Secrets of the Dragon’s Heart (Mysteries of Dragon’s Island #6)

Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

***CAMERON***

C ameron woke with the first rays of sunlight but didn’t move. Kennedy was curled up next to him, and he didn’t want to disturb her yet. He’d laid awake for several hours the night before, desperately searching once again for something that would allow him to step away from leading the clan without disgracing both himself and his family. He’d finally fallen into a fitful sleep full of disturbing dreams, then woken a couple of hours later, shaken and even more worried than he’d been before.

Forcing himself not to think about losing her, he let his mind drift back to the cave and the time they spent there, reliving every moment. Then it hit him. He held his breath, thinking about it for a second, then let out a little whoop of excitement, the possibility bringing with it a ray of hope. Finally able to fall asleep, he’d fallen into a deep slumber and awoken to the birds singing in the trees and the sun shining in through the window.

Easing himself out of bed, he went to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee, then looked through the refrigerator for something to make for breakfast. After pulling out eggs, cheese, butter, and milk, he started cooking, hoping to surprise Kennedy with breakfast in bed, then see where things led. He knew that he was a bit like a kid with a new toy and he should probably control himself, but just thinking about Kennedy in the next room sent waves of desire rushing through him.

When he finally carried the tray into the bedroom, he nearly dropped it when she opened sleepy eyes and looked at him from across the room. “Well, good morning, sleepy head,” he said. “You look so appetizing. I don’t think I even want to bother with breakfast, but I thought you might need your strength.”

Kennedy sat up in bed and pushed her hair away from her face. “Food first,” she said, grinning at him. “Sex afterward, but there better be some coffee on that tray if you think that you’re going to get lucky.”

“Only the finest the island can grow,” he said, then looked down at the cup on the tray. “Maybe it’s the coffee; maybe that’s what makes people fall in love.”

Kennedy laughed. “Then wouldn’t everyone on the island be falling in love?” she asked. “Now, wouldn’t that be something? Max would really have some grey hairs!”

It was mid-morning before they got out of bed and got dressed. “I have to call Steve, and I’m not looking forward to it,” Kennedy said. “He’s going to fire me for sure, and I don’t blame him. He’s going to be in a lot of trouble for authorizing this trip for nothing.”

“I’m sorry, Kennedy,” he said, pulling her into his arms. “I wish there was something I could do, a way to make this all okay.”

She looked up at him. “You do just by being here,” she said, resting her head against his chest and soaking up his warmth. “But this is something I have to do alone.”

“Well then, I’ll give you some privacy,” he said. “I want to check in with the lab anyway. There’s something I thought about last night, something that might help us.”

“What is it?” Kennedy asked, her eyes filling with hope.

“It’s not the whole answer, but it could smooth the way for us to be together,” he said. “But I don’t want to say anything until I know for sure.”

Kennedy gave him a dirty look. “You know how much I hate secrets,” she said. “Don’t make me wait too long.”

“I’ll be back later this afternoon. I’ll fill you in then, I promise,” he said. “I need to run my idea by my assistant first. He’s almost as smart as I am. If it’ll work, he’ll know.”

He left Kennedy sitting in front of her computer, her phone in her hand, a nervous look on her face, and wondered if he should stay, but she shooed him out after blowing him a kiss. Max was in his office staring at his computer screen when he walked into the clubhouse. A look of fury was on his face, and he almost turned around to leave, but his friend saw him.

“You’d better come take a look at this,” he said, a hard edge to his voice Cameron had only heard a few times before. “I don’t know which one of us is the bigger fool.”

A bad feeling in his stomach, he walked around behind the desk, then staggered back a step when he saw a full-color picture of him in his dragon form filling the screen. “What the hell?” he asked. “Where did that come from?”

“That’s just the beginning,” Max said, sliding out of his chair. “You’d better sit down and read this.”

Heart hammering in his chest, betrayal already leaving a bad taste in his mouth, he slumped down in the chair and read the article that came with the picture. When he was finished, he looked up at Max, feeling more devastated than he had ever been in his life. “It was all a lie,” he said. “She promised she wouldn’t write the story. She looked you in the eye and promised that she’d never tell anyone. How could we both have been so wrong?”

“I don’t know, I was so sure that she was being genuine last night,” Max said, shaking his head. “I’m good at reading people, I always have been. That’s why I was so good at making money, but I didn’t see this coming, Cameron.”

“Neither did I,” he said, scrolling back up to the top of the article. “Wait, Max, this isn’t Kennedy’s byline; according to this, some guy named Walter Brighton wrote it.”

“Maybe they were working together,” Max suggested. “How else could she have gotten that photo? She couldn’t have taken it herself, you would have noticed.”

“That might explain it, but it doesn’t feel right,” he said, pushing the chair back from the desk. “Kennedy cares about me. I know she does. She wouldn’t have done this, I’m going to go talk to her.”

“Just be careful, she could be a very good liar, and she already knows too much about us,” Max warned. “I know you think you love her, but don’t let that get in the way of good sense.”

“I hope we’re both wrong about this, but I’ll be careful. I can’t afford not to be,” he said. “Will you print me out a copy of that article? I’m going to need it when I confront Kennedy.”

***Kennedy***

“Kennedy, that better have been a joke,” Steve said, his voice devoid of emotion. “I know I did not just hear you tell me that there’s not a story, I did not hear you tell me that all the money we spent is wasted, and I definitely didn’t hear you tell me that it’s because you got emotionally involved, whatever that means.”

“I’m sorry, Steve, I never meant for this to happen,” she said. “I know you went out on a limb for me; I know I screwed up, and I wish there was a way to fix it, but I read it all wrong. Cameron isn’t a bad guy; he’s just what he looks like: a boring scientist who works with DNA all day.”

“And the other story?” Steve asked. “Don’t tell me that story is dead too.”

“That’s where things get complicated, and my involvement becomes a problem,” she said, hoping Steve wouldn’t push the issue, knowing she couldn’t reveal the island’s secrets. “I’ll understand if you want to fire me. It might help save your job, and I’ll pay back everything it cost to send me here, then the paper won’t be out any money. It might not be so bad, just blame it all on me, tell them I’ve lost my edge, that I’m washed up… I’ll be okay, Steve. I always land on my feet.”

There was a long silence on the line, then Steve let out a long sigh. “Kennedy, I’ve known you a long time. This doesn’t sound like you at all,” he said. “What the hell is going on there? Is this Cameron guy really this important to you? We’re talking about your job, your life, here. Are you really willing to throw it all away for a man?”

“Steve, I know this is hard for you to understand, but something happened here that changed my life,” she said. “I can’t jeopardize it for a story, even one as good as this one. Besides, I’m personally involved; my credibility is shot all to hell. I wish you weren’t the one who has to pay for my mistake, but if it’s any consolation, I’ve never been happier in my life.”

“Wow, this guy must be special,” Steve said, then hesitated. “I just hope he’s not…well…another Cliff.”

“He is special, Steve, more special than you could ever imagine,” she said. “I am really sorry about this. You’ve always been there for me, and I feel like I’m letting you down. ”

“Because you are,” he said. But I forgive you. I’ve been married for forty years this spring, and my wife comes first in my life. I know what love feels like, and if you’ve found the real thing, then I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks, Steve,” she said. “Keep in touch.”

She disconnected the call, then turned off the satellite connection before deleting it from her computer, trying not to panic that she was suddenly unemployed. There had been no choice, though, she reminded herself. Even if she wasn’t in love with Cameron, she couldn’t have written a story that didn’t exist. He wasn’t doing anything illegal in the lab; he was just trying to find a way to extricate himself from the weight of his family obligations.

Feeling a little better, she shut down her computer and looked up at the clock, disappointed when she saw that it would still be hours before Cameron came back. Before she could decide what to do with the time, the front door swung open, and he came storming in, his face full of anger.

“Cameron, what’s wrong?” she asked, turning to face him. “What happened?”

“I’m hoping you can tell me,” he said, shoving a piece of paper in her face and then slamming it down on the desk. “Was it all just a bunch of lies? That’s what I really want to know. Did you fake all of that just so you could get a story?”

Shocked, it took her a second to look down at the paper he’d put on her desk, but her heart sank instantly when she saw the full-color picture at the top of the page. She gasped, then picked the paper up and stared at the picture for a long time before quickly reading the article underneath. Heart hammering in her chest, she looked up at Cameron, not sure if she was angry or heartbroken that he would believe that she’d do something like that.

“You can’t honestly believe I did this,” she said. “It’s not my byline. It’s that slime, Walter Brighton. He and I have been enemies for years. He thinks I ruined his career. I got to a story he was working on before he did, and it cost him his job. He’s been after me since then. He must have followed me here… oh, no, this means he was there that night spying on us. He must have seen everything. This is all my fault.”

“You’re not working with guy?” Cameron asked, studying her carefully. “I want to believe you, Kennedy, I really do.”

“I know that I’ve lied to you before, but Cameron, I would never work with that slime ball,” she said. “He works for one of the sleaziest newspapers in the business. That’s definitely not my style, and I promise you that no reputable newspaper is going to pick up this story. It will make a stir for a few days, then go away when there’s an alien sighting or a cow born with two heads. I promise you, I know the newspaper business.”

“And if it doesn’t?” he asked, still glaring at her. “This could be a major problem, Kennedy. If shifters are ever exposed, it will be the end of us.”

“We’ll figure something out. I’ve never let Walter get the better of me, and I’m not about to start now,” she said, pushing away the heartache that threatened to overtake her. “We just have to come up with a plausible explanation for that picture. We could say it was a balloon or a kite or something like that. Then it would just be our word against his. We might even be able to humiliate him in the process. He deserves it after spying on us like that.”

Cameron studied her silently for a few seconds; then all the tension drained out of his body, and a look of relief spread across his face. “I knew you didn’t do it. I’m sorry I was so tough on you, but I had to make sure that you weren’t lying,” he said, then pulled her to her feet and into his arms. “Now, let’s talk about that idea of yours some more.”

“Hold on a second, you didn’t really think I did it?” she asked, scowling up at him. “That’s terrible, Cameron, you could have just asked me, you didn’t have to…”

He cut her off with his mouth, and when they finally came up for air, she wasn’t mad anymore; in fact, she was feeling very generous. “I did ask you,” he said, grinning at her. “Now, how are we going to show this Walter character that he’s messing with the wrong people?”