Buch lesen: «Christmas Captive»

ONE

When Petty Officer Jordan Somerton stepped onto the lido deck of the cruise ship Summer Seas, he’d have gladly given a month’s salary to be on land.

That wasn’t something he usually thought. Not after almost ten years in the navy, eight of those as a SEAL. Sea. Air. Land. It didn’t matter to him on any given mission. He was comfortable in any and all.

Only this wasn’t a mission. And he wasn’t aboard a naval ship.

“Jordan!” his aunt Phyllis called from the starboard side of the hardwood deck. As she waved her hand, enough bracelets to sink a liner half this size jangled around her wrist. He wasn’t usually called Jordan by anyone but his family. His team called him River. As in the Jordan River.

But he didn’t think he could avoid Aunt Phyllis by pretending he didn’t recognize his own name. Not with her eyes on him like a laser. So he smiled at her and circled around the outskirts of the crowd, his back always to the wall, facing the collection of Somertons and Sutcliffs mingling around the pool.

A ship with a pool. What a waste of space.

But Aunt Phyllis didn’t seem to agree. She shuffled over, dragging his youngest cousin, Stephanie, in her wake.

“Hi, Steph,” he said, leaning down to hug her shoulders and kiss the top of her head. Even though she had just graduated from high school, their standard greeting seemed fitting since he’d spent most of his growing-up years living with them. “How’s college?”

She shrugged, but it did nothing to dim the smile on her lips and her flashing white teeth. “Okay.”

Phyllis pouted. “She met a young man and wants to go to his house for Christmas.”

Stephanie’s eyes bugged out. “Mo-om!”

Jordan tried not to laugh, but Stephanie’s face was just too good to hold it back. “Sorry, kiddo. Welcome to being an adult single in this family. I wish I could tell you it gets better.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t.”

She glanced toward the corner of the pool, where Stephanie’s sister and her fiancé stood, hand in hand, staring into each other’s eyes. A little too in love for his taste.

“But they never teased Kaneesha.”

“It’s because she’s been dating Rodney since they were thirteen. Everyone’s known this week was coming forever.” He just hadn’t been planning on their wedding taking place on a cruise ship somewhere in the middle of the Caribbean a week before Christmas. “Just wait until you bring a guy home.” He rolled his eyes. “I can’t wait to see that!”

Phyllis was already frowning, clearly picturing her baby walking down the aisle. Suddenly her eyes shifted in Kaneesha’s direction. “Speaking of bringing a date to family dinner...”

Her voice trailed off and his stomach hit the deck. Rodney, in his sharp gray suit, took a step to the side as a third person joined them.

Amy Delgado. Long brown hair flowing behind her. Full skirt dancing around her knees in the ship’s breeze. Bright pink lips curved in an overflowing smile.

Words failed him.

She was stunning. And he would have noticed that, with or without the elbow to his ribs from Phyllis. He grunted. She pouted.

“I can’t believe you let that one get away.”

Yeah, yeah, yeah. He knew. He’d botched that. Badly. And he didn’t blame Amy for hating him.

The broken date hadn’t been entirely his fault. He’d blame that on the Lybanian terrorist who had suddenly popped out of hiding and tried to take over an otherwise peaceful village where a slew of American aid workers had set up shop. When the US government called on him to do his job, he’d done it. Even if it meant breaking a date he’d kind of been looking forward to.

But the lead-up to it—the before-the-date misunderstanding in front of his entire family that had required an apology date—that was all on him.

He was lost somewhere in the memory when Neesha waved at him. “Come over here.”

No. That was a bad idea. Because Amy was staring at him now, too. And putting the two of them together never ended well. But when the bride called, he’d go running.

“Neesha, you look beautiful.” He greeted her with a kiss on the cheek before shaking his soon-to-be cousin-in-law’s hand. Then he shoved his own into the pocket of his black slacks.

But his cousin wasn’t about to be so easily mollified. She stared at him like a sniper’s spotter, her gaze intense and lips in a stern line. He made a silly face, hoping to distract her from that frown before Aunt Phyllis saw it.

The bride should always be smiling, she’d scolded him before they left the port in Miami. So I don’t want to hear a word about how much you hate cruise ships. Understood?

Yes, ma’am, he’d said, because any good South Carolina boy knew better than to argue with the woman who had raised him without complaint since he was six.

But his faces didn’t do a thing to change Kaneesha’s grumpy expression or alter her reproachful tone. “Amy said you haven’t practiced your dance yet. You know all of the bridesmaids and groomsmen are joining us for the second dance, and I don’t want it to be your first time dancing together.”

He met Amy’s dark brown gaze over Neesha’s shoulder. Though her eyes said she wasn’t particularly pleased to see him, she still mouthed an apology for landing him in hot water. It was quite possibly the first time she’d ever apologized to him. He was the one with all the practice in that department. But he wasn’t fooled into believing that this meant they were on the same team. In fact, he was pretty sure they were playing different sports. And whatever this was, he was perpetually three steps behind.

Between Amy’s cold shoulder and his family’s nagging, he knew there was no chance he was getting away from this trip without making everyone mad at him, one way or another. That’s why he’d prefer being in the field. At least then he had a clear objective—and a team to back him up if he ever got in over his head.

“Are you even listening to me?”

He jerked his mind back to his cousin. “Of course I am.”

Kaneesha narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. “Uh-huh.” Jordan’s attention shifted back to Amy. The gold highlights in the navy blue dress made her deep brown skin glow, and the highlights in her wavy hair shone in the late-afternoon sun.

“It’s good to see you, Amy.”

She nodded, the briefest acknowledgment. Then asked, “How’s Will?”

Of course she’d ask about his SEAL teammate. She’d been friends with Will Gumble for years. The fact that she’d barely acknowledged Jordan’s status as anything more than a barnacle on the hull of a ship meant they hadn’t progressed past prolonged apologies.

“He’s fine. Jess is about to pop. Will’s pretty excited about being a dad.”

She offered a flicker of a smile. He knew she still took credit for getting Will and Jess back together after ten years apart. And he had to give Amy credit. As a DEA agent, she’d been able to get Will set up with a false identity and thrown into a drug cartel’s compound where Jess had been held captive. Working together under the noses of their captors, they’d managed to save the day—and Will had won Jess over.

Suddenly their foursome became five, as a young girl bounded up to them from the dance floor.

“There you are!”

All four adults turned to the girl, whose pink cheeks couldn’t hide her delight or the effects of the brisk wind. And Amy’s eyes, always so expressive, grew round. “Elaina, what are you doing here?” She gracefully dipped to look the girl Jordan recognized as her eight-year-old niece in the eye. “I thought your dad took you back to your suite after dinner.”

Elaina shrugged. “I came to find you. I didn’t want to stay in my room.” A shadow of doubt crossed her face, and she reached for Amy’s hand. “My dad had to make a secure call from the captain’s office again. I was lonely.”

Neesha’s smile blossomed, and she bent to give Elaina a hug. “We can’t have our flower girl spending the evening all alone. Come on.” With a tug, she led Elaina and Rodney toward the dance floor and began to spin.

Amy crossed her arms as her gaze narrowed on her niece, and Jordan could do nothing but shove his hands deeper into his pockets, unsure what to say.

After a long pause, she spoke, barely loud enough to be heard over the thumping music coming from the DJ in the corner. “I worry about her. Ever since her mom died, it just seems like Michael is working more and more.”

Jordan nodded. Not that she deigned to glance in his direction.

“It’s hard for a little girl when her dad isn’t around.”

He knew she had some personal experience on that front. Her parents had split when she was young, and her dad hadn’t really been a part of her life. But despite a nearly twenty-year history between them—she was Neesha’s best friend after all—she’d never talked about it with him. Their conversations had rarely dipped below the surface.

Fair was fair, though—it wasn’t as if he’d ever chosen to confide in her. She knew about the circumstances of his childhood—messed up as it had been—because Neesha couldn’t keep from spilling every single bean she had. But it didn’t mean they talked about it. Ever.

Amy’s soft voice pulled him from his thoughts again.

“I tried really hard...but when Michael was sent to Lybania and I was transferred...”

Yeah, he knew that Michael Torres was now the US ambassador to Lybania. Jordan had actually met him after the mission that forced Jordan to cancel his sort-of date with Amy. But he couldn’t admit that he’d met Amy’s brother-in-law before this cruise. Not when the mission was still classified.

“Mmm-hmm.” It was more grunt than acknowledgment, but it was enough for her to jerk her head up, her gaze sharp and surprised, like she’d forgotten who she was talking to.

“You don’t have to pretend like you want to listen to me.” Her tone wasn’t bitter, but there was a distinct crispness in her words.

“I’m not pretending.” If they could smooth over so many months of awkwardness between them just by talking about other people, he’d be happy to listen to her for hours. But he knew it wasn’t that simple. Even if neither of them wanted to talk about it, they still needed to address the elephant on the lido deck. Rubbing the top of his head, he stared at his shoes for a long moment. “Listen, Amy, I’m—”

With a swift wave of her hand, she cut him off. “Please don’t. We’ve been through this enough times. You’ve apologized. Your teammates have apologized on your behalf. I’m just surprised that you haven’t sent your pastor to apologize.”

He tried for a laugh, but it came out dry and throaty and wholly unlike his normal chuckle.

When she looked into his eyes, hers were sure and unflinching. “I accept your apology.” Only her tone suggested the exact opposite.

“But we can’t be friends?”

“I think it’s better if we aren’t. Don’t you?”

She didn’t give him time to answer. She just stalked in Neesha’s direction, flashing a smile at Elaina as she danced across the hardwood floor, leaving him to wonder if he’d ever get a second chance.

He wasn’t used to accepting defeat. Especially not after battling through the rigors of the BUD/S—Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL—training. He’d been pushed to his limits both mentally and physically, and ever since then, giving up hadn’t been part of his MO. Throwing in the towel on whatever he and Amy could have been didn’t sit well with him.

They were stuck in a floating party together for five more days, so he might as well spend the time figuring out how to get her to really forgive him.

* * *

“Rodney can dance!”

“Not as well as you.” Amy laughed, spinning Elaina around the dance floor as a DJ played her favorite Cyndi Lauper song from the 80s.

Elaina threw her head back and smiled up at the sky as it faded to ink, her stick-straight hair swinging wide around her shoulders. “Can we do this all night?”

“No.” Amy gave Elaina her best fake-stern look. She had a real stern one, too. But she saved that for drug runners and cokeheads with big guns.

“Oh, please. I don’t want to go back to my room.” There was a slight tremor in the girl’s voice that put Amy on her guard. Elaina wasn’t the type to whine. If she said something was wrong, she meant it.

“Why not?” Amy knew for a fact that Elaina and her father—and their bodyguard—were staying in one of the very best suites on the ship.

The girl looked up, then down at her feet. “My dad’s not there and it...it feels like someone’s watching me.”

The hairs on the back of Amy’s neck jumped to a salute. Helping Elaina make a more controlled turn so she didn’t bump into the other dancers peppered across the floor, Amy picked out her next question carefully. “Has your dad been leaving you alone? Has he had to make a lot of calls?”

Elaina shrugged but turned it into a shimmy as the music hit a faster beat. “This is the fourth time since we left. Probably something for work.”

Amy mimicked her niece’s movements, but with her mind engaged elsewhere, she was always a half a beat behind the music.

She couldn’t picture anything but her brother-in-law’s face. His dark hair had turned gray at the temples, and she couldn’t be sure if it was from Alexandra’s battle with cancer or his new role for the State Department. His smile, which had captivated Alex from the start, had turned haggard.

Amy stared at her niece, her features so much like Alex’s had been. But Elaina’s eyes were shadowed, haunted.

Amy knew Michael’s focus on work had Elaina feeling lonely and neglected, but this didn’t seem like mere sadness. Elaina actually seemed afraid. Could she be right about someone watching her? But who? And why?

The girl yawned loudly.

Maybe she was just tired.

But there was something about the way her voice shook when she said she felt like she was being watched. As far as cruise ships went, this was a fairly small specimen. But there were still enough people aboard that no one was really alone. At least, not for long. Maybe Elaina was just tuned in to the constant buzz of human activity.

Or maybe someone was watching her.

An elbow bumped into her stationary shoulder, and Amy jerked back, her fist automatically cocked beneath her chin.

But when she met her would-be attacker’s eyes, she realized it was only Jordan and let out a quick sigh.

“Sorry about that,” he muttered. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

He opened his mouth as if he wanted to continue their endless apology dance, but she was done. Done with him. Done for the night. Done forever. So she took her excuse and ran with it. “I have to get Elaina back to her suite. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He nodded, and if he tried to say anything else, it was lost as the DJ turned the bass up.

Grabbing Elaina’s hand, she spun the girl toward the edge of the dance floor and the nearest exit. “It’s off to bed for us,” she singsonged despite Elaina’s frown. But the yawn that cracked her jaw once again proved that the girl was ready for some peace and a full night of sleep, whether she’d admit it or not.

As they climbed the steps to the next level, Elaina asked, “Do you think my dad’ll be there?”

“We danced for almost an hour, so I’m sure he’s back from his phone call by now. And he’s probably worried about you.”

Elaina shook her head. “He’ll know I’m with you.” Suddenly the smooth skin of her face wrinkled with concern. “Will you stay with me if he’s not there?”

Amy’s heart tripped at the fear that laced the girl’s words. Something was clearly off. Something that she couldn’t quite pinpoint. But after five years with the DEA and three with the Marines before that, Amy had learned to listen to fear. She refused to let it control her, but a little healthy fear had kept her alive more than once.

“Of course. You know I’ll always stay with you.”

With a squeeze of her hand, Elaina rested her head against Amy’s arm. “Promise?”

The plea was familiar. Probably because Amy had asked it herself a hundred times when she was about her niece’s age.

But before she could respond, a wave of goose bumps rushed down her arms. Along the interior hallway there wasn’t a breeze off the ocean to chill her. But something had set off her internal alarms.

“You okay, Aunt Amy?”

She whipped her head around to look behind them. The hallway was empty. “Sure.” She tried to sound more certain than she felt.

There was a weight on her skin, like someone was watching them. Except they were all alone...weren’t they?

And yet the sensation of being watched was as tangible as Elaina’s hand in hers.

Maybe it was habit or so many years of training, but Amy grabbed the girl and pushed her into a shallow doorway, using her own body as cover. Amy measured her breaths to keep them silent, but Elaina knew no such trick. Her gasps were ragged, and they echoed in the corridor.

She couldn’t identify the source of her concern, and this was the first time she’d felt this way on this cruise. But there was no doubt. Something was going on.

It had scared Elaina.

And now it was turning up every single one of Amy’s protective instincts.

She peeked out from the little notch, looking both ways, but saw no one. Not even a shadow. The hallway lights had been dimmed, but there was still plenty to illuminate a moving figure.

And there was no one there.

She backed up, pulling Elaina with her and pressing the girl against her side. “Stay close.”

Elaina nodded against her.

Heart thumping faster than usual, Amy took another look behind them. Maybe it would be better to backtrack. To find someone else from the wedding party.

Or she could keep going to the nearest protected place. Elaina’s suite.

With slow, methodical steps she worked her way to the end of the hall, where it intersected with another. There she peeked around the corner. Two large forms were approaching and Amy jerked back, pressing Elaina against the wall behind them. Stretching a finger across her lips, she made the universal sign for quiet as heavy footsteps drew nearer.

“Where’s the girl? She was supposed to be back by now.”

“I don’t know. I was with you. Remember?”

It sounded like the sarcastic guy got punched, and his groan echoed.

“Shut up. Don’t try to be funny. I’ll call the boss. He’ll know where the ambassador’s daughter is.”

Elaina flinched, a gasp escaping. She flung a hand over her mouth and stared at Amy with wild eyes that asked the only important question. Are they talking about me?

Of course they were. What were the odds there was another ambassador’s daughter aboard this ship?

Amy felt suddenly sick, bile rising in the back of her throat. This had gone from an instinctual concern to a serious threat in seconds. They had to get out of there, away from these men, who had clearly been watching Elaina.

“We don’t know where she is. She’s not back at her room yet,” said the guy who’d announced he was going to call the boss.

The undeniable crackle of a walkie-talkie bounced down the hallway, but Amy couldn’t understand what had been said.

“Sure. We’ll get her before they arrive.” Shoving his friend, he said, “Start looking.”

Who was they? And what exactly did they want with Elaina Torres?

Whatever it was wasn’t good. And Amy couldn’t wait around to find out.

The deep voices dropped low, and then their footsteps stopped for a long moment before one took off in the other direction. Her heart kicked into overdrive. This was their chance to make a break for it.

Leaning down, she whispered to Elaina, “Hold my hand and don’t let go.”

“Are we going to find my dad?”

They were going to find safety and get help. No matter what.