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Only one man can save her!

Protector, Lover…Husband?

Three thrilling and breathtaking romances from three beloved Mills & Boon authors!

Protector, Lover…Husband?
Heather Graham
Maggie Price
Linda Turner

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

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In August 2010 Mills & Boon bring you four classic collections, each featuring three favourite romances by our bestselling authors

THE SPANIARD’S PLEASURE

The Spaniard’s Pregnancy Proposal by Kim Lawrence

At the Spaniard’s Convenience by Margaret Mayo

Taken: the Spaniard’s Virgin by Lucy Monroe

BOUGHT FOR HIS BED

Virgin Bought and Paid For by Robyn Donald

Bought for Her Baby by Melanie Milburne

Sold to the Highest Bidder! by Kate Hardy

THE MILLIONAIRE’S CLUB: CONNOR, TOM & GAVIN

Round-the-Clock Temptation by Michelle Celmer

Highly Compromised Position by Sara Orwig

A Most Shocking Revelation by Kristi Gold

PROTECTOR, LOVER…HUSBAND?

In the Dark by Heather Graham

Sure Bet by Maggie Price

Deadly Exposure by Linda Turner

In the Dark

by

Heather Graham

New York Times bestselling author HEATHER GRAHAM has written more than ninety novels. There are more than twenty million copies of her books in print. Heather lives with her husband and five children in Miami, Florida.

To Mary Stella, with lots of love.

To both the Dolphin Research Organisation and the Theatre of the Sea, with thanks.

Prologue

Alex nearly screamed as her foot hit the shell. She choked down the sound just in time but still stumbled, and that was when she fell.

She’d missed the shell, running in the dark. As she lay there, winded from landing hard on the sand, she damned the darkness. In just another few hours, it would be light.

In just a matter of minutes, the eye of the storm would have passed and the hundred-mile winds of Hurricane Dahlia would be picking up again. And here she was, lying next to the water, completely vulnerable.

She rolled quickly, gasping for breath, ready to leap back to her feet. She didn’t dare take the time to survey the injury to her foot, as the constant prayer that had been rushing through her mind continued. Please, just let me reach the resort. Please…

A thrashing sound came from the brush behind her.

The killer was close.

She would have to run again, heading for the safety of the resort. Or would even that be safety now?

She needed to reach the resort without being seen, needed to reach the lockbox behind the check-in, where the Smith & Wesson was kept. She was almost certain no one else had taken the gun.

Move! She silently commanded herself. What was she waiting for?

There was no one who could help her, no one she could trust.

She had to depend on only herself, no matter how desperately she wanted to believe in at least one man…

It was then that, so near that she could recognize him despite the darkness, she saw Len Creighton, prone on the sand.

Another body she thought, panic rising in her. Well, she had wondered where he was. And now she knew. He was lying facedown on the sand, a trickle of blood running down his face. The wild surf was breaking over his legs; where he lay surrounded by clumps of seaweed. Already, little crabs were scouring the area, carefully eyeing what they hoped would be their next meal.

She choked back a scream. Above her, the clouds broke. Pale light emerged from the heavens.

And that was when the first man exploded from the bush.

“Alex!” he called. “Get over here.”

He stood there, panting for breath, beckoning to her, eyes sharply surveying the area. And he was carrying a speargun, one that had been used on some living creature already—blood dripped from the tip. “Alex, you’ve got to trust me. Come with me now—quickly.”

“No!”

He spun on a dime at the sound of the second voice.

A second man. This one carrying a Glock, which was aimed at the first man.

“Alex, come to me. Get away from him,” the newcomer insisted.

The men faced off, staring, each one aware of the weapon the other was carrying.

“Alex!”

This time, she wasn’t even sure which man spoke. Once she had trusted them both. One, she had loved before. The other had so nearly seduced her heart in the days just past.

“Alex!”

There was what appeared to be a dead man at her feet. A co-worker. A friend. She should be down on her knees, attempting to find life, however hopeless that might be. But one of the two men facing her was a killer. She couldn’t look away. Seconds ticked by, and she stood frozen in place.

Her heart insisted that it couldn’t be either man.

Especially not him.

She couldn’t think. She could only stand there and stare, eyes going from one man to the other, everything within her soul screaming that neither one of them could be a killer.

But one of them was.

She could feel the ocean lapping over her feet. She knew these waters so well, like the back of her hand.

So did they.

No, not these waters. Not this island. She knew it as few other people could.

There was only one thing she could do, even though it was insanity. The storm might have passed for the moment, but the sea was far from placid. The waves were still deadly. The currents would be merciless.

And yet…

She had no other choice.

She turned to the sea and dove into it, and as she swam for her life, she realized that a few days ago, she wouldn’t have believed this.

That was when it had all begun. Just days ago.

She felt the surge of her arms and legs as she strove to put distance between herself and the shore.

Something sped past her in the water. A bullet? A spear?

People always said that in the last seconds of someone’s life, their entire past rushed before their eyes.

She wasn’t seeing that far back.

Just to that morning, by the dolphin lagoon, when she had found the first body on the beach.

The one that had disappeared.

Chapter One

“The main thing to remember is that here at Moon Bay, we consider our dolphins our guests. When you’re swimming with them, don’t turn and stalk them, because, for one thing, they’re faster than you can begin to imagine, and they’ll disappear on you in seconds flat. And also, they hate it. Let them come to you—and they will. They’re here because they’re social creatures. We never force them to interact with people—they want to. Any animal in the lagoon knows how to leave the playing arena. And when they choose to leave, we respect their desire to do so. When they come to you naturally, you’re free to stroke them as they pass. Try to keep your hands forward of the dorsal fin. And just stroke—don’t pound or scratch, okay?”

Alex McCord’s voice was smooth and normal—or so she hoped—as she spoke with the group of eight gathered before her. She had done a lot of smiling, while she first assured the two preteen girls and the teenage boy, who looked like a troublemaker, that she wasn’t angry but they would follow the rules. A few of her other smiles had been genuine and directed at two of the five adults rounding out the dive, the father of the boy and the mother of the girls.

Then there were her forced smiles. Her face was beginning to hurt, those smiles were so forced.

Because she just couldn’t believe who was here.

The world was filled with islands. And these days the world was even filled with islands that offered a dozen variations of the dolphin experience.

So what on earth was David Denhem doing here, on her island, suddenly showing an extraordinary curiosity regarding her dolphins? Especially when his experiences must reduce her swims to a mom-and-pop outing, since he’d been swimming with great whites at the Great Barrier Reef, photographed whales in the Pacific, fed lemon sharks off Aruba and filmed ray encounters in Grand Cayman. So why was he here? It had been months since she’d seen him, heard from him or even bothered to read any of the news articles regarding him.

But here he was, the ultimate ocean man. Diver, photographer and salvage entrepreneur extraordinaire. Six-two, broad shoulders bronzed, perfect features weathered, deep blue gaze focused on her as if he were fascinated by her every word, even though his questions made it clear he knew as much about dolphins as she did.

She might not have minded so much, except that for once she had been looking forward to the company of another man—an arresting and attractive man who apparently found her attractive, as well.

John Seymore, an ex–navy SEAL, was looking to set up a dive business in the Keys. Physically, he was like a blond version of David. And his eyes were green, a pleasant, easygoing, light green. Despite his credentials, he’d gone on her morning dive tour the day before, and she’d chatted with him at the Tiki Hut last night and found out that he’d signed on for the dolphin swim, as well. He’d admitted that he knew almost nothing about the creatures but loved them.

She’d had a couple of drinks…she’d danced. She’d gone so far as to imagine sex.

And now…here was David. Distorting the image of a barely formed mirage before it could even begin to find focus. They were divorced. She had every right to envision a life with another man, so the concept of a simple date shouldn’t make her feel squeamish. After all, she sincerely doubted that her ex-husband had been sitting around idle for a year.

“They’re really the most extraordinary creatures in the world,” Laurie Smith, one of Alex’s four assistants, piped up. Had she simply stopped speaking, Alex wondered, forcing Laurie to chime in. Actually, Alex was glad Laurie had spoken up. Alex had been afraid that she was beginning to look like a bored tour guide, which wasn’t the case at all. She had worked with a number of animals during her career. She had never found any as intelligent, clever and personable as dolphins. Dogs were great; and so were chimps, but dolphins were magical.

“You never feel guilty, as if the dolphins are scientific rats in a lab—except, of course, that entertaining tourists isn’t exactly medical research.”

That came from the last member of the group, the man to whom she needed to be giving the most serious attention. Hank Adamson. He wasn’t as muscled or bronzed as David and John, but he was tall and lithe, wiry, sandy-haired, and wearing the most stylish sunglasses available. He was handsome in a smooth, sleek, electric way and could be the most polite human being on earth. He could also be cruel. He was a local columnist, and he also contributed to travel magazines and tour guides about the area. He could, if he thought it was justified, be savage, ripping apart motels, hotels, restaurants, theme parks and clubs. There was something humorous about his acidic style, which led to his articles being syndicated across the country. Alex found him an irritating bastard, but Jay Galway, manager of the entire Moon Bay facility, was desperate to get a good review from the man.

Adamson had seemed to enjoy the dive-boat activities the day before. She’d been waiting for some kind of an assault, though, since he’d set foot on the island. And here it was.

“The lagoon offers the animals many choices, Mr. Adamson. They can play, or they can retire to their private area. Additionally, our dolphins were all born in captivity, except for Shania, and she was hurt so badly by a boat propeller that she wouldn’t have survived in the open sea. We made one attempt to release her, and she came right back. Dolphins are incredibly intelligent creatures, and I believe that they’re as interested in learning about our behavior as we are in theirs.” She shifted focus to address the group at large. “Let’s begin. Is there any particular behavior you’ve seen or experienced with the dolphins you’d like to try again.”

“I want to ride a dolphin,” the boy, Zach, said.

“The fin ride. Sure, we can start with that. Would you like to go first?”

“Yeah, can I?”

She smiled. Maybe the kid wasn’t a demon after all. Dolphins had a wonderful effect on people. Once, she’d been given a group of “incorrigibles” from a local “special” school. They’d teased and acted like idiots at first. Then they’d gotten into the water and become model citizens.

“Absolutely. One dolphin or two?”

“Two is really cool,” David said quietly, offering a slight grin to the boy.

“Two.”

“Okay, in the water, front and center. Fins on, no masks or snorkels right now,” Alex said.

The others waited as the boy went out into the lagoon and extended his arms as Alex indicated. She signaled to Katy and Sabra, and the two dolphins sleekly obeyed the command, like silver streaks of light sliding beneath the water’s surface.

Zach was great, taking a firm hold of each fin and smiling like a two-year-old with an oversize lollipop as the mammals swam him through the water, finishing up by the floating dock, where they were rewarded as they dropped their passenger. Zach was still beaming.

“Better than any ride I’ve ever been on in my life!” he exclaimed.

“Can I go next?” one of the girls asked. Tess. Cute little thing, bright eyes, dark hair. Zach had been trying to impress her earlier. Tess opted for one dolphin, and Alex chose Jamie-Boy.

One by one, everyone got to try the fin ride. John Seymore was quieter than the kids, but obviously pleased. Even Hank Adamson—for all his skepticism and the fact that he seemed to be looking for something to condemn—enjoyed his swim.

Alex was afraid that David would either demur—this was pretty tame stuff for him—or do something spectacular. God knew what he might whisper to a dolphin, and what a well-trained, social animal might do in response. But David was well-behaved, looking as smooth and sleek as the creatures themselves as he came out of the water. The only irritating thing was that he and John Seymore seemed to find a tremendous amount to talk about whenever she was busy with the others. Then, during the circle swim, David disappeared beneath the surface for so long that the two parents in the group began to worry that he had drowned.

“Are you sure he’s all right?” Ally Conroy, Zach’s mother, asked Alex.

“I know him,” Alex told the woman, forcing another of those plastic smiles that threatened to break her face. “He can hold his breath almost as long as the dolphins.”

David surfaced at last. Macy, the staff photographer, just shrugged at Alex. They made a lot of their research funding by selling people photos of their dolphin experiences, but Alex and Macy both knew David didn’t need to buy any photos.

At that point, David and John began talking quietly in the background, as Alex got the others going on their chance for dolphin hugs and smooches. She couldn’t hear what the two men were saying, but she was annoyed, and became more so when Hank Adamson joined the conversation. She found them distracting, but had a feeling she’d look foolish if she was to freak out and yell at the lot of them to shut up. It looked like a little testosterone party going. They were probably chatting about diving—in a manly way, of course.

Why did it bother her so much? David was out of her life. No, David would never be out of her life.

The thought was galling. She had been able to see that the relationship wasn’t working, that time wasn’t going to change the facts about him, her or the situation. And they had split. She didn’t regret the decision.

It’s just that he was here again now, when she had a lovely minor flirtation going on, the most exciting thing she’d experienced since the divorce. And just because the object of her current affections seemed to be getting on with David as if they were long-lost friends…

“Hey,” Zach whispered to her, his eyes alight, “Those guys aren’t paying any attention. The girls and I could sneak in and take their hugs, huh?”

She would have loved to agree. But no matter what it looked like Hank Adamson was doing, he was a reporter. One whose writing could influence the fate of Moon Bay. She had to play fair.

“I’d love to give them to you and the girls, but it wouldn’t be right.”

“Zach, you can take my place.”

She hadn’t known that David had broken away from his conversation.

She stared at him. “The girls would want an equal opportunity.”

“Hey, I’ll give up my time.” That, amazingly, came from Hank Adamson. He grinned at Alex. “It’s cool watching the kids have fun. Don’t worry—you’re getting a good write-up.”

“I’ll give up my hug, too,” John Seymore told her, shrugging, a dimple going deep.

“Another round for the youngest members of the group, then,” she said.

Finally the time was up. Alex went through her spiel about returning flippers, masks, and snorkels, telling the group where they could rinse off the brine and find further information on dolphins before heading off for whatever their next adventure might be.

John gave her a special smile as he stopped to thank her. “I was figuring I’d do it again, maybe check out a time when the groups weren’t full. I don’t have a thing in the world against hugs. Even from a dolphin.”

She smiled in return, nodding.

“I think I have an in with the dolphin keeper,” he added softly.

“You do,” she assured him.

He turned, walking off. David had been right behind him. He’d undoubtedly heard every word. Now his dark blue eyes were on her enigmatically. She wished he wasn’t even more appealing soaking wet, that thatch of impossibly dark hair over his forehead, bronzed shoulders gleaming. She wished there wasn’t such an irresistibly subtle, too familiar scent about him. Soap, cologne, his natural essence, mingled with the sea and salty air.

“Nice program you’ve got going,” he said. “Thanks.”

Then he walked away. He didn’t even shake her hand, as the others had. He didn’t touch her.

She felt burned.

“Thanks,” she returned, though he was already too far away to hear her

“You okay?”

Alex whirled. Laurie was watching her worriedly.

“So hunky-dory I could spit,” Alex assured her, causing Laurie to smile.

Then her friend cocked her head, set her hands on her hips and sighed. “Poor baby. Two of the most attractive men I’ve seen in a long time angling for your attention, and you look as if you’ve been caught in a bees’ nest.”

“Trust me, David is not angling for my attention.”

“You should have seen the way he was looking at you.”

“You were reading it wrong, I guarantee you.”

Laurie frowned. “I thought the divorce went smoothly.”

“Very smoothly. I don’t think he even noticed,” Alex told her ruefully. She lifted a hand in vague explanation. “He was in the Caribbean on a boat somewhere when I filed the papers. He didn’t call, didn’t protest…just sent his attorney with the clear message to let me do whatever I wanted, have whatever I wanted…I was married, then I wasn’t, and it was all so fast, my head was spinning.”

“Well, that certainly didn’t mean he hated you.”

“I never said he hated me.”

“Well…want my advice?”

“No.”

Laurie grinned. “That’s because you’ve never been to a place like Date Tournament.”

“What?”

“I told you I was going the other day,” Laurie said impatiently. “It’s that new club in Key Largo. They’ve been doing it all over the country. You go, and you keep changing tables, chatting with different people for about ten minutes each. The idea isn’t bad. I mean, there are nice guys out there, not just jerks. Some are heart-broken—like me. And some are just looking. Imagine, the perfect person for me could walk by me in a mall, but we’d never talk. We never see someone and just walk up and say, ‘Hey, you’re good-looking, the right age, are you straight? Attached? Do you have kids? Do you like the water? We wouldn’t last a day if you didn’t.’ So at Date Tournament, you at least get to meet people who are looking for people. Sexual preference and marital status are all straightened out before you start. You’re not stuck believing some jerk in a bar who says he’s single, gets more out of the night than a girl set out to give, then apologizes because he has to get home before his wife catches him.”

Alex stared at her blankly for a minute. Laurie was beautiful, a natural platinum blonde with a gorgeous smile, charm and spontaneity. It had never really occurred to Alex that her friend had the least difficulty dating. Living at Moon Bay seemed perfect for Alex. She had her own small but atmospheric little cottage, surrounded by subtropical growth—and daily maid service. There was the Tiki Hut off the lagoons for laid-back evenings, buffets in the main house for every meal, a small but well-run bookstore and every cable channel known to man. She thought ruefully that just because she had been nursing a wounded heart all this time, she’d had no reason to think the others were all as happy with celibacy as she was.

She arched an eyebrow, wishing she hadn’t spent so much time being nearly oblivious to the feelings of others.

“So…how was your evening at Date Tournament?”

“Scary. Sad,” Laurie said dryly. “Want to hear about it?”

“Yes, but I want to get away from here first,” Alex said. She could see across the lagoon, and the Tiki Hut was beginning to fill up for cocktail hour. Fishing parties returning, those who’d been out on scuba and snorkeling trips coming in, and those who had lazed the day away at the beach or the pool. She could see that Hank Adamson was talking to her boss, Jay Galway, head of operations at Moon Bay, and he was pointing toward the dolphin lagoons.

She didn’t want to smile anymore, or suck up to Adamson—or defend herself. They were also standing with a man named Seth Granger, a frequent visitor, a very rich retired businessman who had decided he wanted to become a salvage expert. He signed up for dives and swims, then complained that they weren’t adventurous enough. Alex had wished for a very long time that she could tell him not to go on the dives when he didn’t enjoy the beauty of the reefs. Their dives were planned to show off the incredible color and beauty to be found on the only continental reef in the United States, not for a possible clash with modern-day pirates. Nor were they seeking treasure.

Well, if he wanted to talk about salvage or adventure, he could pin David down one night. They deserved each other.

Jay Galway seemed to be trying to get her attention. She pretended she didn’t notice.

“Let’s go to the beach on the other side of the island, huh? Then you can tell me all about dating hell,” she said to Laurie.

“Mr. Galway is waving at you,” Laurie said, running to catch up as Alex took off down the beach. “I think he wants you.”

“Then move faster,” Alex told her.

She turned, pretended she thought that James was just waving, waved back and took off at a walk so brisk it was nearly a run.

The dolphin lagoons were just around the bend, putting them on the westward side of the island rather than on the strip that faced the Atlantic. There were no roads out here from what wasn’t even really the mainland, since they sat eastward of the Middle Keys. A motorboat regularly made the trip from the island to several of the Keys in about twenty minutes, and a small ferry traveled between several of the Keys, then stopped at the island, five times a day. Moon Bay had only existed for a few years; before it’s purchase by a large German-American firm, it had been nothing more than a small strip of sand and trees where locals had come to picnic and find solitude.

The western side was still magnificently barren. White-sand beaches were edged by unbelievably clear water on one side, and palms and foliage on the other. Alex loved to escape the actual lodge area, especially at night. While their visitors were certainly free to roam in this direction, mercifully, not many did once it turned to the later portion of the afternoon. Sunbathers loved the area, but by now they were baked, red and in pain.

It was close to six, but the sun was still bright and warm. Nothing like the earlier hours, but nowhere near darkness. The water was calm and lazy; little nothing waves were creating a delicate foam against the shoreline that disappeared in seconds. The palms rustled behind them as they walked, and the delightful sea breeze kept the heat at bay.

Alex glanced up at the sky. It was a beautiful day, glorious. All kinds of tempests might be brewing out in the Atlantic or down in the Gulf somewhere, but here, all was calm and perfect. The sky was a rich, powdery blue, barely touched by the clouds, with that little bit of breeze deflecting the ninety-degree temperature that had slowly begun to drop.

Alex came to a halt and sat down on the wet sand. Laurie followed suit. The identical tank tops they wore—the words Moon Bay etched across black polyester in a soft off-white were light enough that Alex almost shivered when the breeze touched her damp arms. She had little concern for her matching shorts—they were made to take the sand, sun and heat with ease. It was comfortable clothing, perfect for the job, and not suggestive in the least. This was a family establishment.

A great place to run after a bad marriage, with everything she needed: a good job doing what she loved, water, boats, sand, sun, privacy.

Too much privacy.

And now…David was here. Damn him. She wasn’t going to change a thing. She was going to do exactly what she had planned. Shower, dress nicely, blow-dry her hair, wear makeup…sip piña coladas and dance at the Tiki Hut. Flirt like hell with John Seymore. And ignore the fact that every single woman in the place would be eyeing David.

Over. It was over. They had gone their separate ways…

“Well?” Laurie said.

“I’m sorry. What?”

“Do you want to hear about Date Tournament? Or do you just want to sit here, me quietly at your side, while you damn yourself for divorcing such a hunk?”

“Never,” Alex protested.

“Never as in, you never want to hear about Date Tournament, or never as in…what, exactly? You are divorced, right?”

“Of course. I meant, I’ll never regret what I did. It was necessary.”

“Why?”

Alex was silent. Why? We were going different ways? We didn’t know one another to begin with? It was as simple as…Alicia Farr? No, that was ridiculous. It was complex, as most such matters were. It was his needing adventure at all costs, her needing to be a real trainer. It was…

“Oh my God!” Laurie gasped suddenly, staring at her. “Was he…he was abusive?”

“No! Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Then…?”

“We just went different ways.”

“Hmph.” Laurie toed a little crab back toward the water. “Whatever way he was going, I’d have followed him. But then, I’ve had the experience of Date Tournament, which you haven’t—and which I thought you wanted to hear about.”

“I’m sorry. I’m being a horrible friend. I’m in shock, I think. Having this lovely time with John Seymore, and then…up pops David.”

“So what?”

“It’s uncomfortable.”

“But you and David are divorced, so what are you worried about? Enjoy John Seymore. He’s a hunk, too. Not like anyone I met at Date Tournament.”

“There must have been some nice guys.”

“If there were, I didn’t happen to meet them. Now let’s get back to your love triangle.”

Alex grinned. “There is no love triangle. Let’s get back to you. You’re gorgeous, bright, sweet and intelligent. The right guy is going to come along.”

“Doesn’t seem to be too much wrong with Mr. John Seymore. Did you know he’s an ex-navy SEAL? But there you go. Apparently, when my right guy comes along, he wants to date you.”

Alex arched an eyebrow, surprised. “I hadn’t realized that…that…”

“You hadn’t realized ‘that’ because there was no ‘that’ to realize. I hadn’t even talked to the guy until today. Then there’s your ex-husband.”

“He’s certainly a free agent.”

“He’s your ex. That’s a no-no.”

“I repeat—he’s a free agent.”

“One who sends you into a spiral,” Laurie noted.

“I’m not in a spiral. It’s just that…I was married to him. That makes me…I don’t know what that makes me. Yes, I do. It makes me uncomfortable.”

“You never fell out of love with him.”

“Trust me—I did. It’s just that…”

“All you’ve had for company since your divorce has been a bunch of sea animals?” Laurie suggested, amused.

“Neither one of us has dated in…a very, very long time,” Alex agreed.

Laurie sighed glumly, setting her hands on her knees and cupping her chin in them. “Think it might be due to the fact that we’ve chosen to live on a remote island where the tourists are usually married, and the staff are usually in college?”

Alex laughed. “Maybe, but you’d think…sun, boats, island—fishing. Oh, well.”

“What do you mean, oh well? At least there’s excitement in your life. You’ve got the triangle thing going. Husband, lover.”

“Ex-husband and new acquaintance,” Alex reminded her.

“Ex-husband, new almost-lover. Vying for the same woman. And you know guys. They get into a competition thing. What a setup for jealousy and…”

Her voice trailed off, and she stared wide-eyed at Alex, like a doe in the headlights.

“Oh my God!” Laurie gasped.

She stared at Alex in pure horror. Alex frowned. “What? Come on, Laurie. Believe me, it’s not that serious. You think that they’ll get into some kind of a fight? No, never. In our marriage…David just didn’t notice. Didn’t care. I can’t begin to see him decking someone—and sure as hell not over me.”

“Oh my God,” Laurie breathed again.

“Laurie, it’s all right. Nothing is going to happen between David and John.”

Laurie shook her head vehemently and slowly got to her feet, pointing. “Oh God, Alex. Look!”

For a moment, Alex couldn’t quite shift mental gears. Then she frowned, standing up herself.

“What?” she said to Laurie. She grasped her friend’s shoulders. “Laurie, what in the world is it?”

Laurie pointed. Alex realized that Laurie hadn’t been staring at her at all during the last few moments—she had been staring past her.

She spun around.

And that was when she saw the body on the beach.

Chapter Two

“I’ve read about you,” John Seymore told David. “In the scuba magazines. That article on your work with great whites…wow. I’ve got to admit, I’m astounded to see you here. This place must seem pretty tame to you. It’s great to get to meet you.”

“Thanks,” David said.

Seymore seemed pleasant. He was good-looking, well-muscled probably naturally, since he’d said he hadn’t been out of military service long. Despite his surfer-boy blond hair and easy smile, there was a rough edge about him that betrayed age, maybe, and a hard life. David had a feeling his military stories would be the kind to make the hair rise on the back of the neck. Just as he had a feeling that, no matter how pleasant the guy might seem, he had a backbone of steel.

They’d started talking during the swim, and when Seymore had suggested a quick drink at the Tiki Hut, David had been glad to comply. He was interested in what would bring a man of John Seymore’s expertise to such a charming little tourist haven.

“I know the people here,” David told John. “The guy managing the place, Jay Galway, is a part-time thrill seeker. He’s been on a few of my excursions over the years. I like coming here, but this is the first time I’ve stayed. The cottages are great. A perfect place to chill, with all the comforts of home, but you feel as if you’re off somewhere in the wilds. What about you?”

“I know the water pretty well, but I’ve never had any fun with it. I’ve been out on the West Coast. I left the military…and, I’m afraid, a painful divorce.”

“So you retired from the military,” David said. “Living a life of ease, huh?”

Seymore laughed. “I did pretty well with the military, but not well enough to retire the way I’d like to. But my time is my own. I’m doing consulting work now. Because of my work in the service, I made some good contacts. But I needed a break, so I found this place on the Web. Seemed ideal, and so far, it has been.”

Seymore was leaning on the bar, looking across the lagoon. Everyone was gone, but Seymore was staring as if someone was still there. Someone with features so delicately and perfectly proportioned that she was beautiful when totally drenched, devoid of all makeup, her hair showing touches of its radiant color despite the fact that it was heavy with sea water.

Despite himself, he felt a rise of something he didn’t like. Anger. Jealousy. And an age-old instinct to protect what was his. Except that she wasn’t his anymore.

He had no rights here, and when he had first seen Alex this morning, after the initial shock in her eyes had died away, they had been narrowed and hostile each time they had fallen on him.

He lowered his head for a moment. You were the one who filed the papers, sweetie. Not a word to me, just a legal document.

I didn’t come here because of you, he thought.

Okay, that was a lie. There had been no way he wouldn’t show once Alicia’s message had whetted his curiosity. He had come expecting to find Alicia Farr, even though, after he had returned her call and not heard back, warning signals had sounded in his mind. He wasn’t surprised that she wasn’t here, but he was worried.

And now he was feeling that age-old protective-instinct thing coming to the fore with Alex again—whether he did or didn’t have the right to feel it. He told himself it was only because he was already on edge over Alicia. And anyway, maybe nothing was going on here. Maybe Alicia had made other arrangements and gone off on her own.

Or maybe someone was dead because of something going on here.

Unease filled him again.

Whatever had happened between Alex and him, the good and the bad, he couldn’t help the tension he was feeling now. Especially where his wife was concerned. Ex-wife, he reminded himself. He wondered if he would ever accept that. Wondered if he would ever look at her and not believe they were still one.

Ever fall out of love with her.

Impatience ripped through him. He hated fools who went through life pining after someone who didn’t want them in return. He hadn’t pined. His life hadn’t allowed for it.

That didn’t mean that she didn’t haunt his days, or that he didn’t lie awake at night wondering why. Or that he didn’t see her and feel that he would go after any guy who got near her. Or that he didn’t see her, watch her move, see her enigmatic sea blue-green eyes, and want to demand to know what could have been so wrong that she had pushed him away.

All that was beside the point now. Yes, he had come here to meet Alicia. But he had come to meet Alicia because of Alex.

And now he was going to find out what was going on. Alex, of course, would believe that he was here only to find Alicia, to share in whatever find she had made. In her mind, he would be after the treasure, whatever that might be. Wanting the adventure, the leap into the unknown. No, she would never believe his main reason for being here was her, to watch over her, not when the danger wasn’t solid, visible…

“Well,” David murmured, swallowing a long draft of beer before continuing. “So you had a bad breakup, huh? They say you’ve got to be careful after a bad divorce. You know, watch out for rushing into things.”

“Yeah, well,” John told him, a half grin curving his lips, “they also say you’ve got to get right back on the horse after you fall off. Besides, I’ve been divorced about a year. You?”

“The same. About a year.”

John Seymore studied him, that wry, half smile still in place. “I admit it. That’s half the reason I wanted to buy you a drink. I know you were married to our dolphin instructor. Her name and picture were in one of the articles I read. I guess I wanted to make sure I wasn’t horning in on a family reunion.”

David could feel his jaw clenching. Screw Seymore. Being decent. Man, he hated that. He leaned on the counter, as well, staring out across the lagoon. “We split up a year ago,” he said simply. “Alex is her own person.”

What the hell else could he say? It was the truth. He could only hope his bitterness wasn’t evident. Yet, even as the words were out of his mouth, he felt uneasy. He was, admittedly, distrustful of everyone right now, but this guy was suspicious of him, too. Here was an ex–navy SEAL, a man who knew more about diving than almost anyone else out there, at a resort where the facilities were great for tourists, but…a man with his experience?

A thought struck him, and he smiled. He was an honest man, but maybe this wasn’t the time for the truth.

“Well,” he said, “as far as she knows, she is, anyway.”

“What does that mean?” Seymore asked him.

David waved a hand dismissively. “That’s one of the reasons I’m here. There’s a little technicality with our divorce. I wanted to let her know, find a convenient time for us to get together with an attorney, straighten it all out. But, hey…” He clapped a hand on Seymore’s shoulder. “It’s fine. Really. I think I’ll go take a long hot shower. I’m beginning to feel a little salt encrusted. Thanks for the beer.”

Seymore nodded, looking a little troubled. “Yeah, I…I guess I’ll go hit the shower, too.”

“My treat next go-around,” David said. Then he set down his glass, turned, and left the Tiki Hut.

It was definitely a body. Alex and Laurie could both clearly see that, despite the seaweed clinging to it.

Alex started to rush forward, but Laurie grabbed her arm. “Wait! If she’s dead, and you touch her, we could destroy forensic evidence.”

“You’ve been watching too much TV,” Alex threw over her shoulder as she pulled free.

But she came to a halt a few feet from the body. The stench was almost overwhelming. It was a woman, but she couldn’t possibly be alive. Alex could see a trail of long blond hair tangled around the face.

She had to be sure.

Turning, taking a deep breath and holding it, Alex stepped forward and hunched down by the woman. She extended a hand to the throat, seeking a pulse. A crab crawled out of the mound of seaweed and hair, causing her to cry out.

“What?” Laurie shouted.

“Crab,” Alex replied quickly. Bile rumbled in her stomach, raced toward her throat. She gritted her teeth, swallowed hard and felt the icy coldness of the woman’s flesh. No pulse. The woman was dead. Alex rose, hurrying back to Laurie.

“She’s dead. I’ll stay here, you go for help.”

“I’m not leaving you here alone with a corpse.”

“Okay, you stay, I’ll go.”

“You’re not leaving me here alone with a corpse!”

“Laurie—”

“She’s dead. She’s not going anywhere. We’ll both go for help.”

“Yes, but what if someone…what if a child comes out here while we’re gone?”

“What?” Laurie demanded. “You think I’m going to throw myself on top of a corpse to hide it? There’s nothing we can do except hurry.”

“I’m not afraid to be alone with a corpse.”

“You should be. What if the person who turned her into a corpse is still around here somewhere?”

Alex felt an uneasy sensation, but it was ridiculous. She shook her head. “Laurie, she’s drifted in from…from somewhere else. She’s been in the water a while.”

“Maybe. Neither one of us is an expert.”

“Laurie, that…stink takes a while to occur.”

“Let’s just hurry. We won’t be long, and she won’t go anywhere.”

“All right, then, let’s go.”

They tore back along the path they had taken and minutes later, neared the Tiki Hut. Laurie opened her mouth, ready to shout.

Alex clamped her hand over it. “No!”

Laurie fought free. “Alex! Did you touch that corpse with that hand? Maybe she died of some disease.”

Alex had to admit she hadn’t thought of such a possibility. She winced, but said, “We can’t just start shouting about a corpse. We’ll cause a panic.”

She scanned the Tiki Hut. The mothers who had been on the swim earlier were there—the teens were evidently off somewhere else. She would have liked to see John Seymore. Since he was an ex–navy SEAL, he would surely know how to handle the situation.

She would even have liked to see David, Mr. Competence himself. Cool, collected, a well of strength in handling any given situation.

“Let’s find Jay,” she said.

She caught Laurie by the elbow, leading her past the Tiki Hut and along the flower-bordered stone pathway that led to the lobby of the lodge. They burst in, rushing to the desk. Luckily, no one was checking in or out. Len Creighton was on duty. Thirtyish, slim, pleasant, he smiled as he saw them, and then he saw their panic and his smile faded.

“Len, I need Jay. Where is he?”

Len cast a glance over his shoulder, indicating the inner office.

She headed straight back.

Jay wasn’t there.

“He’s not here,” she called.

“I’ll page him.”

His voice was smooth as silk, hardly creating a blip against the soft music that always played in the lobby.

Moments later, Jay Galway, looking only slightly irritated, came striding across the lobby.

He was tall and lean, with sleek, dark hair, expressive gray eyes and a thin, aesthetic face. Patrician nose. His lips were a bit narrow, but they added to the look almost of royalty that he carried like an aura about him. She really liked her boss. They were friends, and he had always been ready to support her in her decisions, even if he didn’t agree with them. She’d known him before she’d come to work here. In fact, he’d called her about the job when he’d heard about the divorce.

He paused in front of the counter, perfect in an Armani suit, and stared at her questioningly.

“What on earth is this all about?” he demanded.

He was still a short distance away from her, and a few guests had just come in and were heading in their direction.

“I need to talk to you. Alone.” She glanced meaningfully at Len.

“I hide nothing from Len.”

Alex glanced at Len and wondered if there was more going on between the two men than she knew. Not that she cared, or had time to worry about it now.

“There’s a body on the beach,” she said very softly.

“A body,” echoed Laurie, who was standing behind her.

He stared at her as if she had lost her mind. “This is Florida, honey. There are a lot of bodies on the beach.”

Alex groaned inwardly. “A dead body, Jay.”

“A dead body?” Len exclaimed loudly.

They all stared at him. “Sorry,” he said quickly.

Jay gave his full attention to her at last, staring at her hard, his eyes narrowing. His focus never left her face, but he warned Len, “Shut up. I mean it. That reporter is around somewhere. All we need is him getting his nose into this.”

Alex stared back at him, aghast. “Someone is dead, Jay. It’s not a matter of worrying about publicity. Will you call the sheriff’s office—please?”

“Right. Len, call the county boys and ask them to send someone out. Someone from homicide.”

“Homicide?” Laurie murmured. “Maybe she just…drowned.”

“It still needs to be investigated,” Alex said, still staring at Jay. His behavior puzzled her. They had no idea who the dead woman might be, where she had come from, or even if there was a murderer loose in paradise, and he seemed so blasé.

Finally he said, “Show me.”

“Let’s go.”

Len started to follow, but Jay spun on him. “You’re on duty. And you,” Jay warned Alex, “make it look as if we’re taking a casual stroll.”

“Jay, honestly, sometimes—”

“Alex, want to cause a panic?” Jay demanded.

“Sure. Fine. We’re taking a casual stroll.”

They left the lobby, Alex leading, Jay behind her, Laurie following quickly. They took the path through the flowers, passed the Tiki Hut—which seemed unusually quiet for the time of day—and around the lagoon area.

“Alex, slow down. We’re taking a stroll, remember?” Jay said.

She looked back, still moving quickly. “Jay, we’re in shorts and you’re in an Armani suit, about to get sand in your polished black shoes. How casually can we stroll?”

He let out a sound of irritation but argued the point no further.

They reached the pristine sand beach. The temperature was dropping, the sweet breeze still blowing in.

Alex came to a halt. Jay nearly crashed into her back. As if they were a vaudeville act, Laurie collided with him.

“What the hell?” Jay demanded.

“It’s gone,” Alex breathed.

“What’s gone?” Jay demanded.

“The body.”

Laurie was staring toward the thatch of seaweed where the corpse had lain. She, too, seemed incredulous. “It—it is gone,” she murmured.

Without turning, Alex could feel the way that Jay was looking at her. Like an icy blast against the balmy summer breeze, she could feel his eyes boring into her back.

She didn’t turn but ran down the length of the beach, searching the sand and the water, looking for any hint as to where the body had been moved.

“What, Alex?” Jay shouted. “You saw a corpse, but it rolled down the beach to catch the sun better?”

She stopped then, whirling around.

“It’s moved,” she said, walking back to where Jay stood.

“Your corpse got up and walked?”

She exhaled impatiently. “Jay, it was here.”

“Really, Jay, it was,” Laurie said, coming to her defense.

They all turned at the sound of a motor. A sheriff’s department launch was heading their way. Nigel Thompson, the sheriff himself, had come.

Usually Alex liked Nigel Thompson. He looked just the way she figured an old-time Southern sheriff should look. He was somewhere between fifty and sixty years old; his eyes were pale blue, his hair snow-white. He was tall and heavy, a big man. His appearance was customarily reassuring.

He tended to be a skeptic.

A skeptic when rowdy, underage kids told their stories. A skeptic when adults who should have known better lied about the amount they had been drinking before a boating accident. He was never impolite, never skirted the law, but he was tough, and folks around here knew it.

He cut the motor but drew his launch right up to the beach. Hopping from the craft, he demanded, “Where’s this body?”

Jay looked from Nigel to Alex.

“Well?” he asked her.

She lifted her chin, grinding down hard on her teeth. She looked at Nigel. “It was right here,” she said pointing.

He looked from the sand and seaweed to her. “It was there?”

“I swear to you, it was right there.”

He looked at Alex, slowly arching an eyebrow. “Alexandra, I was just about to sit down to dinner when the call came in. Tell me this isn’t a joke or a summer prank.”

“Had to have been a prank—and Alex fell for it,” Jay said. He didn’t sound angry with her, but he did sound aggravated.

“I’m here now,” Nigel said, looking at Alex. “So tell me what you saw.”

“A sunbather who thought it was one hell of a joke to fool someone into thinking she was dead,” Jay said.

“She was dead,” Alex said. “Nigel, you’ve known me for years. Do I make things up?”

“No, missy, you don’t,” the sheriff acknowledged. “But there is no body,” he pointed out.

“It was here, right here. I got close enough to make sure she was…I touched her. She was dead,” Alex asserted with quiet vehemence.

“She sure looked dead,” Laurie offered.

Alex winced inwardly, aware her friend was trying to help. But her words gave the entire situation an aura of doubt.

“She was dead,” Alex repeated.

“Cause of death?” Nigel asked her.

“I didn’t do an autopsy,” she snapped, and then was furious with herself.

“There was nothing that suggested a cause of death?” Nigel asked patiently.

She shook her head. “If she had washed up with a rope around her neck, I didn’t see it. I’m sorry, I’ve dealt with dead dolphins, but I never interned at the morgue,” Alex told him. “But I know a corpse when I see one.”

“So you’ve seen lots of corpses?” Jay asked.

“I’ve seen enough dead mammals, Jay.” She looked at Nigel. “I swear to you that there was a dead woman here, tangled in seaweed.”

He sighed, looking at the sand and the water, then back to her. “No drag marks, Alex. She wasn’t pulled into the bushes.”

“She was here,” Alex insisted stubbornly.

“Alex, I’m not saying this is what happened, but isn’t it possible that someone was pulling a prank?”

“No,” she said determinedly.

“So…what did happen? Why isn’t she here?”

“I don’t know. I thought she was far enough out of the water, so I don’t think the waves could have pulled her back out…I think someone came and moved her.”

“They were quick,” Nigel commented.

“I’m telling you, she was here. Isn’t there a way you can check? It will be dark soon. Can’t you spray something around, see if there are specks of blood in the seaweed or on the sand anywhere? Better yet, take samples. Get more men out here and make certain that the only tracks around came from Jay, Laurie and myself?”

“There could be dozens of tracks around, and it wouldn’t mean anything. The beach is accessible to all the staff and every guest,” Nigel told her.

“Surely there’s something you can do,” Alex said.

“I can see if a body turns up again,” he told her quietly. “Seriously, Alex. The most likely scenario is that the woman wasn’t dead. Maybe she was unconscious but came to while you were up at the lodge. One of you should have stayed here.”

Alex glared at Laurie.

Laurie looked back at her defensively. “Hey, how could I know that a corpse could get up and walk away?”

“A corpse can’t get up and walk away,” Jay interjected impatiently. “Unless the person you saw was not a corpse.”

“We’re going in circles here,” Alex told him.

“This is ridiculous,” he told her. “You pull me out here, make me ruin my good Italian shoes, drag Nigel away from his supper…because you saw someone passed out. Maybe someone in need of help, who you left. Or, more likely, someone playing a joke. A sick joke, yes. But a joke, and you fell for it.”

Alex lifted her hands in exasperation. “All right, fine. There’s nothing I can say or do to make you believe me. Nigel, I’m sorry about your supper. I owe you one. I’m going to take a shower.”

“Wait a minute,” Nigel said. “I’m not ignoring this. I’ll make a check on passengers who took the ferry over today, and, Jay, you check your guest lists. We’ll make sure that everyone is accounted for.”

Alex stood in stony silence.

“Alex, that’s all I can do since there’s no body,” Nigel said patiently. “We’re not New York, D.C., or even Miami. I don’t have a huge forensic department or the manpower to start combing every strand of seaweed, especially since the tide is coming in. Alex, please. I’m not mocking you. It’s just that there is no body.” He turned to Jay. “Get busy on the paperwork, Jay. I’ll handle the ferry records. And, Alex…don’t mention this around, all right?”

She frowned curiously at him. “But—”

“Don’t you dare go alarming the guests with a wild story,” Jay said.

“Actually, I was thinking that if there was a corpse and someone’s hidden it, it might be a very dangerous topic of conversation,” Nigel told her.

“He’s right,” Jay said. He pointed a finger toward Alex. “No mention of this. No mention of it for your own safety.”

“Oh, yeah, right.”

Nigel turned around, looking at the beach. He shook his head and started away.

“Where you going, Nigel?” Jay asked.

“To check on the ferry records,” Nigel called back.

He reached his launch, gave it a shove back to the water and waded around to hop in, then gave them a wave.

Jay stared at Alex and Laurie again. “Not a word, you understand? Not a word. It doesn’t matter if there were a dozen corpses on the beach, Alex, they’re not here now. So keep quiet.”

“Fine. Not a word, Jay,” Alex snapped, walking past him.

“Hey! I’m your boss, remember?” he told her.

She kept walking, Laurie following in her tracks.

“I’m still your boss,” he called after her. “And you owe me a new pair of shoes.”

They were soon out of earshot. “Alex, there really was a corpse, wasn’t there?” Laurie asked. But she sounded uncertain.

“Yes.”

“Perhaps…I mean…couldn’t you have been mistaken?”

“No.” She turned. “I’m going to go take a hot shower and a couple of aspirin. I’ll see you later.”

Laurie nodded, still looking uncertain. “I’m sorry. Jay has a way of twisting things,” Laurie said apologetically.

“I know. Forget it. I’ll see you later.”

She lifted a hand and turned down a slender trail that led through small palms and hibiscus, anxious only to reach her little cottage.

She slid her plastic key from the button pocket of her uniform shorts and inserted it into the lock. The door swung open.

The air was on; the ceiling fan in the whitewashed and rattan-furnished living-room area was whirling away. The coolness struck her pleasantly.

She walked through the living area and into the small kitchen, pausing to pull a wine cooler from the refrigerator. She uncapped it quickly and moved on, anxious to flop down on the sofa out on the porch. She opened the floor-to-ceiling glass doors and went out, actually glad of the wave of warmth outside, tempered by the feel of the night breeze and the hypnotic whirl of another ceiling fan.

But even as she fell into a chair, she tensed, sitting straight up and staring across to the charming white gingerbread railing, too startled by a figure looming in the shadows of coming twilight to scream. Then she took a deep breath of relief when she recognized who it was.

It wasn’t just anyone planted on her porch.

It was David.

He was wearing nothing but swim trunks, broad, bronzed shoulders gleaming, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the rail. He was very still, and yet, as it had always been with him, it seemed that he emanated energy, as if any moment he would move like a streak of lightning.

Her heart lurched. He was so familiar. How many times had she seen him like this and walked up to him, wherever they were, sliding her fingers down his naked back, sometimes feeling the heat of the sun and sometimes just that of the man? She had loved the way he had turned to her in response and taken her into the curl of his arm.

How many times had it led to so much more? There had been those days when, just in from the water, he had been speaking to a TV camera, holding her as he talked, then had suddenly turned to her, and she had seen a sudden light rise in his eyes. She could remember the way he would move, his attention only for her, as he excused himself, smiled and led her away. By the time they reached a private spot, they would both be breathless, laughing and pulling at the few pieces of clothing they were wearing. He could move with such languid, sinewy power; the tone of his voice could change so easily; the lightest brush of his fingers could evoke a thousand rays of pure sensuality. And she had been so desperately, insanely eager to know them all.

But then, that had been in the days when it had mattered to him that she was with him.

He didn’t smile now. His deep blue eyes were grave as he surveyed her. She’d seen him cold and distant like this, as well, the light in his eyes almost predatory.

“David,” she said dryly, pushing away the past, forcing herself to forget the intimacy and remember only what it had been like once she had determined to pursue her own career and he had begun to travel without her. Days, weeks, even a month…gone. Not even a telephone call, once he was with his true love. The sea.

And those who traveled it with him.

“Alex,” he responded. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

“So it appears. Well, how nice to see you. Here. On my porch. My personal porch, my private space. Gee, this is great.” Her tone couldn’t have held more acidity.

“Thanks.” Her welcome hadn’t been sincere. Neither was his gratitude. But there was no mistaking the seriousness of his next words.

“So,” he said, “tell me about the body you found—the one that disappeared from the beach.”

Chapter Three

“What?” she said sharply.

“You heard me. Tell me about the body.” He uncoiled from his position, coming toward her, taking a chair near hers. He was close, too close, and she instantly felt wary and, despite herself, unnerved. They’d been apart for a year, and she still felt far too familiar with the rugged planes of his face, the bronzed contours of his hands and fingers, idly folded now before him.

She managed to sit back, eyeing him with dignity and, she hoped, a certain disdain.

“What the hell are you doing on my porch? There’s a lobby for guests.”

“Get off it. You must have been in a panic. And Jay probably behaved like an asshole.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m trying to help you out.”

“If you want to help me out, get off the island.”

“Am I making you uneasy?”

“You bet,” she told him flatly.

That drew a smile to his lips. “Missed me, huh?”

She sat farther forward, setting her wine cooler on the rattan coffee table, preparing to rise.

“I assume you have a room. Why don’t you go put some clothes on.”

“Ah, that’s it. Can’t take the sight of my naked chest. It’s making you hot, huh?”

“More like leaving me cold,” she said icily. “Now go away, please.”

His smile faded for a moment. “Don’t worry. I know you want me to leave. I haven’t forgotten that you had the divorce papers sent to me without a word.”

“What was left to say?” she asked with what she hoped was quiet dignity.

“Hmm, let me think. Maybe your reasons for leaving me?”

She got to her feet. “You want the truth? I couldn’t take it. I was so in love with you, it hurt all the time. You were all that mattered to me. My dolphins were far too tame for you—and far too unimportant. Our agreement that we’d spend time dedicated to my pursuits didn’t mean a thing—not if a sunken ship turned up or a shark-research expedition was formed. Then it came to the point when I said you were welcome to go off even when you were supposed to be helping me—and you went. And then that became a way of life. There’s the story in a nutshell. You were gone long before I sent those papers. And sometime in there, I got over you. I love working with dolphins. No, it isn’t like finding a Spanish galleon, or even locating a yacht that went down ten years ago, maybe. But I love it. What you apparently needed, or wanted, was a different kind of wife. Either a pretty airhead who would follow you endlessly, or…someone as fanatic about treasure as you are. So go to your room and put some clothes on, or take a stroll over to the Tiki Hut and give someone else a thrill.”

She started inside, hoping he would stop her. Not because she wanted to be near him, but because he knew about the body.

Her back to him, she suddenly wondered how he knew. The question left her with a very uneasy feeling.

“Alexandra, whatever anger you’re feeling toward me, whatever I did or didn’t do, I swear, I’m just trying to help you now.”

She spun around. “How do you know about the body, anyway? Jay gave me very direct orders not to mention it to anyone.”

He cocked his head slightly. “Jay’s assistant talks.”

“What did you do? Flirt with Len, too?”

He arched an eyebrow, curiously, slowly. She wished she could take back the comment. It made it appear as if…as if jealousy had been the driving factor in her quest for freedom. And it hadn’t been.

Thankfully, David didn’t follow up on her comment. “I don’t think Len could contain himself. He tried to be smooth and cool, but I guess he feels he knows me and that I’m intelligent enough not to repeat what he said. He told me you’d all gone off in search of a body, and then it turned out to be gone. I overheard Jay tell him that part.”

She stood very still, watching him for a long moment. “You know, I came back here to be alone.”

“So talk to me, then I’ll leave you alone.”

“You know, this is very strange. Most people would scoff at the idea immediately. Bodies don’t turn up on a daily basis. And yet…it sounds as if you think that there…should have been a body.”

“No,” he corrected. “I didn’t say I thought there should be a body.”

Alex pressed her fingers to her temples. “I can’t do this,” she said.

She was startled when he suddenly moved close to her. “Alex, please. If there was a body, and you saw it—you could be in danger.”

She sighed. “Not if no one knows about the body.”

“But I know, so others could, as well.”

“You said Len only told you about it because he trusts you.”

“Others might have overheard.”

“Just what do you want?”

He was no more than an inch from her. He still carried the scent of salt and the sea, and it was a compelling mixture. She looked away.

“I don’t want anything. I’m deeply concerned. Alex, don’t you understand? You could be in danger!” His hands fell on her shoulders then. It was suddenly like old times. “You have to listen to me.”

She’d heard the words before. Felt his hands before. Memories of being crushed against that chest stirred within her. She didn’t want to believe that she had once been so in love with him just because he was so distinctively male and sensual. There had been times when they were together when his smile had been so quick, and then so lazy, when just a finger trailing across her bare arm or shoulder had…

“David, let go of me,” she said, stepping back.

His eyes were narrowed, hard. She’d seen them that way before, when he was intent on getting to the bottom of something.

“Talk to me, Alex.”

“All right. Yes, Jay acted like an asshole. Yes, I’m convinced I saw a body. A woman. A blonde. Other than that…I couldn’t see her face. The angle of her body was wrong, and she was tangled in seaweed. When we went back, she was gone. Even Laurie, who saw the body first, wasn’t sure we’d seen it anymore. She didn’t actually go near the body even when it was there. Anyway, there was no corpse. So, are you happy?”

He didn’t look happy. Actually, for a moment, he appeared ashen. She wanted to touch his face, but he was still David. Solid as rock.

“Please, will you leave me alone?” she asked him.

His voice was strange, scratchy, when he spoke. “I can’t leave you alone. Not now,” he said. And yet, contrary to his words, he turned and left her porch, disappearing along the back trail that led, in a roundabout way, to the other cottages and the lodge.

She stared after him, suddenly feeling the overwhelming urge to burst into tears. “Damn it, I got over you,” she grated out. “And here you are again, driving me crazy, making me doubt myself…and not doubt myself,” she finished softly.

She realized suddenly that twilight was coming.

And that she was afraid.

David had almost made her forget. No matter what anyone said, she’d seen a body on the beach. That was shattering in itself, but then the body had disappeared.

She slipped back inside, locking the sliding-glass door behind her. Then she looked outside and saw the shadows of dusk stretching out across the landscape.

She drew the curtains, uneasily checked her front door, and at last—after opening and finishing a new wine cooler—she managed to convince herself to take a shower.

David sat at a table at the Tiki Hut, watching Alex. Not happily. He had been sitting with Jay Galway, who hadn’t mentioned Alex’s discovery, naturally. There might be a major exodus from the lodge if word got out that a mysterious body had been found, then disappeared, and Galway would never stand for that.

During their conversation, David had asked Jay casually about recent guests, and any news in the world of salvage or the sea, and Jay had been just as cool, shrugging, and saying that, with summer in full swing, most of their guests were tourists, eager to swim with the dolphins, or snorkel or dive on the Florida reef. Naturally—that was what they were set up to do.

David had showered, changed and made a few phone calls in the time since he’d left Alex. He’d still arrived before her.

If she’d seen him at the table, she’d given him no notice, heading straight for the table where John Seymore was sitting with Hank Adamson. They were chatting now, and he had the feeling that part of Alex’s bubbling enthusiasm and the little intimate touches she was giving Seymore were strictly for his benefit, her message clear: Leave me the hell alone, hands off, I’ve moved on.

How far would it go?

All right, one way or the other, he would have been jealous, but now he was really concerned.

A woman’s body had been found on the beach, and he had not heard back from Alicia Farr—who was a blonde.

David couldn’t stop the reel playing through his head.

From what he’d overheard, Jay was convinced a trick had been played, or that Alex had assumed a dozing sunbather was a corpse. David didn’t see that as a possibility. Alex was far too intelligent, and she wouldn’t have walked away without assuring herself that the body no longer maintained the least semblance of a vital sign.

A trick? Maybe.

Real corpses didn’t get up and walk away, but they could be moved.

If there had been a real corpse and it had been moved, it had been moved by someone on the island. That meant Alex could be in serious danger. After all, Len had told David what was going on, so who knew who else he might have told?

An ex–navy SEAL, maybe? The perfect blond hero—but was that the truth behind John Seymore being at Moon Bay?

Hopefully he would find out soon enough.

“So?”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” David said, realizing that Jay had been talking away, but he hadn’t heard a word.

“Well? Is it a photojournalism thing or a salvage dive?”

“What…?”

“Your next excursion,” Jay said.

“Oh…well, I was looking into something, but my source seems to have dried up,” David told Jay. My key source either dried up, or was killed and washed up on your beach, and then disappeared, he thought. Then his attention was caught by Alex again.

The band was playing a rumba. She was up and in John Seymore’s arms. Head cast back, she was laughing at whatever he had to say. Her eyes were like gems. She was beautifully decked out in heels and a soft yellow halter dress that emphasized both her tan and her tall, sinewy length. Her long hair was free and a true golden blond, almost surreal in the light of the torches that burned here by night.

The lights were actually bug repellents. There was no escaping the fact that when you had foliage like this, you had bugs. But the glow they gave everything, especially Alex, was almost hypnotic.

David turned to Jay. “Sure you haven’t heard about anything?” he asked him.

“Me?” Galway laughed. “Hell, I’m a hanger-on. The big excitement in my life is when I get a taste of something because of the big-timers—like you.”

“Well, I’m looking at the moment,” David told him. “So, if you do get wind of anything, anything at all, I’d like to know.”

“You’d be the first one I’d go to,” Jay assured him solemnly.

“Interesting that you’d say so—with Seth Granger here and ready to pay.” And in the Tiki Hut at that moment, David realized. Granger was a big man and in excellent shape for his sixty-odd years. He was speaking with Ally Conroy, mother of Zach, at the bar. She was at least twenty years his junior, but he’d gathered from their bits of conversation before the swim that she was a widow, worried about rearing her son alone. Seth wasn’t all that well-liked by many people, yet Ally seemed to be giving him the admiration he craved. Maybe they were a perfect fit.

“Seth…well, you know. He’s always looking for something to bug his way into. Hell, why not? He’s rich, and he loves the sea, and he’d like to make a name for himself in his retirement years. Don’t you love it? Tons of money, no real knowledge, yet he wants to be right in the thick of things. Executive turned explorer.”

“Why not?” David said with a shrug. “Most expeditions need financial backing.”

“Yeah, why not? It’s what I’d love to do myself. I’ve got a great job here, mind you—but I sure wish I had his resources. Or your reputation. Every major corporation out there with a water-related product to sell is willing to finance you—even on a total wild-goose chase.”

“You know me—game for anything that has to do with the water,” David murmured absently.

Alex was leaning very close to John Seymore now. In a moment she’d be spilling out of her dress.

“Excuse me,” he said to Jay, rising, then went up to the couple on the floor. Alex wouldn’t be happy, but if John Seymore was really such an all-right kind of guy—or even pretending to be one—he would show him the courtesy of allowing him to cut in.

A tap on Seymore’s shoulder assured him that he had correctly assessed the situation. The other man, his eyes full of confident good humor, stepped back.

Alex gave David a look of sheer venom. But she wasn’t going to cause a scene in the Tiki Hut. She slipped into his arms.

“What are you doing?” she asked him.

“Dancing.”

“You know I don’t want to dance with you.”

He ignored her and said, “I guess you haven’t had a chance to talk with Seymore yet.”

“John and I have done lots of talking.”

“Well, I happened to mention to him one of the reasons I’m here.”

“And it has something to do with me?”

“Definitely.”

She arched a delicate eyebrow. “I guess you’re going to tell me—whether I want to know or not.”

“We’re not divorced.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said sharply. “I filed papers, you signed them.”

“I don’t quite get it myself, but apparently there was some little legal flaw. I must not have signed on all the dotted lines. The documents were never properly filed, and therefore the decision was declared null and void. I know what a busy woman you are, but I need to ask you when would be a good time to get together with my lawyer and rectify the situation.”

She wasn’t even pretending to dance anymore. She just stood on the floor, staring at him. His arms were still around her, tendrils of silky soft, newly washed blond hair slipping over his hands, teasing in their sensuality. He knew he needed to move away, but he didn’t.

“That’s impossible!” she exclaimed.

“Sorry.”

She stared at him, still amazed. “I don’t…I…can’t…”

“Look, Alex, I know how eager you are to be completely rid of me. I’m sorry. But as of this moment, we are still married.”

He wondered if lightning would come out of the sky to strike him dead.

It didn’t.

God must have understood his situation.

“It’s…it’s impossible,” she repeated.

He shrugged, as if in complete understanding of her dismay. “I’m sorry.”

Something hardened in the depths of her ever-changing, sea-green eyes. “I’ll make time to see your attorney.”

“Great. We’ll set it up. Well, lover boy is waiting, so I’ll let you go in a sec. But first I need you to listen to me. Alex, I’m begging you, listen to me. You’ve got to be careful.”

She pulled back, searching his eyes, then shaking her head. “David, I understand why you’re here, and frankly, I’m surprised you took the time to actually ask me what would be convenient for me. But I don’t quite get this sudden interest. Where’s Bebe whats-her-name? Or the thin-but-oh-so-stacked Alicia Farr, the Harvard scholar?”

Her question sent an eerie chill up his spine. I think she’s your disappearing body.

“Alex, I’m afraid you’re in danger.” His words, he realized, sounded stiff and cold.

She shook her head. “No one else believes I discovered a corpse. Why should you?”

He hesitated for a minute. “I know you,” he told her. “You’re not a fool. You would have looked closely enough to know.”

“Well, thanks for the compliment. I wish Nigel Thompson felt that way. I couldn’t get through to him that though it’s improbable that a body was really there and somehow moved, it’s not impossible. So if you’ll let me off the dance floor…?”

He released her. But as she started to step past him, he caught her arm. She looked up, and for a moment, her eyes were vulnerable. Her scent seemed to wrap around him, caress him.

“Don’t trust anyone,” he said.

“I certainly don’t trust you.”

He pulled her back around to face him. “You know what? I’ve about had it with this.”

“Oh, you have, have you?”

“I got a long lecture. You can have one, too. You read a lot into a number of situations that just wasn’t there. You never had the right not to trust me. It was just that, to you, the minute a phone or a radio didn’t work, I had to be doing something. With someone. And you know what, Alex? That kind of thing gets really old, really quick.”

“Sorry, but it’s over anyway, isn’t it? You received the divorce papers and said, ‘Hey, go right ahead.’You were probably thankful you didn’t have to deal with any annoying baggage anymore. And now you’re suddenly going to be my champion, defending me from a danger that doesn’t exist?”

“Alex, you know me. You know what kind of man I am. Hell, hate me ‘til the sun falls from the sky, but trust me right now.”

“There are dozens of people here. I don’t think I’m in any danger in the middle of the Tiki Hut. And trust you?” She sounded angry, then a slow smile curved her lips.

“What?”

“I just find it rather amusing that you’re suddenly so determined to enjoy my company. There were so many times when…well, never mind.”

He stared at her blankly for a moment. “What are you talking about?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. It’s over.”

“Actually, it’s not,” he said. Again he waited for lightning to strike. Not that it should. He was doing this out of a very real fear for her life.

She waved a hand in the air. “All over but the shouting,” she murmured.

“Maybe that’s what we were lacking—the shouting.”

“Great. We should have had a few more fights?”

It was strange, he thought, but this was almost a conversation, a real one.

And then John Seymore chose that exact moment to return, tapping him on the shoulder. “Since you’re on the dance floor and not actually dancing…?”

“And it’s a salsa,” Alex put in.

“Salsa?” John murmured. “I’m not sure I know what I’m doing, but—”

“I do,” David said quickly, grinning, and catching Alex in his arms once again. “I’ll bring her back for the next number.”

“Since when do you salsa?” Alex demanded as they began to move.

“Since a friend married a dance instructor,” he told her.

She seemed startled, but he really did know what he was doing. He’d never imagined the dance instruction he’d so recently received from a friend’s wife would pay off so quickly. Alex was good, too. She’d probably honed her skills working here, being pleasant to the guests in the Tiki Hut at night.

After a minute, though, he wasn’t quite sure what he had gained. They looked good together on the floor, and he knew it. But the music was fast, so conversation was impossible. At the end of the song he managed to lead her into a perfect dip, so at least he was rewarded by the amazement in her eyes as they met his.

In fact, she stayed in his arms for several extra seconds, staring up at him before realizing that the music had ended and the gathering in the Tiki Hut was applauding them.

He grinned slowly as she straightened, then pushed against his chest. “The dance is over,” she said firmly, then walked quickly away.

“You really are a man of many talents.”

Turning, he saw Alex’s assistant, the pretty young blonde. She was leaning against the edge of the rustic wood bar.

“Thanks.”

“Do you cha-cha?” she asked, smiling.

“Yes, I do,” he said.

“Well, will you ask me? Or are you making me ask you?”

“Laurie, I would love to dance with you,” he said gallantly.

As they moved, she asked him frankly, “Why on earth did you two ever split up?”

“Actually, I don’t really know,” he told her.

“I bet I do,” she told him. “You must be pretty high maintenance.”

“High maintenance? I’m great at taking care of myself. I may not be a gourmet, but I can cook. I know every button on a washing machine. I usually even remember to put down the toilet seat.”

She laughed. “Well, there you go.”

“Excuse me? How is that high maintenance?”

“You don’t need anybody,” she said. “So it’s high maintenance for someone to figure out what they can do for you.”

She wasn’t making any sense, but she was sincere, and she made him smile.

Then the music came to an end, and he regretted that he had been so determined on proving his mettle with Alex, because he found himself being asked to dance by almost every woman in the Tiki Hut.

And somewhere, in the middle of a mambo, he realized that Alex had slipped away—and so had John Seymore.

Somehow, just when things had begun looking a little brighter, David had walked back into her life, and now he was ruining everything.

John’s arm sat casually around her shoulders as they strolled toward her cottage. “Hate to admit it,” he said casually, “but you two looked great out there. Did you spend a lot of time out dancing while you were married?”

“No. We didn’t spend much time together doing anything—other than diving for treasure or facing great whites or experiencing some other thrill.”

“Strange,” he said.

“What?”

“The way you sound. You love the sea so much, too.”

“Actually? I’m not into sharks. I was terrified every time I went into the water with them, but with the crew of hard-core fanatics that always seemed to be around, I didn’t want to look like a coward. I love the sea, yes. But I’m into warm-blooded, friendly creatures, myself.”

“You really love your dolphins, huh?”

She shrugged, liking the way his arm felt around her, but feeling a sense of discomfort, as well.

David. Telling her that they were still married. But they weren’t; they hadn’t been for a year. Not in any way that mattered. All he was talking about was legality. His words shouldn’t mean a thing.

Except that…

She was traditional. She’d been raised Catholic.

Damn David. He would know her thought process, that she would feel that she shouldn’t be with another man, that it wouldn’t be right, and…

Just how many women had he been with in the last year? What was wrong with her that she couldn’t see how ridiculous it was for her to be concerned over anything he had to say? Why had seeing him again made her uncertain, when she knew that an easy confidence and charm were just a part of his nature?

“I do love my dolphins,” she said, realizing she had been silent for too long after his question. “They are the most incredible animals. What I like most is that they seem to study us just as we study them, and just as we learn their behavior, they learn what our behavior is going to be. Sometimes their affinity for man, especially in the wild, can be dangerous for them, but still, the communication we can share is just amazing.”

“They are incredible,” he agreed. “I’ve seen them used in the navy in the most remarkable ways. Never worked with them myself,” he added quickly. “But I’ve seen what they can do.”

They had reached her porch. Strange, her thoughts had been filled with David’s behavior—she wished she could begin to understand the male of her own species half as well as she understood her dolphins—and then with John’s company, which, she had to admit, she had found all the more intoxicating just because she knew that it disturbed David.

Now, despite the light burning on her back porch, it seemed that the shadows of night were all around her, and she remembered the body on the beach. It wasn’t that she had ever forgotten, but despite her determination, the doubts of others had crept into her mind.

Was she insane, thinking the woman had been dead?

Or was she more insane now, trying to do what Jay had demanded, keep silent about the possibility of a body on the beach?

John had escorted her up the two wooden steps to her little back porch, with its charming, gingerbread railing. They were standing by her back door.

He was probably waiting to be invited in.

And just this morning, she had thought that if this moment came, she would invite him in.

She mentally damned her ex-husband again. Her almost-ex-husband.

She smiled up at John Seymore. His dimple was showing as he offered her a rueful smile.

“You’re really something,” he said.

“So are you,” she murmured. Blond hair, handsome face, shoulders to die for, arms that were wonderfully secure…

She slipped into them. He lowered his mouth to hers, and she allowed herself the kiss, but she couldn’t stop herself from analyzing it. Firm mouth, coercive, not demanding, fingers gently suggestive in her hair, tongue teasing at her lips, slipping into her mouth, warm, very warm, definitely seductive…

On a physical level, he was incredible.

So if she could just forget about David…

She couldn’t. Not when he was here, on the island, so irritatingly in-her-face.

She stepped back, stroking John’s cheek.

“You’re around for a little while longer, right?” she inquired softly, hoping he understood her signals. I’m interested, but it’s been a very long and strange day…

“I can arrange to be around for a very, very long time,” he told her. Then he grinned. “I’d like to come in. But I understand perfectly. Okay, well, not perfectly, and I am disappointed, wishing I could be sleeping with you tonight.”

She felt a flush touch her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to…lead you on, to suggest…”

“You didn’t. You’re just the most fascinating woman I’ve met in aeons, and…hell, good night. I’ll be around.”

“I—well, I know you’ve been talking to David. We are divorced. There’s just some ridiculous technicality.”

“I’m not worried about a technicality,” he told her.

“Neither am I.”

“But I will step back if the technicality isn’t just on paper, if it’s something a lot deeper.”

His words made her like him all the more. He wasn’t about to step into the middle of a triangle, or be secondstring to any other man.

“It’s only a technicality—really.” She meant to sound sincere. She wasn’t sure if she really was or not. And she wasn’t sure what he heard in her denial.

“Well…” he murmured.

He drew her to him, kissed her forehead. Then he walked down the steps, and started back along the foliage-bordered path.

She watched him disappear, realized she hadn’t opened her door, and felt the pressure of the night and the shadows again. She quickly slid her key into the bolt for the glass doors, then stepped inside, feeling a rise of anger. She had never felt afraid here before, ever.

And now…

Though the image had faded for a moment due to skepticism and doubt, she could now vividly recall the corpse on the beach. A corpse that had disappeared.

She locked the door, making certain it was secure; then, still feeling an almost panicky unease, she walked through the little Florida room, kitchen and living room, assuring herself that windows were tightly closed and the front door was locked.

Damn David a million times over for both the trials haunting her tonight. If it hadn’t been for him, John Seymore would be inside with her. Then she wouldn’t be afraid of the shadows, or the memories stirring in her mind.

She slipped through the hallway to the first of the two bedrooms in the cottage, the one she used for an office area. She checked the window there and even opened the closet door.

David’s suggestion that she might be in danger seemed to be invading her every nerve. But the office was empty and secure.

Finally she went to her own room, found it safe, then prepared for bed and slipped under the covers. The night-light she kept on in the bathroom had always provided her with more than enough illumination, but tonight it only added to the shadows.

Usually the sound of the waves and the sea breeze rustling through the trees was soothing, but tonight…

She lay there for several seconds. Waves…breeze…palms. Foliage that seemed to whisper softly in the night, usually so pleasant…

A sudden thumping sound startled her so badly that she nearly screamed aloud. She did jump out of bed.

She’d heard a thump, as if something heavy had just landed on her roof.

She stood dead still, waiting. And waiting…

Nothing, no sound at all. Had she been deceived? The sound might have come from elsewhere…

Or might not have come at all.

She almost let out a loud sigh of pure frustration, but swallowed it back, and slowly, silently, tiptoed from her bedroom.

Into the hall…through to the kitchen. From there she could see both the living room and the little Florida room and the glass doors that led out back. The curtain was partially open. Had she left it that way?

The noise had come from the roof. There was a fireplace in the living area of each of the cottages. Despite the fact that this was sunny Florida, in the winter, during the few days that dipped into the forties or even the thirties, a fire was incredibly nice. But the chimney was far too small for a man to slip through.

So she was safe. There was nothing.

She was letting the simple sounds of nature slip into her psyche and scare her because she was still so unnerved by the happenings of the day.

A coconut had probably fallen off a palm. Still, just to be sure…

She walked to the back, trying to stay behind the curtain, then peeked out the glass. She pulled the drape back just a little more…

And screamed.

Chapter Four

Everyone was gone, Laurie thought. First Alex and John, then David. There were people around, but the Tiki Hut seemed empty. The band had reverted to calypso, very pleasant but also, in her current state of mind, sleep inducing.

Alex was crazy. She’d been married to David Denhem and divorced him.

Alex had never been to Date Tournament. Had she realized what was out there, she would undoubtedly still be married.

Maybe Alex thought that nights spent at a place like Date Tournament were simply not in her future. Then again, maybe she would never have such a night—because there was something about Alex that attracted men.

Laurie wished she had that innate…thing, whatever it was. Maybe it would come with age, but Alex was only three years her senior. Well, maybe things weren’t as perfect as they seemed for Alex, either.

“You’re up late, aren’t you?”

She started. It was Hank Adamson. She hadn’t seen him before, but the Tiki Hut had been hopping, earlier, so he could have been lost in the crowd.

She saw Jay Galway on the other side of the bar, conversing with Seth Granger and a few of the other guests. He was staring at her—glaring, really—and giving her a big smile. Sign language, Jay Galway style. She was supposed to be as nice as possible, suck up big-time.

She gave an imperceptible nod to Jay and smiled as instructed at Hank. He slid out the chair opposite her and sat. “Okay if I join you and ask a few questions?”

“Sure.”

In his lanky way, he was actually very attractive, she realized.

He grinned. “You look so wary.”

“Do I? Well, we all know that the pen is very powerful.”

“Update to computer,” he said dryly.

“Okay, the written word—no matter how it’s written.”

“Honestly, you don’t have to be so cautious. I didn’t come to do a simple review. I’m going to do a whole piece on the place.”

“A good piece—or a bad piece?”

“Good, bad…truthful.”

“We’re a good place,” she said.

His grin deepened. “Actually, yes, Moon Bay does seem to follow through on every promise it makes. That’s what’s important. A little mom-and-pop establishment can get a great write-up, as long as it delivers on what it offers.”

“Um, we’re not exactly mom-and-pop,” Laurie murmured.

“No, but so far, I’ve gotten a good bang for my buck, and that’s what matters.”

Laurie smiled. “That’s great. I love Moon Bay. It’s not just that I work here—I really love it. It’s a wonderful place for a vacation.”

“With the happiness and well-being of the guests foremost in everyone’s mind at all times?”

“Yes, of course…” Laurie murmured, looking down at her hands suddenly. Was that true? What if that hadn’t been a prank on the beach today? If Alex had been right, and a woman had been dead—and what if the killer had come back, aware that the body had washed up, and moved it?

“What is it?” She suddenly knew why Hank Adamson was considered so good. He asked casual questions; people gave casual answers. So casual you didn’t realize that your mind was wandering off and that you were about to betray your real thoughts.

“What is what?” she asked innocently.

“You were about to say something. Do you feel that maybe, just sometimes, management isn’t as concerned with safety as they should be? I’d never quote you by name.”

Laurie stared at him and smiled slowly. “Well…” She leaned on the table, edging closer to him.

He did the same, anxious to hear whatever dirt she had to dish.

She leaned back. “Sorry, I don’t have a bad thing to say about the place.”

Adamson sat back, as well, obviously disappointed. He shook his head. “If there was something going on…something big, do you think that the employees would get wind of it?”

“Like what? The president arriving, or something like that?”

“No…like Moon Bay being involved in…something.”

“Drugs? Here? Never,” she assured him.

“I wasn’t referring to drugs,” he assured her.

She laughed softly. “Illegal immigrants? Not with Jay around. He wouldn’t hire an illegal if his life depended on it.”

“Not illegals,” Hank said.

“Just what are you getting at?” she demanded.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I was hoping you did.”

“That makes no sense. This is a resort, specially licensed for work with sea mammals. What could be going on?” Other than a body that appeared on the beach, then disappeared.

“Have you ever heard of a woman named Alicia Farr?” Adamson asked her.

“Sure. She’s almost like a young, female Jacques Cousteau.”

“Have you ever met her?”

“Nope. I think she’s friends, kind of, with Alex. She’s worked with David Denham. I’m pretty sure Jay Galway has worked with her, too.”

“She hasn’t been here, then, in the last couple of weeks?”

“Not unless she’s been hiding in the bushes.” Laurie was actually enjoying her conversation with him now. She’d had a few Tiki Hut specials, but she always watched her drinking here. And she could stand up to a grilling by a man like Hank Adamson. “Is she supposed to be here?”

“There was a rumor she was going to be, but I guess it wasn’t true.”

“I guess not.”

“You’re sure she’s not here?” he persisted.

“There are private cottages here, twenty of them. Eight of them belong to the staff, and twelve are rented out. But this is an island. Room service is the only way to get food. There’s a little convenience shop in the lobby, a boutique…but, honestly, I think it would be pretty hard for someone to hide out in one of the cottages. Maid service is in and out, engineering…I’m pretty sure she wasn’t here. We’re off the Middle Keys, and there are lots of secluded places on the other islands. Maybe she’s on one of them. I’m sorry to disappoint you—were you really trying to get a story on her?”

“I am doing an article on Moon Bay,” he told her. “You know how it is, though. Lots of times, reporters get wind of a bigger story while they’re in the middle of something more routine.”

“So if you’d run into Alicia Farr here, that would have been nice, right?”

“It would have been interesting,” he said. “You do know what she looks like, right? You’d know her if you saw her?”

“Sure. I’ve seen lots of articles on her. And I’ve seen her on television,” Laurie said with a shrug.

She yawned suddenly, and quickly covered her mouth with her hand. “Sorry.” She was. He was appealing in his lanky way, but he wasn’t interested in her—only what she might know. And she had no intention of telling him anything. She’d been ordered not to mention Alex’s certainty that she’d seen a corpse, and she wouldn’t.

She rose. “Please excuse me. Saturdays are very long here. People coming down from Dade County, locals who just like to come eat at the restaurant. The place is always busy.”

He had risen along with her. “Thanks,” he told her quietly.

“Sure. This place really is wonderful. I’m not lying, or just trying to keep my job by saying that. And Alex…well, there’s no one better.”

“So they say,” he murmured, then asked politely. “Can I walk you to your cottage?”

“I don’t rate a cottage—not yet,” she told him with a shrug. “I just take the trail back to the fork in the road and head for the staff quarters. I’ll be fine.” She grinned to take the sting out of her next words, moved a step closer to him, and whispered, “Feel free to go question another employee. You’ll find out every word I said was true.”

He had the grace to flush. She gave him a wave and made her way past two couples on the dance floor, both a little inebriated, but heck, they weren’t driving anywhere. If you were going to feel the influence of alcohol, this was the place to do it.

She could hear the band long after she had left the Tiki Hut behind. She started off thinking nothing of the night or the shadows, the trails were lit by torches—not like the ones at the Tiki Hut, which were real, but electrical torches made to give the grounds an island feel. Still…

Once the Tiki Hut was well behind her and the noise from it had dimmed, she thought the night seemed especially dark. Strange, because her dad had shown her once before how the glow that radiated from Miami—sixty or seventy miles away, still extended this far when the sky was clear. But clouds were out tonight. It was storm season, of course. They’d had several nice days in the last week, though, she mused.

Nice days. A few with calm seas, a few others when the water was choppy. But then, the water didn’t have to be wild to carry something—like a corpse—to the shore.

She stopped dead suddenly and instinctively, some inner defense aware of a rustling noise. She felt the hair rising at her nape.

She spun around. Nothing. But the bushes seemed to be very, very dark.

She had a sudden, vivid and ridiculous image of a corpse stalking her along the trail…

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said aloud to herself.

But then…a rustling in the bushes…

She stared in the direction from which the noise had come, her heart racing a million miles an hour. Slowly, she made a circle where she stood, looking around.

The noise came again. She spun sharply, staring into the brush once again.

Then…a fat possum waddled out from the bushes and moved slowly across the path.

She let out her pent-up breath and giggled.

Then she turned, ready to set out along the path again. Instead she plowed into something dark and solid, and before her numbed mind could react, arms reached around her.

“Alex, for the love of God!”

David’s voice was muted by the glass, but his impatience was evident. She was so relieved to realize that he was the figure on the porch that she didn’t really think. She opened the sliding-glass doors, but she had to yell.

“You son of a bitch! What the hell are you doing out there? You nearly scared the life out of me.”

He pushed his way in. It was dark, only the lights in front of the house illuminating the area around them. She could see that he still looked like a million bucks, dressed in dark chinos, a red tailored shirt and a light jacket.

She rued the fact that she was wearing a tattered T-shirt with the words “Moon Bay” embroidered in powder blue against a deep aqua background. She was equally sorry that it was very short. Silly. Even if they hadn’t been married and she didn’t have every inch of his anatomy etched into her memory forever, they spent their lives in bathing suits. She wondered why the T-shirt made her feel so naked. And vulnerable.

He walked through the cottage, checking the front door, looking around. “Is there any other way in here?” he asked, turning around slowly and studying the living room.

“Abracadabra?” she suggested.

“Cute, Alex. Is there any other way in here?”

“Front door, back door, as you can see.”

He ignored her and headed for the small hallway that led to the bedrooms and bath.

“Hey!” she protested. She started to follow him, then paused, determined that the last place she wanted to be with him was a bedroom.

A moment later, he was back.

She frowned slightly, realizing he looked as if he had been running his fingers through his hair. She turned on the kitchen lights and stared at him once again. He looked tense. He reminded her of a shark, giving the impression of deceptive ease, while eyeing his prey to strike.

“What the hell are you doing?” she demanded.

“There was someone walking around your cottage, looking in the windows. I chased him around one side…and lost him,” he told her.

“If there’s anyone slinking around here,” she said softly, “it’s you.”

He threw up his hands. “Alex, I’m serious.”

“And I’m serious, too.”

“Get this straight—I’m concerned.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she said firmly, “David, get this straight. You don’t need to be concerned about me. I don’t care about a technicality. We’re not married anymore. I might not have been here alone.”

“Actually, knowing you, you do care about a technicality,” he informed her.

He was far too relaxed. “You followed me,” she accused him. “You followed me when I was with another man, who was more than capable of taking care of me if I’d been in any danger.”

“Alex, I don’t really know that guy, and neither do you, and most important,” he said very softly and seriously, “we are talking about a life-and-death situation.”

She suddenly saw the man she knew from television, interviews and even, once upon a time, her personal life. The ultimate professional. Reeking of authority and command. Absolute in his conviction.

And for some reason, she shivered.

The woman on the beach had been dead. No matter what anyone tried to tell her. There had, beyond a doubt, been a corpse.

And it had disappeared.

“Maybe you’d like to explain it to me,” she said.

He stared at her for a long moment. “I keep thinking you’re better off, the less you know,” he said quietly.

“Why? You already think I’m in some kind of danger.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Why?”

“You found a body on the beach. A body that disappeared.”

She shook her head, watching him warily. “We’ve been through this. Jay and the sheriff were both certain I was duped.”

“But you know it was true.”

She wished so badly that she didn’t feel such a desperate desire to keep her distance from him at all costs. Because she did know him. And she knew that he believed her. It wasn’t necessary for him to have been there—he believed her.

“If you’re so convinced, there must be a reason,” she said flatly.

“Want to put some coffee on?” he suggested.

“No.”

“Mind if I do?”

“Yes.” Even as she spoke, she knew he would ignore her. He gave her a glance as if she was behaving like a spoiled child and moved into the kitchen. His arm brushed hers as he strode past her, and she felt as if she’d been burned.

Apparently he hadn’t even noticed. He was heading for the cupboard above the coffeepot.

“Would you stop making yourself at home here, please?” she said, walking past him and shoving him out of the way. “I’ll make coffee. You talk.”

“What did she look like? The woman on the beach. What did she look like?”

She turned around and stared at him. “Like…a woman. Blonde.”

“You didn’t recognize her?” He stepped past her, impatiently taking the carafe and starting the coffee.

“Recognize her?” Alex said, startled.

“Yes, did you know who she might be?”

“No. She was at a strange angle. And she had long…or longish hair. It was covering her face. I touched her throat, looking for a pulse. And then…I don’t know how to describe it exactly, but there was no way not to know she was dead.”

“But you let them convince you that she couldn’t have been, that you were wrong, and she just got up and walked away?” he demanded.

There was a note of disappointment in his tone.

“The sheriff was there,” she told him sharply. “He doubted me. There was no body. What the hell was I supposed to do?”

He turned his back on her, opening a cupboard door.

“Cups are over here,” she said impatiently, producing two from another cabinet.

He poured the coffee. He drank his black, so she was startled when he went to the refrigerator, absently taking out the milk to put a few drops into hers.

She accepted the coffee, watching him, feeling again an embarrassed awareness of his crisp, tailored appearance and her own tattered T-shirt. Ridiculous to think about such things when they were talking about a corpse, she told herself.

“Did you mention your discovery to lover boy?” he inquired, sounding casual as he put the milk back in the refrigerator.

“I don’t like your tone,” she told him.

“Sorry, I don’t like what’s happening.”

“Are you actually jealous?” she demanded.

“I’m not trying to run your life, if that’s what you mean,” he assured her. “I just don’t like what’s happening here.”

“You haven’t explained a damn thing yet, David.”

“Did you tell him?” he persisted.

She let out a sigh of irritation. “No, but that doesn’t mean I won’t. For tonight…tonight I’m waiting. The sheriff will get back to us, let us know if anybody’s missing from one of the ferries or the Middle Keys. He and Jay might have made me feel a little foolish today, but Nigel Thompson is a good man and no fool. And I could accuse you of many things, but being a total idiot isn’t one of them. So get to it. What’s going on?”

“I’m afraid I might know your corpse,” he said quietly, his eyes a strange cobalt by night, and steady upon her.

Her heart seemed to skip a beat.

“Who?”

“Alicia Farr.”

“Alicia?” she exclaimed. “Why…why would she be around here? There’s not much to attract a woman of her reputation at a place like Moon Bay…but then again, there’s not much here for you.” She stopped speaking suddenly, staring at him. “I see. Great. You would have told me about this ‘technicality’ in the divorce, but only because it would have been convenient while you were here. You came to meet Alicia.”

“No,” he told her.

“You liar,” she accused him softly. “Get out—now.”

“I didn’t come here just to meet her.”

“David, I’ll call security if you don’t leave.”

He arched an eyebrow, fully aware that “security” at Moon Bay meant two retired cops who were happy to putter around the grounds at night in retooled golf carts. There had never been serious trouble at Moon Bay—until today. And then they hadn’t bothered with security; they had called the sheriff’s department immediately.

“David, get the hell out.”

“Alex, will you listen to me—I think Alicia is dead.”

An eerie feeling crept along her spine. How could she be jealous of a corpse?

But she had been jealous of Alicia. The woman was—or had been—a free spirit, intelligent, beautiful and filled with knowledge, curiosity and a love of dangerous pursuits that nearly equaled David’s own.

Could she be dead? That would be terrible.

But it wasn’t sinking in. At the moment, Alex felt betrayed. She had to admit, it had felt nice to have David following her as if he was desperate.

“Alex?” he said, and his tone seemed to slip under her skin, no matter how numb she was suddenly feeling.

Then he walked over to her, put his cup down, and his hands went to her shoulders again, the whole of his length far too familiar against her own, his eyes piercing hers in a way she remembered too well. “Damn it, Alex, believe this—I don’t want you ending up dead, as well.”

They were talking about life and death, and all she felt was the texture of his jacket, the heat emanating from him. She breathed him in and remembered the way his hands could move. He was almost on top of her, and she felt a physical change in herself, a tautness in her breasts, with way too much of her body pressed there against his.

She wanted to shove him away—hard.

She managed to get a hand between them and place it firmly on his chest, pushing him away from her, and slipped from the place where she had been flush against the counter.

“Talk, David. Do it quickly. I have a nine o’clock dive in the morning, which means I have to be at the docks at eight.”

Her voice sounded tight and distant. She wasn’t sure if it was the effect she wanted or not. She should have been concerned, she knew, about Alicia. She had known the woman, after all, even admired her. But she hadn’t liked her.

But that didn’t mean she would have wanted harm to come to her. So why wasn’t she more emotionally distressed? She was just too numb, unable to accept the possibility.

“Alicia called me a few weeks ago. Do you remember Danny Fuller?”

“Of course. He came here frequently, and he was charming.” He had been. An octogenarian, the man had been in on the earliest days of scuba diving and helped in the later development of some of the best equipment available. He had loved dolphins, and that had naturally endeared him to Alex. “Yes, I knew Daniel fairly well. I was very sorry to hear he died about a month ago, at a hospital in Miami. Of natural causes.”

“I know.”

“They were natural causes, right?”

“Yes. But Alicia was with him a lot at the end.”

“I can see it—him dying, and Alicia quizzing him about everything he knew until he breathed his last breath,” Alex murmured. She hesitated. Alicia Farr was—or had been, if any of this was true—everything that she had not been herself. She found herself remembering the woman and the times they had worked together. Alicia was the epitome of a pure adventuress, courageous beyond sanity, at times. She was also beautiful.

Even before the last year, she had frequently appeared at David’s side on TV and in magazines. He, naturally, thought the world of her.

He’d slept with her, certainly. But before or after the divorce? Alex had never been certain.

That must be why she was feeling so icy cold now. Good God, she didn’t want the woman to be dead, but still…

“It’s probably true that she pursued him mercilessly,” David admitted. “But he also sent for her, so I guess she was the one he wanted to talk to in the end. At any rate, soon after he died, she called me. She said she was on to the biggest find of the century, and that she wanted me with her. And something she discovered had to do with Moon Bay.” He seemed to notice the way Alex was staring at him. “Actually, I had already been toying with the idea of coming here, so it sounded fine to me. She set a date, and said that she would meet me here. Whether she made that same arrangement with anyone else or not, I don’t know. But when I tried to get back to her, to confirm, I couldn’t reach her. Then, when I got here, she was a no-show. I figured she’d gone ahead to check things out. You know Alicia when she’s got the bit between her teeth. I still thought she’d show, though. But I did notice that the place seemed to be crawling with a strange assortment of visitors, including Seth Granger, Hank Adamson and your new friend—John Seymore. And then…I heard that you’d found a body on the beach.”

For several long moments, Alex just stared at him, not at all sure what to think, or where to start. She felt chilled. She had found a body, and it could have been Alicia’s.

No. Easier to believe Jay had been right. That she’d seen someone playing a sick—and very convincing—trick on someone else.

“Maybe Alicia just decided that she didn’t want you in on her fabulous find after all. Maybe she’s already off on her expedition,” Alex said, her voice sounding thin.

“And maybe someone else found out what she had and killed her to get it—or before she could set up an expedition to recover the treasure, so they could get it for themselves.”

“If there was really a body, it’s gone now,” Alex said. “And Sheriff Thompson—”

“I’ve spoken with him. He hasn’t seen Alicia, and your corpse hasn’t reappeared.”

“Then…then you don’t really have anything,” Alex said.

“What I have is a tremendous amount of fear that a friend and colleague is dead—and that someone may now be after you. Alex, maybe there’s someone out there who thinks you saw something, and that could put you in danger.”

Alex shook her head. “David, I’m not going to start being paranoid because of the things that might be. If Alicia is dead, and someone was willing to kill her for what she knew, wouldn’t you be in far more danger than I am? What about your own safety?”

“I can handle myself.”

“Great. Handle yourself doing what? Waiting? Watching people?”

“I have friends looking for information now.”

She stared at him. He had friends, all right. P.I.s, cops, law enforcement from around the world. And he was serious.

A slight shiver raked along her spine. If all this was true…

“All right, David. I appreciate your concern for my welfare. And I’m very sorry if Alicia is…dead. I know what she meant to you.”

“No, actually, you don’t.”

He walked up to her, angry again, and she tensed against the emotion that seemed to fill him, though he didn’t touch her.

“There was never anything intimate between Alicia and me. She was a good friend. That’s all.”

She didn’t look up at him as she raised her hands. “Whatever your relationship…was, it’s none of my business. As I said, thanks for your concern. I’ll be very careful. I’ll keep my eyes open, and I swear, if I hear anything, I’ll tell you. Now, may I please go to sleep? Or try, at least, to get some sleep?”

“I can’t leave you.”

“What?”

“I can’t leave you. Don’t you understand? If someone out there thinks you can prove that Alicia is dead, that you might have seen…something, you’re in danger of being murdered yourself.”

She shook her head. “David, my doors lock. Please go away.”

They were both startled when his phone suddenly started to ring. He pulled it from his pocket, snapping it open. “Denham,” he said briefly.

She saw him frowning. “Sorry, say again. I’m not getting a great signal here.”

He glanced at Alex in apology and walked out back, opening the sliding door, stepping out.

She followed after a moment. He was on the porch rocker, deep in conversation. She hesitated, then shut and locked the glass door. She was going to try to get some sleep. But how? Her mind was spinning.

Before she could reach the hallway, she heard a pounding on the glass. Then David’s voice. “Damn it, Alex, let me in!”

“David, I’m fine. We’ll talk tomorrow. Go away!”

“I won’t leave you.”

“Well, I won’t let you in.”

“I’ll have to sleep on the porch then.”

“Feel free.”

She let the curtain fall closed. He slammed the glass with a fist. She was afraid for a minute it would shatter, despite the fact that it was supposedly hurricaneproof.

She stared at the drapes a long time. He didn’t speak again, or hit the glass.

Maybe he had actually gone away. She forced herself to walk to her bedroom, lie down, close her eyes.

At some point, she finally slept.

Her alarm went off at six. She nearly threw it across the room. She felt as if she’d never actually slept, as if her mind had never had a chance to turn off.

After a second, she jumped out of bed and raced to the back, hesitated for a second, then carefully moved the curtain to look out.

David was just rising. To her absolute amazement, he had spent the night with his tall, muscular form pretzeled into the rattan sofa on the porch.

Suddenly she was afraid. Very afraid.