Heather Graham - Protector, Lover...Husband?

“I won’t say a word,” she promised.

He nodded and slowed the Icarus , shouting to Zach that he was going to lower the anchor, because they were out of protected waters and could do a little spearfishing.

Moments later, he stood aft with Zach, assuring himself that the boy could handle the speargun without skewering either himself or David. “We come back on board after every fish,” he told Zach.

“Right. Because of the blood and sharks. And there are a lot of sharks out here, right?”

“Yup. They usually mind their own business, but…” He shrugged. “I had a friend once who liked to stay down and try to get a lot of fish at once. He used his swim trunks for a storage area. If a shark did smell the blood, the first place it would attack would be…”

“Ouch!” Zach said, laughing.

He tousled the kid’s hair, pressed his own mask to his face and made a backward dive into the water.

He meant to give Zach his day out on the boat. He was anxious, however, to return to the dock at Moon Bay before noon. Before Alex would be out of the public eye.

Before she could be alone anywhere…

With anyone.

When the swim was over, Alex rewarded her dolphins with some pats, praise and fish, then stood, anxious to hurry over to the next platform and accost Laurie.

She didn’t get a chance to. Jay, in another one of his handsome suits, came hurrying along the dock.

“We’re starting evacuation proceedings now,” he told her.

“Now?”

She looked at the sky. It was an unbelievably beautiful day, the sky an almost pure blue.

“Don’t even bother looking up. You know how fast things can change.”

“The storm turned toward us?”

“The Middle Keys may get a direct hit as early as late tonight or tomorrow morning. She’s not a big one, but…well, you know. A storm is a storm. The ferry is here, and the guests are packing up. I’d like you and Gil to take a walk down to the beach and make sure we haven’t missed anyone.”

“Sure.”

“The others can rinse down the equipment and get this part of the operation closed down. Later, if the storm keeps on coming, you can go down and open the lagoon gates so the dolphins can escape to the open sea if necessary.”

She nodded. The lagoons were fairly deep; her charges could ride out a storm much better than people could. Still, the facility had been planned with escape routes for the animals, should they be needed.

“Did they act strangely today?” Jay asked.

“No.”

“Then I’d say we’ve still got plenty of time.”

Jay didn’t have a particular affinity for the animals, but he knew enough about them to know that the dolphins would know when the storm was getting close.

“I see that Laurie arrived fine,” Jay said.

“Yes.”

“She told Len she forgot to charge her cell phone.”

“Well, yesterday was her day off, and she wasn’t that late this morning,” Alex reminded him. Until she had a chance to listen to Laurie, she certainly didn’t intend to tell Jay that anything was wrong in any way. She turned around, looking toward the next lagoon. Irritated, she realized that both trainers were already off the platform.

“Where’s Gil? Does he know we’re going on a beach hunt?”

“I just passed him. He’s at the Tiki Hut, grabbing a sandwich.”

“Is Laurie with him?”

“I don’t know,” Jay said. “Don’t worry, you’ll have a chance to talk to her when you get back. You know the island better than anyone else, so I appreciate you doing this yourself with Gil.”

“Sure, I’ll go find him.”

Alex looked around for Laurie as she walked the path to the Tiki Hut, which was almost dead quiet, despite the time of day.

“Grilled chicken,” Gil announced to her, lifting a wrapped sandwich. “I got you one, too, and a couple of bottles of water.”

She arched an eyebrow, amused. “The beach isn’t that far.”

“Yeah, but we’ve got a lot of trails to check, just to make sure. The ferry’s already picked up anyone who planned to check out today. It will be returning soon.”

“Where did Laurie go so quickly?” Alex demanded. “She should be cleaning the equipment and battening down with Manny and Jeb.”

“I don’t know. She was with me right after the swim. She was pretty upset, though. She couldn’t believe Jay had us finish the swim when there had been an evacuation notice. But she knows her responsibilities, and we’ve still got hours to get out, though I’m sure the roads will be a mess. We’ll find her when we get back. Jay said you’re staying, but that the rest of the dolphin team has to be on the next ferry.”

“Amazing, isn’t it?” she said, looking at the sky, despite the fact she knew it didn’t really mean anything.

“Always a calm before a storm. Didn’t your folks teach you that?” Gil teased.

“I suppose.”

They reached the beach. As far as the eye could see, it appeared to be empty.

“Well, I’m sure Jay will make sure all the guests and employees are accounted for,” Gil said. “But I guess we have to comb the trails anyway, huh?”

She smiled. “You go to the left, I’ll go to the right, and we’ll circle around and meet in the middle. How’s that?”

Even as she spoke, she felt a lift in the breeze. It was subtle, but there. “I guess the storm really is coming in,” she said.

“You never know. They can predict them all they want, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to do what they’re supposed to. Had it reached hurricane status yet?”

“I don’t know,” she said ruefully. “I wasn’t really paying attention. Yesterday was quite a day, if you’ll remember.”

They’d reached the fork in the trail. “You go your way, I’ll go mine,” he told her.

She nodded and started off.

The trails were actually really pretty. She didn’t know how many of the trees were natural and how many had been planted to give the feel of a lush rain forest. Great palm fronds waved over her head, allowing for a gentle coolness along the walk and, she noted, a lot of darkness and shadow.

The fronds whispered and rustled, and she felt as if the darkness was almost eerie, all of a sudden. There was a noise behind her, and she spun around, then felt like a fool. The noise was nothing more than a squirrel darting across a path.

Still, she felt as if she had come down with a sudden case of goose pimples, and then she knew why. David had told her not be alone.

And certainly not alone walking down an isolated trail.

She was suddenly angry. She’d never been afraid here before. She had enjoyed the solitude that could be found on the island.

But that had been before people started dying.

She quickened her steps, anxious to get back to Gil. “Hello? Anyone out here?” she called. There was no reply.

Birds chattered above her head.

She looked all around herself. Not much farther and she would meet back up with Gil.

She reached the farthest point, seeing the sand on the southern tip of the isle, and stepped off the trail to look around and call out. Nothing.

She turned back, noting that the breeze was growing stronger. In the shelter of the trees, though, she could barely feel it. The dive boat hadn’t gone out that morning, she thought, but pleasure craft had probably been rented out. She hoped all the guests were back in.

“Hello?” she called out again, and once more paused to look around. She quickened her pace, then stopped suddenly.

And it wasn’t a sound that had caused her to stop. It was a stench. A horrible stench.

And she knew what it was. The rotting, decaying, stench of death.

She started walking forward again, shouting now. “Gil! Gil!”