CHAPTER 36
C HAPTER 36
R ae was exhausted from a very long day, but she knew she wouldn’t sleep. After Curtis dropped her off, she decided to go see if Emma was awake. The woman kept the oddest hours of anyone Rae knew. The bridge was empty this time of night. She drove with all the windows down, wishing the warm island breeze packed enough punch to wash away her stress. Then the phone rang. Dana.
Rae rolled up her windows, turned on the car’s a/c, and put the call on speaker. She said in greeting, “I hate what’s happening to them worse than turnips. And I hate turnips a lot.”
“Let’s not go crazy,” Dana said. “At least, not yet.”
“I don’t see how you can be so calm. Unless you’ve come up with a secret plan to give the good guys more time.”
“I’ve been in situations like this all too often,” Dana said. “And what I heard in their discussion was the same thing I saw in my conference room. They’re a team. A good one. If there’s any way out of this mess, they’ll find it.”
Rae felt the band of tension around her chest loosen a trifle. “Okay, now maybe I can sleep tonight.”
“I’m in court most of the day, but you need to call me with an update tomorrow afternoon at four sharp. How did my security team do?”
“They were amazing.” Rae pulled into an empty space by the Morehead City boardwalk and described watching them halt the larger team in their tracks. Water and rocks. “Who are they?”
“When Holden left the Marines, he was recruited by one of the big agencies. He loved the security work, but hated the egos. He pulled together some of his fellow POGs and left. More efficiency, less aggression.”
“What did you call them?”
“POG. It’s gyrene speak. Stands for ‘personnel other than grunts.’ Change the subject. Did anything happen after the conference call I need to know about?”
“As a matter of fact, Curtis handed me all the funds Kurien had brought with him. I’m to set it up so all incoming expenses would pass through me.”
“Smart,” Dana said. “Ajeet’s attorneys will be reluctant to go after funds held by outside counsel.”
“Curtis also asked if the purchase of Cape Fortune had gone through. I said it had, but there might be time to retract funds on the Beaufort property. He said no, it was a sound investment and increased the value of the entire resort.”
“In case he has to go for outside funding,” Dana said. “I am liking this young man of yours more and more.”
“He’s not my anything.”
Dana’s voice took on a lilting note. Teasing. “Might be time to trade in your current model on this new and improved version.”
Now she was smiling. “Too late. John broke things off.”
“Well, now.”
“Plus, Amiya has asked Curtis to marry her.”
“You think or you know?”
Rae watched a midnight shrimper plow a silver furrow through the moonlit waters. Heading out to sea. “I saw it happen.”
Dana was laughing now. “Let me get this straight. She used you, the guy’s former flame, as official witness.”
“It wasn’t like that. At all.”
“This is one smart lady.”
“I’m hanging up now.”
“Good luck handling the bad guy. And remember. Call me at four. I want the long version of whatever happens next.”
Rae cut the connection, reversed from the space, and headed back for the bridge. Going for her island home and bed. Talking with Dana had been as helpful as bothering her aunt. Almost.
As she pulled up in front of her aunt’s apartment, Rae’s mind became snagged by the last thing Curtis had said.
He had personally escorted Rae upstairs. As she had unlocked her front door, Curtis told her, “You’ve always been a good friend.”
“Curtis, it sounds like you’re saying goodbye.”
“No, it’s just . . .” He studied her, then continued, “We’ve been moving so fast, it’s easy to leave things unsaid. I’m glad you’re involved, Rae. It’s so good having a chance to work with you. See you…”
“As an adult,” she finished for him.
“As a top-notch attorney,” he corrected. “Someone I can trust.” He started to add something, but then his phone chimed. Curtis pulled it from his pocket, checked the screen, said, “Ajeet wants to meet us at ten.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Thank you, Rae. For everything.”
“Curtis, wait. What were you going to say?”
“Before this is all over, you think maybe we could go diving for treasure in Cape Fortune?”
“I’d like that. So much.”
“I’d like us to show Amiya what it’s like to hunt for doubloons.”
The stress and worry in his gaze cut deep.
“Let’s go tomorrow,” Rae suggested.
“Our dance cards are a little full. But soon.” He started back. “Good night, Rae.”
* * *
Four o’clock that predawn morning, Curtis left his hotel room and walked to the beach. He greeted the guard from Holden’s crew and headed north. The moon was up, the breeze gentle. Clouds like silver ships sailed the starlit sea. Phosphorescent algae sparked each wave, transforming them into gentle washes of light and mystery.
Everything was different now.
All his plans had been transformed during the drive. The answer to that key question accompanied him down the moonlit shore.
Why now?
The answer was so clear, so simple. Now Curtis had a reason for why Ajeet had always despised him. Right from that very first meeting. The one element Amiya had failed to mention when she reminded him of that first day in Delhi. When she had walked Curtis down the line of family photographs, introducing him to her own lineage.
Ajeet had stepped through the doorway, realized what Amiya was doing, and flown into an astonishing rage. In that instant, Curtis had become the new threat.
Ajeet had already known Amiya’s marriage was failing. And he was ready to step in. Claim the prize he had probably spent his life secretly wanting.
No matter that Curtis was married. Amiya had always been open with her affection for him and his wife. She cared for him.
The answer was as clear as the night sky. Ajeet finally had the necessary lever. He would release the funds. Reverse the board’s opposition to their North American operations. In exchange for Amiya’s hand in marriage.
In the face of such a move, all the hesitations Curtis had over accepting Amiya’s proposal vanished. Dust in the wind.
He wished his mind and heart were clearer. Amiya was a truly wonderful woman. She deserved a man who was totally, utterly hers. A man who came to this marriage with a whole heart, a future open to all the joy and life they could make together.
Someone better than him.
The empty sand stretched in both directions like a silver ribbon. Curtis settled on a high dune and turned his face to the moon.
Lorna would have loved this place. This hour.
She was the night owl. Not him.
Lorna managed happily on four hours’ sleep. Less. She had always been his Energizer Bunny. She would go and go, then bounce happily into sleep, smiling her way through dreams she never shared, then up and running delightedly into another day.
She called Curtis her grumpy bear, always looking for his cave, always wanting to hibernate. That was how she referred to his need for nine hours’ sleep. His daily hibernation fix.
She loved to walk in moonlight. She called the hours like this her midnight escapades. She claimed the night winds sang to her in a language she never shared.
Delhi had enchanted her from the moment her plane landed. Portions of India’s cities ran to a twenty-four-hour clock. Some market was always open. Many religious festivals continued noisily to dawn. Others started before daybreak. She had arrived in Delhi three days before the start of Diwali, one of the nation’s largest festivals, and treated it as her very own personal welcome. Times like these, Lorna was defined by a joy that was both childlike and enduring. Long before they were married, Curtis had known she would make the very finest of mothers.
And then, in silent abruptness, Lorna was with him.
Such events had occurred in the weeks following her funeral. Gradually over time they had faded to mere passing clouds of remorse, and then departed altogether.
Tonight was as distinct as any of those earliest experiences. Yet entirely different.
There was a distinct solemnity to this moment. A calm as potent and as deep as the moonlit sea. This was Lorna’s other face, the timeless wisdom she had shown him so often, and with which she had guided him so well.
After a time, Curtis spoke to the night, the sea, and to her. “I understand.”
The breeze touched his eyes, his upper lip, his heart.
She was gone.
Curtis sat on the miniature dune and waited until he was ready. When dawn painted the eastern sky with golden promise, Curtis walked back to his room, showered, and dressed for the day. There was a formality to his movements now, checking his appearance in the mirror and walking to his car and starting for the mainland. Actions this important required a certain solemnity.
He would honor Amiya. And her father. He would love her as much as was possible. Give her all he could manage. Despite everything.
He could do no more.