She spun around to look at him. “Hey, I can honestly be the perfect gentleman,” he told her.
“Must you always be?” she asked him.
He arched a brow and smiled. She looked quickly away, wondering what she had been thinking to speak so rashly. She stared at the water. “Good God, I’ll be on a boat again with Jay. I love him, he’s a good friend, but he drives me crazy when the contact is constant!”
As she stared into the water, images seemed to form within it. As she looked, it rippled.
Fish. Fish were always moving about.
But it wasn’t a school of fish moving. Something seemed to be rising, coming to the surface. She wanted to grab Sean’s hand and find out if he saw it, too, but she seemed to be frozen in place. She knew what it was.
The image of the figurehead. The figurehead that bore the facial features of Dona Isabella.
She turned away from the water. “All right,” she said. “Thank you. I’ll stay at your house. I appreciate the offer. I’ll move in tonight, after dinner, if that’s all right with you.”
He seemed startled by her sudden change of mind. He looked at the water.
And saw nothing.
“Perfect,” he said softly. “Shall we go in? Food is probably about ready.”
She nodded, looking up at him with her wide, beautiful eyes. They caught the opalescence of the water and sky and seemed especially hypnotic. He cleared his throat. “I’m going to give Liam a call and see what your other friends are up to now,” he told her.
“What? What friends?”
“Your crew from your movie shoot.”
Her brows shot up. “You’re going to hire us all on?” she asked.
“Well, we’re following the trail that you and Jay and your crew followed for the movie. I thought we should use everyone who was involved in the film shoot.”
She blinked and nodded.
“Is there something wrong?”
She shook her head. “No, I think it’s brilliant. But it’s not as if we were all the best of friends. We worked well together but I had never met Bill Hinton or Jake Magnoli until the shoot. I’ve known Barry and Zoe through different projects during the years, but… I’m sure, though, that Jay would have information on how to reach them.”
“Don’t worry about it. Liam will find them.”
“Okay,” she said.
“Great. We’ll get on it.”
She still stared at him, wondering why she felt quite so paralyzed that night.
“Are you all right?” he asked her. “Seriously? Do you not want the others—”
“Oh, no! Of course I do,” she said.
He smiled.
She gave herself a shake. Something didn’t seem to be boding well for her, but she didn’t understand her feelings of dread. She tried to shake them off.
“Food!” she said. “I think I need food.”
He slipped an arm around her shoulders and led her in.
And the feel of him was good.
7
The scream awakened Sean like a bolt out of the blue.
He had been sleeping soundly, glad to have Vanessa under his roof. He didn’t know why he was suddenly worried about her sleeping in what should have been a fairly safe haven, but maybe it had been recent events here that had gotten him so worried. And maybe he was looking for something closer. Ass. Any fool in his right mind would want more. She reeked of beauty and sensuality.
Just having her in the house was some kind of a strange primitive pleasure.
But the scream ripped him from any thoughts except the possibility of danger, and he tore out of his own room and down the hall to where she slept in Katie’s room.
“Vanessa!” He turned the light on, seeking whatever threat she faced.
But there was nothing there. She was up on her knees, staring into the sudden light, blinking furiously. She was more than decently clad in a massive cotton T-shirt, and he didn’t hesitate to rush to her, slide onto the bed and take her shoulders, shaking her slightly, bringing her focus to him.
“Vanessa, what? What happened?”
She didn’t reply for a minute. Then her eyes focused on his and a flood of color filled her cheeks.
“Oh, God! I am so sorry. I never thought that I…that I screamed aloud,” she said.
She was shaking. He pulled her toward him, leaning her against him where he sat on the bed. “It’s all right. What? A nightmare?”
“It used to always be the same. Now it’s changing. First, I just saw the heads in the sand. Then they began talking to me. Asking me how and why I let it happen. Travis wants to know why we didn’t even look for him. Georgia wants to know why we didn’t believe her when she screamed about monsters…and now…”
“Now?”