He realized he was smiling when she pressed a cool fingertip into one of his dimples. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Your charity will be a more beautiful tribute to Andy than I could ever have imagined.”
“No. Thank you,” he countered. “Because if Alex and Mason don’t find the cipher device, now I’ll still be able to open the program.”
“Alex and Mason are going to find the cipher device,” she insisted staunchly. “I can feel it.”
“You know what? Me too.” For the first time since they’d begun to search for the treasure, he honestly believed they were close to locating it.
Of course, once they did—and after it was hauled up according to Mia’s exacting standards—she would be off to her next job, and that had a sense of urgency expanding in his chest. “Mia, I...”
He drifted off because...What? What did he want to say?
Oh, right. He wanted to tell her that he loved her, that he was in love with her. He wanted to ask her to take a chance on him even though neither one of them had any idea what it took to make things work. He wanted...her.
Just her.
All that was her.
Always.
Maybe she was the mind reader, because she cleared her throat and patted his shoulder, indicating he should roll off her. When he did, she sat up and glanced at the black waves that turned silver when they broke against the beach. “It’s too early to go to sleep. What do you say to more P.J. Warren?”
He didn’t give a fuzzy fuck about Lazarus Luxido at the moment, but he could tell she wasn’t ready to hear all the things he wanted to say to her. Not yet.
Glancing at the moon riding low in the sky, he murmured, “It’s too dark, isn’t it?”
“I can use the light on my cell phone until the battery runs out.”
Before he could throw any more wrenches in the works, she stood and made her way to the beach and her purse. The stars bathed her gloriously naked body in their light until her pale skin looked pearlescent.
She’s so fucking beautiful, he thought, his passions stirring at the sight of her.
But the warmth in his blood chilled when that horrible voice that lived inside his head whispered, What happens if you can’t make her fall in love with you?
It was too awful to contemplate. But he supposed the answer was simple.
He would whisper her name on dark, lonely nights as he stared at the stars and remembered that, once upon a time, he’d known what it was to hold the woman of his heart inside the circle of his arms.
Chapter 20
8:15 PM...
Carter was running on adrenaline.
It made him irritable.
Well, that, and the fact that their plan had changed yet again thanks to Robby spying the dark-haired dude passing off the weapon to the light-haired dude, and Mia and the dark-haired dude separating themselves from the other two in the group to go have a little slam-bam-thank-you-ma’am on the beach.
Even though Kenny had been looking forward to getting blood on his hands, he’d insisted he should cover the guy who was armed should things go sideways. Which made sense; use a gun to cover a gun. And Kenny didn’t trust Robby or Carter with the pistol since neither one of them had any experience wielding a sidearm. Which had left the job of using the knife on Mia up to Robby and Carter. Except, Robby had balked. No, not balked. He’d flat-out refused. And so it was up to Carter to do the dirty work.
To take out Mia. To shuffle her off her mortal coil. To do her in.
Jesus. Even the euphemisms sound awful.
“Remember what she did,” Jane said to him, her harsh whisper competing with the sounds of the waves slapping against the sides of the boat. Starlight was usually flattering, but it only made Jane’s features stand out in severe relief. “Remember what she is. She deserves this.”
Carter couldn’t do anything more than nod. His gorge had risen, and he feared if he opened his mouth, he might hurl.
He tried blaming his rancid stomach on the two monster waves they’d battled while waiting for the sun to set. What is with this section of ocean, anyway? he wondered. It was like it was a sentient being bent on mayhem. But he knew the real reason it felt like his gut was rolling in sick circles was because he didn’t have the stomach for murder. At least not the face-to-face kind.
Either some of what he was thinking showed on his face, or Kenny just knew him well enough to know the thoughts spinning wildly through his head. “Do her from behind,” Kenny instructed. “Grab her forehead and slit her throat from ear to ear. She won’t have time to scream. She won’t have time to fight. And you won’t hafta watch the life drain from her eyes. You got this.”
Carter swallowed and nodded again.
He wished they could hold off. Maybe if they held off, Mia and the dark-haired dude would finish up and rejoin the group. Then Carter and Robby and Kenny could go back to the plan where they waited for her separate for a pee break, and Kenny could do the deed. But the hunt for the missing plane was all over the emergency channels. And the Coast Guard was closing in.
They had to make their move. Now.
While Kenny and Robby watched the two by the fire—Kenny covering the man who was armed and Robby keeping a weather eye out for Carter’s signal—Carter would sneak up on his cousin and wait to get her alone. After he was finished using the knife on her, he would wrap her body in the lifejacket he was bringing with him and float her out to the boat. Then he’d flash his cell phone, just once, to let Robby and Kenny know it was safe to sneak off the island and swim back to the boat.
Easy, right?
Except not nearly as easy as simply blowing up the plane.
Damn Kenny! he thought for the hundredth time that day.
“Everybody ready?” Kenny asked, prepared to slip off the side of the boat and start swimming toward the island in the near distance. The fire burning in little sandbar’s center made it shine like a beacon in the vast blackness of the nighttime sea.
No, I’m not ready. Not by half, Carter thought a little desperately. But he nodded his head all the same.
“Huzzah!” Kenny whispered before sliding into the ocean. For a big man, he was remarkable stealthy.
Robby made the tiniest splash as he followed Kenny into the drink. Swiping his wet hair out of his face, he turned and looked expectantly up at Carter.
If you want something done right, you better do it yourself, Carter coached himself before slipping off the side of the boat and gasping at the coolness of the water that embraced him. Goose bumps peppered his flesh and raised the hair at the nape of his neck.