Carol Ericson - The Pregnancy Plot

“Sorry.” He opened his mouth to say more, but a horn from a boat bellowed outside. “What is that? Sounds like an angry moose.”

“That—” she struggled to her feet from the deep chair “—is the county rescue boat. They must be pulling my craft into the dock.”

Jase snatched his warm shirt from the ottoman and stuffed his arms into the sleeves. “I’ll go have a look.”

“I’ll join you. It’s my boat.” She slipped her feet into a pair of clogs and grabbed a hoodie from a hook by the front door.

Sure enough, the big red Harbor Patrol boat had backed Nina’s damaged craft against her dock.

They approached a member of the rescue team who was leaning over the side of the boat and writing something on a clipboard.

“Afternoon, folks. This your boat?”

“It’s mine.” Nina waved her hand. “I made the call.”

“You must be Bruce and Lori’s girl.”

“That’s right. I’m Nina Moore.”

“Well, Nina Moore. I’m afraid I have some bad news for you.”

Jase instinctively stepped in front of Nina. “What’s the bad news?”

“This hole here?” The man jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Someone did that on purpose.”

Chapter Four

Jack Coburn had been right about this assignment and the need to watch over Skinner’s ex-fianceé. Someone had Nina in his crosshairs already.

Two vertical lines formed between Nina’s eyebrows, and she kicked the toe of her clog against a wooden post. “I figured it was just a matter of time.”

He jerked his head up. Nina knew about Tempest?

The patrol officer tipped his hat back. “You have an idea who did this, Ms. Moore?”

“You can call me Nina, and yes. It has to be my stepsister, Lou.” She swept her arm across the bay as if the mysterious Lou lurked somewhere out there on the water.

“Oh, yeah, Lou.” The officer nodded in a way that made Jase feel completely out of the loop. “I remember her. Do you have any proof she did this?”

“None at all, except that someone in town mentioned they’d seen her around. So, she’s back on the island.”

“Watch your back, Ms.—Nina.” The officer smacked the side of Nina’s boat and jumped onto his own.

Jase watched the Harbor Patrol boat for a minute as it maneuvered away from the dock, and then turned to Nina. “Why would your stepsister be putting holes in your boat?”

Keeping her gaze on the retreating patrol boat, she crossed her arms over her waist and her sweater outlined a small bump below, the first visible sign of her pregnancy—at least to him. Nina’s lean runner’s frame would probably take a while to show evidence of her condition, but she had to be at least four or five months along, judging by the last time she saw Skinner.

He’d seen pictures of Maggie pregnant at about the same stage as Nina, and she’d had a distinctive rounded belly, but then Maggie was smaller and more rounded in general than Nina.

When Nina swung her head around, his gaze jumped to her face.

“My stepsister, Lou, is a disturbed person. She’s had some problems with drugs and alcohol, but her issues go beyond that. When her father married my mother and Mom and I came to live with them when she and I were both children, she had a fit. It only got worse from there. I knew when Dad, Bruce, left this B and B to me, she’d never let it go.”

“So, you think she’s bent on sabotage?” Noticing a tremble rolling through her body, he took Nina’s arm. “Let’s go back inside. You’re still chilled from your swim in the sound.”

She allowed him to steer her back toward the house. “Putting a hole in the bottom of my boat would definitely be something in Lou’s repertoire.”

“Is she capable of more? Would she do you physical harm? Not that plunging into the icy depths of that bay couldn’t have resulted in something worse than a bad chill.”

Pushing open the door, she paused on the threshold. “I don’t think she’d pull out a gun and shoot me, but she’d pull stunts that could have unintended consequences—just like putting a hole in a boat.”

“And I thought my family had issues.” He stomped his feet on the mat at the door.

“Oh?”

He had no intention of getting personal with her and mentally gave himself a kick for even mentioning his family. He’d used his nickname and a fake last name, just in case she decided to do a little research on the internet, because it wouldn’t be hard to find Jason Bennett—or his family.

“Do you want more tea?” He pointed to the flames simmering in the grate. “Looks like the fire died down.”

“I’m fine.” She stood in the entryway, making no move to go back to their cozy situation in front of the fire.

“Okay, I’ll be heading back to my motel. Do you want me to stoke that up for you before I go?” He made a move toward the fireplace, but she placed a hand on his arm.

“I’ll let it go, thanks.”

He strode past her anyway. “I’ll reposition those logs, so they don’t roll off the grate.”

He couldn’t help it. Nina’s pregnancy gave him an overwhelming urge to do things for her—all the things he never got to do for Maggie. He prodded the logs and then snagged Nina’s mug and deposited it in the kitchen sink next to his.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, he grinned because women had told him in the past he had an irresistible grin and he needed to be irresistible right now. “Let me know when you’re done checking me out and I can get to work for you around here.”

“Oh, I’m done. Anyone who rescues me from drowning deserves a chance.” She sized him up beneath lowered lashes. “You can start tomorrow.”

“Awesome.” He stuck out his hand and she gripped it. “I’ll be back around eight o’clock.”

Her blue eyes widened. “Make it ten.”

“You got it...boss.”

When he reached the curve in the road that led back to the town, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and called Coburn.

“What do you have for me, Jase?”

“I met Nina Moore and she hired me as her handyman. I start tomorrow.”

Coburn chuckled. “Must be that killer grin of yours. Is she suspicious about anything? Did she mention the father of her baby?”

“The father?” Jase glanced over his shoulder at the empty road. “She didn’t even mention the baby. She’s, uh, not really showing, so the subject never came up.”

“She’s gotta be five months along and she’s not showing?”

“Yeah, your wife had twins, so I think that’s a different case.”

“Probably. What do I know anyway?” Coburn coughed. “You okay with this assignment?”

Jase chose to ignore Coburn’s implication. Jack made it his business to know the personal histories of all Prospero agents, and sometimes Jase thought he used those histories just to test them, to mess with their minds.

“I’m never okay with babysitting assignments, Coburn, but you might be onto something here.”

His boss sucked in a breath. “Oh, yeah?”

“Someone drilled a hole in Nina’s boat and she discovered it while she was on the water.”

“Is she okay?”

“Chilled but fine.”

“You think it might be our friends at Tempest?”

“If they’re trying to kill her, sinking her boat on a well-traveled bay is a long shot. Seems Nina has some crazy family members in the mix, too.”

“Great. Just keep doing your job, Jase—watch Nina Moore and protect her if necessary.”

“Got it, boss.”

Jase ended the call and tapped the phone against his chin. He’d have no problem either watching or protecting Nina Moore. He’d do whatever it took to safeguard Nina and the baby—Simon Skinner’s baby.

* * *

NINA STRIPPED OFF her clothes and turned sideways in front of the mirror as the bathtub filled with warm water. She massaged her bump with the palm of her hand and smiled. Her little guy was growing by leaps and bounds.