“I don’t know. It’s all supposition,” Sean said.
“She’s right. I know she’s right,” Bartholomew said. “But I’m watching…I’m always watching, and I can’t figure it out yet.”
“Well, it has been figured out to this,” Sean said. “Someone here knows much more than he or she is saying. Someone is—” He broke off, looking at Vanessa. “A killer, I believe,” he said softly.
From outside the tent, they heard Jaden call out loudly. “Dinner, folks, dinner! Come and get it now!”
“Let’s go on out,” Sean told Vanessa. “We’ll keep up all appearances.”
As they walked over to the barbecue area, Vanessa asked Sean, “David hasn’t called yet. Why hasn’t David called?”
“He will,” he assured her.
Unless what Barry had done had been an act. Barry was a big man, muscular, powerful. The kind who could wield a knife and a bone saw, if needed. What if he had been pretending the entire event, and he had known that they would save him, bring him to the surface.
And rush him to a hospital.
She began to fear that Barry would suddenly rise, taking David and Jamie by surprise. He would attack from the rear, when they weren’t expecting it. He would toss them overboard as he had done with Carlos, and then he would come for Katie….
She clenched her fists, knowing that she was letting her imagination run away from her.
But she was scared.
And she wanted David to call, or Katie, or anyone.
Jaden and Ted tried to be cheerful and upbeat as they doled out dinner. Marty, however, appeared wary and watchful.
Lew Sanderson sat on the beach alone, watching the others as they ate.
Liam stayed on one side of the group and Sean on the other.
When Sean’s cell phone started ringing, they all jumped. He answered it quickly, and then breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the others.
“They are in Bimini, and the doctors believe that Barry will pull through,” he told them.
It seemed that everyone let out a sigh. And then they began to chat with relief, and in a few minutes, they were even joking with one another.
David, Jamie and Katie wouldn’t return until the next morning, which meant that Sean had lost three of the people he trusted most for the night.
Lew—he thought he trusted, but he didn’t know.
Ted and Jaden he trusted, but they were really scholars, not fighters, though Ted did know how to use a speargun.
Carlos was an unknown element in the whole game.
Still, he had himself and Liam and Marty. And they were guarding a tiny blonde woman and two twenty-somethings who didn’t appear to be musclemen.
Maybe there was something he still wasn’t seeing. One of the group had been involved, but they’d had outside help.
Everyone seemed tired that night. He told Liam about the knife they had found, and they both knew that they’d be searching for the Delphi the next day.
“Tonight?” Liam asked.
“We all stay on guard. Marty, Ted, you and I. And Lew. But I’m uneasy now, and we’ll actually be watching Lew, as well. I’m thinking that when David and Katie and my uncle Jamie return, it may be time to put an end to this. I think a killer is in reach, but I don’t want to risk anyone else’s life. We need a larger crew—a totally trustworthy crew. Anyway, we’ll each take a few hours, and stand guard in threes through the night,” Sean said.
“You want some time first?” Liam asked.
“Sure. Thanks. I’d like that,” Sean admitted.
Vanessa was already in their little tent. She had seemed chilled during the day, and was wearing her flannel nightdress again. He smiled at her, coming in to zip the flap on the tent.
He came to her, taking her by the shoulders, and she looked up at him expectantly.
“These are really tight quarters,” he whispered. “And we are really, really close to other tents, but…”
He loved her smile, loved her eyes. “We’re very good at whispered conversations,” she said.
“There are many ways to communicate, you know.”
Her arms wrapped around him. She drew him down with her to the thin mattresses on the canvas floor of the tent and he reflected that it was really one of the finest beds he’d ever seen. Any bed was fine, if Vanessa was there. He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her slowly, and she slid her fingers beneath his shirt, teasing the flesh of his abdomen, then drawing the shirt up and over his head. They came together again, and she felt his blood begin to burn as her fingers dipped into the waistband of his jeans. She went still as she felt his gun.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“I’m not. I’m damned glad you have it. And I’m definitely glad it was a gun. It seemed a very strange place to have such a body part,” she teased.
“I’ll show you body parts,” he whispered.