Romancing the Alpha: An Action-Adventure Romance Boxed Set (83 page)

Seth blew out a long, grateful breath. He wished he could see her face. Wished he could hug her. Wished…

Her hands were already on his, the blade slipping easily into place, reminding him there was no wishing, only action. Another snap, and his hands were free, too. His moment to spin around and face her.

But Julie was already stepping over to Tobin.

“Cut me, baby,” his brother joked. Even with a bloody face, the guy was a charmer. Julie didn’t even crack a smile, a woman on a mission.

Then Tobin was free, too, and Julie was climbing up the steps to the cockpit.

“The coast is clear,” she announced. The second part was quieter. “For now.”

What did she mean, for now?

“Julie, what’s going on?”

What was going on? Julie leaned her elbows on the edge of the cockpit, staring out over the sea. Part of her was keeping lookout, but the other part was ready to dry heave, and not from seasickness. She’d been such a fool.

If I can ask you for one more favor before you go, my dear?
The professor had looked so honest, so sincere when he said it.

Sure. Anything,
she’d stupidly replied.

I have a gift and some documents for an orphanage we support in Matigúas. The post is so unreliable, you know. And since you’re heading that way…

He might as well have added,
And since you’re such a trusting idiot, you’ll smuggle this package over an international border for me.

She’d figured he had some scam going, old Professor Leeds. But something small-time, as it seemed just about every second person in Guatemala did. His jeep was much too new, his accommodations near the excavation site flashier than anyone else’s. The place had a pool, for Christ’s sake!

Drive carefully, my dear.

She should have read the subtext:
Watch that the corrupt cops don’t run you down then chase you out to sea. ’Cause you’ll be on your own then, my dear.

But she wasn’t alone. That was the one good thing about all this. Some kind fate had brought her Seth.

Seth, who was stepping up to her now, running a calming hand over her back when he could have been screaming for answers.

God, what had she done? Not only had she stumbled into hot water, she’d dragged Seth into this, too. He’d terrified her even more than that jerk who’d fondled her ass and suggested to his comrades that they stop for a little fun. Seth had started bristling like a papa bear, growling and flashing the evil eye that promised hell and beyond if they touched her. Even from his trussed-up position on the floor, she swore Seth looked twice his usual size. Big and bristly and lethal in that don’t-fuck-with-my-woman kind of alpha male way.

If he had jumped the intruders, they would have shot Seth dead. His heroics would have been for nothing. If it hadn’t have been for the radio calling the cops away… She shivered, trying not to imagine her own rape. His murder. The horrible end.

Another set of feet joined them on deck. Tobin. He’d been in danger, too, and had a gun smashed across his face. He could have lost an eye — or worse.

“This is all my fault.” Her head was hanging so low, she could barely hear her own voice.

“No, it’s my idiot brother’s,” Seth said. “He’s the one who announced our position to everyone in radioland.”

She heard Tobin sink into the seat behind her. “I know.” His voice was distant, hollow. It didn’t sound like the first time the brothers had been through that exchange.

Funny how they each played a role — so perfectly that she doubted they were even aware of it. Seth was the responsible older brother who did all the right things. Tobin was the rebel, the party boy, the carefree surfer — the one who could be counted on to make mistakes. Then along came this boat and knocked them out of their little worlds. Tobin could take some real responsibility while Seth could loosen up.

Back home, she’d never have fallen for a guy like Seth. But out here, in sailor mode, the appeal of a man in transition toward something better was hard to resist. She wanted to smooth the last city edges off him like the sea works on a pebble, rolling it over and over until it was round.

Except he’d ditched her two months back, right?

Her heart gave a little twinge underneath her ribs. He hadn’t ditched her. Not exactly. She had pinned the blame on him too quickly. A little like Seth was doing with Tobin now, when it wasn’t Tobin’s fault.

She straightened her back and sat up to face them. “No, it’s my fault.” She put a finger under Tobin’s chin and tipped his bloody face up. “My fault.” God, she hated those words. Didn’t have much practice with them either. But it was true, and she had to live with it. “Someone must have seen me heading to
Serendipity,
and how hard could it be to guess where we went?”

A wave slapped the side of the boat — a reminder that they had to get going before Hernandez discovered what she’d done. “Anyway, I’ll explain once we get going.”

“Going? Where?”

She looked at the inky seascape. To the west lay the lights of the mainland. To the east, the dark splotch that was the little island. Beyond it, the silvery, rippling sea.

Where to go?

There was really only one choice, and that was straight into trouble.

Julie was still eyeing the mainland, a haunted look shadowing her face when Seth took her by the shoulders and turned her gently around.

“Julie, talk to me. Explain.” He made sure it came out the way he meant it — a plea, not an order.

“Yeah, explaining would be good,” Tobin added, not quite as diplomatically.

Seth watched her eyes slide to his brother, then wince. “Let’s get you cleaned up first.” Her shoulders lifted then fell in a deep breath.

They filed back into the cabin, where Seth pulled out the first aid kit while Julie turned a light on Tobin’s cheek.

“Shit,” Seth said. He knew it was bloody, but hell, his brother’s wound was worse than he’d thought. Julie dabbed the blood away, revealing an inch-long gash and a purplish-red swelling the size of a fist.

“Not that bad,” Tobin muttered, giving that lazy wave he specialized in. Except Seth didn’t buy it, not one bit. Tobin’s knuckles were white where his hands gripped the chart table and his back was uncharacteristically stiff. Seth looked his brother up and down, wondering how often Tobin had shown the world that same dismissive veneer when he had to be hurting inside. Wondered how he’d ever missed it before.

Shit, maybe his kid brother was more of a man than he gave him credit for.

Julie spread out the first aid supplies on the chart table then pushed back Tobin’s hair to clean his cheek.

“Ouch,” Tobin said, though he quickly drifted into that dreamy state that house cats get when curled on their favorite armchair. Getting petted. In the sun. Except Tobin’s spot was nearly cheek to cheek with Seth’s girl. Her body was so close, it was nearly brushing his.

A heat wave pulsed through Seth’s veins. This was exactly why he hadn’t invited her to the boat before. His brother had a way of charming more than just the proverbial pants off women, and even the smartest ones went all fluttery when they met him.

Julie obviously didn’t do fluttery. She did serious. Smart.

And Julie was his, damn it! Not Tobin’s. No way.

Sure, Seth got his fair share of interest from women, but they were rarely the kind of woman he was interested in. And for once, it felt good to be chosen in a direct comparison to his happy-go-lucky brother. The one who got everything so easily: girls, fun, crazy adventures.

Seth, on the other hand, got into good schools. Got promoted. But he never got to be just himself, except around her.

Julie liked his jokes. Julie had no fear. Well, hardly any. She could talk boats, sports, and politics. She’d seen the world, but when she looked into his eyes, it felt like everything else ceased to exist.

Including his brother, whom she’d never shown any interest in. Even now, she seemed immune to Tobin, concentrated entirely on patching him up. And Tobin had been remarkably hands off so far. Seth had to give him that.

Just in case, though, he handed Julie the bottle of antiseptic and motioned toward his brother’s face.

Tobin caught a whiff of it and leaned back. Way back. “Shit, that’s gonna sting.”

“Don’t want it to get infected,” Seth said. Which was technically true.

Tobin made a hissing noise when Julie dabbed it on, and she started speaking so quietly, Seth almost missed her first words.

“The man in charge of the Xtlemacán excavation site — Leeds — gave me some documents to deliver. Stupid, I know.” Her voice was all anger and no self-pity. “But after getting chased, I figured something was up. So I looked in the package.”

The cabin went still until Tobin spoke up. “And?”

“There was a box inside the box.”

“So what was in it?”

“I don’t know.” She started unpeeling sticky sutures and lining them up over Tobin’s gash. “I mean, I know, but I don’t know what it’s for.”

“What what’s for?” Tobin mumbled out the side of his mouth.

“And what’s the rush to get out of here? They have what they want.” Seth waved a hand west, where the motorboat had gone.

“No, they don’t.” She stuck on a last suture and leaned back to examine her work then gave a little nod.

“Julie!” Tobin forced her to meet his gaze just on the strength of his voice. “Explain.”

She bit her lip and started studying the floor. “I took the inner box out. Filled the outer box with about the same weight of stuff.” She glanced up with a rueful expression. “I owe you a couple of paperbacks.”

So that’s why she’d taken so long before dinner. Then a realization clicked in Seth’s mind.

“Not the Patrick O’Brians!”

The look she gave him said,
Are you kidding?
“No, I took those smutty adventure books.”

Tobin yelped. “Not my Caribbean pirate series!”

She gave a weak nod. “Sorry.”

Tobin rushed to the forward cabin then rushed back, looking positively anguished. “There was a picture in one of those books…”

“I took out the notes and bookmarks and stuck them behind the shelf.” Julie disappeared into the forward berth then backed out. “These?”

Tobin snatched the papers and held them to his chest, but not before Seth got a look at the top one — and did a double take.

“Jesus, man, you still have a picture of Cara? That was like five years ago!”

Tobin swung his body away to shield it. “Six,” he mumbled then stalked forward to tuck the picture out of sight.

His brother was still pining for Cara? Seth thought Tobin was long since over the fiasco of his almost-wedding. But judging by the way Tobin looked at the photo now — holding it in two hands like his most precious possession… Maybe not. Considering how much it hurt to have lost Julie for two months… Seth didn’t want to think what six years would be like.

Except that now was hardly the time for all that. He rocked on his heels, trying to piece together Julie’s story. “So those goons have a couple of paperbacks and we have…what?”

“Where?” Tobin added.

Julie’s eyes slid toward the bathroom cabinet between the main cabin and forward berth.

“Under there.”

Seth was on his knees in a minute, pulling out fishing gear and spare parts.

“Stuck up by the sink drain,” she whispered, so quietly you’d think she didn’t want it found.

He groped around until his hand found a square corner among the curved pipes then followed it along the edges of a box. He worked it out of the tight space, then sat back on his heels, looking at it. A Marlboro carton, frayed around the edges. He turned it over and gave it a shake. Solid, by the feel of it. Not too heavy, not too light. “So what’s in it?”

“Have a look,” Julie sighed.

He brought it to the salon table and stared at the flap for a minute. Who stashed documents in a Marlboro carton? Who delivered things to convents that way?

“Open it already,” Tobin urged.

Seth popped the end flap open, tipped the box, and shook it a little so the first sheaf of paper slid out.

For a minute, there was only a collective catching of breath, the distant murmur of waves on the beach. Then Tobin let out a long, appreciative whistle.

Seth leaned back.

Julie took a breath so deep, the air pressure in the cabin dropped. “There’s more.”

He shook the box again, mind spinning as he did. “How much more?” he asked as the next batch of greenbacks came edging out.

“Oh,” she said, “about a hundred thousand dollars more.”

Seth had done his share of night sailing when he and Tobin brought the boat down the East Coast of the US to the Caribbean, but that was in open water. Navigating through reefs at night went against every sailor’s rule of common sense. He could feel his grandfather’s ghost peering over his shoulder as he started the engine and weighed anchor. Hand over hand, he pulled the chain up, every link a gritty reminder of why this was such a bad idea.

But staying was a bad idea, too. They’d been through the options and reluctantly agreed to Julie’s plan. There was no better way.

He hauled up an arm’s length of anchor chain and decided she was crazy. On the next length, he went back to thinking she was brilliant. Or maybe just a combination of the two. His thoughts seesawed that way through another eighty feet of chain.

“Anchor up!” he called back to Tobin, who stood at the wheel. Julie was below, eyeing their GPS, calling out instructions to the helm as they backtracked over their exact inbound track. Slowly. Very slowly. Seth stayed at the bow as lookout, though the only reefs he could make out in the light of the moon were dull underwater shadows that were only clear when they appeared directly under the bow — much too late to call a warning. So far, they’d been lucky.

So far.

His mind spun over the possibilities one more time.

They couldn’t go to the police, because the men who’d pointed guns at them less than an hour ago were cops. Corrupt cops, from the look of it.

They couldn’t dispose of the cash or simply keep it, as Tobin suggested. Dirty cash was dirty cash, whether it came from the illegal sale of illicit artifacts or drugs — and getting rid of it or running wouldn’t get the corrupt cops off their backs. Then there was the source: when Professor Leeds found out his package never made it, he’d come after
Serendipity
, too.