Only Emma (17 page)

CHAPTER TEN

Lissey's breath caught. Somebody? Terrio's replacement, another detective already looking for Jake? "Who was it?"

Lavinia shrugged. "Don't ask me."

"What did he look like?"

"Tall, good looking, in a suit and tie."

"Like the other guy? Terrio?" Lissey said.

Lavinia shook her head. "More polished."

"What did you tell him?"

Lavinia grinned. "He seemed to know Jake had been here, so I said he disappeared into the wild blue yonder."

Lissey couldn't help but smile. Her mother was not known for her eloquence, but the wild blue yonder would do very well. Now all she had to do was get Louis to disappear again, for a while at least. No one at this end of the island knew Jake had reappeared except Louis and Maria. With Louis in hiding only Maria would have to lie for Jake, and Lissey knew Maria would cover for him. Everyone else could honestly say they hadn't seen Jake since the day Terrio shot him.

What to do with Emma though. The new detective didn't need to find Jake at all. One glimpse of Emma and he'd try to kidnap her on the spot. Funny, she'd think of it as kidnapping. It was almost as if Emma were truly her own child.

Lissey turned to find Emma biting her nails, an anxious expression on her face. "Emma, we need to make a plan."

The child's face brightened. "Are we going to see Daddy?"

"No, not today. We need to hide you for a while. Can you go live at that little house with Louis again?"

Emma shook her head emphatically.

"Emma, please? It's very important. For your daddy?"

"I'll hide at your house, with your mama."

Lissey stared. Leave it to the child. But. "My mama will have to be in the store a lot."

Emma grinned. "Then I'll stay by myself. I can hide really good."

Lissey's heart swelled with love. She reached out and gave Emma a warm and tender hug. "You won't let anybody see you?"

"Nope."

With Emma's hiding taken care of, Lissey went to see Maria. As she'd expected, Maria became an enthusiastic volunteer in their little conspiracy. Next came a call to Doc Brinker. The mere suggestion that another killer might be after Jake ensured his cooperation.

"Mum's the word. I'll alert my staff too. Anybody asks, we've never seen your Jake," he snapped.

"Thank you, Doc. How is he?"

"Hey, he's hanging in there. We'll see how he responds to the antibiotic."

Emma wanted to sleep with Lissey that night, so she took the child into bed with her. Sleep came in fits and starts, what with Emma's occasional thrashing about and her brain refusing to let her worries rest. She was up promptly at 5:30 to start baking.

Emma rolled over and popped an eye open as Lissey dressed. "Can I come with you? I want to make tarts"

Lissey grinned. "I'm sure no evil villains are up this early, yes you can. But you have to come back here by nine o'clock, before the ferry comes in."

"What ferry?"

"The one from Great Casque. It comes to the hotel at the far end of this island."

"Can I help you bake?"

"We'll make lots of cherry tarts," Lissey said and tossed Emma her clothes. “Let's go. Bakers have to start early."

She spent as much time teaching Emma what to do as she did baking. They were still at it when Lavinia appeared at the door. Lissey glanced up to see tears streaming down her mother's face.

"Mom? What's wrong?"

Lavinia shook her head. "I was thinking of Caroline. You and Caroline."

"Does she bake tarts too?" Emma asked.

Lissey smiled. For the first time in eons the thought of her daughter brought only a dull ache to her heart. Had Emma worked some magic on her soul? "She was too little, Emma."

"Like a baby?"

"Yes dear. She was a baby."

"Did she have a car wreck? That's what happened to my mommy."

"No honey. It's just that sometimes little babies don't live very long," Lavinia murmured. She swept an arm around Emma and gave her a hug. "They're not big and strong like you."

Emma bobbed her head. "My daddy's big and strong. Like Lissey. She's going to be my new mommy."

Lavinia looked up and smiled. "Has he agreed to this arrangement?"

Lissey felt the warmth of a blush rise to her face. "Not quite." She glanced at her watch. "Hey, it's almost nine o'clock. Time to hide young lady."

An hour later, Lissey tied her father's boat to Marcus Digby's dock and set out for the hospital. She'd forgotten about Marcus. He had seen them bring Jake to Great Casque for treatment. Another person she had to swear to secrecy; too many, someone would spill the beans when that new detective got around to them. A shiver ran through her body. As soon as Jake could be moved, she'd have to find a place to hide him. Somewhere better than that tiny house of Louis's cousin.

"You're out early this morning," Doc Brinker said when she entered the hospital.

"How's Jake?"

"Sleeping at the moment. He's doing better though."

Lissey touched Doc's arm. "Thank God. When can he be moved?"

Doc frowned. "It'll be a while yet. We'll keep his secret."

"It's not you I'm worried about Doc. Too many people know he's here."

"Well, it's going to be a few days before you can move him, and then he ought to go to the States for further surgery."

A groan escaped Lissey's throat. "Oh Doc, what am I going to do? They'll try to kill him again or they'll try to kidnap Emma and that would break his heart."

"Emma?"

"His daughter."

"Where is she?"

"No, I won't tell you. She's hidden away too."

Doc smiled and then drifted into a frown. "You've got yourself into the middle of a spider's web of troubles."

She blinked, then cocked an eyebrow at him. "I guess you could say that."

"You must love this man a lot."

He waited expectantly, a crooked smile creasing his face.

Lissey nodded, without embarrassment, completely at ease with his statement. Her heart warmed with the total certainty she felt. It wasn't only Emma she was drawn to. Her heart was set on that big lug lying on a hospital bed in the other room. "Can I see him now?" she murmured.

Doc stepped aside. "Be my guest."

Flat on his back, eyes closed, his breathing was slow and steady. She smiled. Not a hint of a snore, a bonus. God, he looked good this morning. His color was back, no more drawn gray faced ghost.

She sat down in the plastic chair beside his bed and studied the man. His hair had lost that gross dyed red color, only little touches of it remained. Mostly dark and wavy now, it suited him. He needed a shave, probably hadn't had one since Louis rescued him. Dear Louis, she'd be forever in his debt.

It wasn't only Emma. She wanted him. Wanted his hands on her body, his mouth caressing hers. She wanted him inside her, wanted to wrap herself around him and eat him alive. She giggled. He was magic, her magic man. Lust she had felt for Ramon but this was different. She wasn't desperate this time. Not for marriage, not for a baby. If Jake hadn't happened she'd be going to the States one day soon to start her life again. She giggled again. If she had her way they'd go together, for more than just the surgery he needed.

Jake was more than sexy. He was a man, a whole man with guts and brains and a heart. And he'd do anything for those he loved, including dump them on their butt in order to protect them. Well, he wouldn't get away with that with her. She smiled.
Know it all man.
She got to her feet, leaned over, and touched her lips to his.

His eyes snapped open. "Hi beautiful."

She kissed him for real, full bore, tongue and all.

"Wow, that's some wakeup call," he said.

"I just wanted to let you know what the ground rules are."

He grinned. "You're seducing me?"

"If I have to. Just stay right there and keep your ears open."

He frowned. "That sounds ominous."

"Never mind. You asked me to marry you. I said yes. So, we're getting married."

His frown deepened. "That was before that guy tried to kill me. I won't—"

"Be still. I'm hiding Emma and I'm hiding you right now. Doc says you can't leave yet, so you're completely in my power."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "You sound very sure of yourself. What if I don't love you?"

"Baloney, you want to protect me from the bad man with the gun. You proposed once."

"No, that was a mistake. You're only interested in Emma."

Lissey let a slow smile spread across her face. "You've been thinking about that I take it?"

"Right. I—"

"That's crap. You don't have any idea who I really care about."

"You care about Emma."

"That's half right. Only half." She got to her feet again and plastered a very long, very wet kiss on his lips. "Besides, if you dump me I'll sue for breach of promise."

His eyes crinkled up as if he were about to cry. "Lissey, please, that guy—"

"Is in jail."

"They'll send another one. You'd be—"

"It's my life. If you won't marry me, I'll camp out on your boat so you can't leave town without me."

A smile stole across his face. "You wouldn't."

"Would too."

"I could buy another boat."

"Listen you. Half the people on these islands are covering for you. They'd all be glad to spy on you for me. You're mine, buster."

"I won't let you risk your life, damn it," he shouted.

"I can do what I—"

"What's going on in here?" Doc said as he charged into the room.

"He won't listen to—"

"If you're going to upset him like this, you'll have to leave."

The tension in the room was thick enough to choke her after that. Jake was intransigent; he would not marry her. Sure she could convince him earlier that morning, she'd had visions of the two of them planning for their wedding and an escape to the States. Never did she mention the second assassin. He'd have gone ballistic if he knew about that guy.

Lissey's stomach twisted into knots at the conundrum she was faced with. Jake obviously adored her, but she was going to lose him anyhow. Except, damn it, she would camp out on his boat. And would follow him wherever he went. There was nothing he could do to stop her, the bloody man.

She left him at eleven and headed back to Little Casque. A gaily-painted rental cart from the far end of the island sat in front of the shop as she marched up from the dock. Lavinia was in the kitchen, a well-dressed elderly woman and a man, equally dapper, sat eating lunch at one of the tables. The hair on the back of Lissey's neck spiked up. They were too well dressed for ordinary tourists.

Lissey gave them a quick smile and stepped into the kitchen. Lavinia greeted her with a frown.

"Who are those people?" Lissey said.

"They asked for you. By name."

A chill ran down Lissey's spine. Who did they get her name from? Terrio? Or someone on the island? Her breath caught in her throat. Oh well, they couldn't know where Jake was. Could they? Or Emma? "Emma?" she whispered.

Lavinia shook her head. "Hasn't left the house all day."

Lissey let herself breathe again. That was one good thing at least. She turned to the shop again.

"You wanted to speak to me?" she said.

The woman smiled. "You're Lissey?"

"Yes."

"Please join us."

"I'll stand, thank you."

"We're looking for Mr. Jake Wainright," the man said.

"I don't know where he is."

"We understand you're very close to him."

"Really? That's interesting," Lissey said with a smile she hoped displayed wry amusement. She struggled to control her quivering legs. This was totally unexpected, this elegant woman accompanying a detective or killer or whatever he was. "Who are you people?"

The woman nodded as if acknowledging her right to that piece of information. "This is Harold Rhodes. I'm Margaret Simpson."

Lissey hesitated. Simpson, that sounded vaguely familiar?

"Mr. Wainright's mother-in-law?" the woman said.

"Oh."

"We'd like to speak to him."

"I told you. I don't know where he is."

Margaret Simpson waved her hand. "I know. A man shot him and another man took him away in a boat."

"Not a man. Your detective tried to kill him."

"That was an accident," the woman said.

"You'll have to go some to prove that."