Only Emma (16 page)

Lissey sighed. She needed to be alone with a gin and tonic. A couple of G and T's. Maybe a rum punch too. The only person she wanted to hear from was Jake. Louis would do though, if he'd call to say Jake would be all right.

"Call Marcus for me, will you? Tell him we don't know where Jake is. They might be headed for Great Casque, looking for Doc," Lissey said.

She threw a glance in the direction of a young couple seated at one of the tables. They seemed quite interested in what was going on, watching Lissey until she caught their attention, then quickly looking away. Ignoring them, she strode into the kitchen, found the gin bottle in the cabinet next to the fridge, and poured a good slug into a glass. Tonic, did she have any on hand, yes, a little left in the bottom of the bottle. One drink, that was all. She'd have to switch. Or head for the Sea Horse and let Henri pour for her. That idea held a nice appeal. Henri was a good listener, a comforter. She needed that at the moment. Fear squatted like a giant boulder in the middle of her chest, cramping her breathing, crushing her heart. The scene on the boat, Jake's blood all over the place, churned in her mind, vivid in its look and sticky touch and smell. She'd never realized drying blood had a smell.

She downed a gulp of the G and T and went looking for her mobile. Might as well deal with Kirby while she was still sober.

He answered on the second ring. "Hello Lissey. Have you calmed down?"

A ball of rage rose in her throat. What a hell of a greeting. The man was an ass, A-number one, in a class by himself. "I'm fine. When are you going to collect the prisoner?"

"You're still holding him?"

"Of course."

"Do you have the victim?"

"Half the island saw him shoot the man."

"Come now, let's not embellish the tale."

Lissey sighed. "Okay, at least three or four of us."

There was a delay, silence, before he spoke again. Lissey bit her tongue and waited.

"I'll be there shortly. Have your witnesses available. Have you secured the scene?"

"His boat is here," Lissey said and bit her lip. Why in the world had she cleaned up the blood? Foolish, it was evidence.

An hour later the twenty-foot Grand Casque police boat trundled into the harbor and tied up to the gas dock. Tall, ascetic looking Kirby Wittingham greeted her, his professional unsmiling smile plastered on his face, a clipboard in his hand. Lissey wondered suddenly if the man had a wife, if he even had a private life.

He offered a limp right hand. "Lissey."

Courteous as always. Well, two could play at that game. "Kirby."

"Your prisoner?"

"Henri has him locked up in his storage room."

"Henri?"

"The Sea Horse Grill?"

"Oh, of course. You had better tell me what happened. I'm afraid I have a very confusing idea of the situation."

The implication being that she'd been a hysterical female when she called him the first time. Lissey held the sharp reply she'd almost given, could be she had been a bit distracted after all. She launched into the details, answering his occasional questions with as much equanimity as she could muster in the face of the distressing images that danced through her mind as she spoke.

"Witnesses?" Kirby said.

"Me, my father. Maria Sarano. Louis Pico."

"They're all around here somewhere?"

"All but Louis. He's with Jake."

A frown crossed his brow." You know this how?"

"I told you. He rescued Jake. They left together."

"Okay, okay, never mind." Kirby grunted. "Let's go look at the crime scene. Where is the boat?'

Lissey felt the heat of embarrassment rise to her face. "There's something else I need to tell you."

She just knew she'd never hear the end of it. How could she destroy the blood evidence like that? Well crap, she wasn't a real constable or anything. But Kirby simply stared at her in disbelief and made a note on his clipboard. Which would have been tolerable except she spent the next day with those staring eyes boring into her as he kept going over what had happened and watched a diver trying to recover Terrio's gun from the bottom of the harbor. Louis and Jake they did not find. The gun, amazingly, they did.

Kirby had taken Terrio into custody that first day, thank goodness, but he seemed totally apathetic about the case, almost as if he did not believe a single witness. Then, two days into his investigation, the diver came to the surface of the harbor with the gun in his hand. Kirby actually smiled that day.

"You've got to find this man Wainright," he told Lissey when he left the island with the gun. "We need to know if he's alive or dead."

"We've searched everywhere though. Maybe they went to the big island," Lissey said.

"I'll take care of the big island. You need to look deeper here. Somebody must know something."

How many haunts could Louis have? They'd spoken to his brother and sisters, the friends Lissey knew about, all without success. He had to have taken Jake somewhere. Free of Kirby at last, Lissey began to traipse the island, stopping at each house she came to, asking questions, getting headshakes and no answers. Louis and Jake had disappeared. After two long days of that she tried another tactic. Louis's boat had to be somewhere.

Firing up Jake's boat, she set out to do a sea search, tracing the shoreline, hoping to find Louis's boat tied up to a small dock somewhere. Unfortunately, the big sailboat with its deep keel found the bottom with great regularity as she pushed into shallow coves and bays. The fourth time she had to go over the side and, neck deep in water, rock the boat to break it free of the sand, she gave up. There were too many little inlets that were beyond her reach. Her father could protest that he needed his powerboat for launch duty in Louis's absence, but too bad, she needed it more.

On the other hand, maybe she'd been right, they were hiding on Great Casque instead of locally. Hiding from Terrio, not knowing he'd been disarmed and arrested. An idea clicked in Lissey's head and her spirits soared. She could put the word out, tell everyone she met that Terrio had been taken into custody and was no longer a threat. Maybe someone would tell Louis and he'd get in touch. The thought thrilled her. She started with Henri's Sea Horse Grill. Everybody at this end of the island stopped at Henri's one time or another. She strode up and down the road, telling everyone she encountered, every house she passed, telling all Jake was safe now. Louis could bring him home.

A day passed without a word, leaving her with a knot in her stomach again. Had Jake died? But where was Louis, why was he still missing? Early the next morning, Horace and Simon came in for their lunches as always, but not meeting her eyes, knowing the grapevine hadn't helped her one little bit. She baked the usual treats and goodies, but her heart wasn't in it, and she could swear the goodies were not as good as they usually were. She made no tarts, no American corn muffins that day.

Baking done, the shop open, Lissey stood at the door, a coffee in hand, staring out at the harbor, letting the early morning sun warm her weary bones. She hadn't slept, had dreamt about Jake and their wedding, and Terrio coming down the aisle behind them, shooting at them. The blood was there again, Jake's blood, spattered all over her white dress. She'd come awake screaming in the night. The dream was still with her, images seared into her brain, playing out even as she sipped her coffee in the early morning light.

An ancient golf cart came plodding down the road and stopped in front of Maria's rental shop. The young woman who drove it waved at Lissey, then knocked on Maria's front door.

Maria appeared in a dressing gown, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Lissey turned and headed back into her shop. The visitor had shunted her nightmare aside, thank you very much, and she suddenly felt hungry.

Lissey cracked two eggs into a skillet and popped a roti into the toaster oven. She would not think about Jake until she finished breakfast, at least ten minutes. Then she'd get on the horn to Wittingham and see if he'd turned up anything on the big island.

She tossed the eggs carefully, kept both yolks intact, would wonders never cease, and pulled the roti from the oven.

"Lissey, come on."

She turned. Maria stood in the doorway, fully dressed, her medical bag in one hand, the other beckoning frantically.

"Come on. It's your man."

Minutes later, they were tearing down the road in one of Maria's rental carts, following the girl Lissey had seen knock on Maria's door. Tearing as much as a golf cart could tear, more like bumping along at a snail's pace as far as Lissey was concerned.

"She's a cousin to Louis," Maria said, nodding in the direction of the golf cart leading the way. "He sent her to get me."

"Is Jake all right? How is he?"

Maria shook her head. "She wouldn't tell me."

Lissey cringed. Jake had been missing almost five days and they were only asking for Maria's help now? He must have taken a turn for the worse. Tears welled up in her eyes. She brushed them away.

A mile and a half, and an eternity from the shop, the aged golf cart turned from the road into a stand of trees, following a path Lissey almost couldn't see. The sand along the road soon petered out, replaced by vegetation and rocky traces of ancient volcanic activity, the little bit that remained on the island.

Then she saw it, through the trees, water, a tiny cove tucked deep inside the land. Two boats were tied up to the trees, a small one, perhaps sixteen feet, and another beside it, a bit larger. Louis's boat. The blood began to pound in her head.
Jake, I found you, I'm coming.

A small house appeared. Buried amidst the trees, it had a wide verandah on two sides and hibiscus growing in profusion, the brilliant flowers giving the place an air of elegance the house itself did not deserve. A tiny home, it seemed big enough to house nothing but a single room.

The girl pulled to a halt and Maria parked behind her cart. Louis and another, younger, man emerged from the house. They both wore solemn smiles. Emma followed, looking untidy and bedraggled, a ragamuffin in the same clothes she had worn the day of Jake's shooting.

Lissey slipped out of the cart, then hesitated, afraid of what Louis would tell her. Emma dashed to her side and wrapped both arms around her and buried her face in Lissey's leg. Lissey bent and gave her an awkward hug.

"Daddy's sick," Emma said.

"I know, sweetie," Lissey said and hugged her again.

"Where is he?" Maria asked.

"The bedroom," Louis said, his eyes on Lissey. "It's a small room. We can't all go in together."

"How bad is it?" Lissey murmured, her chest tight, her breathing coming with difficulty.

Louis shook his head.

"You go in first," Maria said. "Don't stay long. I'll need time with him."

The girl stepped forward and beckoned Lissey to follow her inside. Entering a tiny kitchen, the girl pointed to an open doorway on the far side of the room. "There," she said.

The bedroom held a row of shallow shelves crammed with items of clothing along one wall, a rumpled double bed, and a tiny nightstand. A large window on the seaside of the house provided the only light. Jake lay on his back, his eyes closed. Shirtless, he had a bloodstained bandage on his chest. A sob caught in Lissey's throat.

Emma clung to her hand.

Jake opened his eyes and frowned as if trying to focus. "Hi beautiful," he croaked.

She had to be strong for him. He looked gray, absolutely awful. The room had a smell to it, of illness, of infected flesh? But she couldn't let him see her cry. "Slacker."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"Lazybones. How long are you going to monopolize these people's bed?"

He grinned. "That's my girl. Tough as they come."

She couldn't maintain the charade. Tears began to trickle down her cheeks.

"Hey babe, it's not so bad."

"Maria's outside. She's here to take a look at you."

"Yeah, Louis said he was sending for her. He was afraid that detective guy would find us."

"Terrio's in jail."

"They'll send someone to take his place."

A shudder ran through Lissey's body. She hadn't thought of that possibility.

"Listen, there's something I have to tell you," Jake said. "They'll try to kill me again, you know they will. I can't marry you."

CHAPTER NINE

His words rocked her to her core. She wanted to protest but no words came. He was too weak, too sick to argue with. A flush of hot emotion flew across her face and it was all she could do not to burst into tears.

He reached up, trying to touch her hand, but grimaced and fell back with the pain.

Emma grabbed her leg again and clung to her.

Lissey was aware of everything and nothing all at once. Emma's desperation, her own sense of loss, of betrayal, of fear. Of outrage that he would make that decision without consulting her. Momentarily, she wrestled with conflicting thoughts and could do nothing except pat Emma on the head.

His eyes closed.

She could not be still, could not let his decision go unchallenged no matter what his condition. "Jake, you're not making any choices now. You're—"

"It's time. Let me at him," Maria said from the doorway.

"What?"

"Come out of there. Now. Louis never took the bullet out."

She couldn't cope, it was too much. Jake still had the bullet in him. Did that mean he would die? And what if he lived and stuck to his decision to abandon her. She would not, could not, let him sail away, not now, not after this. The Terrio's of this world be damned. She loved Jake Wainright. And his daughter.

Emma stared at her, a look of panic on her little face.

"He'll be all right, sweetie," Lissey murmured.

Emma threw herself into Lissey's arms. "What will we do?"

She hesitated, unsure what the child meant. What would who do if what? There were a dozen ways to answer that question. Then she knew the only answer she could give at the moment. Ever in fact. "When Daddy gets better we'll sail away on your boat together, all of us, so the bad man won't find us anymore."

Emma smiled. "Together?"

"Together."

Lissey looked up as Maria emerged from the house.

"Louis, get the boat ready. We have to get Jake to the hospital. Fast."

The trip to Great Casque turned out to be a nightmare. Maria and Louis propped Jake up in one of the padded seats, but he kept falling over. With the lurching of the boat as it pounded through the sea Maria and Lissey had a hard time keeping him in the seat. Finally, half way to Great Casque, they lowered him to the deck and put a boat cushion under his head. Spray came over the bow and soon soaked the lower half of his body, causing him to shiver even in the tropical sun. Emma alternately clutched Jake's hand or tried to cuddle with Lissey. Lissey could see the fear in her eyes. Did her own look like that?

After what seemed like an eternity they tied up at Marcus Digby's dock in Kikitap. Doc Brinker was there waiting for them with the island's one lone ambulance and a nurse. Jake had passed out.

It took all of them to get Jake off the boat and into the ambulance, but he was soon on his way to the hospital. Marcus Digby gave Lissey and Emma a ride to the tiny four-bed facility in his ancient lorry.

"He'll be in surgery about an hour. I have to remove the bullet and clean up the wound. He should have been here the day he got shot," Doc said as they entered the hospital waiting room.

"They were hiding from the gunman," Lissey said.

Doc shook his head. "He'll need corrective surgery after he heals. And right now he needs a transfusion. He's lost a lot of blood."

"Take me, I'll do it."

A broad smile creased the old man's face. "Girlfriend?"

A warm flush filled Lissey's cheeks.

"Got to see if you're a match. Know your blood type?" Doc asked.

"No."

"Come on into the treatment room." He seemed to take notice of Emma for the first time. "You'll have to wait here, little girl. Mind your manners."

"Where's Daddy?" Emma said, looking as if she were about to cry.

Lissey went to one knee and hugged her. "He's in the other room, sweetie. I'll be right back and we'll sit together."

"I want to see my Daddy."

Doc frowned. "Not now. When we fix him up."

"I want—" Emma started.

"Can she come with me while you draw my blood?" Lissey asked.

"We'll be feeding it directly into him," Doc said. "I can't have a child getting hysterical while I'm working."

"She'll be strong, won't you Emma," Lissey said.

Doc looked dubious but he finally nodded. "Just for the transfusion then. I don't have any extra nurses hanging around to watch her."

Two and a half hours later, operation and transfusion completed, Lissey and Emma entered one of the two bedrooms. Jake smiled when he saw them, a loopy smile as he still felt the effects of the anesthesia he'd been given.

"Hi guys," he mumbled.

Emma reached out tentatively and touched his hand. "Does it hurt, Daddy?"

"A little, Baby, not much." Jake's eyes met Lissey's. "Everything okay?"

"We're fine. Emma was wonderful."

"I sat on her lap while we waited for you," Emma said.

"Where is she going to stay?" Jake said.

Lissey blinked. "Emma? With me, of course."

A frown creased Jake's brow and he tried to shake his head. "You can't do that. That guy will be back."

"I told you. He's in jail. Now that we found you, he'll be charged with attempted murder."

"They'll send someone else. They'll shoot you," Jake said.

Lissey shook her head. "Emma's coming with me. There's no ifs, ands or buts about it." She leaned over and kissed him gently. "We're a team, me and Emma. You just get better, you hear?"

"You'll get killed," Jake muttered, his eyes pleading. "Louis can take care of her at that little house."

"Louis knows about as much about a little girl as he did about your wound. She's with me. After all, I'm going to be her new mother."

"We can't. I told you. I won't put you in danger like that."

A lump in her throat, Emma clutching her hand, Lissey traipsed back to Marcus Digby's dock. Jake hadn't forgotten, had not changed his mind. It was her life, her choice whether to take the risk of being shot. Not his, damn it.

Emma squeezed her hand. "Are you going to be my new mommy?"

"You betcha."

"Why was Daddy sad?"

Lissey sighed. Why did this child have to be so observant? "It's a long story. When Daddy comes home we'll talk about it."

"Will he be okay now?"

"Sure, yes," Lissey said. But Doc hadn't been very reassuring. He'd done his best but infection had been widespread and everything depended on the antibiotics now. Jake's wound was in his chest, near his shoulder, they couldn't amputate anything if gangrene set in. She shivered at the thought.

"What's the matter?" Emma asked, studying her face.

Lissey grinned. "Nothing, love. Look, there's Louis waiting for us at the dock."

"I don't want to stay with him. I want to live with you and Daddy."

Lissey felt a tear threaten. She gave Emma's hand a tiny squeeze. "Me too."

Louis wisely asked no questions about the operation in front of Emma as they headed home.

Lissey gave him a smile. "I want to thank you again, Louis. For kicking that man overboard the way you did. You saved Jake's life."

"Mr. Jake is a good man. My friend."

Then why didn't you take him directly to hospital that first day?
Lissey sighed. He'd done what he thought was best, she shouldn't blame him. But, what if Jake died from the infection? She would not abandon Emma.

She'd take her to the States, that was it. They would stay with Lydia for a while, then find an apartment, get a job and put Emma in daycare. They'd need to use fake names the way Jake had done, but any detective who came after them would have no idea where to look. She'd call Emma after Caroline. She groaned. A great plan that was, betting Jake would die. He wouldn't dare. But he wouldn't marry her if he lived. They'd go off together, he and Emma. Only Emma.

Well, he could forget that. Married or not, she was going with him. He wouldn't be able to handle the boat for a long time, not until he was completely healed, maybe not for months. And even then, Doc had said he'd need more surgery.

"You worried?" Louis asked as they pulled up to the dock on Little Casque.

Lissey smiled. "Determined."

He laughed. "Mr. Jake is wild for you, you know. He talked about you all the time when we were at my cousin's house."

Wild over her, was he? Lissey held her tongue but not her thoughts. No two ways about it, her heart wasn't her own anymore. He would marry her. Or else. She could not suppress a giggle. Louis glanced at her, then went back to business.

She took Emma right to Jake's boat. The child needed clean clothes, a shower, and a little hair styling if she was finally going to be a girl. Not that Emma had a lot of hair to style but Lissey would do her best.

Scrubbing Emma, tending to her hair, just felt so good it brought tears to her eyes. This she should be doing with Caroline.

"What's the matter?" Emma asked abruptly.

Lissey realized she had sighed. She pasted a smile to her face. "Oh, I was just thinking of someone I used to know."

"Was she a girl?"

Lissey nodded.

"Like me?"

What to say. This was not heading in a good direction. But Emma was no stranger to the idea of death. "She was my daughter, just like you're your daddy's daughter."

Emma stared at her a second, then shook her head. "Will I be your daughter when you marry Daddy?"

Lissey cocked an eyebrow at her. "Yup."

"Good," Emma said and kissed her hand.

"Let's go to the shop. My mother has been there all day," Lissey said and took Emma by the hand.

"Where have you been? I saw Louis come back a while ago," Lavinia said as they entered the shop.

"Emma needed a shower. Has it been a busy day?"

Lavinia grunted. "Very, and I've been all alone. You went out and left the shop wide open this morning."

"I know, I'm sorry. It was an emergency."

Lavinia frowned. "How is he?"

Lissey eyed her and then glanced at Emma, trying to stop her questions in front of the little one. "Doc operated and now Jake's on penicillin."

"They still use that stuff?"

"Antibiotics, I don't know what kind."

"How long will it be before he's able to leave?" Lavinia said.

Lissey sent her a curious stare. Lavinia seemed to be on edge. "I don't know, Mom, a few weeks I guess."

"Somebody came looking for him today."