Uncharted (26 page)

He watched, amazed by the look on her face and the gentleness in her touch.

Tenderness. He’d nearly forgotten what it felt like.

Karyn looked away, unable to bear the pressure of Kevin’s eyes on hers. He hadn’t looked at her like that since Sarah was born. Like she’d done something really remarkable, given him a great gift. And while Sarah
was
a great gift, he seemed to have forgotten that—long before Sarah was born—Karyn had given him her heart.

She turned and sank to one of the rocks, facing the waves. “I’m glad we were nearby. I’d—we’d—hate to lose you.”

Mark said nothing, and Karyn glanced at him before returning her gaze to the sea. They’d been searching the beach together when they heard Kevin’s cry, so they set out at the same time. Yet she reached Kevin before Mark did, and Mark wasn’t a slow runner.

Had he hesitated? Why in the world would he?

A shiver spread over her as she remembered overhearing part of their heated exchange. Something had happened between these two, something Kevin wasn’t happy about. But it couldn’t have been so serious that Mark would hesitate to save Kevin’s life.

She peered over her shoulder as Mark stood and offered Kevin a hand. “You’ll want to get cleaned up.” Mark gestured to the sand crusting on Kevin’s skin and clothing. “That stuff is nasty once it dries.”

“Let me get this straight.” Back at the beachhead, Kevin shifted his attention to Mark, who stood before the group with several long strands of seaweed slung over his shoulder. “You found no water in the interior of this island—none at all.”

“None yet.”

Karyn frowned. “What about the bamboo? I’ve heard that if you cut bamboo, you can usually find water inside the stalk—”

“That bamboo is as dry as lizard skin,” Mark said, dropping the lengths of seaweed to the sand. “I cracked several stalks, and all I found inside were stinging ants.” He held up a reddened hand as proof. “Nasty little buggars.”

Kevin raked his hand through his hair. He’d been hoping Mark would find a spring, even a puddle,
something
to indicate the island received regular rainfall. But this news wasn’t good.

He looked at Mark’s palm, covered in angry welts. He wanted to smile in perverse pleasure, but he kept his face arranged in straight lines. “You gonna be okay with that?”

Mark glanced at his hand, then swiped it against his shirt as if he could wipe the redness away. “I’ve had worse. Out in the Florida Everglades I’ve seen mosquitoes bigger than Chihuahuas.”

Karyn chuckled. “That’s some charmed life you lead, Morris.”

Mark squatted next to Lisa. “I do have one piece of good news. Don’t dig yourselves in here. I found a shelter.”

Lisa dropped her jaw. “Like some kind of
building
?”

“Not a building, a cave. But it’s a nice big one.”

Kevin squinted at Mark. “Any chance of finding water in that cave?”

“A good chance. Caves often form natural cisterns as moisture drips down the stone.”

Lisa scattered sand as she pushed herself up. “Good grief, Mark, why didn’t you say something sooner? That last windstorm nearly scoured my skin off.”

Mark grinned, obviously enjoying the spotlight. “I’ve been a little busy saving Kevin’s life. But come on, everybody, gather whatever you want to bring. We need to approach from the east, though. There’s a bad patch of quicksand on the west.”

Lisa halted. “You’re kidding.”

“Nothing but oversaturated sand,” Mark said, shrugging. “Not unusual for a beach.”

Karyn scrambled to her feet. “All right, let’s get to the cave—it’s about time something went right for us. Lead on, Morris; we’re behind you.”

Kevin took a deep breath and flexed his fingers until the urge to tackle Mark had passed. What was this murderous thug trying to do, paint himself as some kind of hero in front of the women? Okay, so he’d pulled Kevin out of a jam back at the rocks. It wasn’t as if Susan and Karyn couldn’t have done the same thing.

He waited until the others were several yards up the beach before he stood and offered a hand to Susan, who still lay on the sand with that shimmery fabric over her face. “Wake up, Susan. Looks like we’re moving on.”

“I’m not asleep.” She hesitated, then lifted her hand and twiddled her fingers. “Will you give me a minute?”

“Sure, but—”

“A minute of
privacy
, please. You can stay there. Just . . . turn your back.”

Kevin sighed, then propped his hands on his hips and turned toward the sea. From behind him he heard the rustle of fabric, then a ripping sound. What was she doing?

After a long moment, he heard the light sound of Susan’s voice. “Okay. I’m ready.”

When he turned, Susan was up and brushing sand from her skirt. Like the others, she had tied a shirt around each of her feet, but she had also wrapped her head in the filmy golden fabric.

The Taliban would have approved.

Kevin coughed rather than releasing the laughter that bubbled up from his throat. “Um . . . are you sure you’re ready?”

“Yes.” She took a step, then hesitated. From deep within the layers of fabric, he saw the shine of her wide blue eyes. “I’m not trying to be silly.”

“You don’t look silly. Next time the wind picks up, we’ll all wish we had something to wrap around our heads.” He slipped an arm about her waist. “Let’s go before the others take all the really good seats.”

29

Susan felt it in the way Kevin’s arm hovered at her waist. She was damaged, and he knew it. Before this, he would have held her tightly, with a hint of pleasure and pride in his grip, but now he walked with only the
suggestion
of supporting her.

And he didn’t look at her face.

She was horrific, a freak. She saw it in the way Lisa recoiled; she saw Mark flinch when he only
glimpsed
her disfigurement. She had no idea what she looked like, but the others were a mirror that left no room for doubt.

Never again would she be the person she had been. Even if they were rescued tomorrow and she rushed to the best plastic surgeon in the country, no one who had glimpsed her ugliness would ever be able to wipe that memory from their minds. In the eyes of these people, her best friends, she would always be hideous.

She’d been granted only one small mercy—David would never see her like this.

She choked back a sob as she doggedly attempted to match Kevin’s pace. That dreadful wind was beginning to blow again. The sand striking her arms and legs stung worse than salt water against freshly shaved skin, but she didn’t dare cry out because none of the others were complaining. Lisa, who wouldn’t give Mark the time of day a few hours ago, trudged behind him like a determined soldier. Karyn walked behind Lisa, occasionally glancing over her shoulder in search of Kevin.

Susan winced as a volley of sand stung her uninjured cheek through the layers of silk organza. Kevin walked faster, urging her along as the wind began to gust.

How ironic! The most handsome man in the group walked by her side not because he valued her company, but because she was the weak link, the invalid. He stayed behind not out of admiration, but out of pity . . . and pity was the last thing she wanted from any man.

At Kevin’s urging, she ran with her head down, one hand at the knot that held her scarf in place. After crossing a wide section of beach, she nearly ran into Lisa, who had stopped in midstride. Susan lifted her gaze and saw what had astonished her friend—a rocky skull, big as an ocean liner, jutted from the beach and stared out at the tarnished sea. The dimensions were not perfect, but from where she stood, she could see the profile of cavernous eye sockets, the grinning maw of a mouth, and an exposed nasal cavity . . .

Just like hers
.

She stopped dead, looking at it, her heart beating hard enough to be heard a yard away.

“You can’t expect us”— Lisa’s voice trembled—“to go in there.”

Mark turned, an easy smile on his face. “Come on, Lisa, it’s nothing but a hollow rock. Think of it as a theme-park attraction.”

Lisa shook her head. “I don’t like it.”

Karyn lifted a hand to protect her eyes from the gusting wind. “It’s shelter, isn’t it? I don’t think we want to stay out in this weather.”

Still Lisa hesitated, so Karyn stepped closer and slipped an arm around Lisa’s shoulder. “I think it’s creepy, too, but anything’s better than staying out here.” She tilted her head and looked at Susan. “Don’t you agree?”

Susan inhaled a deep breath. After the terror of the boat and their injuries, what could possibly happen in a cave?

“I’m tired,” she said, feeling as hollow as her voice sounded. “Please, let’s go inside and rest. I’m so exhausted I can’t think, I can’t cry, I can’t do anything.”

She shifted her gaze in time to see Mark and Kevin exchange a glance. They were thinking something about her; they were plotting something . . .

“Good plan.” Kevin’s arm tightened around her waist. “We need water right away, and this is probably the best place to find it.”

Susan studied him but saw no threat in his eyes.

Mark flexed his jaw as he surveyed the rocky beach in front of the cave. “As long as the tide doesn’t come in and flood us, I think we’ll be okay.”

Sometimes it didn’t pay to be a gentleman.

Though the others had already found shelter, Kevin lingered to help Susan because she was less athletic than the other women and often needed a hand. As she scrambled over the rocks at the mouth of the cave, the rising wind whooshed past them, billowing her skirt and whipping his shirt tight around his chest. She stepped carefully, testing each rock before stepping forward.

When she teetered on the edge of a slick boulder, he reached up to steady her. At that moment the wind snagged the dangling end of her scarf and uncovered her face.

The sight froze Kevin’s scalp to his skull. Earlier he had glimpsed the cut across her cheek, but he had not seen the full extent of the damage.

“Oh my.” The words slipped from his lips before he realized he had spoken. Susan whimpered like a wounded animal and scrambled to rewrap the fabric, nearly losing her balance in the effort.

Kevin shifted his gaze to the sand, granting her a measure of privacy. “I’m so sorry.”

When she didn’t answer, he glanced up. She had repositioned her scarf, but her shoulders had bowed with despair. Even through the veil he could see that her eyes had gone soft with pain.