang you?”
“Not unless they have something I want.”
That got his attention. His hand stopped on the small of her back as he peered down at her. She blinked twice, looking completely innocent. But as he’d learned the last few hours, Nicole Roarke was anything but childlike. “I think my head’s a little fuzzy from the last few hours. Just what are we talking about here?”
She eased back to sit cross-legged next to him on the bed. “My sister’s not so dumb. And neither am I. I know she sent you here to get my bronze. Interesting tactic, by the way. I wouldn’t have guessed she’d be so underhanded as to pay a guy to seduce it out from under me.”
He pushed up slowly and leaned back against the headboard. “What makes you think she paid me?”
“Why else would you be here?”
Why else? Good question. He hadn’t planned to sleep with her. Didn’t really think she’d go that far, but as soon as they’d gotten back to her suite, he’d forgotten what he’d come for and instead focused on her. A couple drinks on her terrace had turned into lunch, which had quickly turned into a whole lot more. She was smart. And quick on the uptake. And he’d enjoyed talking with her and watching her eat. She had the sexiest way of chewing, and when she smiled at him, his insides turned to Jell-O.
He’d made up some lame excuse about Hailey texting him and canceling their rendezvous, and though he hadn’t expected Nicole to buy the lie, she had. When she’d taken a bathroom break after their meal, he’d given the suite a thorough check and found no bronze. He should have left then—before she’d come out—but he hadn’t been able to get his feet to the door in time. And when she’d walked back toward him, wearing nothing but a sheer black robe that had done zip to hide her curves underneath, he’d forgotten everything but his own name.
“I’m not sure,” he said, “but just so you know, she didn’t pay me.” His eyes narrowed on her perfect face. “Why did you sleep with me if you knew what I was after?”
She shrugged, wrapped her arms around her updrawn knees and fingered her pink-polished toes. “Why wouldn’t I? It’s what you expected, isn’t it?”
He couldn’t quite gauge her mood, but she didn’t seem angry. If anything, she looked just the slightest bit…hurt.
Why the hell would she be hurt? Unless—
His brain skipped back over the last few hours. And a couple of things they’d done he’d have thought a girl like her would have already been a pro at. In retrospect, though, it was actually more like he’d had to teach her what a guy liked. And how.
A strange feeling settled over him. “Niki, you’ve done this before, right?”
“What?” she asked without looking up. “Sex? Of course.”
“No,” he said cautiously. “This afternoon-pick-up-a-guy-in-a-beach-bar thing.”
She didn’t answer, just picked at her toenail polish.
“Niki.” He reached out and lifted her chin with his index finger. And saw, without her even uttering a sound, her answer.
Exasperation settled in her eyes. “Oh, don’t look so shocked. I know I have a reputation. But I happen to be very particular about who I sleep with.”
“How particular? How many times have you done this?”
She pursed her lips and looked up at the ceiling.
“Nicole, answer the damn question.”
“The beach bar thing? Never.”
“No, the sex thing in general. How many guys have you slept with?”
“That’s none of your damn business.”
“Right now it’s all about my business.”
She huffed. “Fine. One. Well, two now.”
“Oh, shit.” His stomach dropped.
She climbed quickly off the bed and pointed at him. “That’s not the point.”
He rose, forgetting the ache in his bones. “Why the hell did you sleep with me then?” Too late he realized he was naked and quickly grabbed the sheet from the bed to wrap around his hips. Good God, could he screw this up any more than he already had? He didn’t have the statue, and now he’d slept with Hailey’s virgin sister.
“Oh, don’t go getting all moral on me. I was attracted to you, you were attracted to me. You didn’t have any problem fucking me before. So don’t go looking all shocked now.”
He cringed. “Don’t say it like that. And before I didn’t know you were a virgin!”
“I wasn’t a virgin.”
“Okay, pretty damn close to a virgin.”
When she didn’t respond, only crossed her arms over her chest and glared at a spot on the carpet in front of him, he knew he was close to the truth. And staring at her with the rumpled bed between them, he realized why she’d looked so damn innocent before. Because she was.
Holy shit.
He threw his arm out to the side. “Why do you go gallivanting around the globe like some two-bit hussy if you’re really not?”
She leveled him with a look that could have turned flesh to stone. “That’s none of your business, either. Now do you want my sculpture or not?”
He could barely follow her words. Now she was back on the stupid bronze?
“The Last Seduction, Billy,” she said again. “I know Hailey sent you here to get it. I want to know what it’s worth to her. And to you.”
He stared at her. And made a decision without even thinking. “It’s not worth anything to me.”
“Then why are you helping her?”
“Because she asked me. And because we’re friends.”
“That’s it?”
“Yeah, that’s it. There’s nothing going on between us. She doesn’t even know I’m here.”
She studied him a long beat, then asked, “Then what did she ask you to do?”
“She wanted me to see if the bronze was at your place.”
“How would you do that? It’s not like…” Understanding dawned in her eyes. His brother, the thief. Certain skills ran in the family. “Oh. I see. So you broke into my place.”
He shook his head. And not for the first time, a shiver of guilt over something he’d done slinked through him. “I came here instead.”
“Why?”
This time it was his turn to shrug. “I guess I wanted to see if you were like the tabloids say you are.”
“And you found out I am.”
“I found out you’re not at all.”
They stared at each other. Neither said anything. And in the silence he sensed she was trying to decide if he was being honest or completely full of shit.
“I don’t have it anymore,” she finally said.
“Where is it?”
She shrugged, purposely evading his question, but added, “I have an idea who has it.”
His eyes narrowed. “What do you want, Nicole?”
That mischievous glint returned to her dark eyes. “I want in on the action.”
He’d have been less surprised if she’d hauled off and sucker punched him in the gut. “Why?”
“Let’s just say I have a score to settle with someone who underestimated me.”
“Hailey won’t go along with this.”
“Hailey,” she said with just a hint of disgust, “doesn’t have a choice. If she wants to know what’s on the bottom of my bronze, she’ll go along with it.” When he only stared at her, she added, “Don’t believe me? Call her and find out.”
If he were smart, he’d run long and hard in the opposite direction. Instead, he saw himself wavering. Partly because—even after their marathon sex session—he was still wildly attracted to her. And partly because he owed her for what he’d just done.
And wasn’t that just a kick in the pants? All of a sudden he’d developed a conscience.
A knock sounded at the door. Nicole flicked him a look just before turning. “Make up your mind, Billy. But do it quick. If Hailey’s not interested, I’ll move on to the next person on my
list. And I’m already bored with this conversation.”
Shane drove ninety down Highway 1 toward Crawl Key. Hailey was on her side, facing away from him, head back, eyes closed tightly, just trying to breathe. He’d known as soon as he’d taken one good look at her when she’d slowed the car that something was wrong.
“Hold on,” he said. “We’re almost there.” He reached over and placed a hand on her arm to reassure her. Her skin was cold and clammy. When she didn’t respond, he moved his hand around to her shoulder, then chest, only to realize her heart rate was slow and irregular.
“Hailey? Are you with me?”
Nothing.
“Shit.”
He whipped the car into the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office, where she’d planned to take him to get his leg patched up by a friend of hers, and killed the engine. A green Acura and a beat-up Dodge pickup were the only other two vehicles in the parking lot.
Hailey didn’t move when he jerked the passenger door open or when he lifted her into his arms. And when her head fell against his chest like dead weight, his anxiety went through the roof.
The door to the building pulled open just as he reached it, and a woman Shane faintly noticed had dark hair said, “Oh…shit. What happened?”
The friend. Allie-something. Hailey had mentioned her in the car before she’d gotten sick. “I don’t know.” The door snapped shut behind him as he moved Hailey quickly into the lobby. “She was fine forty minutes ago.”
Allie placed a hand on Hailey’s forehead. She turned quickly. “Dad!”
A gray-haired man who had to be James Hargrove, the Monroe County ME, pushed open the door at the end of the room. He was wiping his hands with a towel when he stepped into the room. “What’s all the ruckus abo—”
His words died when he saw Hailey in Shane’s arms. “What happened?”
“I don’t know. She was driving. Started complaining about not being able to see. Then said she didn’t feel well.”
James pulled her eyelids open. “Has she been sick?”
“No. I thought she was just carsick. She was sweating. Then her hands were like ice and her heart felt slow.”
James felt for a heartbeat. And his expression changed from concerned to frantic in an instant. “Bring her in back quickly. Allie?”