Then You Hide

Then You Hide by Roxanne St. Claire Read Free Book Online Page A

Book: Then You Hide by Roxanne St. Claire Read Free Book Online
Authors: Roxanne St. Claire
she locked the door, she unfolded the note.
    The man you want is in Nevis .
    Nevis ? Clive was in Nevis? That was what, just seven miles away? A bunch of the passengers onboard were taking a ferry from St. Kitts to that island today.
    Who had sent her this message?
    And more important, should she act on it? Did she have time to go to another island and get back before the ship set sail?
    Who cared? She couldn’t give a rat’s ass about the cruise. She not only wanted to find Clive, now she needed to. He’d jump all over this; he was great at stuff like this. When he took his Zoloft, anyway.
    Once she found Clive, she could get him out of whatever life crisis or love affair he was caught in, and then he’d help her. He’d know whether she should take this new, twisted road in her life.
    Her brain raced, planning the steps.
    She could run back to the ship, grab just one bag, and go to Nevis. After she found Clive, she could have her stuff sent back to New York, or if it was in a day or two, they could catch up to wherever the ship was docked.
    Oh, yeah. This was totally doable. Nevis was a small island, and the gay community was tight-knit everywhere. She’d find him in no time.
    Besides, it would get her away from Wade Cordell. The man with the pictures and the news and the connection to a woman—to women —Vanessa wanted no connection to.
    She fingered the note. The man you want is in Nevis .
    Two cryptic messages in one day. This and watch ur back .
    Which should she believe? The one from Clive’s cell phone or the one that came from out of nowhere? And then there was the complete stranger sitting fifty feet away with the worst message of all.
    If she spent too much time with Wade Cordell, he’d wear her down with those insanely blue eyes and those masculine hands and all that Southern comfort. Slow and gentleman-like, he’d polish her down until she said yes.
    Because, in her heart, isn’t that what she wanted?
    No. No . She owed far more to Clive than to Eileen Stafford. Sometimes water was thicker than blood—especially if the blood was tainted.
    She eyed the dingy countertop around the sink. Kneeling on it, she pushed the window higher, checking out the alley through the sizable opening. One quick hop and she’d be gone. Wade would probably wait another ten minutes before looking for her, but by then she could have grabbed the tender and be well on her way to the ship before he figured it out.
    He may be good, but she was better.
    Flipping her bag over her shoulder, she climbed through the opening, dropped to the ground, and ran all the way to Port Zante without stopping.

    “She bolted,” Adrien Fletcher said, his Australian accent filled with disgust and disappointment.
    “She what ?” Jack Culver clunked down his coffee mug.
    “He had her, told her, and lost her. Never even got to see the tattoo.” Fletch snapped the cell phone closed. “Wade said she bugged off through a window in the loo.”
    “Well, that bites.” Jack took a sip of the cold decaf he’d been nursing since they’d sat down in the infirmary cafeteria to wait for Miranda. “Doesn’t she want to meet her mother and her sister? Why would she run away?”
    Fletch gave him a look of total disbelief. “What the bloody hell do you think Miranda did when you asked me to go to California to do the same thing?”
    “Fell flat in love with you?”
    “Aside of that.” He grinned, flashing his world-class dimples and looking every bit the rangy rugby player he was. “She ran like a wounded roo, and she didn’t even know there were sisters involved. I know this is a big-ass deal to you, mate. I know you been on this one since you met poor Eileen Stafford and got this bug about finding her daughters for her. But put yourself in the girls’ shoes. It’s not easy to find out your mother’s a murderess, dying, and needs your marrow.” He shook back his long hair and twirled the cell phone on the table. “And trust me, it isn’t

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