Someone To Watch Over Her

“You’re on Cascadilla,” he said promptly. “At the Westwind Falls Resort. This is one of their beachfront cottages.” He paused, then asked, “Do you know where Cascadilla is?”

“Of course,” she began, then stopped abruptly. Until she knew more about this man, she wasn’t going to answer any of his questions. “I know where Cascadilla is. But how do I know you’re telling me the truth?”

Marcus nodded at the telephone. “Pick it up and dial zero,” he said. “The front desk will answer.”

Without taking her eyes off him, she reached for the phone and fumbled it out of its cradle. She punched in zero, then held it to her ear. When the operator said, “Westwind Falls Resort, front desk, how may I help you?” she hung up the phone.

“All right, so you’re telling the truth about that. That doesn’t mean I trust you about anything else. Even a criminal can stay at the Westwind Falls.”

“But he would have to be a very wealthy criminal,” he said smoothly. “Since you know about the Westwind Falls Resort, can I assume that you live on Cascadilla?”

She clamped her lips together. “I’m not going to tell you anything. In fact, I’m not going to stay here. I’m going to walk out the door, and you’d better not try and stop me.”

“Or you’ll stab me with the nail file?” His eyes softened, and she saw a glint of admiration in them. “I’m not trying to keep you here against your will. You’re welcome to go. But before you do, maybe you ought to think about how you got here. Who hurt you? And are they still out there, waiting for you?”

Jessica bit her lip as the fear crashed over her again. For the past few minutes, as she was sparring with the man in the doorway, she had forgotten her ordeal. Her eyes slid to the telephone again. “Maybe I’ll just call the police.”

“Go ahead, if that would make you feel better. But how do you know they’re not involved?” His eyes took on a cynical glint. “Money can buy just about anything in the islands.”

She knew that far better than most. And he was right. “Then I’ll call my family.”

“Why don’t you let me help you?” he said softly. “At least tell me your name and what happened to you.” He paused, and his eyes hardened. “And how this man Simon is involved.”

“Why are you concerned?” she retorted. “Why would you want to help me? And what do you know about Simon?”

He shrugged. “I’m in law enforcement. And I’m the one who found you. I’m curious about what happened to you.”

“You recognized the name Simon,” she said, watching him carefully.

She saw the jolt of surprise in his eyes and felt a fierce satisfaction. Then his face was carefully blank again.

“I’ve heard the name,” he finally said. “Someone here at the resort must have been talking about a man named Simon. But I have no idea who he is.”

Could she trust him? She couldn’t trust anyone, she told herself. But he had offered to let her call the police. If he had wanted to hurt her or turn her over to the man named Simon, he’d had plenty of opportunities while she was unconscious. And she needed to know what had happened in those lost hours since she’d jumped off the boat and woken up in this room.

“Why don’t you first tell me how you found me, and where?” she said.

He nodded. “That’s only fair.” He hesitated. “Do you mind if I come in the room and sit down? This may take a while.”

Jessica shook her head slowly. “No.” She watched while he settled his long frame in a chair on the other side of the bed and realized he’d done it deliberately so he wasn’t blocking her escape route. She allowed herself to relax just a little.

He leaned forward, fixing her with his gaze, and a hum of electricity seemed to fill the room and shiver along her nerves. He let his hands dangle between his knees, and she found herself staring at them. What would it feel like if Marcus Waters touched her? When she realized what she was doing, she sat upright with a start. What was the matter with her? What was she thinking? She didn’t even know this man.

When she let her gaze meet his, she was startled at the intensity in his eyes. They bored into her, making her shiver.

“I was walking down the beach,” he began abruptly, holding her gaze but banking the intensity in his eyes. “It was close to dusk and there was no one else around. I saw what I thought was a clump of seaweed on the beach, then I realized it was a body.” He paused and waited, as if gauging her reaction.

“Go ahead,” she said.

“It was you. You were unconscious, and it looked as if you’d been washed ashore. I made sure you didn’t have any broken bones and checked to see if you had any head injuries. When I couldn’t find any, I picked you up and carried you back to my cottage.”

“Did you call the police?” she demanded.

He stared at her for a moment, measuring her, then shook his head. “I had the phone in my hand, but then you cried out. It was obvious you were frightened of someone, that someone had hurt you. So I decided to wait until you woke up before I called anyone. I wanted to talk to you first.”

Jessica narrowed her eyes as she stared at him. “It seems odd that you wouldn’t call the police. Isn’t that the obvious thing to do?”

Marcus stood and moved to the window. He opened the shutters just enough to look outside. While he was staring into the darkness, he said, “I told you, I’m in law enforcement. I had a bad feeling about what happened to you. I wasn’t sure if calling the local police was the smart thing to do. That’s why I wanted to wait until you woke up.”

Slowly he turned to face her. “Do you want to call the police now? Are you sure they can keep you safe? Or would you rather tell me what happened and let me help you figure out what to do?”

God help her, but she wanted to believe him. Appalled, she stared at the man standing across the room from her. What was the matter with her? This man was a total stranger, and she wanted to trust him with her life.

She was a scientist. She needed proof, concrete evidence. She needed facts. But a reckless part of her that had been deeply buried had somehow reappeared. She wanted to believe him without proof. She wanted to tell him what had happened to her. She wanted to believe that he could help her, that he was on her side.

She was drawn to Marcus Waters, and the realization scared her. She was intelligent enough to know that she was reacting to him the way a woman reacts to a man. She didn’t know anything about men, about dealing with them as a woman. Her dating life was practically nonexistent. But she yearned to trust this man in front of her.

She hesitated for a moment, her analytical side struggling to control her emotional need to connect with Marcus. Finally she nodded. “I’ll tell you what happened.”

“Thank you.” He moved to the chair, sat and leaned forward, his arms resting on his legs. “What’s your name?”

She hesitated again. This was the first test. Taking a deep breath, she said, “My name is Jessica Burke.”

“All right, Jessica, what happened to you?”

He didn’t recognize her name, she realized, and relief flooded through her. He didn’t know who she was or who her parents were. Surely that meant he wasn’t involved.

You don’t know this man, she reminded herself. He could merely be a good actor.

But she’d managed to read him easily enough earlier, when she’d been quite certain he was trying to hide his reaction to the name Simon. She had to trust her instincts. They were all she had right now.

“I’m a scientist,” she began slowly. She saw the flicker of surprise in his eyes and ignored it. “My parents live on a private island not too far from Cascadilla. I have an office near my parents’ home that I use when I visit them. My office is a small building near the beach, somewhat isolated and quite a walk away from the main house.”

“You work there by yourself? That doesn’t sound very secure.” His voice was neutral.

“It hasn’t been a problem before now,” she replied.

His eyes gleamed, but he nodded. “Go ahead.”

“I was working this morning, close to noon, when the door opened. I didn’t pay any attention because I thought someone from the house was bringing me lunch. When I finally looked up, there were two men in front of me. I knew right away that I was in trouble. I screamed, but I’m sure no one could hear me. They threw a blanket over my head and wrapped it around me, then picked me up and carried me out the door.”

He leaned forward. “Doesn’t your father have a security system?”

“He does, but one of the men apparently had worked for my father. He bragged to the other man that he knew how the security system worked and was able to get around it.”

“Then what happened?”

“I bit one of them. Badly. It was through the blanket, but I’m sure I drew blood. He cursed and swore and dropped me. I was able to run a few steps, but then the other one caught me again.”