Chapter 25
Rory forgot all about his throbbing nose and aching muscles. “Are you part of all this?”
“Of course not. I don’t even know what all of this is.
Plausible deniability, don’t you know.” He smiled thinly.
“I ran into these jolly fellows on that black sand beach after I left the camp. They wanted some information, which I provided, after some negotiation. They were about to trek toward the camp when you so obligingly emerged onto the beach.”
“You ratted us out?” Mathilda planted her hands on her hips. “What happened to client confidentiality?”
“You, my dear, are not my client and never have been. But you are my mission. My job has always been to bring you to Duncan Aberdeen. That is what I intend to do.” He checked the fancy Apple Watch on his wrist. “We should be reaching the rendezvous point shortly. Say your goodbyes.”
“Wait.” Rory struggled out of the lower bunk so he could deal with this situation upright.
Just then the boat slammed into a wave and they all staggered.
Mathilda grabbed his arm to keep from falling.
That contact sent strength shooting through him.
Actually it might have been a stab of pain, but he chose to think of it as strength. “You’re taking Mathilda off this boat?”
“Mathilda has a date with my client. Sadly, your presence is required here.”
“Why? What do you know? Where is this boat going? What do they want with Lincoln and me?”
Phelps showed his palms. “None of that is my affair. In fact, part of the negotiation process was to promise not to say anything about…all this.” His wave encompassed the stateroom, the boat, the ocean, maybe all of Hawaii.
“Then I’m not going anywhere with you.” Mathilda pressed her body against Rory’s side, making him hide a wince. “I will not leave Rory in the hands of bad guys when we don’t even know what they want. That is absolutely not going to happen.”
“Mathilda…” Rory tugged her so they were face to face, and lowered his voice to exclude the lawyer. “You have to go with him. Please. I want you to go. That’s why I got myself all beat up, so you could escape. Don’t make all these bruises go to waste.”
“But Rory—”
“Please.” He held her gaze, as tears turned her eyes to glistening blue jewels. “You’ll be safe, that’s all I want.”
“That’s all you want?” she whispered.
He poured his heart into a silent communication that he hoped she understood. Of course he wanted more. But what about Duncan? What about this mess? Right now, “safe” was the best either of them could hope for. “Please go with him,” he repeated.
“I hate to interrupt this touching moment, but the fact is, she doesn’t have a choice,” said Phelps.
Mathilda whirled on him. “But I do have a choice about marrying Duncan. I’ll tell him no unless you give us some clue about what’s up here. I know you know something. The least you can do is tell Rory so he has a chance to defend himself.”
“You’re in no position—”
“Yes, I am.” She folded her arms across her chest. “I can and will say no. Screw the Aberdeen Bequest. Duncan can figure something else out. There’s probably some distant relative somewhere he can dig up.”
Rory had a flash image of poor Duncan unearthing the bones of some deceased debutante, and shook his head at his morbid imagination. Why did he always pick such dire moments for his ridiculous mental scenarios?
Philip Phelps narrowed his eyes at Mathilda, measuring her determination.
She must have convinced him, because he finally turned to Rory and said, “Very well. I believe Lincoln Kerr might be in real danger. I happened to overhear something about needing a stand-in for Lincoln in case he doesn’t survive.
Apparently you’re the backup. You look enough like him so they can call on you in case things go awry, or in case Lincoln doesn’t cooperate. ”
Good lord, was he going to have to pretend to be Lincoln again? “Cooperate with what?” Rory demanded.
“They didn’t explain it to me. All I picked up was that Lincoln has gone a bit rogue and certain individuals want him back under control.
A word to the wise, dear boy. This could be an opportunity for you.
If you play your cards right, and negotiate on your own behalf, you could walk away with quite the fortune yourself.
I’d offer to represent you, but I’ll be far away by then. ”
He checked his watch again, and beckoned to Mathilda. “Time to go, my dear.”
She shot a pleading glance at Rory. It took all his willpower to give her an encouraging smile instead of snatching her into his arms. “We’ll see each other again,” he whispered to her.
“Will we?”
A moment later, she was gone, leaving those plaintive words hanging in the air. Would they see each other again?
The pit in his stomach told him maybe not.
A few moments later, he heard the sound of another engine.
He dashed to the porthole to get a look.
Another motor yacht was racing across the waves toward them.
It came to a stop in a rooster tail of water, just out of his line of sight.
Through the thick glass of the porthole, he heard faint voices shouting across the water.
Then the new boat wheeled away and zoomed to the west. Headed to another Hawaiian island? Or to Hilo? Kona?
Despair pooled in his gut. Would he ever see Mathilda again? And maybe even more importantly, would she ever be happy again? Would she ever be that free spirit roaming the jungle looking for Hector? Or was her life about to take a dramatic turn in an entirely different direction?
He limped back to the bunk and lay gingerly on his back. He might as well get some rest and let his body heal. Whatever he was about to face, he’d handle it better if he wasn’t so battered and bruised.
It clicked then, why they’d done so much damage to his face. He looked something like Lincoln, sure, but they weren’t that similar. But with a bunch of bruises and cuts, it would be harder to tell the difference between them.
Lincoln’s gone a bit rogue.
Did that explain their secret trip to Maui? And why he’d hidden that crystal in his med kit? And maybe even why his sister was suing him?
The door opened and someone was shoved through, the door slamming again behind him. Lincoln landed on his knees on the floor. His face was almost as bloodied as Rory’s.
Rory scrambled out of the bunk to help him. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah.” He sat against the wall and tilted his head back, heaving in big gasps of air. Gingerly, he touched his cheek. “Can you believe this is the first time anyone dared to beat up Lincoln Kerr?”
“I mean…yes, I believe that. But why did they? What’s going on?”
“It’s a long story, and I guess you deserve to hear it. But first, what the fuck happened to my med kit?”
Rory stared at him, his stomach twisting. He never should have moved it without telling Lincoln. “Why?”
“Why? Because you were supposed to keep it safe, but it’s empty and that’s why my face looks like this right now.” He pointed a finger at his swollen cheekbone.
Oh shit. Getting fired was about to be the least of his problems. He steeled himself. “If you’re talking about the crystal-like object that was in the med kit, I moved it. It seemed clear that it wouldn’t be safe in any of our pieces of luggage, no matter how hard they are to break into.”
Lincoln gave him a stare that would shatter rock. “You moved it? You got into my med kit?”
“Yes. I did that during your coma, when I was trying to figure out what was happening. Then after you got kidnapped, I thought the crystal might be the reason why. So while you were asleep, after we brought you back, I broke into your med kit again and relocated it. I’m sorry.”
After a pause that seemed to last an eternity, Lincoln broke into an enormous grin. “Thank God.”
“Uh…what?”
“Good job.” Lincoln beamed at him, marred only by the swelling of his upper lip. “Remind me to give you a raise.”
Rory, who’d been bracing for an angry explosion, dropped onto the bunk, limp with relief. “Sure will, but—”
“Just hand it over. This is great. Excellent quick thinking. I couldn’t have planned it better myself.”
“I don’t…I don’t have it on me,” Rory said carefully. “But it’s in a safe place.”
Lincoln stared at him as if not comprehending his words. “A safe place? Where?”
“It’s probably safer if I don’t give you that information. And technically, I don’t actually know.”
Lincoln gently bumped the back of his head against the wall. He must really be upset to want to add more pain on top of what he was already experiencing. “You don’t understand, Rory. Nowhere is safe for that crystal.”
“What do you mean? Because people are looking for it? Because it’s worth so much money?”
“No. That’s all true, but that’s not it.” Lincoln rubbed his forehead between his eyebrows. “It’s not safe for anyone to handle if they don’t know what it can do. Where is it? Please tell me it’s under some rock in the jungle where it can’t do too much harm.”
“What can it do?” Pure dread made his voice sound like it came from a million miles away.
“Just tell me where it is, please. It’s very important.”
Rory drew in a deep breath. “It’s in Mathilda’s pocket. I slipped it in there on the beach before all the fighting started. I figured that would be the best way to keep it out of the grasp of these guys.” He waved at the yacht to indicate everyone onboard who’d tried to hurt them.
Lincoln’s mouth fell open. “It’s in her pocket? Just…sitting there? Loose?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Then we have to get to her right away.” Lincoln staggered to his feet, then swayed as the boat slammed into a wave.
“How are we supposed to do that?”
“Isn’t that what I pay you for? I just gave you a raise. Now earn it!”
“I don’t care about your fucking raise.” But he cared about Mathilda. Rory’s stomach clenched as he pictured her in that speedboat, blithely on her way to marry a British lord, with no idea she had something potentially dangerous lurking in her pocket.
“What can it do?”
“Just get us out of here. Her life might depend on it.”