“Would you be so good as to give your employer a message?”
“Of course,” she said politely.
His gaze swept her, from head to toes and slowly back up again. “Tell him the opening bid has just doubled. Those exact words.”
She felt like an animal frozen in the headlights of an oncoming car. “May I tell him who the message is from?” she asked faintly.
He reached out and touched her face. She jerked back with a gasp, her eyes focusing on his outstretched hand. The last joint of his index finger was missing. He had touched her with the scarred stump.
“He will know,” the man said softly. “Count upon it.”
There was a glint in his jade-colored eyes, like a flash of ancient glacial ice. He gave her a cold, unfathomably remote smile and strolled away. She stared after him, frozen into place.
If she'd known Seth's phone number, she would have rushed out, bought herself a cell phone, and dialed it. Just hearing his gruff voice would make her feel safer. Even if he yelled at her again, it would be comforting. But she was on her own.
The noise of the people disembarking jarred her back into reality. She hastened down to board the boat. Why was she so intimidated by a stranger indulging in a harmless flirtation? There was nothing so terribly sinister about the encounter. She was imagining things.
Calm reason did not bring the butterflies in her stomach into line.
Nothing good, of that she was absolutely sure.
She swallowed hard and turned her face to the cold wind again. Being Seth Mackey's mistress had never sounded so good.
Chapter 11
“Rise and shine, dude.”
Seth's arms jerked up, shielding his face. He dropped them, muttering a disgusted curse when he saw what he'd done.
Not since his early Army days had he woken up flinching away from a blow. He focused on Connor McCloud, holding out a steaming cup. “What the hell?”
“Whoa. Aren't you just a little ray of sunshine today.”
Seth swung his booted feet to the floor and grabbed the coffee. McCloud's penetrating stare was making him uncomfortable. He hated being studied like a rare bug.
“That couch is not long enough for you,” McCloud commented. “Use the bed, for Christ's sake. Is Lazar still out at the island?”
Seth glanced at his watch. “Forty minutes ago he was.”
Connor stuck his hands in his pockets. His eyes were worried. “You keeping it together? You look like shit.”
Seth gave him a freezing stare. “I'm fine.”
Connor shrugged. “Just checking. Just wanted to let you know that your video Barbie is headed out to Stone Island too.”
Scalding coffee splashed over Seth's hand and sprayed across the floor as he lunged for the computer. “Where is she now?”
“Hey. Relax. My guy at the parking garage told me the limo was headed for the marina. He overheard the Lazar staff that left an hour before bitching about the blonde being late and missing the ferry. That's how he knew. I just got the call about ten minutes ago.”
“Why the fuck didn't you call me then?”
“I was already on my way,” Connor's voice was calm, but steely. “You planted vidcams at the marina, right? So settle down. Open them up. Let's see if she's still there.”
Seth typed feverishly into the computer, flipping the marina vidcam windows open one after another until he finally found her, almost out of range, hanging over the railing of the deck that overlooked the marina. The wind had tugged some long, wispy curls out of her braid. The camera caught her delicate profile, gazing out into the infinite sky like an ad for expensive perfume. She fished a tissue out of her pocket, wiped rain off the lenses of her glasses, put them back on.
“Come on, man. It was inevitable,” Connor said. “Lazar had to want a piece of that sooner or later”
“Shut up and let me concentrate,” Seth snarled. He rested his elbows on the desk and dug his fingers into his hair, calculating the time it would take to get down to the marina to stop her. But she'd refused to be rescued last night Why would she change her mind now? He rubbed the grit out of his eyes, and grappled with senseless panic.
“Hey. Seth. Check out the guy in the trench coat.”
Seth jerked his attention back to the screen. He wished his body would stop pumping him full of useless adrenaline. Pure torture, being all jacked up and revving, with no saber-toothed tiger to grapple with, no river of molten lava to run like hell from. Just a computer screen to stare into, with mounting horror and disbelief. “Holy shit. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?” For the first time ever, Connor's voice was totally devoid of irony.
“No way” Seth said.
“Way.” Connor scooted closer to the screen. “The face is different, yeah. He's had surgery, someone really good But his vibe gives him away. He oozes slime.”
“This guy's taller. Thinner. And the hairline is different from Jesse's video footage,” Seth countered.
“So he's wearing lifts, lost weight and shaved his temples.”
Raine backed away. The man advanced with a predatory jackal's smile. Seth leaped to his feet, skin crawling. “I'm going down there.”
“You're too far.” McCloud's voice was flat and matter-of-fact. “Sean and Davy are both closer than we are. Besides, he's probably got six bodyguards armed to the teeth covering him.”
Seth's fist slammed down, making the keyboard leap and rattle.
“You were the one who pushed for the cold, patient approach, man,” Connor reminded him. “Calm down. Look at him. He's feeling confident, flirting with her, letting the whole world get a good, long look at his new face. He's getting cocky. This is good news.”
“Good news? What's good about it? She's there, he's there, we're here. This is not good news. This is fucked!”
Connor dropped into a chair and stared at the screen. “I could call the Cave,” he said slowly. “Nick lives down near the marina. I trust Nick. They're the cavalry, Seth. If we can't call them, we can't do shit.”
“Brilliant,” Seth snarled. “The last time you called the Cave, my brother was slaughtered and you spent eight weeks in a coma.”
Connor's haunted eyes slid away from Seth's. “I don't get it. Those guys are my friends. We've risked our lives for each other.”
Seth's fingers danced over the keys, opening a new window as Raine backed out of range. “Shut up, McCloud,” he muttered. “You're making me cry.”
The mystery guy lifted his hand to her face. Raine flinched, and they both stopped breathing, noticing the missing last joint on the index finger. Proof positive.
“He’s ditched the prosthetic,” Connor whispered. “Arrogant prick.”
Seth shook his head. “He just took it off to creep her out”
“It worked,” Connor said.
Seth flipped open the other windows one by one, following Novak until he walked out of range and disappeared
The group of people getting off the catamaran climbed up the stairs to the deck, hustling past Raine. She stood there as if hypnotized. Someone jostled her, and she jumped, looking around like a bewildered, lost little girl.
