Heather Graham - Protector, Lover...Husband?

“Gil…” Alex said with a groan.

“I’ll take a walk by Laurie’s room and knock,” Gil said. “But maybe she just doesn’t want to be disturbed.”

“Yeah. She could have a hot date,” Mandy agreed.

“You think?” Alex said. She shook her head. “She would have told me. She hated that Date Tournament thing she went on.”

“Yeah, but…she sure was impressed by your ex-husband,” Mandy said.

“And the blond guy chasing you around the last few days,” Gil commented.

“Well, they were both there today when Seth—as you so gently put it—bit the big one,” Alex said.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Gil said. “I’m sure she’ll turn up by morning. Maybe she’s somewhere right now, hearing all about Seth Granger. Jay must be having fits. That kind of publicity, connected to his precious Moon Bay.”

“Haven’t you heard? There’s no such thing as bad publicity. We’ll probably get more people hanging around. In another year, Warren will be advertising that he has a ghost,” Mandy said.

“Hey, the guy is barely cold!” Alex protested.

“Sorry,” Mandy told her.

“Let’s get out of here and let the boss have her private time,” Gil said to him. “Night, Alex.”

The two walked off. Alex suddenly felt very alone.

For a moment she felt a chill, but then realized that the Tiki Hut was blazing with light and music, and she was just across the lagoon from it. She didn’t need to feel alone or afraid, she assured herself. And she wouldn’t.

The time was now. And there wouldn’t be much of it.

Using the pass key he’d obtained, he slipped it into the front door of the cottage, quickly closing it behind him, then locking it again.

If someone should arrive, there was always the back door.

Where to look…?

The bedroom. He’d been there before.

He went straight for the dresser, staring at the things on top of it. He picked up the dolphin again, studying it, shaking it. Perfume sprayed out at him. Choking, he put it down.

There was a beautiful painting of a dolphin on the wall. He walked over to it, lifted it from its hook, returned it.

Anger filled him. He didn’t have enough information, and despite all he’d done, he couldn’t get it. Hell, everywhere he looked, there were dolphins around this woman. Live ones, stuffed ones, ceramic ones.

He heard footsteps coming toward the cottage and hurried for the back door. As long as he wasn’t caught, he could come back and take all the time he wanted to study every dolphin in the place.

And he wasn’t going to be caught. He would made sure of that this time.

Outside the cottage, he swore. He could have had more time right then. It was just one of the damn maids, walking down the trail.

He smiled at her, waved and kept going.

Back toward the lights and the few people still milling around at the Tiki Hut.

David’s phone rang as he headed back along the path. When he saw Dane Whitelaw’s name flash on the ID screen, he paused, taking the call.

“What did you find out?”

“I’m fine, thanks,” Dane said dryly. “How are you?”

David paused. “Sorry, how are you? The cat, the dog? Wife, kids…the tropical fish?”

Dane laughed on the other end. “I researched your navy boy. Seems he’s telling you the truth. He left the military a year ago May. Was married to a Serena Anne Franklin, no kids. They split up right about the time he left the service. He’s in business for himself, incorporated as Seymore Consultants—there are no other consultants listed, however. There is one interesting thing. He was in Miami for a month before coming down here.”

“So…it’s possible he met up with Alicia Farr there?”

“It’s possible, but there are millions of people in the area.”

“Great. The guy may be legit—and may not be.”

“I’ll tell you one thing, he has degrees up the kazoo. Engineering, psychology, geography, with a minor in oceanography.”

“Don’t you just hate an underachiever?” David muttered.

“Bet the guy made a lot of contacts over the years. Men in high places. Foreign interests, too, I imagine.”

“So just what are you saying? Does that clear him, or make him more suspicious?” David asked.

“In a case like this, I can tell you what I’d go by. Gut instinct.”

“What does your gut instinct say?” David asked.

“Nothing. You have to go by your own gut instinct. You know him. I don’t. Hey, by the way. I see it’s getting even more tangled down there. I saw it on the news.”

“Seth Granger?”

“You bet. Millionaire drowns and it’s on every channel in the state. What happened? What aren’t they saying?”

“I don’t know.”

“You were there.”

“I was talking to you when he walked out and went swimming.”

“Curious, isn’t it? A guy who could—and would—have financed the whole thing goes down.”

“Yeah, curious,” David agreed, then added slowly, “Unless someone knows more than we do.”

“Like what?”

“Like the ship being somewhere easy to reach. Where someone in a little boat could take a dive down and get a piece of the treasure before the heavy equipment—and the government—moved in. For someone who isn’t a millionaire, grabbing a few pretty pieces worth hundreds of thousands before the real discovery was made could be an enticing gamble.”

“You might be on to something,” Dane agreed. “I’ll keep digging on your navy man. Keep me posted. And be careful. There’s a storm out there, you know.”

“Small one, heading the other way, right?”

“Who knows? Small, yes, but still tropical-storm status. And they think it might turn and hit they Keys after all. Anyway, give a ring if you need anything else.”

“Thanks.”

David closed the phone, sliding it back into his pocket. The tangles were definitely intensifying. And there was only one person he could really clear in Alicia’s disappearance and probable death.

Seth Granger.

Who was now among the departed himself.

Hearing a rustling in the trees, he turned, a sharp frown creasing his forehead. Long strides took him straight into the brush.

There was no one there.

But had there been? Someone who had been walking along, heard his phone ring…

And paused to listen in on the conversation?

Alex sat at the edge of the first platform with her bucket of fish and called out, though she knew the dolphins were already aware she was there. “Katy, Sabra, Jamie Boy!”

They popped up almost instantly, right at her dangling feet. They knew the time of day and knew when they got treats. She stroked them one by one, talking to them, giving them their fish. Then she moved on to the next lagoon and the platform that extended into it. “Shania, get up here,” she said. “You, too, Sam, Vicky.”

She gave them all the same attention, her fingers lingering just a shade longer on Shania’s sleek body. The dolphin watched her with eyes that were almost eerily wise. “You’re my children, you know that, guys? Maybe I shouldn’t be quite so attached, but, hey…when I had a guy, he was at sea all the time anyway.”

“Was he?” The sound of David’s voice was so startling, she nearly threw her bucket into the lagoon.

She leaped up and spun around. “Must you sneak up on people?”

“I didn’t sneak up, I walked,” he told her.

“You scared me to death.”

“Didn’t mean to. Still, I couldn’t help hearing what you said. So…was that it? I was away too much?”

“David, there wasn’t one ‘it.’ My decision to ask for a divorce was complicated. Based on a number of things.”

“Was one of them Alicia.”

“No. Yes. Maybe. I don’t even know anymore, David.”