Love Inspired Suspense December 2013 Bundle: Christmas Cover-Up\Force of Nature\Yuletide Jeopardy\Wilderness Peril (32 page)

Something cold gathered in the pit of Reuben's stomach. “What did you agree to do for them?”

“Get you to hand over Isla.”

“Your job was to persuade me to do that?”

He nodded. “I came up with a plan, a surefire way to do that so no one would get killed. They were prepared to kill you and go after Gracie and Mia to get me to sign after your death, but I figured out a way.” He began to pace. “You see, I figured out a way where no one would get hurt.”

“What way?” he forced himself to ask.

“It would have worked, but Leland changed everything. I tried to stop it, thought I could drug the coffee and while you were all sleeping talk to Leland and convince him the plan would still work. He wouldn't listen, of course. He found out there is a cop on the island, and he was going to finish the job before things got any worse.”

“Hector,” Reuben said, voice low and level. “Tell me what your deal was with Garza.”

His brother's eyes flicked to the floor. “I arranged for Antonia to be kidnapped.”

“What?” The words exploded from his mouth.

“Leland was supposed to snatch her from the beach.” He shook his head impatiently. “I know you still love her and you'd never let them hurt her. They would just hold her for a while, you'd sign over the island and then they'd let her go, no harm done.”

“No harm done?” he bellowed. “You were going to deliver her to a bunch of criminals? And you were dumb enough to think they'd let her go again?”

“She's too smart to ever testify against them.”

Reuben grabbed Hector by the collar. “You put her in danger to save your own skin.”

“And yours, brother,” Hector hissed. “And besides, Antonia can take care of herself, remember? She's helping Mia keep me from my daughter.”

Reuben shoved him backward, trying to control his rage. “You don't deserve Gracie. She doesn't need a father like that.”

Hector's eyes sparked. “She's my daughter. I'll have her back.”

“Really? Now that you've made a deal with Garza's men that's gone wrong? What makes you think they aren't going to turn you over to the police to get even?”

“We didn't foresee Antonia making it to Isla, but it will still work.” A cloud eased across the moon and left them in a moment of darkness before it drifted to the other side.

“I will sign away the island,” he hissed through gritted teeth. “Leland can have it. They can leave and it's done.”

“Leland thinks in black and white. He's decided to take things into his own hands and clean up the mess. I tried to convince him there was no need to go through with it.”

Reuben's heart thudded to a stop. He stared at his brother. “He's going after Antonia anyway, in spite of the cops? And the storm? And whatever you said to him? Just to make sure I sign it over?”

“He's a cautious psychopath.”

“He won't be able to get to her with this hurricane...” Reuben broke off. The eye. The reprieve from the storm. A sick certainty trickled up his spine. “That's why you asked me to come meet you, isn't it?”

Hector didn't answer.

“He's going after her now, isn't he?”

Time stood still before Hector answered. “Yes.”

Reuben turned on his heel and plunged back down the steps, heedless now of the deteriorating cement under his feet.

“I tried to call it off, Reuben,” Hector's desperate voice floated down. “I never meant for her to get hurt.”

Reuben let his brother's words die away behind him as he sprinted into the darkness.

FOURTEEN

A
ntonia paced the tiny floor, trying to stay out of Paula's way as she tended to Gavin, who seemed more feverish than he had hours before. She checked her watch compulsively, trying to decide if Reuben had had time to get to the Anchor for his meeting with Hector. If it even was a meeting and not an ambush by Leland.

Several times she started for the door and Paula called her back.

“Do what Silvio said,” she snapped. “You'll only make things worse.”

Was it possible that things could get worse? She continued her abbreviated pacing, praying fervently that God would spare Reuben's life. All the months she'd spent entreating Him to unmask Hector, to convince Reuben that his brother was a criminal. She realized she'd been asking God for the wrong thing. Judgment was God's department, mercy was supposed to be hers.

She had not been merciful, had not wanted anything better for Hector than incarceration and nothing more for Reuben than to realize he was wrong. Pain throbbed in her temples.

“When will Silvio be back?” she said.

“When he's done,” Paula sniped. “He's not out on a pleasure stroll.”

Antonia huffed. The minutes ticked on in painful slow motion. It was still hours from sunrise. The eye would not last much longer. Her pace increased until she bumped into Paula as she made for the first-aid kit.

“Will you sit down? This isn't...” Paula's words trailed off, eyes suddenly fixed on the door.

Antonia followed her gaze. At first she couldn't see it, but the bitter scent helped her understand.

“Smoke,” Antonia shouted. “The shelter's on fire.”

Paula did not waste a moment. “We'll have to carry him out,” she said, taking Gavin by the shoulders and getting ready to move him. “Open the door, quickly.”

Antonia grabbed the bolt and unlocked it.

The door slammed open, and at first she thought the storm wall had arrived again. Through a cloud of black smoke she felt hands grab her arms, and she was dragged out of the shelter.

She kicked and clawed at the strange pockmarked man who held her until he forced her to the ground and secured her wrists behind her back with duct tape. When he rolled her over, she saw Leland behind him, standing with the burning rag he'd shoved in the crack under the door.

“Hello,
señorita.
Ready to come out and play?”

Paula appeared in the doorway holding a small knife. “Leave her be. Get away.”

Leland laughed. “Hello, Granny. You're too busy to come after me. Storm's on the way and you've got to help Gramps. He's not feeling too well. We left him down by the water.”

Paula's mouth trembled in fear. The pockmarked man shoved her back inside and tossed in a lantern. The glass smashed and sent flaming kerosene showering onto the pile of bedding.

“No,” Antonia shouted as the blankets caught, Paula still on her knees where she had fallen. She crawled toward the shelter. “Paula,” she cried.

Through a thick curtain of fear, Antonia was pulled to her feet so quickly her head spun. “You can't leave her,” she shouted again. “Let go of me.” In spite of her kicking and flailing, she could not fight her way through the two men back to the shelter.

“Sorry, my girl,” Leland said. “We've got an appointment and we must be off before the eye gives way.”

“Where are you taking me?” she gasped, still trying to squirm out of their grip and reach Paula and Gavin.

“Back to the mainland,” Leland said. “We've got just enough time to make it, I'd say. Lost one of our boats, but we really need only one anyway.”

“What are you going to do with me there?”

Leland ignored her, walking briskly along the path, skirting the flooded portions as best he could.

“I said what are you going to do with me?” she hollered, fear turning momentarily to anger.

He didn't turn. The other man pushed her forward with a shove to the shoulder blades. They took the path that sloped down to the lagoon. The water level was now several feet higher than it had been, but the skimmer was unscathed, bobbing gracefully in the small pocket of lagoon, shielded by the palm tree to which it was tied.

Leland stopped at the edge of the water. “Go, Martin. Untie the skimmer and bring it as close to shore as you can.”

Once they got her on that boat, she knew her fate would be sealed. “Is this part of the deal you made with Hector? Hand me over to Garza and force Reuben to give you Isla?”

Leland still did not look her way. “Look at all that water,” he said. “Incredible.”

She edged back a step. “I guess that means you work for Hector.”

Leland laughed. “Hector is soft. He made us promise not to hurt you as if we're kids on the playground at recess.” He called to Martin. “We're in a rush, remember.”

She took the moment to bolt. Up the path she churned, legs slipping, but not losing her balance. Pulse throbbing, she ran as fast as she dared, awkward with her hands secured behind her back. She'd make it to the Anchor, to Reuben, or far enough away to find a hiding place.

She knew she was not alone on the path. From behind her came the sound of feet moving quickly. She had only a few precious moments to make her escape.

* * *

As he cleared the door and emerged into the storm-washed air, Hector grabbed Reuben from behind and spun him around.

“You have to believe me, Reuben. I did not mean for her to get hurt.”

“I don't have time to listen to your excuses.”

“I did it to try to save you....” His eyes were pleading.

Reuben felt a horrible calm come over him. He stepped back. “No, you did it to save yourself. You wanted to be a father to Gracie, to have all the good parts of what it means to have a family. Well, you know what? Having a family means doing the hard thing, taking responsibility and being a man. I tried to help you see that, but I'm not enough.”

“No,” Hector began.

“I'm not enough,” Reuben shouted. “I can't save you, and I shouldn't have tried. That's between you and God.”

“Don't go after her,” Hector said, voice hoarse. “Let them do their thing. You'll get her back. I promise.”

Reuben shook his head. “Your promises mean nothing to me, not anymore.”

He turned and stopped short. A stain appeared against the sky, a dark inky splotch outlined against the silver sky. It was a cloud of smoke. Now he thought he could detect the acrid tang of something burning there, over the swell of ground where the shelter should be. He allowed one glance at Hector, and he saw the shock in his brother's eyes, the realization that he had put his fate in the hands of evil men.

With his brother's stricken look burned into his heart, Reuben sprinted away from the Anchor. He made good time in spite of the clinging mud, until he got to the small bridge that spanned what had been the modest creek. The storm had dumped so much water into the creek that it had overflowed the channel and submerged the bridge, eating up the banks on either side until the water thundered along. He did not dare risk trying to swim across. The span was only twelve feet or so, but the water crashed by so violently he knew he would be swept away.

Reversing course, he backed up to higher ground and made his own way through the ferns in the direction of the shelter. With each step, his gut clenched, nerves firing.

Paula. Silvio. Gavin. Antonia. He knew his pride had blinded him to the truth and put four people in harm's way.

I can save them, I can save them,
his mind chanted.

Like you saved Hector?

He pressed on, splashing through a puddle that had grown to lake size, the water reaching his shins, until he saw the wrecked Isla Hotel at the top of the next ridge. Not sparing a glance he charged up, past the ruined structure and on until he came to a dead stop.

Heart thundering, he looked in horror at the storm shelter, which was fully engulfed in flames, yellow tongues of fire licking at the flat roof. Tearing along the path he arrived in time to see the lintel giving way, cracking into two splintered fragments in the open door.

He started shouting words that were probably incoherent as he sheltered his face against the smoke and heat and tried to make entry. A figure moved in the shadows and he yelled again, kicking at the broken wood that blocked the door.

The wood relinquished and he grabbed at the person, yanking them both back away from the burning shelter. It was Silvio, face blackened, coughing hard.

Reuben supported him as they stumbled away, until he let him go several yards from the shelter and turned back.

“No,” Silvio grunted until a coughing fit choked off his words.

Reuben did not wait for him to recover but ran back to the shelter, which seemed to light the entire sky, given added power by the rising sun. He was knocked back a step when the shelter collapsed, beams settling in on themselves, releasing a cloud of stinging smoke.

He made it to his knees, witnessing with disbelieving eyes what his heart told him could not be true.

There was no more shelter and nothing left alive inside.

* * *

Moonlight helped Antonia pick out the trail as she fled. It looked strange since the storm had rewritten the terrain. An enormous pine sprawled across the path. Too big to climb over. No choice but to go around. Fear left her clumsy and she caught a foot in the tangle of roots, landing on the sodden ground. Breath caught, nerves firing, she scrambled to her knees when she felt him behind her. Leland yanked her up by the arm.

To her surprise, she saw he was smiling. “I told them it was too much trouble. The whole abduction thing? Idiocy.” He laughed. “You would do something dumb, I told Mr. Garza. Attract attention, maybe require us to hurt you, and then where would we be?”

“What are you talking about?” she breathed.

“The whole abduction thing,” he said. “It's not like you'd just forgive and forget if we let you go after Reuben capitulated. You don't forgive. You're not that kind.”

She could not understand. He was not speaking sense.

“I don't bother with forgiveness, either.” He laughed. “Cut off the hand that hurt you and you don't have to bother with the whole forgiveness thing.”

“You're insane.”

He did not seem to hear, calling to Martin. “I'm changing the plan. Two for the mainland,” he said cheerfully as he pushed her toward the edge of the lagoon. “Watch out for alligators. I hate those things,” he said, peering into the lapping water.

Two for the mainland? She felt the cold chill of terror, heard the soft ring of a knife being removed from the sheath. The skin on her neck prickled as he leaned close, and she tensed for the blade to be plunged into her back. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead. When he came close, maybe there would be a moment, one more second, one last chance.

Instead, there was a ripping sound and she realized he was cutting the tape that bound her wrists.

Disbelief pounded through her. She pulled her hands free and ripped off the tape. “You're letting me go?”

He laughed again. “Yes, you are free to escape as long as you head that way.” He took out a gun and pointed toward the swollen sea.

She stared. “What?”

“Swim, little Antonia,” he said, fluttering the fingers of his free hand. “Swim away into the ocean, like a lovely mermaid heading for Atlantis.”

Reality hit home with a sickening thud. He was going to watch her drown. “Reuben will never give you Isla if you kill me.”

“I'm not going to kill you. You're going to be offed by this terrible hurricane,” he said. “And so is Reuben, now that I think on it. The shelter is destroyed and he's got no place to hunker down to ride out this storm. The abduction thing is ridiculous, and I told Mr. Garza as much, but he's old and he doesn't stomach murder very well anymore, especially the murder of women. Soft.”

Her stomach heaved.
Keep him talking.
Anything to delay her entry into that idling ocean. “And Hector? What about him?”

“You see? You've got the critical piece. Hector is really all we need after you and Reuben are dead. He'll sign over Isla. I told Mr. Garza that, too.” He shook his head in disgust.

“Maybe he won't.”

Leland settled on a seat in the skimmer after Martin untied the boat. “Sure he will. Hector's a coward, through and through, but he loves his kid and we've got photos that can put him away. That's why he arranged this idiot kidnapping idea.”

Bile rose in her throat. He'd done it for Gracie, thinking he could control this madman. What a colossal miscalculation.

“And now that he's shot a cop, he's got no wiggle room.”

“So he shot Gavin?”

“He was aiming for me.” Leland chuckled. “Storm conditions threw him off.” Leland pulled a gun from his waistband. “Off you go. Into the water now.”

“Does Mr. Garza know he's got a monster working for him?”

Leland smiled. “I'm not a monster. Monsters care. I don't.” He pointed again with the gun. “Get swimming.”

“No.” She forced the words out. “You'll have to shoot me and the cops will know it was murder.”

He sighed. “If I must, I must. But I'll just wound you a little and let the alligators take care of the rest.” He jerked. “Look. There's one slithering into the water right now. Hurricanes don't throw off an alligator's need to feed. They're like killing machines.”

She was not sure if there really was an alligator circling the lagoon or if it was another sick game. Shivering, she moved into the water, shin deep. Stall for time. The storm wall was approaching and Leland would have to leave within minutes. As soon as he did she might be able to make it back to the lagoon. Somehow. She'd find Reuben. She'd find him.

The water lapped at her knees as she moved past the juncture where the lagoon would intermingle with the ocean. She could feel the currents pulling and tugging at her legs, and soon she had to tread water.