Burn: A Novel (39 page)

Yep, she was trying to kill him.

They were going ashore again today, to Kauai this time. Tiffany was joining them, since she was single and Tiff and Jenner were new best buds. The rest of the bunch would keep an eye on Larkin, all four involved with the surveillance if their subject stayed onboard, which seemed to be his preference since the Hilo meeting, Faith and Ryan tailing him if he decided to go ashore.

After today, there would be only one more day of splitting up his team to watch Larkin. Tomorrow night they’d be back at sea. Cael was more comfortable with that scenario. Once they were at sea, Larkin wasn’t going anywhere.

He’d decided to stick with the arranged tour for this excursion. At this point, it was a good idea to stay in a crowd, and keep Jenner out of bikinis before he fucked himself to death. What was it about her? It definitely wasn’t her curves, because she didn’t have that many. She had a smart mouth. She was diabolical. Logically, his intense reaction to her shouldn’t be happening.

Unfortunately Little Cael didn’t function on, or even recognize, logic.

*  *  *

D
EAN ASKED
T
UCKER
and Johnson to meet with him privately, in the water treatment facility where they could be certain not to be disturbed. In a narrow corridor between two separate series of twisting pipes, they could be assured of privacy.

Asker and Zadian were also in on the robbery, but Dean had known Tucker and Johnson for years, and he trusted them to do as they were told. It was no mistake that they’d been given two of the three triggers for safekeeping. He had the other.

He could trust them with this.

“I think Larkin is losing it,” he said, his tone heavy.

“No shit,” Tucker said.

For the past couple of days, the guard Larkin had once insisting on having at all times had been called off, ordered back on again, and then once more called off. Even if the incident with Tucker and the bread hadn’t proved to Dean that his boss was a nutcase, Larkin’s increasingly erratic behavior as they sailed among the islands would’ve done the trick.

“We’re going to follow him in shifts, just the three of us. Maybe if we keep our eyes open we can figure out what he’s up to.”

Johnson, who was thinner and older and usually more serious than Tucker, asked, “Do you think he’s planning a double cross?”

“It’s crossed my mind.”

Tucker ran nervous fingers through his hair. “But we’ve got the bombs and the guns. He can’t do anything without us. All he did was plan the getaway.”

A getaway that was looking less and less likely to Dean, less and less clean, though he didn’t say so aloud. A part of his brain whispered
this isn’t going to work
, while another part said, more loudly,
millions
.

He was so tired of taking orders, so tired of taking shit from men with money, while he never had any, to speak of.

“Once we get off the ship and the bombs have done their work, we might have to take out Mr. Larkin.” A bop on the head and a swim in the drink would do the trick.

Neither of the men had a problem with that scenario; one less man to share the haul with meant more money for all of them.

“Until then, we keep an eye on Larkin,” Dean said. “I suggest you don’t let him see you.”

J
ENNER COULD HONESTLY SAY
she’d had a lovely day. Tiffany was funny and honest to a fault, and the foursome they’d come to know so well—Linda, Nyna, Penny, and Buttons—embraced life, truly enjoying the exotic beauty of the island and the company of new friends. Linda didn’t mention her confession from last night, and neither did Jenner or Tiffany. It had been a private, touching moment, one that had affected Jenner more than she dared to admit.

Cael didn’t say much as the day passed, which should’ve been a relief but was not. For one thing, the look in his eyes as he watched her made her as flustered as a virgin the day after her wedding. When you knew how a man looked naked, when he’d had you naked, it changed things. Once she wouldn’t have thought so, but now she knew better. She was so attuned to him now a simple stroke of his finger on her arm could make her almost jump out of her skin.

Tiffany was fast at figuring out what had happened, and she kept grinning at them, which made Jenner even more self-conscious. Damn, she hadn’t been this edgy when everyone had thought she was having sex with him but she wasn’t. Now that she really was, she felt stripped naked, so to speak. His silence was probably explained away to the others in their group by discomfort over the fact that his old girlfriend and his new girlfriend were so chummy, but Jenner knew the truth: He was thinking about sex with her. Again. Soon.

At the end of the day, though, when they were back on the ship, instead of taking her straight back to bed Cael went to speak with Ryan. To her annoyance, he wouldn’t tell her what had happened while they were gone. While they were getting ready for dinner,
she tried to get some information. “What’s the plan for tonight?”

“It all depends on Larkin,” Cael said as he buttoned his cuffs. “Since he might’ve caught sight of Ryan and Faith several times today, I’ll need to keep watch if he’s on deck and let them lay low.”

“You mean, you and
I
need to keep watch,” she corrected.

He shot her a look. “No, you don’t watch. You don’t do anything but stand there and look gorgeous.”

“If you tell me not to bother my pretty little head …” she began, more than a little annoyed. When was he going to get it through his head that she was a part of this? She wasn’t just a passive pawn any longer.

He snorted. “We all have our duties. Yours is to be silent, cooperative, and obedient eye candy.”

“Aren’t cooperative and obedient pretty much the same thing?”

“It’s a point I can’t drive home often enough.”

She turned her back on him and walked into the closet to choose her outfit. “If I’m only supposed to be decoration, what on earth should I wear?”

It was hard to be sure, but it sounded as if one of the words he muttered was “turtleneck.”

S
YD SAT IN THE PARLOR WITH TWO PAIRS OF ATTENTIVE
eyes—Adam’s and Kim’s—on her as she talked to Jenner on Adam’s cell. Their frequent and always too short conversations had gradually changed in the past few days, to the point where the exchanges were almost normal. Neither of them was terrified anymore. Confidence had returned to Jenner’s voice, and that was a huge relief to Syd. If Jenner was okay with this, then she could be, too. After more than a week of being held prisoner, with the threat of harm to the other keeping both of them hamstrung, it was becoming more and more apparent that there was an end to this. A good end, where no one ended up dead.

The
Silver Mist
would pull out of Maui this evening, and was scheduled to dock in San Diego in five days. Five days, and this adventure would be over.

“I’m fine,” Syd said in response to Jenner’s question about her well-being. “I’d love to go for a walk and get some fresh air, or sit down in a restaurant, or shop, or go to a movie, but other that that, all is well. I never thought I’d see the day where I was tired of sleeping late and ordering room service.” Jenner laughed lightly; that was a very good sign.

“Is the ship lovely?” Syd asked. She’d so wanted to see the
Silver Mist
in action.

“It’s very nice,” Jenner responded. “Which is a good thing, since I’m never getting on a ship again as long as I live.”

Syd wanted to apologize. After all, it had been her idea to take the cruise, her father who’d booked the suite. An apology over the phone would be insufficient, so she didn’t even try. When she had her arms around Jenner’s neck, when she knew without a doubt that this escapade was over, then she’d apologize.

“The food is good,” Jenner said.

Syd sighed. “I’m jealous. Right now I’d kill for a decent cheeseburger and some good fries. The room service restaurant here serves great salads and grilled shrimp, but their cheeseburgers are truly subpar, and the fries are soggy. I should be eating the salads and grilled shrimp, but with the stress of this whole situation I’m feeling the need for something more substantial. You know, comfort food.”

“I have to go,” Jenner said briskly. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. And when I get there we’ll gorge ourselves on cheeseburgers!” The connection ended.

Syd stared at the cell phone for a moment, then childishly stuck out her tongue. She was accustomed to their conversations ending abruptly, as whatever cretin who was holding Jenner insisted that she hang up, but that didn’t mean she had to like it. The tongue was for
him
, not Jenner. She’d heard his voice a time or two, in the background. He sounded like a jerk.

But Jenner sounded like Jenner again, so maybe he wasn’t all bad. Not that Syd didn’t want to kick his ass. Well, she’d
hire
someone to kick his ass. No one would ever be afraid of her, but she could certainly hire scary people, and when this was over she intended to make a point to find some. She would
not
go through this again.

Maybe her kidnappers could help. Syd knew her captors much better than she had a week ago. Spend enough time with a person—or people—and it happened. Dori looked scary, she had a terrifying
scowl and a hard demeanor when it suited her, but if you caught her off guard she had a very nice smile. She laughed at the silliest things on television. She’d probably be thrilled to find a Three Stooges marathon playing when she pulled the night shift. Not that Syd cared to cross her, but still, she wasn’t nearly as frightening as she’d been that first day.

Strong, usually silent Adam was obviously sweet on Kim, and from what Syd had been able to tell, Kim didn’t have a clue, though when it came to other matters she didn’t miss much. Kim, knives and all, was so like Syd’s other friends, in personality, it was sometimes difficult to mentally keep her in the role of kidnapper. Dress her up and take away her knives, and she might be a perfectly ordinary pretty woman.

She thought about escape often, daydreamed about it in her recent hours of boredom. But even knowing that her captors were more than the thugs she’d initially thought them to be, she realized there was no way to escape. Maybe they wouldn’t kill her—maybe—but they would definitely stop her. If she simply ran, they’d catch her. If she tried to latch onto one of the service people, a maid or a room service delivery guy, she’d only be putting the innocent hotel employees in danger—not that her diligent bodyguards ever let her get all that close to anyone other than the three of them. In her fantasies she was as tough as Dori, as skilled with knives as Kim, as physically strong as Adam. In her fantasies, she would sneak up on them and knock all three out with a series of skilled karate chops, and then she’d be free.

But those were only fantasies. She didn’t know anything about karate other than what she’d seen in the movies. If she tried to run she’d get caught, and then she’d end up in a basement somewhere, thrilled at the very prospect of room service. If she was lucky.

And who was she kidding? She wasn’t the ass-kicking type, by any fashion.

Syd found a movie on television—she’d seen it before but it wasn’t horrible—worked most of the crossword puzzle in the
USA
Today
, and when neither appealed to her any longer she retired to her bedroom and took a nap. When she woke up close to six o’clock, she heard the front door to the suite close. It was probably room service. Again. More grilled chicken or quesadillas, most likely. She washed her face, combed her hair, and entered the parlor, determined to eat a bit even if she had to choke it down. Adam stood by the dining table, with a couple of large white paper bags in his hand. “Cheeseburgers and fries,” he said simply. “I asked the concierge, and he said this place made the best burgers in town.”

He’d overheard her phone conversation, and gotten a cheeseburger for her.

Dori, who’d been kicked back on the couch watching something on TV, jumped up. “I’ll get some sodas from the machine. Diet or regular?” she asked, nodding toward Syd.

“Diet, please.” And at that moment, she hated her captors a little bit less.

I
T WAS A RELIEF
to Cael when the
Silver Mist
pulled away from Maui. When they were at sea all six members of his team—if she could read his mind Jenner would say
seven
, but thank God she hadn’t figured out how to do that yet—could be used at all times. No more taking turns going ashore, watching and waiting for Larkin to decide without warning to take off to a beach or volcano somewhere. He hadn’t done that, but they’d always had to be prepared in case he did.

Jenner was in the bed; not sleeping, he could tell, but headed in that direction. Maybe he wouldn’t wake her when he went to bed himself. Yeah, right. He was going to stop breathing, too.

He was up later than usual tonight because Larkin seemed restless, jumpy. What would make a man who’d calmly hand over EMP technology to the North Koreans, stopping to buy jam along the way, jumpy? The possibilities were not good.

Not for the first time, Cael wondered about the aspirin Larkin
took so often, the constant hand to his head, as if he had a persistent headache. Obviously he wasn’t well. How sick was he?

It was just past two in the morning when Larkin abruptly jumped up like he’d been shot out of the chair and headed for the door. He was alone. No Mills, no bodyguard at all. Maybe this was it; the meeting they’d been waiting for. Was it possible that the man on the other end of this deal had been onboard all along? Or that there was another buyer, another memory stick?

Cael jumped up. There was no time to call anyone else on the team. He was the one on duty. By the time he woke Ryan or Matt and got them here, it would be too late. Jenner, of course, immediately woke and came up on her elbows. “Where are you going?” she asked sleepily as he headed for the door.

“Stay here,” he commanded.

“But where are you …”

“Stay!” he hissed, and then he stepped into the hallway. Larkin wasn’t in sight; Cael heard the ding of the elevator. Up or down? He sprinted to the elevator bank and checked the indicator.