Uncharted Waters (19 page)

Unfortunately, the thought of candlelight only made her think of Drew. “Enough already,” she muttered.

Rising, she tucked a handful of manila folders into her briefcase. Skimming her desk to make sure everything was in order, she slung her purse over her shoulder and headed for the door. She was halfway there when several loud thumps sounded from the side door near the storage room. Alison paused and for a few long seconds she listened, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. It sounded as if someone had been pounding on the door. But in the midst of a downpour? she wondered. Not likely. Maybe a branch from the palm tree outside had fallen against it.

As she stood there listening to the rain and wind lash the building, Evans Yachts seemed utterly deserted, though she knew there was at least one security officer assigned to the building and marina after hours. Seth had made it clear on her first day of work that security had been stepped up after the explosion.

“Oh, for Pete's sake, stop being such a ninny,” she said, but there was a note of uneasiness in her voice.

In the storage room, she engaged the security system, which gave her ninety seconds to get out the front door and lock it. Lingering just long enough to make sure the red light was blinking, she walked quickly to
the front door, shoved it open and stepped out into the rain. Berating herself for having left her umbrella in her car this morning, she resigned herself to getting wet and engaged both locks.

Her car was parked at the side of the building. Holding her briefcase over her head to keep her hair from getting wet, she hightailed down the sidewalk. Just as she turned the corner, she caught a glimpse of a dark form moving toward her through the rain. She saw dark hair. Scruffy clothes. A dockworker, she thought, and relaxed marginally.

Still, she veered off the sidewalk to avoid getting too close. She was in the process of digging her keys from her purse when sudden movement caught her gaze. She glanced over her shoulder in time to see the man lunge at her. She yelped, tried to run, but he grabbed her shirt and spun her around.

“Get away from me!” she screamed.

She caught a glimpse of something long and dark in his hand. Then sudden pain exploded on the right side of her head. She felt the impact of it snap her head back. The scream died in her throat. Dizziness assailed her. Vaguely she was aware of her knees buckling, the wet ground rushing up to meet her.

Abruptly, the world went still. Alison found herself lying on her back, looking up at the palm fronds against a slate-gray sky. Rain fell onto her face. Pain pounded in her head. Shock and confusion swirled in her brain. She felt the jittery stab of fear.

Slowly, the world came back into focus. She saw the man who'd hit her bend and scoop up her briefcase. She tried to get a look at him, but the rain was in her eyes, blurring her vision, pouring all around. All she could make out was his dark silhouette and a white
flash of teeth when he smiled. Then with her briefcase in hand, he turned and sprinted across the parking lot.

Heart pounding, she struggled to a sitting position. Another spike of fear pierced her when she glanced over to see a man in a dark suit running toward her. Looking around wildly for her purse so she could grab her cell phone and dial 911, she scrambled to her feet.

“Don't come any closer!” she screamed. “Get away from me!”

“Ms. Evans!” He worked a badge from his jacket pocket. “I'm with Net World Security. Just take it easy, okay?”

The man was middle-aged with black hair, and looked vaguely familiar. Relief skittered through her when she realized he was, indeed, one of the security officers she'd been introduced to earlier in the week.

“Are you all right?” He reached her, knelt at her side. “Are you hurt?”

She raised her hand to her head, winced at the size of the bump just behind her temple. “He hit me.” She looked around, spotted her purse. “He took my briefcase.”

The man was already on his cell phone, his eyes skimming the deserted parking lot. A shiver went through her when she spotted the gun in his other hand.

“Just stay down for a moment, okay?” he said to her.

But Alison felt too vulnerable on the ground and struggled to her feet, shaking her head against the quick swirl of dizziness. She couldn't believe she'd just been mugged. She knew better than to put herself in situations like that. Damn it, why hadn't she called security to escort her out?

But when she looked down and spotted her purse, she couldn't help but wonder why a mugger had left it behind.

* * *

The security officer called Seth while Alison called the Happy Hippo Day-care Center. Her hands were shaking so badly, it took her two tries to dial the number to let them know she was going to be late picking up Kevin. By the time the police showed up, she was shaking so violently, her teeth were chattering. The first patrol officer on the scene draped a blanket around her shoulders while he took her statement, but it wasn't enough to warm her or keep her from shaking.

The officer was just finishing up when Seth arrived. Alison thought she'd never seen him look quite so fierce. After a barrage of questions about the incident, he offered to drive her to the hospital, but Alison refused. All she wanted to do was pick up Kevin and go home.

“You could have a concussion,” Seth said.

“I wasn't knocked unconscious,” she pointed out.

“You've got a bump the size of a goose egg.”

In the end, the paramedic decided she would be fine—as long as someone kept an eye on her through the night.

“I'm taking you home,” Seth said.

“I need my car.”

“You're not driving, Alison. Don't be stubborn about this. I can have your car sent over to you.”

“Seth, for goodness' sake, I need to pick up Kevin.” She glanced at her watch and suddenly wanted very badly to hold her son.

“Where is he?” he asked, pulling his cell phone from a clip on his belt.

“The Happy Hippo Day-care Center over on Palm Avenue. But I don't—”

“I'll have Drew pick him up and meet us at your house.”

Alison didn't have the energy to argue. “I'll need to call the day-care center to let them know it's all right.”

Seth handed her the phone, and she made the call. By the time she was finished a headache was beginning to pound. She'd skinned her knees in the fall and they were smarting like the dickens. She felt cold and achy and just wanted her son and her home. She knew Drew wouldn't appreciate his cousin putting him in such an untenable position, but she didn't see a graceful way out of it.

Seth shoved his cell phone onto its clip. “All settled?”

“Everything is fine.” But even though her nerves had begun to smooth out, a new kind of tension crept over her. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she wasn't sure how she felt about seeing Drew when she was so shaken. The part of her that wanted the comfort she knew only he could give her warred with the knowledge that her feelings weren't necessarily reciprocated.

Drew's truck was parked across the street from her house when Seth pulled into her driveway. Taking a deep breath, she got out of his BMW to see Drew and Kevin crossing the street toward her.

“Mommy!” Kevin cried.

“Hi, sweetheart,” she said, hoping her voice sounded normal.

“Mrs. Duffy didn't know why you were late, so we played three games of Candy Land and I won!”

“I'm sorry, kiddo. I just got...tied up with some
things at the office.” She hoped he wouldn't notice her torn hose and skinned knees, but there was no hiding them.

“How come your knees are bleeding?” he asked, bending to stare at the scrapes.

“Oh, well, I fell down at work.”

“Boy, that musta hurt.” He touched her knee with his finger. “Do you want me to put some medicine on them?”

She choked out a laugh, reached for him and dragged him close, squeezing him tightly. “I'd like that very much.”

“Drew's here, Mommy! He came to pick me up at Happy Hippo! Isn't that cool?”

“Um, well.” She looked over her son's shoulder to see Seth and Drew talking at the end of the driveway. Drew looked over at her, then back to Seth. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could tell Drew was angry. He had raised his voice and was gesturing vigorously.

“Why is Drew yelling?” Kevin asked.

Alison glanced over at them. Drew was a sight to behold when he was angry, and she thought it was a damn good thing Seth could hold his own. “I don't know, honey. Um, he and Seth are probably discussing business.”

“He looks mad.”

“Seth is his cousin. Sometimes family members have heated discussions.”

But Kevin had already moved on to the next topic. “Can Drew stay for dinner, Mommy? If your knees hurt we could have pizza so you don't have to cook.”

“He might already have plans, honey,” she said, easing her son to arm's length.

“Well, we can ask him, though, can't we?”

“Ask me what, sprout?”

Alison's knees went weak at the sound of Drew's voice. Kevin looked up at her, grinning from ear to ear, his innocent eyes beseeching. He mouthed the word “please” and her heart melted a little.

Clearing her throat, she mustered the courage to look at Drew. He was smiling, but she knew immediately it was only for her son's benefit because there was fury in his eyes. “Kevin was just wondering if you'd like to stay for dinner. I was explaining to him that you're probably busy—”

“I'd love to.” His hand was gentle when he reached down and mussed Kevin's hair.

“Yay!” Kevin shot out of her arms like a bottle rocket and threw his arms around Drew's hips.

She watched Drew with her son and felt the tug of something warm and uncomfortable deep inside her. It was obvious Kevin cared deeply for Drew. She did, too, if she wanted to be truthful about it. But those two things were apparently more of a problem than a solution. Drew had demons to slay. Alison had a little boy to raise. The way things stood, those two things were irreconcilable.

Turning away from them, she fumbled her key into the lock and opened the door. Kevin shot past her and ran directly to his room. She heard Drew behind her and asked, “Where's Seth?”

“He's heading over to Evans Yachts to make sure the office is secure.” Drew walked into the foyer. “He told me what happened. Are you all right?”

“I'm okay, just a little shaken up.”

“I told him it wasn't safe for you to be at Evans
Yachts, damn it. He had no right to offer you that job. You shouldn't have been there alone.”

Alison locked the front door then turned to face him, keenly aware that her heart was pounding. “I don't want Kevin to know about this. I don't want him upset.”

His eyes swept down to her knees and she saw his jaw clench.

“It's just a couple of scrapes,” she said.

“You should have gotten yourself checked out at the hospital.”

“Now you sound like Seth.”

“You could have been seriously hurt.”

“I wasn't.”

He crossed to her, his expression set and angry. “I don't want you working there anymore.”

“I hate to point this out to you, Drew, but you're not in charge of my life. I am.”

“It's not safe, damn it.”

“Life isn't safe sometimes. For God's sake, it was a random mugging. Get over it.”

“It wasn't random.”

She stared at him, a ripple of uneasiness moving through her. “What are you talking about?”

“It's...complicated. I need to fill you in on a couple of things.”

She glanced toward Kevin's room. “I don't want him scared, so it's going to have to wait until he goes to bed.”

He sighed, clearly frustrated. She started to turn away, but he stopped her by snagging her arm. “I'm not leaving until we talk about this.”

The words chilled her, and for the first time she
knew there was more going on than she had been told. “What are you talking about?”

“Mommy!” came Kevin's voice from his bedroom. “I can't find my one-armed Spider-Man!”

“He's on your night table, sweetie.”

Drew looked past her toward the hall. “We'll talk about this later, okay?”

Alison didn't want to wait, but even more she didn't want to frighten her son. She'd worked hard to give him a secure home, and she didn't want this or anything else to jeopardize that. “All right.”

He contemplated her for a moment, his gaze flicking to the bump at her temple, then down to her wet clothes. “You're shivering. Why don't you get into some dry clothes and let Kevin and I take care of dinner?”

She wasn't accustomed to anyone taking care of her, but the thought appealed. She was chilled to the bone and wanted nothing more than a hot shower, a couple of aspirin and some dry clothes.

“Do you have any pasta?”

She blinked at him, surprised by the sudden change of topics. “Uh, spaghetti.”

“Sauce?”

“Mushroom. In the pantry.”

“Perfect.” He started toward the kitchen, then paused to look at her over his shoulder. “Take a shower, Alison. I'll keep an eye on Kevin. Everything's going to be all right.”

Alison wanted to believe that. She wanted to believe what had happened to her at Evans Yachts was a random act of violence. But as she made her way down the hall toward the linen closet, she couldn't shake the niggling suspicion that there was a hell of a lot more going on than anyone had bothered to tell her.

D
rew cut tomatoes while Kevin tore lettuce and chatted about his day at the Happy Hippo Day-care Center.

“...and then Timmy Burns threw up all over his desk and Mrs. Duffy had to call his mom. I made two new friends and one of them's a girl called Toni, but she looks kinda like a boy so I thought it would be okay to play with her.”