Stranded With Her Ex (15 page)

They all arrived at the house around the same time.

It was quiet inside, and the living room was deserted. Taryn ducked into the downstairs bathroom while Jason went upstairs, looking for Brent. Daniela frowned when she heard a sudden commotion.

Footsteps pounded down the hall, and Jason called out for help.

Sean ran up the stairs, taking two at a time. Pulse racing, Daniela followed him. At the end of the hallway, Brent was lying in a dark pool of his own blood. Jason crouched beside him, checking his pulse.

“Oh my God,” Daniela said, her heart in her throat. “What do we do?”

“Get Taryn,” Jason ordered. “She has EMT training.”

Sean strode down the hall. “I’ll grab the first aid kit.”

Daniela could see blood pumping from the wound on his scalp, spreading across the hardwood floor. Swallowing back her nausea, she rushed into the bathroom, yanking several towels off the rack.

“And call 911!” Jason shouted at Sean.

Taryn ran down the hall, her face white with concern. Grabbing the towels from Daniela, she knelt beside Brent and held one to the laceration on the back of his scalp.

Daniela knew that head wounds bled a lot. But the injury looked severe, and he was unconscious. His breathing was shallow and uneven. His life was in danger.

Sean bounded back up the stairs, taking two at a time. “Here,” he said, setting down the red-and-white box that housed emergency supplies. “I don’t think the phone is working. I couldn’t get a dial tone.”

Daniela’s stomach flipped.

Jason looked up at Sean. “Let’s try the shortwave.”

After they hurried away to try the radio, Daniela focused her attention on Brent. Taryn lifted the towel from the back of his head. The wound was still seeping, but not so much that Daniela thought he would die from blood loss, rather than blunt force trauma.

With shaking hands, Taryn rummaged through the first aid kit. Tearing open a few packages of gauze, she placed the four-inch squares over the cut. If his skull was fractured, she might damage his brain, just by trying to stop the bleeding.

“I hope he’ll be okay,” Daniela said, her voice breaking.

The next few moments passed in a whirlwind of confusion. Daniela could hear Jason and Sean talking about cell phones, but no one had service. The laptops, with satellite internet, were also useless.

Both the house phone and the shortwave radio were dead.

There was a loud banging noise downstairs, as if someone had thrown a heavy object against the wall.

“How can I help?” Daniela asked.

Taryn took the pads of gauze away from Brent’s head and inspected them. They were dotted with blood, but not soaked through. “We’re going to have to move him,” she murmured. “I think we should try to close the wound.”

“With what?”

“Butterfly bandages,” she decided. “There should be some in the kit.”

Daniela searched the first aid supplies, finding several small packages and handing them to Taryn. She tore them open with her teeth. The laceration started behind his left ear, running jagged along his hairline. “You have to hold it closed,” Taryn said, removing the paper from the sticky adhesive strips. “But don’t press too hard.”

Daniela flinched at the command, but she didn’t hesitate. With trembling fingers, she held the edges of the cut together, using a light touch, while Taryn applied the bandages. It was a patchwork job, but it would have to do until he got to the emergency room.

Taryn covered the bandage with fresh pads and secured them with white medical tape. “He needs a hat.”

Daniela found several. They put a stretch knit beanie on him, followed by a sheepskin cap with convenient earflaps.

From the supply closet, Sean brought up a Stokes litter. It was the same kind of equipment used by the Coast Guard to transport and immobilize victims. Often suspended from a moving helicopter during an ocean rescue, the stretcher was sturdy, compact and buoyant. They rolled Brent onto it, using a brace to support his neck. With a clean, wet towel, Taryn wiped the blood from his handsome face. His eyes remained closed, his body unnaturally still. He never showed a flicker of consciousness.

A sob caught in Daniela’s throat.

“We can’t all go with him,” Sean said, stating the obvious.

The whaler could hold five or six adults in clear weather, over a short distance. Under these conditions, three was the maximum, and the trip would be extremely dangerous.

“I’ll drive,” Jason said.

“I have CPR training,” Taryn said. “I should go, too.”

Sean didn’t like it. He obviously wanted to go himself, but he couldn’t leave Daniela on the island with a homicidal maniac. The choice was between sending two crew members out in a serious storm or letting Brent die here.

“He’s in bad shape,” Taryn urged. “We have to go now.”

Jason took one end of the stretcher and Sean lifted the other, making their way down the stairs with care. Daniela covered his body with a waterproof safety blanket, protecting him from the elements. The journey from the house to the landing was bumpy and arduous, causing her to wince on Brent’s behalf, but he didn’t seem to mind. He showed no reaction to being jostled along the trail like a litter of supplies.

She swallowed past the lump in her throat, praying he would pull through. Finally, they had him loaded in the whaler, bundled up tight.

The sky was dark and heavy; the rain hadn’t abated.

“Be careful,” Sean said, shouting to be heard above the roar of the wind.

Taryn threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tight. “You too,” she said, pressing her lips to his shadowed cheek. The emergency had stripped away some of her hard feelings, and Daniela was no longer stung by jealousy.

None of that mattered now. Sean didn’t want a romantic relationship with Taryn, but he still cared about her. They were friends.

After giving Daniela the same kind of hug, warm and hopeful and more than a little frantic, Taryn climbed into the hull. Jason got behind the wheel and signaled to Sean with a nod, indicating that they were ready.

Sean operated the crane, lowering the whaler onto the raging sea. The boat bucked and swayed on the choppy surface. Taryn held on to the stretcher, trying to keep her body low. It was dangerous to launch in weather like this, and insane to navigate the notoriously tumultuous San Francisco Bay.

It was going to be a rough ride.

Jason managed to unhitch the hook, and they sped away. Taryn looked back, waving to Sean and Daniela as the boat got smaller and smaller. Eventually, they disappeared into the fog, like a ghostly apparition.

Chapter 15

T
he landing was no place to linger in the pouring rain. Sean put his hand on Daniela’s arm, encouraging her to hurry, but she was frozen to the spot. The bizarre events of the past hour were catching up with her, the frightening implications sinking in.

They were stranded.

Jason and Taryn could reach San Francisco Bay this afternoon, if they were lucky, but no rescue team would be dispatched until the weather improved. A visit from the Coast Guard was unlikely. Air support, impossible.

They were stuck here, on Southeast Farallon, with no transportation and no means of communication.

Knowing a crazy person was on the loose made her panic increase tenfold, and being surrounded by shark-infested waters didn’t help. The island seemed to shrink, closing in on her. She couldn’t breathe. Her heart pounded with anxiety and her lungs refused to expand.

There was no hope. No help. No escape.

“Look at me,” Sean ordered, taking her by the upper arms and shaking her gently. “Damn it, Dani, stay with me.”

She blinked a few times, watching his face waver in and out of focus.

“Brent is going to be fine. You’re going to be fine. We’re all going to be fine. But I need your help. I need you to stay strong.”

Her legs felt like rubber, incapable of supporting her, but she closed her eyes and visualized a safer, happier place. Laguna Nigel, on their honeymoon. Beautiful, sunny beaches. Soft summer breezes and warm sand beneath her feet.

Managing to suck in a quick breath, she opened her eyes. “Okay.”

His relief was palpable. “I can carry you, but I’d rather have my hands free.”

She didn’t need him to explain why. “I can walk,” she said, shaking her head. This was no time for fainting and hyperventilating. After another moment of concentration, she was able to set her fear aside.

Taking a steadying breath, she started down the path, heading toward the house. The rain hammered against her hood and the wind tugged at her jacket like a menacing hand, inviting her to lose her balance on the uneven ground, to skirt closer to land’s edge.

Rivers of water appeared everywhere, coursing across the footpaths. In some areas, it was like wading through a creek bed.

She trudged forward, putting one foot in front of the other, trying to stay alert. With Sean behind her, protecting her back, it was up to her to watch out for a frontal attack. Breathe, she told herself. Just breathe.

At the bottom of the trail, she almost slipped and fell. Sean reached out to grab her upper arm, holding her upright. “Steady now?”

She moistened her lips. “Yes.”

The inside of the house brought instant relief from the elements. After making sure the downstairs was clear of intruders, Sean locked the front door. Rifling through the supply closet, he located the tagging equipment he and Jason had used a few days ago.

It seemed like weeks.

“Take this,” Sean said, handing her one of the sleek metal poles. It was sturdy, but not too unwieldy to swing.

He kept the other for himself.

“I’m going to check upstairs.”

“I’m coming with you,” she said immediately.

“No. This is the easiest area to defend. In the bedrooms, there are too many places to hide.”

“I’ll stand at the top of the stairs.”

His jaw clenched with displeasure, but he nodded, making a compromise. They went up the stairs together, moving in unison. At the edge of the hallway, he inched away from her. Her heart went with him.

Be careful!
her mind screamed. She had the frantic urge to tell him she loved him. Gripping the smooth metal bar in her hands, she bit down on her lower lip, forcing herself to remain silent.

He stepped into the bathroom, his legs braced wide. It was unoccupied.

The room she shared with Taryn was also empty. He pushed the door against the wall to make sure. Sean and Jason’s room was trickier, as it had a closet. He had to go all the way inside, disappearing completely from her view.

Seconds ticked by in taut silence. Blood roared in her ears and her palms grew slick with sweat. Her eyes darted from the stairway to the hall and back again. Finally, he reappeared, shaking his head.

She let out the breath she’d been holding.

Brent’s room was neat as a pin, his duffel bag sitting on top of the crisply made bed. In contrast, Elizabeth’s room appeared to have been ransacked. From where she stood, Daniela could see clothes on the floor.

“All clear,” Sean said.

Daniela relaxed her stance, loosening her grip on the pole.

“Maybe Elizabeth came back to confront him while we were out.”

After giving the floor a brief inspection, she crossed the room, glancing out the rain-splattered window. It wasn’t yet noon, but the sky was so dark, it might as well have been dusk. “Do you really think she did it?”

“I don’t know who else could have. I don’t see a weapon here, either.”

Elizabeth must have taken it with her. A chilling thought. “I guess she wanted to avenge her father.”

“Yeah, but she put all of us in danger. Not just Brent.”

They closed the bedroom doors and went back downstairs. While Sean made a pot of tea, she sat down on the couch, her legs tucked beneath her and the tagging spear close by. It was difficult for her to remain calm. With no important tasks to distract her, she couldn’t help but replay the terrifying morning, and imagine a dozen future horrors.

Sean handed her a steaming mug. “Here.”

Although she longed for something stronger, like his warm hands all over her body, she accepted the tea and took an experimental sip.

“Are you okay?”

No.
“Yes.”

“I’m going to take another look at the radio. Maybe I can fix it.”

She nodded mutely. In this weather, the Coast Guard wouldn’t come unless they were out in the middle of the ocean. Like Taryn and Brent and Jason. Having a line of communication with the authorities could save their lives, though.

Daniela shuddered, considering the terrible danger the others faced.

Sean brought a multicolored blanket out from the supply closet, wrapping it around her like a hug. The thick wool smelled like sun and sand, as if someone had taken it to the beach on a warm summer afternoon.

“Try not to worry,” he murmured, kissing the top of her head.

She stared up at him, too tense to smile. They had a long day ahead, followed by another endless night.

Sean didn’t have any luck with the radio. There were parts missing and wires all over the place. He thought about crossing some of the loose wires, trying to create a basic SOS signal, but he didn’t know which ones to choose.

He was a scientist, not an electrician.

The phone lines were a different story. If they’d been cut, he could splice the edges together and slap on some electrical tape. If the satellite receiver had been damaged, they were probably SOL.

His other option was to destroy the signal at the lighthouse tower. Elizabeth wasn’t the only one who could trash equipment. Sean could make short work of the automated beacon, rendering it useless in minutes.

Interfering with the signal would create a major stir at Coast Guard Headquarters, and it probably wouldn’t cause any shipwrecks. Most boats were equipped with GPS, making lighthouse technology obsolete.

Smaller vessels needed the beacon, however, especially in an emergency situation, and he didn’t want to put any more lives in danger.

He’d done enough of that.

If Taryn and Jason didn’t make it to San Francisco, he’d never forgive himself. There were a lot of rough patches between here and there, and Brent was seriously injured. Worrying about them made Sean’s blood pressure skyrocket, so he tried to stay positive.

Having a stress-induced heart attack wouldn’t keep Daniela safe.

To his surprise, she’d fallen asleep. For the past two hours, while he’d been fidgeting with the radio and thumbing through repair manuals, she’d been breathing softly, snuggled deep in the wool blanket.

She looked so damned adorable. He wanted to kiss her lush little mouth and slide his hands beneath her cozy blanket.

Because she needed the rest, he didn’t touch her.

After several moments of watching her sleep, and thinking of all the dirty things he’d like to do to her, he put on his jacket, moving quietly toward the door. If he woke her, she’d insist on going outside with him. And he’d only be gone a minute.

He disengaged the lock and rotated the doorknob, very gently…

“What are you doing?”

Damn.
Turning to face her, he said, “I was just going to check the phone lines. See if they’ve been cut.”

She straightened, running a hand through her mussed hair. Her eyes were half-lidded from sleep, her mouth curved into a sexy pout. Even when she was mad, she was beautiful. “What if I’d woken up while you were gone?”

He thought fast. “I’d have been back before you had a chance to worry.”

With a groan, she stood, letting the blankets fall away from her. “You’re not going anywhere without me.”

He held up a hand, warding her off. “Dani, this will take sixty seconds, tops. It doesn’t make any sense for us both to go. You’re safer here, and I don’t want to have to search the rooms again.”

After a moment of hesitation, she nodded. “I’ll stand right here at the door.”

“Fine.” He waited while she donned her jacket and grabbed the tagging spear, wielding it like a baton. His was resting beside the door. Instead of picking it up, he reached for her, needing one more thing before he left.

He took her in his arms and kissed her, hard. She made a little sound of surprise and melted against him, parting her soft lips. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he swept his tongue inside, plundering her sweet mouth again and again.

The metal pole slipped from her hands, clanging to the floor.

By the time he lifted his head, she was out of breath, speechless. He rubbed his thumb over her kiss-swollen lips, but he didn’t say anything. In this situation, “I love you” sounded fatalistic.

“Be careful,” she said.

“I will.”

He was good on his word, avoiding blind corners and staying alert. In the pouring rain, it was easy to get snuck up on, so he watched his back, too. Knowing that Dani was waiting for him kept him moving fast. He didn’t want to let her down.

As far as he could tell, the phone lines were intact. If the satellite receiver was broken, there was no easy solution for that.

Cursing, he beat a hasty retreat back to the house.

She shut the door and locked it behind him, shivering from cold. “Can you fix it?”

He took off his wet jacket. “I doubt it. I think it’s the sat ellite. At first light, I’ll go up to the tower and have a look.”

“What about the radio?”

“Parts are missing. And I’m no MacGyver.”

“Is there anything else we can do tonight?”

“I could wreck the lighthouse beacon,” he admitted, “but the Coast Guard probably wouldn’t investigate the incident until the weather improved.”

She nibbled on her lower lip, worried. “So we’ll just have to wait it out?”

Eyes on her mouth, he nodded, thinking of a dozen ways to distract her, all of which were wildly inappropriate for a life-or-death situation. “Cell phone reception is better at the tower, too. When the rain lets up, we can give that a go.”

“Okay,” she said, relaxing her shoulders. “When the rain lets up.”

It was going to be a long night.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, trying to reroute his appetite to food, rather than sex. They’d skipped breakfast, and missed lunch. “I think it’s my turn to cook.”

“We should eat something,” she agreed.

He made grilled cheese sandwiches while she heated up a can of vegetable soup. The meal they prepared wasn’t fancy, but it was hot, and he was hungrier than he thought. He ate his sandwich and half of hers.

The rain continued to come down hard, hammering the roof and gushing from the rain gutters, making the confines of the house seem cozier, more intimate. As she washed the dishes, his eyes were drawn to the nape of her neck, silky-pale in contrast to her dark hair, and the enticing curve of her bottom.

He couldn’t prevent himself from fantasizing about tugging down the back of her pants and pressing his lips to that cute little scar. Tracing it with his tongue.

She turned away from the sink, drying her hands on a towel.

It took him a half a second to drag his gaze up to her face. Her cheeks were flushed. She moistened her lips.

“I think I’ll wash up,” he rasped.

A tiny crease formed between her brows. “Are you going to shave?”

He rubbed a hand over his jaw, encountering about a week’s worth of stubble. Out here, he preferred some protection from the elements. “Do you want me to?”

“No.”

His gaze fell again, lingering on the swells of her breasts, the apex of her thighs. He used to shave every day, just to please her. On certain occasions, however, he’d come home scruffy as hell, and she’d welcomed him that way, too.

Enthusiastically, as he recalled.

“Fine,” he said, clearing his throat. “Come with me, though. I’ll feel better if we stick close together.”

She nodded, following him upstairs. He left the bathroom door open while he leaned over the sink, washing his face. Considering his next step.

He wanted Daniela, but he was afraid of screwing things up again. The events that preceded their divorce had been incredibly painful for both of them. One disturbing memory, in particular, kept resurfacing.

The year after the accident, Dani hadn’t interacted with him, or anyone else, on an intimate level. When he tried to talk with her, she avoided his company. She wouldn’t let him touch her. She rarely even made eye contact.

It was like living with a ghost.

He suspected that she wished she’d died with Natalie, and although he’d never voiced this fear, he’d been terrified that she would commit suicide.

Months passed this way, until he couldn’t stand the distance between them. He started pressing her harder, insisting she spend more time with him. He’d badger her into taking a walk on the beach. Instead of going surfing alone, he’d beg her to swim with him in the ocean. He’d do anything to get her out in the sunshine.