Dancing with Deception (3 page)

Her chin came up at that. He watched the vulnerability fade. “Look, I don’t know you. And you don’t know me. That makes my problems none of your concern. I’m sorry I jumped on your boat, but it was the only option I had. I asked you to let me jump off, but you refused.”

“You wouldn’t have made it very far.”

“That would have been my problem.”

He drank his coffee. He would have scared the truth out of her if he had the mind to. “Are you in trouble with the law?”

“No.”

Her offended tone had him hiding a smile with his coffee mug. “Do you owe anyone money?”

“Of course not.”

“Why were they chasing you?”

“I don’t know!”

Gideon stood up, more than a little pleased when she jolted. He took his mug to the sink and rinsed it out. “You live in Cleveland?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want me to take you back there?”

“No, Lakewood is fine.”

He turned around and looked at her. It was obvious to him that the men chasing her were crooked, but what about her? If she really was wanted for a crime, he could go down with her. They would impound his boat and likely put him in jail. The sooner he rid himself of her, the better.

She shifted in her seat, bringing him back from his thoughts. “All right, Sarah. Drink your coffee. I’ll take you to Lakewood.”

Rebecca watched the land draw closer as Gideon guided the boat toward the shore. She scanned the pier, but noticed nothing out of the ordinary.

She would need to find a pay phone so she could check on her mother. At that thought, anxiety started to creep up again. Rebecca pressed her teeth into her bottom lip as she thought about the secret fortune stashed away in the trunk of her car, under the false bottom where she kept her spare tire. The goons had probably searched the house by now. Lilah might have been home. The housekeeper certainly would have been.

If the goons hadn’t deliberately hurt her, she may have just given them the painting. It would have served her father right. But she hadn’t, and now her head throbbed, her cheekbone burned, and her throat felt like she had swallowed nails—and she wasn’t giving them a damn thing.

But it wouldn’t have mattered anyway, she realized on a ragged sigh. She wouldn’t have given it to them, even if they asked for it. No matter what, she would keep her promise. In that case, she was not her father’s daughter.

She was jolted from her thoughts when Gideon cut the engine. She moved over to help him dock but was issued a stern command to stay put. Seething a little at his order, she took her seat on one of the long, padded benches. She watched Gideon tie the rope to the wood with quick, efficient movements. The muscles in his bare back strained as he moved. She averted her gaze quickly, annoyed with the little tug in her belly and her increasing heart rate.

“Need a hand up?”

She looked back up to see Gideon opening a door on the side of the boat. She stood up on heavy legs and crossed the deck.

“I got it.” She managed to jump off the boat and onto the dock without falling face-first into the water. She turned back to Gideon. His dark brows were raised in question. “Thank you for everything. Sorry I was so much trouble.”

She didn’t wait for a response. She slung her bag over her shoulder and set off at a brisk pace. When she finally rounded the first corner, she began to breathe easier. She was grateful to Gideon Avery more than she could say, but it was relief—pure and simple—she felt now that she was away from him. As much help as he’d been, there was something untamed about him. Yet, her gut told her to trust him. But she didn’t dare; the stakes were too high.

She was unfamiliar with the area, so she picked a steady flow of pedestrians and tagged along. Tourists snapped pictures of the great lake and children scampered up and down the sidewalks. The smell of corn dogs made her stomach growl, reminding her again that she needed food. She watched a group of men carry tackle boxes toward the pier and smiled. Everything felt so normal—like she hadn’t just taken a running dive into a boat, escaping gun shots, and being saved by a modern day pirate.

She spotted a pay phone and dug for loose change in her bag as she walked. After slipping the coins in the slot, she dialed her house number and sighed with relief when Mary answered with her normal ‘Channing residence’ greeting.

“Mary,
its
Rebecca. Is my mother home?”

“Miss Lilah’s plane left hours ago,” their housekeeper informed her with a hint of New Orleans in her accent. Rebecca pictured the plump lady who’d given her cookies after school as a girl.

“Plane?”

“For Texas. Her cruise ship sails this evening. Didn’t you know?”

Of course she didn’t know. Lilah hadn’t told her. Rebecca closed her eyes. “It must have slipped my mind. Mary, I’m staying a week at a friend’s house. Would you like some time off? Paid. You can come back Saturday to get the house ready for my mother’s return if you’d like.”

“Are you sure, Miss Rebecca?”

She had no idea if this whole situation would be resolved by Saturday, but at least Mary wouldn’t be alone in the house. If her father still hadn’t contacted her by then, she’d think of something else.

“Of course. No one will be there until then. It’d be silly to stay.”

“I’d like that real well. Thank you, Miss.”

Rebecca yelped in shock when a big, hard hand closed over hers on the phone. She spun around and saw Gideon.

“What are you doing?”

“We need to talk.” He guided her hand to replace the phone back in the cradle before pulling her to the street with him. Without another word, he hailed the next taxi and all but shoved her inside.

“Just drive. I’ll tell you when,” he said to the driver.

“What in the hell are you doing?” she asked again.

“I couldn’t help but notice your friends were waiting at the dock. They followed you into the city.”

Rebecca jerked her gaze from Gideon’s grim face to look out the window. “There’s no way they could have known I’d be here.”

“Unless they have people at every dock.”

Damn. She should have considered there could be more involved. “Well, hell.”

“From what I saw, it’s the same men who were shooting at you from the dock.” He turned his stormy grey eyes on her. “And they didn’t look very happy.”

“No, they wouldn’t be,” she agreed absently as she scanned the streets they passed. Any minute now, she expected to see her pursuers pop out from an alleyway and shoot them through the window of the cab. Tremors of unease coursed through her.

“This is good,” he told the driver moments later and handed him a twenty. “Keep the change.”

He pulled Rebecca out of the cab and began to walk. She could either be dragged or keep up with him, so she set her pace to match his ground-eating strides.

“Why did you come back?”

She thought she heard him swear but his gait never slowed. They rounded a corner and quickly changed directions again. Rebecca’s gaze shot around them, but she didn’t see any scary men in black suits. Gideon pulled her into a phone booth and shut them inside. He craned his neck around, checking the streets. Seeing no one, he turned toward her.

“Listen—” His cell phone rang inside his pocket. Lynyrd Skynyrd filled the nerve-racking silence that ensued in the booth. Gideon held his hand up to silence Rebecca and, with his eyes never leaving hers, he answered the phone.

By the way he tensed, Rebecca had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that whoever he was speaking to was looking for her and now knew how to find her.

Despite her panic, she noticed that he had put a shirt on. It was navy blue and smelled like it had just come out of the laundry. He’d left the top couple of buttons undone, showing off dark, curling hair. She felt heat in her cheeks as she recalled what his entire upper body looked like naked.

He ended the call and slid his phone back into his pocket.

“Give me your bag.”

“What?” She clutched it to her chest.

“Give me the fucking bag.” He didn’t even need to raise his voice. Rebecca reluctantly handed the bag over and watched with confused detachment as he pawed through it. He pulled out her oversized wallet and unzipped it.

“Rebecca Lynn Channing, age twenty-four, black hair, blue eyes, five-seven, one-hundred and ten pounds of lying, conniving female. Yeah, that matches the description I just got—right down to your goddamned outfit.”

The fury in his voice had Rebecca involuntarily shrinking back against the wall of the phone booth.

“What do they want?” Gideon demanded.

“I don’t—” Her lie ended on a gasp when he grabbed her arm and yanked her against him. Dimly, she registered the hard muscle that held her trapped. He didn’t hurt her, but the threat was there. The massive hand he’d clamped on her could easily snap her bone, she thought—or worse. Ice skittered up her back, but her chin came up on its own accord.

“Don’t lie to me again. What do they want?”

“A painting.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. My father gave it to me and asked me to keep it for him and I am.”

“Where is it?” He swore viciously when she didn’t answer, but released her quivering arm. He pocketed her license, handed her bag to her, and before she could feel relieved, pulled her out of the phone booth. She didn’t ask where they were going; he probably wouldn’t have answered her anyway. She let him lead her several blocks before saying a word.

“You didn’t have to come after me, you know.”

“I’ve always had bad judgment when it comes to women.” Gideon stopped and looked around. “I’m pretty sure we’ve lost them. Come on.”

Not that she had a choice, she thought as he led her into a motel. She noted the chipped paint and spray-painted profanity on the wall of the building and cringed. She was almost horrified enough to offer to pay for a better hotel.

“I need a room,” he told the clerk. He pulled out his wallet and paid cash. After signing an insurance waiver, he pocketed the key and led Rebecca up the narrow stairway.

“Why are we here?”

“Just shut up.”

But she was weary of his orders and rough handling. She called him every name she knew and even made up a few. He didn’t flinch, didn’t even falter. He continued to pull her up the stairs and down a dinky hall.

He didn’t have to come after her. She would have preferred it if he had just gone his own way. Now on top of running for her life, she had a cranky sailor dragging her around and guilt gnawing at her.

He opened the door to their room and shoved her inside. Before the room enclosed in darkness again, she saw the door to the bathroom slightly ajar. In the few seconds it took for Gideon to turn his back to close the door, Rebecca darted across the room and lunged into the bathroom. She cried out in triumph when she managed to slam and lock the door. The knob rattled and Gideon’s fist beat the wood immediately after.

“Open the damn door.”

Rebecca flipped the light on and scanned the bathroom. Her bottom lip poked out in a pout when she saw that there wasn’t a window.
Great
, she thought,
this wasn’t the smartest plan.
Judging by the furious curses and threats being made through the door, she couldn’t see the wisdom in going back out there just yet.

Okay
, she considered as she dug through her bag for a brush and rubber band, so he was spitting mad. It couldn’t be helped. Did he honestly expect her to stand there and let him yank her around and yell at her?

With her hair in a sleek tail, Rebecca studied the bruise that had already formed under her eye. Dark purple rode high on her cheekbone and disappeared into her hairline. It looked almost as nasty as it felt, but at least her eye wasn’t completely black. She dug out a bottle of aspirin from her bag and cupped cool water from the sink to swallow a pill. She could probably face Gideon if she had less of a headache. Later.

The marks on her neck weren’t as bad. She had managed to get out of the choke hold they’d put her in, but she’d endured a bump on her head for her troubles. Carefully, she sank down on the toilet lid.

After a few minutes, the pounding and cursing stopped. Rebecca closed her eyes and laid her head heavily in her hands. It had only been a few hours since she’d been stuffed into the back of a car and knocked around by those idiots, but it seemed like days. Her legs burned from running, her head ached from all of the trauma. She was just exhausted, she thought as the first tear spilled over.

She swiped at it, annoyed that now that she was safe for the moment, she would
cry. Everything
had just gone so wrong. Now she was stuck in a hotel room with a snarling sailor. She didn’t know if Gideon would harm her. She didn’t even know him at all.. She didn’t know where he worked, what he did. She didn’t know if he had a criminal record.

From what little he had told her while they’d fished, she knew he was in Cleveland picking up art supplies for his sister. He was going to spend the rest of the afternoon fishing. That is, until she made the insane decision to jump onto his boat, which she now thoroughly blamed on her mother for her impulsive lapse.