So confident in her ability that she would swear she could make his work the best ever.
Ability.
The way she looked.
The sound of her voice.
The mystery involved. Yes, he knew the damned legend. And hell yes, he was curious.
“Look,” he began.
But she wasn’t looking at him. She was looking at the door. She let out a little cry of surprise and gladness.
Sean swung around. His sister had just come in the door.
He looked at Vanessa Loren.
Ah, hell.
Hell.
The young woman knew Katie. He should have figured.
He stared back at her, irritated, and suddenly certain that it was all over.
“You know my sister,” he said.
She glanced at him while rising. “Yes, I know Katie. I’ve been on a few dive boats with her, and of course, I bring friends in here for Katie-okie when I’m down….”
She started to head out to see Katie. He set his fingers around her wrist, drawing her back.
She didn’t jerk away, but then his hold was pretty firm. Those huge, cornflower-blue eyes of hers lit on him.
He smiled coldly. “You know my uncle, too, don’t you? And my uncle knew just who you were and what you wanted.”
“I’ve met Jamie before, yes,” she admitted. “Katie can explain it all to David, if you don’t want to, but I know that she’ll convince him that I’m right. I came to you first, because Katie told me that David had said all the major decisions were going to be yours, so if you just agree—”
He stood, releasing her wrist.
“I don’t like being played,” he said flatly. “Good day, Miss Loren.”
She didn’t call after him.
Bartholomew did.
“Sean! Oh, come on, Sean. I can help you with this, I was around when it all happened,” the dapper buccaneer cried to him. “Sean, oh, do come on! If I were flesh and blood, I’d be on this like a mosquito at a topless bar! Sean!”
Sean passed Katie near the doorway. “Hey, sis,” he said, kissed her cheek, and kept on going.
They’d all just survived near death. They had dealt with total insanity.
He would have to be insane himself to get into something like this again.
“Mr. O’Hara!”
She had followed him out. The lithe and dignifiedMiss Loren had come rushing out, and now she stood on the sidewalk, staring after him.
Despite himself, he paused.
She walked to him, her chin high. “I never meant to play anyone,” she said. “I’m just desperate for help. You don’t understand,” she said.
“I think I do,” he told her.
“No, no, you don’t. I have reason to believe that someone must find out what happened, not just for those who were killed, but…”
“But what?”
“Other things have happened. Bad things. Not involved with filming, but with other boaters who disappeared near Haunt Island.”
“The sea can be huge and merciless, Miss Loren. And sadly, throughout history, many a boat and ship have disappeared without a trace.”
“There’s more to it. I know there’s more to it, and I’m afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“I’m afraid that if the truth isn’t discovered, more people will die. That there will be blood and death…a massacre again, and maybe this time, here, in Key West.”
2
V anessa walked back into O’Hara’s, trying to feel as if she hadn’t just been crushed in a major defeat.
Katie was sitting at the bar, talking to her uncle. She watched Vanessa as she came up and took the stool next to her. Vanessa had known Katie forever, or so it seemed. They’d met when Katie’s school had brought a group of Key West students up to dive the springs and Vanessa’s school had been hosting the week of camp. She wasn’t sure if she’d liked her at first, being ten and wary of kids who came from cool places like Key West. But she’d been paired with Katie, who had an exceptional voice, for the talent show, and Vanessa had been her harmony and backup act, and they’d won the grand prize—two new regulators for their scuba equipment. That had begun the friendship. Of course, they’d
K. Renee, Vivian Cummings