Gone Tropical (10 page)

A puff of dust became visible on the mountain road. Her heart pounded. Could it be Firth arriving? The puff of dust turned into a black jeep. It pulled up in the parking lot and a bald headed guy, and some bleached-blond surfer dude, clambered out. Thank goodness.

What the
…?

Amy moved forward on the couch. She stood, ready to beckon Brian and run out the back door. Brian said something to Meg, and they walked toward her.

“I’m sorry you have to leave so soon,” Meg said. “It was lovely meeting you.” She smiled. “I do hope you go through with the wedding plans and choose us.”

Amy nodded, talking as she moved outside. “Oh, fantastic, they’ve arrived! Excuse me.” She hurried down the steps and into Jake’s arms. “Your turn to play along,” she whispered close to his ear.

A flicker of a frown crossed his brow. Then he smiled, slipped an arm around her waist, and pulled her close.

“Darling, how wonderful,” she said, raising her voice. “You made it after all.”

She snaked her arms around Jake’s neck, parted her lips and captured his. She deepened the kiss and felt his whole body respond. He pulled her tight to his chest. Her heart thumped and her knees went weak. She tried to break away but he pulled her tighter. He nipped her bottom lip, and pressed the length of his body tight to hers.

She wanted him bad, right here, right now, on the steps, naked sun beating down on them. She finally pushed away from him, gasping for air. “Our…our um, second wedding ceremony,” she said, widening her eyes and rubbing her lips together, tasting him, not wanting to think about how he tasted. “This is the place.” She waved a hand toward the lodge. “Meg Thompson is the daughter of the owners of Bungumby Lodge. She’s up there with my cousin, Brian. They can accommodate our entire party.” She took a deep breath. “Do you think three or four cabins, sweetie?”

Jake eased his grip and gave her a tight smile as he stepped backward, putting a few feet of space between them. Good. He’d play along.

“You’re so excited, sweetheart,” he said. “You’re talking a mile a minute. Why don’t we grab a glass of wine and catch up?”

Sarge sauntered up the stairs toward Brian. “G’day, Denis Sargent.” He shook Meg’s hand. “How ya’ goin?” He nodded at Brian who introduced them. “Give us blokes a few minutes to catch up and we can discuss the details of the wedding. It was a dusty drive.”

Amy cocked her head.
So that’s his name. Or is it a fake I.D.? Good old Sarge.

“Yes, of course,” Meg said. “I guess I’ll let you get back to your friends, Brian. I have to go and help Mum and Dad. It was lovely to meet you.” She shook Brian’s hand, as if not wanting to let him go.

Amy smiled.
Looks like Firth is in for trouble.
She caught the cold glint in Jake’s eyes. Uh oh, speaking of trouble, this party was over. She had some serious explaining to do.

****

“Well, you’re my husband,” Amy said, once they’d all settled into chairs on the verandah and checked they were out of hearing range from anyone inside. She smiled innocently as she cocked her head. “It’s a good cover, really. And we have these relatives and friends in Australia, and we’re going to have…like…a second wedding…or something. I’m not really sure yet.”

“So, we room together?”

Amy nodded, averting her gaze from the black clouds building in Jake’s eyes.

“And where do these friends and relatives come from?”

“Oh, no problem, I figure we ask Sarge’s wife. You do have a wife, don’t you, Sarge?”

“Yeah, her name’s Helen.”

“Brian will come, won’t you, Brian?” Amy turned and grinned at her new friend. “Diana will fly up from Sydney and she might bring a date.”

“It’s a beaut plan,” Sarge said. “My granddaughter, Kirstie, is staying with us over the school holidays. She can come too. We can book in today. We’ll just have the others arrive over the next day or two. It’s a great cover, Jake. We need a base. If he’s here already, or still to arrive, we’ll be ready for him.”

“What about safety? Bringing family into a danger zone?”

Sarge looked thoughtful for a minute. “I think it’ll work. It’s a resort.”

“There’s one problem. I have to get Brian back to Cairns tonight,” Amy said. “He’s a teacher and has to be at school tomorrow morning.”

Jake was downright surly, and he kept watching Brian. He finally eased forward on the seat, his eyes clearing. “Brian could drive your rental back. You could share ours.”

“That would work. I’ll come back up for the ceremony on Saturday. I’m officiating anyway,” Brian said, with a wink. “I’m the Marriage Celebrant. School gets out early on Friday.” He glanced over at Amy and grinned. “By the way, your name is Jane. I didn’t give a last name, wasn’t sure, so I said ‘my cousin Jane.’”

“How much does he know?” Jake asked abruptly.

Amy shrugged. She wouldn’t say anything about the man who was tailing her. At least she thought he was tailing her, but he was long gone. Maybe she’d only imagined it. And she had no proof the other guy was Firth. Still, she didn’t want to explain she’d run to a stranger’s apartment in the middle of the night. Jake would never find out about it anyway. Not that she cared what he thought. She glared back at him. She could stay wherever she wanted, sleep with whomever she wanted, not that she’d slept with Brian.

“I needed someone to travel with. Brian offered to accompany me, and I confided some of the reasons why I was here alone, and a little bit scared.”

“You were scared?” Jake asked.

Amy nodded. “Brian helped me by getting to know Meg.” She turned and smiled at Brian. “Boy, you work fast. You two were getting along like a house on fire.”

Brian flushed. “Yeah, she’s easy to like.”

Fifteen minutes later, Jake and Brian acted like old buddies. Brian told them what he’d managed to glean from Meg. She’d been in Europe, hadn’t seen her mother and father for three years, other than a week in London when they’d flown over, and was happy to be home. She had returned to Australia a week ago. She’d told no lies, but made no mention of boyfriend, fiancé, or husband, either. She wore no rings.

Then Jake told them about the fire in the jeep, the trashing of the motel room.

“Hey,” Sarge said. “Brian, you could return Amy’s rental and drive my jeep up here on Friday. I’ll call…make all the arrangements.”

“So, do you think the guy or guys are still tailing you?” Amy asked.

“No way,” Sarge said. “We gave them the slip. We had a wide open highway all the way up here.”

Good. They would be safe here for a few days.

Chapter Eight

An hour later, a knock sounded on her door, and Amy stopped sorting out clothing. She’d taken over a couple of drawers in the desk that doubled as a dresser.

Sarge popped his head around the open door. “Can I come in?”

“Sure,” Amy said. “Jake is out on the verandah.”

“Ya’ not unpacking for him, are ya’?” Sarge asked.

Amy shook her head and nodded toward the battered brown leather duffle bag. “He might be my fake husband, but he pulls his own weight around here.” She’d picked up the bag and dropped it onto the bed. It smelled like Jake, earthy, musty, and rugged.

Sarge laughed. “Good on ya’. I took care of everything at the lodge. You’re listed as Amy Jane and Jake Turner. Figured it was better. Ya’ know, in case anyone slips up on the Jane thing.”

Amy’s whole body flushed at the sound of the new name, and she gave herself a good swift mental kick in the backside. “Good idea,” she said, once she could get her voice.

Jake walked inside and stood, arms folded over his chest, leaning against the wall.

Sarge appraised the room. “I’m in twelve. It’s the only two bedroom cabin, one for me and Helen, one for Kirstie. Eleven is booked for day after tomorrow for Diana, and then we’ll get another single for Brian at the weekend.”

Jake nodded.

“Thanks, Sarge.” Amy sat on the corner of the bed. “I took the top two drawers in the desk you can have the bottom two, Jake.”

“I’ll live out of the duffle.”

“You’re crazy, unpack.”

Jake narrowed his eyes. “I never unpack…allows for a quick getaway.”

“Oh,” Amy said. She didn’t ask, get away from whom?

She walked over, opened the shutters on the small window above the desk. The cabins were elevated on stilts with private verandahs at the back, which overlooked a central clearing where benches were placed beneath tall shady eucalyptus. Although only dusk, the grounds were lit by soft lights on tall poles and the rainforest encircling the cabins cast heavy dark shadows over the clearing. Each cabin was linked at the front by covered walkways with subtle lighting and lined with Australian ferns interspersed with flowering plants. It would have been totally romantic under other circumstances.

Amy turned around. Jake had remained by the open door leading to the verandah. Ready for a quick escape, she supposed. Sarge was right at home and had sprawled across the end of the queen-sized bed even though it wasn’t his cabin, or his bed.

“Lighten up,” she said, to Jake. “Life’s too short to be so serious.”

He kept eye contact for a moment and folded his arms tight across his broad chest. Then he gave her a wry grin. “Life is serious, and it’ll be short if you’re not.”

Amy shook her head, and sat at the desk in the office style chair, trying to figure out what the heck she’d do next.

“I’ll sleep out there.” Jake jerked his thumb over one shoulder.

“What…now?” Sarge asked and sat up.

“No. Tonight.”

“Ya’ silly bugger. There’s a beaut bed here, no need to sleep on the bloody verandah.” Sarge slapped the bed and winked at Amy, obviously enjoying teasing Jake.

Jake stared at his hiking boots.

Talk about embarrassing moments.

“There’s a hammock,” Jake said. “Mr. Helm would want his daughter to have the room.”

Amy walked over to inspect the verandah. He moved his legs to give her some room to pass and she glanced down. Nice legs. He suited those baggy surfer shorts, the blondish red hair she could do without, but on him, even that looked good. Heat consumed her. Her shoulder brushed his arm and her nipples strained at her shirt. Damn, she had to stop thinking of Jake as someone to jump. He obviously hated the idea of sharing a room with her.

She leaned against the railing. Had Jake been in relationships, marriages? He was all testosterone, super macho guy, the big protector. He’d come into the cabin earlier and completely searched it. Looking for what she didn’t know; bugs from nature or from man, but whatever, she was beginning to like being protected. But he barely spoke. She eyed the hammock. It did look comfy, filled with soft, plush cushions, a blanket at one end. It could hold two. She sighed, walked back to the sliding doors and eased past him.

“Remember, you’re in the rainforest mate,” Sarge said. “Snakes. Spiders. They love the night.”

Jake turned pale. Maybe he was scared of snakes?

“Share the bed. My father would appreciate his P.I. being well rested. We can put a row of pillows down the middle. I’ll stay on my side if you stay on yours.”

“Yeah, or hang a sheet down the middle of the room, like they did in the old black and white movies.” Sarge laughed.

“This is no movie,” Jake said.

“Haven’t you ever done anything spontaneous, I mean just for the heck of it, just to have fun?” Amy asked.

“Like?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Gone ‘what the hell’ and done whatever it was you thought you shouldn’t? Shared a bed with a strange woman?”

He raised one shoulder and scratched at the back of his neck.

She figured the answer was no, he’d always been super-responsible. Whatever his problem was she wasn’t about to psychoanalyze him. Maybe he’s married, or engaged to be married and staying faithful to the little woman back home. Last thing she wanted was someone else’s husband. She drew the line there. If a guy wasn’t available, he wasn’t available, simple as that.

He sure didn’t want to sleep in the same bed as her, and this wasn’t about sex, so to heck with him. The job was more important than anything else, to both of them. She didn’t want to be slowed down by a fling, or worse, a relationship. “Look, we can share the bed, we’re adults, and we both have a job to do in finding Firth.” She walked over and punched Jake on the top of the arm. “You’re safe with me.”

He flinched and glared at her.

She smiled. “Heck, you can even leave your boots on in case you need that quick getaway.”

Jake pushed his body away from the door jamb. “Yeah, well, I’m hungry. Anyone want dinner?”

****

Stuart swept a few strands of sweaty gray hair away from his ears and ran a hand up over his head. He’d let his hair go natural as part of his disguise and liked the sophisticated steel gray color. It was still thick, unlike Hadi’s thinning hair. He dropped the visor and peered in the mirror, his new nose and eye job made him look ten years younger, but the biggest change was having his ears pinned. That was huge. He stared up at the bright blue sky for a moment then focused the binoculars on the P.I’s room. Still no movement.

Hadi said he’d be back in a few hours. Col would kill him if the blokes had given them the slip, especially after Amy disappeared in the middle of the night.

“What did you determine?” Hadi slid into the passenger seat, almost scaring the bejesus out of him.

“Not much. The blokes returned with the rental jeep. They haven’t come out all day. Don’t know what they’d be doing in there all—”

“Bloody hell,” Hadi said. “They’ve flown.” He grabbed for the door handle. “You stay here.”

“Wait,” Stuart said. “I’ve been here the whole time. I didn’t even take a nap or a leak.”

“They’re gone.”

Stuart flinched. He was a partner in the island, he didn’t need this bullshit and, thinking of taking a leak, he needed to do that now. He climbed out of the jeep, pulling the wet material of his shorts and underwear out of his crack and slipped behind a tree.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Hadi asked walking over to the thick forest undergrowth.

“For a leak. What does it look like? You want to knock on the door to their room, or jimmy the lock, go ahead.”