“If you find this appealing, you should see me covered in mud.”
A flame sparked in Donovan’s dark blue eyes. “Now that’s an interesting idea. Have you ever considered taking up mud wrestling?”
She arched a brow. “With you?”
He bent his head to kiss her. “Of course. You don’t think I’d let you go rolling around in the mud with anyone else, do you?”
“Mud’s awfully messy,” she murmured as his lips brushed enticingly over hers.
“I know. That’s precisely why it’s supposed to be fun. And why guys like it.”
When she tilted her head back to look up at him, the familiar dancing light was back in her eyes. “And exactly who’s going to clean up all the muck afterward?”
Donovan laughed. “There you go again, revealing that surprising practical streak,” he complained good-naturedly. “Want to go home and take a long shower for two?”
She twined her hands around his neck. “Funny you should bring that up. I was just thinking the same thing.”
Feeling the now-familiar stir of desire, Donovan kissed her long and lingeringly. “Later,” he said reluctantly.
“Later,” she agreed with a lack of enthusiasm that mirrored his own.
They had been back at work for less than ten minutes when Lani found it.
“Donovan!” she called out excitedly. “Here it is! The Wainani ! She went down in a tropical storm nearly fifty years ago on a trip from Oahu to Orchid Island. You were right.”
“So she was a cargo barge,” he read over her shoulder. “Let’s see what’s on the manifest.”
“Just the usual,” she murmured, reading through the lengthy list. “Tools, hardware, cars—” As she turned the page, Lani drew in a sharp breath. “And the sugar cooperative’s monthly payroll in the vault!”
“The cooperative shipped two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash?”
“It wasn’t all that unusual,” she explained. “The workers, many of whom were transitory, didn’t really trust banks. Most of them preferred to get their pay in cash. And continued to until after 9/11, when the island tax department got stricter and started cracking down on untraceable payments.”
“No wonder Britton was jazzed,” Donovan mused. “A quarter of a million tax-free dollars, while not exactly the kind of loot that was on the Titanic, would still make a nice nest egg for anyone to start a marriage with.” He frowned as he continued to read the record. “This is interesting.”
“What?”
“The Coast Guard received a distress signal right before the Wainani went down.”
“What’s so unusual about that?” Lani questioned. “They probably receive a lot of SOS calls during storms.”
“Probably do,” he agreed. “But how many of those ships do you think report that they’re being boarded by pirates?”
“Seriously?” Every vestige of fatigue vanished as Lani’s eyes filled with excitement. “Pirates?”
“Pirates. But don’t get that excited because I seriously doubt we’re talking Captain Jack Sparrow… It’s time we had another little talk with Taylor.”
“This is getting more thrilling by the minute,” Lani said as they returned up the coast. “Imagine the Wainani being boarded by pirates only minutes before it went down with all that cash on board!”
“Now all we have to do is find out who hired the pirates.”
She glanced over at him. “And you can do that, can’t you, Donovan?”
He grinned as he patted her thigh. “Piece of cake.”
Her face was flushed, her eyes bright, reminding him of the way she looked when they were making love. Although Donovan had been dragged into this case, he wasn’t feeling so bad himself.
After being cooped up behind a desk for so many years, coming in after crimes had been committed, he’d forgotten the thrill of the chase. Only two things dampened his enthusiasm: the first being that he still didn’t have a clue as to Britton’s whereabouts and the second was the nondescript sedan that had been following them all day. A quick glance in the rearview mirror confirmed that it was still there.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
“It seems Dempsey knew a lot more than he admitted to me,” he said. “Because we’ve been followed all day.”
“By the FBI?”
“Hopefully. And don’t turn around,” he said when she began to shift in the seat. “I’d rather it be the Feds than whoever’s after Britton.”
* * *
“Pirates?” Taylor stared at Donovan as if he’d suddenly started speaking Martian. “The Wainani went down with pirates on board?”
“The fact that you know the name of the ship suggests you also know what your fiancé’s been up to,” Donovan said.