Page 85 of Just My Luck

“Of course I do! I’m crazy about you, and I knew you’d do the right thing, and I’m just so happy that I haven’t fallen madly in love with a callous billionaire. So not my style.”

A seed of joy bloomed in his heart. It quickly blossomed into a full-grown sunflower bursting with euphoria.

Then it all shattered as a shadow fell over them.

43

Lincoln spun around to see two large bodyguards dressed all in black, followed by the bent figure of Tanaka leaning on his cane, struggling with the way the sand shifted underfoot.

His blood froze. He’d been so sure that Tanaka’s people hadn’t followed him. Goddamn it.

“You have something that belongs to me. You came here to retrieve it.” Tanaka stated these facts as if they weren’t in any doubt. Which, of course, they weren’t.

“How—?”

“It was clear you were holding something back. What else could it be? My men followed you this direction before, but those incompetents lost track of you. You must have hidden my property then. So now, you are here, and you will hand it over.”

The two bodyguards shifted their jackets—they must be so hot—to reveal their sidearms. Message received.

“Look,” said Lincoln, lifting his hands in a “stay cool” gesture. “That wasn’t part of our deal. I’m holding up my end, but not if you’re going to treat our partnership like this.” He gestured with his elbow at the guards and their guns.

“What were you planning to do with my technology?” Tanaka demanded. “Beat me at my own game? Partner,” he added dryly, as if they both knew their so-called partnership was a load of crap.

Lincoln slid a glance at Zara to check on her. She’d lost every bit of color in her face and kept flicking glances at the guns. They must feel like such a violation of her beloved Banyans Beach.

Options…options… Tanaka already had plenty of that trigger material. His goal, Lincoln guessed, was to make sure no one else had any of it. Handing the chip Mia had found would make things more challenging, but it wouldn’t bring Tanaka any closer to his goal of making his all-powerful weapon. Only the CHUM could do that. Without the chip, Lincoln would have to figure out another way to alert the weapons experts to this new danger.

“I’ll return it to you,” he finally told Tanaka. “Just give me a moment. I have to dig it up, so no one overreact when I move. Understand?”

“No tricks,” Tanaka said sternly.

After a careful glance at the bodyguards, Lincoln took a step in the direction of the banyan tree. Before he could go any further, Zara stepped forward.

“I’ll do it, Lincoln. You’re nowhere near the right spot.” Although her voice was shaking, she turned to address Tanaka. “I’m the only one who knows exactly where it’s buried. Lincoln doesn’t quite have the hang of my triangulation system.”

What was Zara doing?

Tanaka shot him an angry glance, but Lincoln kept his face still. He’d just have to trust whatever Zara was up to.

“But if I find it for you,” she went on, “you have to release Lincoln from whatever crappy deal you made with him. Clearly, it’s not a great partnership. Where’s the trust and the mutual respect?” She gestured at the armed bodyguards. ”It was all a farce anyway, wasn’t it?”

“Zara,” Lincoln said through gritted teeth.

She ignored him, although her pupils were so large her eyes looked more like molasses than honey. “Unless you want to dig up the whole beach, you should accept my terms, but it’s up to you, Mister Tanaka. Shooting me won’t solve anything. Everyone on this beach knows me. You’ll draw way too much attention and I’m sure you don’t want that.”

After scrutinizing Zara intensely, endlessly, Tanaka turned back to Lincoln. “This is what you want? I have offered you the prospect of magnificent wealth. It can still be yours. This girl is nothing.”

Lincoln clenched his jaw so hard it nearly exploded. “It’s what I want.”

She’s what I want.

After an interminable moment, Tanaka nodded. “Then it’s done. Dig it up,” he ordered Zara.

With her gauzy coverup fluttering in the breeze, she walked across the beach to a spot at least a few yards from where Lincoln had planned to dig. It was closer to the water than he’d remembered. In his memory, they’d been right at the edge of the banyan’s outer canopy. But now that he thought about it, his imagination had probably added the banyan, as if the tree would protect their secret.

They all followed closely behind Zara. Tanaka’s cane sank into the sand, which was denser and wetter closer to the water’s edge. A wavelet flowed toward them, rippling around the rocks embedded in the sand, then retreated.

Zara correctly remembered exactly where they’d left their treasure, and after a few moments of digging with her hands, she rose to her feet with the little burlap bag in which they’d stashed the tin of lip balm.