Golden Goddess by Unknown Read Free Book Online

problem." Jarrett nodded as if the matter was settled.
    His ridiculously possessive attitude was too much for Hannah to bear. She got to her feet. Let the Clydemores and Jarrett play silly games. She had other things to do in Hawaii.
    "If you'll excuse me, I'm going down to the beach," she announced bravely, not glancing at Jarrett for his approval.
    "Of course," Alice Clydemore said quickly. Then she hesitated, "Oh, by the way, Hannah, dear, I wonder if I might stop by your room this afternoon."
    Hannah tilted her head uncomprehendingly. "Well, of course. Was there something you wanted to speak to me about?"
    "I just wanted to take a quick look through your suitcase full of souvenirs, if you don't mind," Alice said easily. "I seem to have misplaced one of the items I picked up in Tahiti. Do you remember the night we compared purchases?"
    Hannah's mouth went dry. She didn't dare look at Jarrett now. "Yes, Alice, I remember." Her fingers whitened on the back of her chair as she waited for Alice to finish incriminating herself.
    "Well, I think we may have gotten a few things mixed up. I seem to have a lovely piece of tapa cloth in my suit-:ase that I don't remember buying and I also realized I'm missing a little clay statue I planned to take back to my granddaughter. Nothing valuable, really, but a rather cute little doll. I'm sure you wouldn't have much use for her. Do you suppose it might have gotten into your bag by nistake that evening? As I recall, we had souvenirs lying all over the hotel room that night, and it's just possible."
    "It's just possible." Hannah felt unaccountably shaky. she had to get out of the restaurant. "I'll, uh, see you ater, then…" Without glancing back, she hurried to-ward the door. En route she remembered to wave to the Tylers, the small family seated near the window, and then she was free.
    Desperately she tried to think as she collected her beach bag and a towel from her room. The little doll Alice Clydemore seemed to think she had "misplaced" matched the description of the one that had concealed the golden statue. Could Jarrett be right? Were the Clydemores smugglers?
    No, they might be victims too, just like herself. Perhaps there was someone else manipulating all three of them. She had been traveling with the Clydemores for several days now and felt she knew them. The one person in the whole situation whom she barely knew at all was Jarrett Blade. Or Richard Adams, or whoever he was. Was he the one doing the manipulating? He said he'd just gotten on the plane at the last stop, but who knew how long he'd been trailing the tour.
    It was all so damn confusing, Hannah decided as she stretched out on the beach twenty minutes later.
    And if she guessed right, she wasn't going to have long to consider the problem. Jarrett Blade would probably be wandering along any minute now. She had the impression he wasn't going, to leave her alone for long. Even as the thought crossed her mind his voice cut through her short-lived privacy.
    "When did you get that swimsuit? When you were twelve years old?"
    "It's brand-new!" Hannah said in angry defense of the purple bikini. She refused even to glance at Jarrett as he casually spread a towel out beside her on the sand. But out of the corner of her eye she could see he'd changed into a snug-fitting pair of swim trunks that revealed the flatness of his stomach and the muscled shape of his thighs. Hannah was appalled to find that her mind insisted on embellishing the original fantasy it had begun the day before yesterday on the plane.
    "It looks as though it was designed for a scrawny twelve-year-old. You're not the scrawny type, Hannah." He stretched out beside her, critically surveying the shape of her rounded hips and breasts in the purple bikini. "I think you ought to get another suit." The final pronouncement was flat and autocratic.
    Hannah's eyes flared. Enough was enough! "I really don't give a damn what sort of suit you think I ought to wear. You may be