Sand Angel

chapter Ten


Idiots.

Laughter bubbled up inside her, recalling the panicked expressions on both Josh’s and Drew’s faces when she asked them to pick up some tampons. Fast thinking. Pretty clever too, if she said so herself. Certainly, that little revelation would extinguish Drew’s desire. All she needed was for him to keep his distance throughout today and tonight.

As she ripped through the sands of Glamis on her bike, the crisp chill of morning stung her cheeks. She loved morning rides. Everything seemed so fresh and new. It was the hours that followed that usually screwed it all up.

From the corner of her eye she could see Josh following her. So, between Drew and Josh she was going to be on a short leash. A flash of temper rose when she thought of Drew insinuating that he was going to counseling with her. The man had some nerve. Hell, if it wasn’t for him she probably wouldn’t be going. Before she took off for Phoenix she’d set both Drew and Josh straight. She was a big girl now. She didn’t need or want male interference in her life.

Ahhh…hell. That wasn’t true either. She had never felt anything like Drew’s thick, hard cock filling her. Her nipples puckered at the thought. She loved the little growl in his voice, the way he dominated her—f*cked her.

Still, she didn’t want Drew because he felt guilty or sorry for her. That was worse than not having him at all. And she couldn’t believe that Josh was in on this, probably the one who talked Drew into seducing her.

How was that for brotherly love? Couldn’t he just believe in her? Support the one thing in life she loved?

Her skin felt too tight. She could feel her blood begin to boil, a prickly sensation moving just below the surface. With the rise of anger she increased the throttle. It seemed that the two went hand in hand. Anger and speed.

No. She cut the gas, slowing down. That was before. Her riding would not be dictated by her mood. She was a good rider. Damn good. She had a bright future ahead of her if she used her head wisely. Yet she couldn’t pass the jump that approached. She hit it going a reasonable speed, catching air as she lunged off a dune.

Man, there was nothing like being airborne, heavy metal between her thighs. She landed the bike and didn’t look back to see if Josh took the jump too.

The distance from Gecko campground to the small beach store was quite a ride, but finally she pulled in front of the restaurant and cut her engine. She wasn’t really hungry anymore, but what the hell—she was here.

“Shit. Zoë, you were flying.” Josh pulled up next to her as she was removing her helmet. “You’ve gotta be more careful.”

She ignored him. He didn’t know what speed was really about. With a twist, she removed her key, strolled to the restaurant’s door and pushed it open. Sand littered the floor. The small, gritty particles crunched beneath her boots. The place was packed. The noise level was boisterous. There was only one table unoccupied as she walked over and sat down.

A waitress plopped a glass of water and a menu in front of her and walked away without a word. Friendly little place. Perhaps I’ll trip her on her next round.

“What’s got your panties in a twist?” The chair scraped across the floor as Josh pulled it out and sat.

“No twist here.” She peered over the menu. “Are you following me?”

“Uhhh…” He grabbed her glass of water and drank slowly. “We’re supposed to spend the weekend together. Remember?”

She set the menu down and scanned his handsome features. “You’re a lousy liar.” Zoë was about to lay down the law when the waitress waltzed over to the table. The biggest, brightest smile was plastered on her face as she set another glass of water on the table. Then she leaned over so Josh had a view right down her shirt as she handed him a menu.

“Are you ready to order?” she purred.

Zoë wanted to poke the woman with her fork.

Josh shuttered his dreamy brown eyes. “Zoë?” he asked, without moving his gaze from the woman’s busty cleavage.

“Yeah. Hamburger, no catsup. Fries. Coke.”

“And you?” the waitress asked. Somehow it came out sounding like a proposition, but what the hell. What Josh did with his life was his business. Still, it didn’t hurt to give him some of his own medicine.

“What happened to the redhead you were with last night?” Zoë asked nonchalantly.

“A Coke will do,” Josh muttered, and the disappointed waitress moved away from the table. He shot Zoë a heated glare. “Was that necessary?”

She shrugged. “Not any more than your interference in my life.”

“I’ve never interfered in your business.” His face went blank like it always did when he was lying to her. He could pull the wool over anyone’s eyes but hers. She knew him too well.

She swallowed hard, steeling herself. “I know you know about the counseling—that Dave called you. I know you planned this whole thing with Drew just to keep your crazy little sister from killing herself.” Her fingers curled into fists. She blinked away the tears that threatened. She wouldn’t cry. Her chin inched higher as if she could hold the emotion back with the rise. “How could you? Don’t you have any faith in me?” But she couldn’t hide the pain in her voice, nor stop her chin from shaking.

He reached across the table to cup her hand and she jerked away. “Zoë, I didn’t plan on Drew coming. But when he showed up at the house? Well, I just thought—”

She pushed from the table. “I’ve lost my appetite.” After reaching in her boot, she laid a ten down on the table.

“Zoë, you have to eat.”

“No, Josh, I have to ride. And if you follow me—” she looked him straight in the eyes, “—I’ll run you off the road.” She spun around, her heavy boots slapping the floor as she jerked the door wide and disappeared.



Drew pushed open the restaurant door and looked around the small diner. Josh’s quad was parked outside, but Zoë’s bike was nowhere to be found. Noise rose as he scanned the room. In the corner Josh sat, alone, with his shoulders hunched. If his deflated posture was any indication, things weren’t looking good.

Drew crossed the room. “Where is she?” He pulled out a chair and sat. The hairs on his neck took the opportunity to make themselves known as they rose in warning.

Josh looked up from the table. “Gone.”

Drew leaned slightly forward. His brows pulled together. “What do you mean, gone?”

Josh shook his head. “She must have heard us talking this morning. Damn woman.” His friend’s long face showed his concern. “Hell, Drew, she even thinks I set it up for you to seduce her.” He brushed a weary hand through his hair.

“F*ck.” Drew got to his feet. “Why didn’t you follow her?”

The dubious laugh Josh released put Drew further on edge. “She threatened to run me off the road. You should have seen her face. She’d do it too—and enjoy every minute.”

Drew pinched the bridge of his nose. The damn dust in this place was giving him a horrible headache. His fear for Zoë wasn’t helping it. “What are we going to do now?”

“Pray.”

“Dammit, Josh, I mean it.” Tension crawled across Drew’s shoulders and up his neck.

“So do I.” He stood like a man carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. A huff of disgust left his lungs. “Man, I screwed the pooch on this one. Whatever made me think I could mend the rift between the two of you?”

“You can try to answer that question later. Right now we need to find Zoë.” Drew headed toward the door. “I need to explain. I need to tell her I love her,” he said more to himself than Josh.





Glamis was big. Really big.

After an hour of racing up and over hill after hill, Drew steered his quad over to the side and waited for Josh to pull alongside him.

“This is futile,” Josh said. “We’ve checked all the large dunes and exhibition sites. She could be anywhere.”

“Maybe the best thing to do is to go back to camp. She has to come back sooner or later.” Just then Drew heard the thump thump of helicopter wings. It was a familiar sound.

“God. No,” Josh whispered, gazing into the sky at the aircraft that moved quickly through the patches of clouds. His face lost all color.

“What?” Before Josh could answer, Drew heard the sirens in the distance. He knew they only called in the helicopter when someone was really hurt. He’d seen this scene over and over again in Iraq. Especially in places out of the way like Glamis. The helicopter and miles and miles of desert caused memories to swamp Drew. He could still hear the soldiers’ cries and screams sometimes at night.

Drew felt like one big bundle of nerves as he revved his engine and followed the crowd racing in an effort to see where the aircraft headed. Disaster was a magnet, pulling people toward it. Morbid really. Yet he had seen more carnage than he cared to ever see again.

Neither he nor Josh spoke what was on their minds.

Zoë.

Briefly, Drew lost control of his vehicle, nearly wiped out on a patch of soft sand. His quad swerved one way and then the other, making squirrellies, trails of waving lines, in the sand behind him.

Zoë had to be okay. There was so much he needed to tell her. So much of his life he wanted to share with her. His wrists and hands ached from the long ride to the restaurant. But he rode hell-bent, at the same time paying close attention to the shifts of the sand as they topped one hill and then another. The bottom fell out beneath him once and he went soaring through the air, leaving his stomach somewhere between where the ground disappeared and then reappeared with a thud. At the rise of a particularly large dune, Josh stopped. Drew pulled up beside him.

In the distance, the helicopter was landing. The lights on a ranger’s paramedic truck flashed as a crowd swarmed the area. It was difficult to see exactly what was going on, but it didn’t look good. And it was right around where their campsite was.

It seemed to take forever to get off the dune and make their way through layers and layers of gawkers. Josh and Drew parked their bikes between Zoë’s and Josh’s trailers and made their way on foot, pushing and shoving through the crowd. Drew moved like the devil was after him. Josh was right beside him.

The wall of people was too thick to breach. Josh turned to a bystander. Breathless, he asked, “What happened? Who’s involved?”

“Race gone bad,” the man said. “Damn shame too.”

“What?” Josh and Drew said in unison.

“She was a pretty thing.”

Drew held his breath. “What was she wearing?”

When the man said, “Pink,” something died inside Drew. Nothing could hold him back as he and Josh tore through the crowd. The masses broke and they stumbled into an opening.

Zoë was being loaded upon a stretcher, while two other people were being lifted into the helicopter.

As they tried to make their way toward Zoë, they were stopped by several rangers.

“She’s my sister,” Josh growled as he tried to pull away from the officers restraining him. His eyes were bright with emotion. “Let me go.” He jerked free and ran to Zoë’s side.

What was Drew to say? He couldn’t even claim to be Zoë’s boyfriend. He was probably the last person she wanted to see. In silence, he watched Josh rush to her side as the paramedic hastened to stabilize her.

Zoë wasn’t moving.