Chapter 2
The next morning at the beach shack promised a nice sunny day—but only for the weather.
“Damn it, Toly. Having Ryan Murphy of Murphy & Haley stay here on the island with your family wasn’t part of the plan. In fact, until I say otherwise, Ryan Murphy is a suspect. We haven’t cleared him yet—we’ve barely begun to look into him—”
“I know, I know. But you try telling that to his loving future wife—my sweet beloved granddaughter Lara. She will have none of it. She wants him here and I can’t stop her. As you Americans are fond of saying—it’s a free country.”
Another time and he would have laughed at that, but since Toly had just invited the big bad wolf to stay at Red Riding Hood’s house, Dane wasn’t in the mood. He would have to hire some muscle.
“Fine.” Dane stopped pacing around his small kitchen. Toly sat at his table holding a bottle of Stolichnaya by the neck with one hand and a short glass half filled with the vodka in the other. The ice was a concession to the fact that it was only ten a.m.
Shana said, “Thank you for delivering the client list so quickly.” She shuffled through the papers, studying them as if any of the names would mean something to her.
Who knows—maybe she’d been studying up on arms dealers all night.
She’d been doing something because she hadn’t come to bed until he’d been sound asleep.
That fact had to be at least partly responsible for his impatience this morning.
Toly raised his glass. “Why do you think I drink Stolichnaya for breakfast? They arrived last night at the Inn.”
Dane eyed the glass of vodka and thought of his tequila.
Dane said, “We’ll move you into the beach house today. Shana and I will escort your party. It’s been thoroughly checked and prepared for you. The house is for family only.”
Toly raised a brow.
“And two bodyguards—the two who are like family and who would never leave you, Viktor and Pavel. They’re probably pissed at me for taking over security.”
“They would never question me. Besides—” Toly took another swig of his drink and it was gone. “I want you and the beautiful one to protect my Lara and her baby. I can take care of myself.”
Dane snorted. Shana looked up and smiled. She was a sucker for the old man’s constant compliments. Dane would need to watch out for her getting a big head. Not that she ever had and heaven knew she’d been adored by everyone who laid eyes on her since he’d met her.
She said, “What about Ryan Murphy? You said he’s here too.”
“He can go to hell.”
“You don’t like your grandson-in-law already?” Shana asked.
Toly shrugged his heavy broad shoulders and looked into his empty glass. Dane snatched the bottle from his reach and stepped over the fridge where he tossed it into the freezer to keep company with his bottle of Patron. Neither of the bottles would hold up much longer.
He knew how they felt. Half drained, used up and getting ever closer to empty.
“How could Toly embrace a man who is stealing his beloved granddaughter and great-granddaughter away from him?” Dane said. It didn’t take a PhD to guess how the man felt.
Shana gave Toly a fond smile. “My preliminary research on him last night showed he’s an exemplary citizen,” Shana said. “In fact, based on his PR, the pattern of information out there on him, if I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was planning to run for political office.”
Dane watched Toly’s response. His mouth took a miserable turn for the worse.
If it was true, that would put a new wrinkle on things.
Nothing drew nefarious interest more than the prospect of bribing a potential politician.
Or maybe someone wanted to hold Murphy’s ambition up for ransom.
Blackmail or extortion of some kind was what they were looking at.
Dane knew a few things about Ryan Murphy.
But he said nothing. He’d wait until he had a chance to take the measure of the man in person, until they could have a good long talk. Shana, on the other hand, had no compunctions about using data points to form judgments.
She said, “You realize your son-in-law is our number one suspect and this possible political ambition only heightens my suspicion.”
Toly shrugged again and put his glass down on the table. Hard. The line of his mouth took another dip into displeasure.
“Let’s go old man. Give Lara a call. Tell her to be packed and ready to move in fifteen.
” Dane thought he’d laugh or protest or …
something. But the old man stood, glanced longingly at the freezer on his way by and retrieved his phone from the back pocket of his black uniform pants.
His idea of vacation attire included shiny black dress shoes and a bright yellow and orange floral print shirt with parrots that hung over his pants.
Dane knew it covered a concealed weapon in his waistband holster and he knew Toly did not have a license to carry it. He was too notorious.
In other words, Anatoly Ivanov was a magnet for trouble. Dane had no idea how he’d stayed below the radar for the past fifteen years since his retirement from the Russian SVU. Except that he’d been a pro. Still was.
They all paraded out the door into a gorgeous August morning to hear the seagulls calling, a light warm sea breeze stirring and the ocean lapping against the boats in the harbor beyond his backyard.
The simple peace called to him. He glanced at the rippling water, took one deep breath of sea-scented air, and headed in the opposite direction. To the Jeep.
Dane was a son of a gun. Shana stood and stewed while she watched, one step behind him on the front porch of the Admiral’s Inn, as Lara, the beautiful glowing bride-to-be, embraced him.
Then, as if the toddler could possibly have remembered him, Paulette squealed when he flashed his smile, squatted down and held out his arms. Naturally the little pip ran straight into those strong tanned arms. He was the Pied Piper to women of all ages.
Toly bellowed a laugh as they all stood outside on the porch in front of the Admiral’s Inn and Dane spun around with Paulette giggling in his arms.
“She can’t possibly remember you—it’s been a year,” Shana said. She meant to scowl, but her mouth formed a grin. Then before tears had a chance to well up as her womb clenched in longing, the Inn door swung open and a man she recognized as Ryan Murphy stepped outside to join their group.
If Toly’s sudden scowl appearing like a summer storm didn’t clue Dane about who the man was, his sixth sense and powerful deductive skills would have told him.
It wasn’t that hard to figure, but when Dane’s smile failed to change to his business shark look, Shana wondered if Dane hadn’t mistaken their number one suspect for someone else.
“Hello, Ryan.” He’d stopped swinging Paulette and, juggling her to one arm, he outstretched the other to shake the man’s hand.
Far too practiced at being surprised by damned Dane, she held her mouth shut when it would otherwise have fallen open. He hadn’t mentioned that he knew Ryan Murphy.
She wondered what the hell Dane knew about the man that made him still consider him a suspect in spite of his family standing, his profession and his engagement to—
Oh no.
Dane should have mentioned to Shana—and Toly too—that he knew Ryan Murphy of Murphy & Haley. But it was more fun this way. Besides, a lot of years had passed since they’d been friends.
“You old dog” Ryan said. Then he moved closer for a manly hug when Lara retrieved Paulette from Dane’s arms. “You look like you’re on vacation—permanently. Sorry to have to put you to work.”
Dane looked at his old friend objectively, or as objectively as he could, to see that his smile reached his eyes. Ryan had been a lucky bastard all his life. And Dane could never seem to hold it against him. He was too genuine and likable.
“How do you two know each other?” If it was anyone but Lara asking the question, Dane would have made up a story, played the game a little longer. He exchanged a quick glance with his old friend.
“West Point.”
He heard Shana heave a sigh, but didn’t look at her. Toly grunted and Lara nodded. Ryan’s smile deepened in memory. But this wasn’t the time to travel down memory lane.
“Let’s get you to your place—where you’ll be staying for the duration.” Dane picked up one of the bags that stood outside their room. “No one else.”
“Don’t worry—” Ryan began as he took a bag and followed Dane to the cars parked at the curb.
“No. I mean no one knows where you are. No one. No other family members, no one in the wedding party, no—”
“I get the picture.”
“That’s going to be hard to keep quiet since everyone will be coming to the island for the wedding,” Lara said.
“Just don’t give anyone your address. If someone follows you, I’ll take care of it.”
“Or I will,” Shana said. He looked at her. She scowled, arms crossed her chest. He was in trouble. He grinned. Other than making love with her, he loved getting under her skin more than anything else in the universe. He was a sick bastard.
Toly drove the SUV with his family and his two personal bodyguards, who now qualified as family, and followed Dane, Shana and Ryan in the Jeep to the sizeable colonial down the street from the beach shack. Dane could throw a brick through their window from his backyard.
He beeped as he stopped in the street in front of the house and stuck his arm out the window, pointing. Toly pulled in. He had a key. Then Dane kept going and pulled into the crushed shell driveway of his beach shack.
“What’s this? I don’t get to stay with my fiancée?
You turn into an old-fashioned romantic?
” Ryan said. He shoved open his door and got out still grinning.
Everything was a lark to him. He was one of the easiest-going people Dane had ever met.
But no matter how tough it was to ruffle him, Dane knew his line of questioning was bound to get Ryan past his sanguine spot, stretching even his high tolerance for irritants and offenses.