Sweet Talkin' Scoundrel (13 page)

Chapter 23

Kinley

“You promised after
math we’d look through my dad’s atlas. You were going to show me exactly where the Pyramid of Kharfre and the mummy’s curse is located.” Becky laughed. “Even though it really wasn’t a mummy’s curse but just a string of rotten luck.” She handed me her assignment. “Today is the perfect day because Marcus will be in bed all day with that headache.” She ended the sentence with an eye roll, and frankly, I had one going in my mind as well.

Marcus had woken with a headache, and Katherine mentioned that he’d be nursing his health in bed all day. Apparently he was convinced he’d contracted some dreaded disease. I was fairly certain all he’d contracted was a major buzz from the glue. It was right after Katherine’s conversation about Marcus’s headache when she dropped the news that she’d be running the errands today. She’d added that it would give me more time for lessons and that shopping for toiletries and health aids was a waste of valuable time when I could be spending it with Becky. At first, I’d taken the news with just profound disappointment. I’d spent the morning daydreaming about my time with Dax. Finding out that I wasn’t going to see him had brought me close to tears. As I walked away from my conversation with Katherine, each step grew heavier with worry that she knew about Dax and me. Obviously, she’d overheard us flirting on the ham radio, and it seemed she was determined to put an end to it.

I’d devised the plan to write a letter to my parents, something I’d been needing to do anyhow. The letter was my chance to see Dax. It was the perfect excuse for me to walk out to the runway. I was sure seeing him for at least a few minutes would lift some of the gray from my mood, but all it did was make me miss him more. I realized then that I wanted to be with Dax. I loved my job teaching Becky. I loved my independence. I even loved living in the stately old manor on the remote island. But if my new job and life meant having to leave Dax out of it, the balance had tipped in his direction. None of it would matter without Dax.

Becky and I straightened up the classroom and headed down to the library. The glue smell had permeated the wood paneling and the stacks of books. I doubted the odor would ever leave. The man fretted over every germ and then spent his entire day in a cloud of toxic fumes.

“We won’t be able to stay in here long, Becky. I’m worried this glue smell will give us both a headache.”

Becky waved her hand in front of her face to fan the smell away, but it was useless. “Stupid Marcus. I used to love to come in here and hang around with my dad.” She walked over to a shelf that was lined with colorful kids’ books. “He even gave me my own shelf, so I could read with him.”

“He sounded like a great dad.”

“He was and best of all, he loved to play jokes, especially on Mother. She’d get all puffy and red in the face, and he’d tell her, ‘Katherine, sometimes you just need to enjoy life and a good laugh for a change’,” Becky said in her deep man voice. “But she never laughs. Especially after his last joke. That one made her the most red faced of all.”

The kid was like a busy bee, and before I could find out more about the last joke, she shot across the carpet. I followed her as she headed toward a set of shelves designed for oversized books. On the way, we passed Marcus’s work table. He’d made great progress on the model. Becky stopped at the table, wearing a mischievous grin as she shot a quick glance at the door. Then she moved two of his tools to the other side of the model.

“What are you doing? I’m sure your brother won’t like you touching his things.”

“Sometimes I just like to mess with him. He’s just so aggravating.” She continued on her journey to the oversized books.

“But Marcus doesn’t really get in your way. Why does he bother you so much?”

“He’s just so picky about everything. He has to use certain plates and silverware and he only eats certain foods. He’s like a three-year-old. And then he gets to be picky about my tutors. If he doesn’t like them, then off they go. Just when I start getting used to someone, they pack up and leave.” She grabbed hold of my arm. “That’s why I’m so glad he likes you because if he didn’t I already decided I was going to chain myself to you. So you’d have to take me with you if you leave.”

For the first time I felt truly sorry for Becky.

I hugged her. “You have my permission to chain yourself to me anytime.” I helped her lift the heavy, leather bound atlas from the shelf. It was a gorgeous collector’s edition, but the maps inside would be completely obsolete in today’s world. But it would be easy enough to find Giza. As we settled on the rug in the corner, I made an attempt to get information from Becky. She usually only stuck on a topic if it interested her, and her family was not high on that list.

Becky stretched out on her stomach.

I sat down next to her on the rug. “Becky, I’m curious, why does Marcus get to decide whether or not a tutor stays? He has so little to do with your education.”

She began flipping through the book and landed at a place where she’d stuck a lady bug shaped bookmark. It was a picture of Yosemite. “This is the first place I’ll go once I’m old enough to leave the island.” She flipped through some more pages. “It all has to do with Daddy’s last will test. I think that’s what it’s called.”

I helped her page through to the maps of Egypt. “He had a test? I don’t understand.” And then it came to me. “You mean his last will and testament?”

“Yeah, that’s it. It made Mother so mad she spent a week pacing around the front room with steam coming from her ears. Literally,” she added proudly.

“Yes, we still need to work on those vocabulary words. I think you mean metaphorically unless she actually had steam coming from her ears.”

“Just about. Anyhow, I think it had to do with Marcus not getting money until he married and had a baby.” She waved it off and returned her attention to the book.

I sat there staring absently at the pictures she was pointing out, trying to process it all in my head. James had warned me. He’d told me what Katherine was up to, but I laughed it off, thinking it couldn’t possibly be true.

Becky grinned up at me as if waiting for a response, only I hadn’t heard her question. My heart broke at the thought of leaving her behind, but this new revelation assured me I needed to leave my position. I wasn’t going to be a bought and paid for bride, and I sure as heck wasn’t going to stay on this island forever with Marcus. It was strange to think that Jack, a seemingly loving dad, would have put a stipulation like marriage in his will when he knew that his son had so many issues that would keep him from a normal relationship. Unless, of course, that was his main purpose for doing it. Perhaps Jack thought a fortune might be enough incentive to make Marcus deal with his problems. Obviously, the man had underestimated the extent of Marcus’s phobia.

“Let me guess, is this Giza?”

Becky’s voice popped me out of my thoughts. I looked down at the map. “No, you’re on the wrong continent.” I flipped the pages. With it being an old leather bound book, the pages ran through my fingers and stopped at the back cover. An extra piece of heavy vellum paper had been glued to the inside of the cover. It bulged with what looked like a stack of papers stuck inside.

“Becky, what’s this?”

She laughed. “I forgot about that. That was Daddy’s shh pocket.” She placed her finger next to her lips to add a visual. “He used to hide stuff in there that he didn’t want Mother to see. I’m the only person who knows about it.”

She flipped the pages back to the middle. “We should probably hurry up. The smell in this room is making my eyes hurt.”

“Then we’d better finish this and get out of the library.”

Chapter 24

Dax

I had two
hours before my next flight, taking Katherine back to Wildthorne. I’d forced myself to sit in the hangar office and do paperwork. My mind wasn’t on business though. It was on Kinley. Katherine had figured out everything, and she was determined to make sure I stayed away from Kinley. Only that wasn’t going to happen. I hadn’t figured everything out yet, but I’d have it solid in my head long before Tero’s wheels touched down on the runway. A job was one thing, but I was sure Kinley wouldn’t stay if she knew the full scope of Katherine’s plans.

I finished logging flight hours and got up to grab a soda from the refrigerator. My phone rang, bringing me back to my desk. It was Katherine.

“Yeah?”

“Great telephone skills,” she scoffed.

“Are you done early?”

The background noise wasn’t normal. There was an announcement over a loudspeaker, and I was sure I heard plane engines.

“Actually, I won’t be needing your services anymore today.”

It took me a second to decipher what she was saying. “You’re not flying back to the island?”

“Oh, I am. You’re not. I’ve hired a private helicopter service. I’m leaving King’s Beach in a few minutes. The helicopter pilot is extremely attentive, and he has a much steadier machine than that ridiculous thing you call an airplane. He’s a bit more expensive, and I’ll have to cut down on some of the flights to King’s Beach, but I think this will be for the best.”

I wondered if it was humanly possible to crush a cell phone in a bare hand. I was so close to destroying mine, I was sure I heard it creak and groan as I squeezed it. “You can’t keep me from visiting Wildthorne.”

“Sure I can. It’s my property.”

“What happened to James always being welcome in his home? Oh wait, that’s right. That was just an act to give Kinley and Becky the impression that you’re human inside instead of robot.” The phone went dead. She’d hung up. But I didn’t give a fuck.

Earlier, when we’d landed in King’s Beach, Katherine had recorded a reminder on her phone to buy aspirin for Marcus, which meant he was probably in bed. He spent at least one day a week in bed trying to stave off some imaginary disease. I decided to take a chance and radio the house. It was Janice’s day off, so only Becky and Kinley were around to answer. They spent most of their time in rooms far away from the kitchen, but it was worth a try. I needed to talk to Kinley. I needed to tell her that things had changed for the worse. I needed to convince her to leave the island. I knew that her attachment to Becky was going to make that a tough argument, but I had to try.

I walked to my radio. “Tero One to Wildthorne Five, do you read me?” I released the button and waited. Nothing. “Tero One to Wildthorne Five, do you read me?” Katherine had taken this to a whole new low, banishing me from the island. She must have spent her entire afternoon searching for a reliable air service willing to fly back and forth to Wildthorne. “Tero One to Wildthorne Five, do you read me?” Just as I was about to rip the fucking speaker from the radio, I heard a voice that made my chest tighten.

“Dax? I mean Tero One.” As she spoke her voice crumbled closer and closer to sobs. “This is Wildthorne Five, I read you, over.” A sniffle followed, and I wanted to jump through the damn radio and take her into my arms.

I was in no mood for radio speak. “You need to get out of there, Kinley. She’s planning to trap you there. Over.”

“I know.” Her voice was faint, but it wasn’t because of the radio. She was upset. All the pieces had come together for her. It seemed she was starting to realize teaching Becky was the only perk that came with the job. “Dax, I don’t know what to do. I need you.”

“I’m on my way.”

Chapter 25

Kinley

I should have
known it was all too good to be true. From the start, I’d found it hard to warm up to Katherine. Otherwise, the job had been perfect. Or at least it had seemed perfect. I was naive to think everything would go so smoothly. My life rarely went smoothly. Still, never in a million years would I have imagined myself caught up in some weird marriage scheme. Dax had been right. It was a little like living with the Addams Family, with one exception—Becky. It would break my heart to leave her, but I saw no way to stay.

Becky had gone down to the television room to watch movies. I decided to head up to my room and pack my things. I needed the time alone to work up the courage to tell Becky. It wasn’t going to be easy.

As I stood at the dresser in my bedroom, my eyes flitted up to the framed art on the wall. It was an intricately drawn picture of a sailing ship. I stared at it for a second and decided it was time to talk to Marcus. I needed to find out just what the heck was going on. I had every right to know just how badly I’d been duped.

I marched down the hallway with the confidence of a seasoned warrior but shrank into a trembling pile of cowardice by the time I reached his door. I took a deep breath and knocked.

“Yes?” Marcus called back. I wondered what he knew or if he knew anything that was going on outside the germfree bubble he’d created for himself.

“Marcus, it’s Kinley. I wonder if I could have a word with you.”

Blankets shuffled and the bed creaked as he seemed to be readying himself for a visitor.

“Come in, Kinley.”

I stepped inside the room. He pointed to a line on the floor made with tape. “If you don’t mind, please stay back behind the line. I don’t want you to catch whatever I have . . . and vice versa.”

I made sure to stop at the tape.

Marcus looked even more pale than usual but then he’d spent the entire day in a dark room. He had propped himself up against pillows. He was a young man in his twenties, but with the life he’d made for himself, he might as well have been in his eighties.

I didn’t have a chance to speak.

“Guess you’ve figured out why Mother hired you.”

I nodded.

“I’m sorry. It’s really all my dad’s fault. He took pleasure in upsetting her, and at the same time, he was thoroughly disappointed and embarrassed by me. The will was meant to teach both of us a lesson.” A dry, terse laugh followed. “He had it set in his mind that I was doing this for some kind of attention. He could never understand it, and I couldn’t explain it. But he had James. James was the son he wanted. Tough as nails. Athletic. Courageous. He loved James more.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. And it’s all right. I accepted it long ago. I hate James for it, which is terrible because it’s not his fault. He is who he is.” He adjusted the blankets on his bed. “Since Dad never gave his lawyer the real will, we’re stuck in this situation. I don’t mind. I have everything I need here, but Mother will do anything to get her hands on that fortune.”

I accidentally took a step over the tape and backed up quickly. “What do you mean the real will?”

“The first one was meant as a joke to scare my mother. Which it did. Only Dad didn’t expect to die out on the water. He told his lawyer he’d drawn up his real will, the one he was supposed to read after the ugly, little joke. The lawyer never received it. So, the first will stands.”

“That’s terrible. I’m sorry, Marcus.”

“You and James?” he asked with a brow lift.

“Yes.”

“I knew the first time I saw you that you were going to be different. You were the first woman Mother hired that I thought—hmm, maybe I could get past my problems. You’re the first one who would have been worth the effort. Can’t blame James at all.”

Tears filled my eyes, and my throat was too tight to speak.

“Have you told Becky?”

I shook my head. “Not yet.” I swallowed hard and got the rest of the words out. “And, Marcus, you would have been worth the effort too.” I turned and walked out of the room and stopped halfway down the hall to break down in tears.