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In spite of the drama, Scott broke into a grin. “That’s pretty damn clever. Most people wouldn’t give a package of toilet tissue a second look.”
“Dan isn’t most people. He’s crazy smart, and nothing will stop him now. He’ll hunt me down for the rest of my life.”
“But didn’t he already know you had the cash? Isn’t that one of the reasons he’s chasing you?”
“He didn’t know for sure, and he thinks he does now, but he’s wrong. I only have a very small chunk. It’s a long story, but a great deal of money was in a sports bag. Someone must have been interrupted when they were stealing it. I only have a small amount that was left.”
“Which I assume you hid in the cushions when you first came on board?”
“Yes, but after stuffing the cushions, I still had the rolls. That’s why I put them in the center of the toilet tissue, but you were in such a hurry to leave I didn’t have time to get them out,” she exclaimed, her voice rising. “Now Dan’s found them and—what’s that?” she asked, startled as the yacht suddenly rocked.
“Wake from a passing boat,” he replied, standing up and moving quickly to look out the window. “Yep, there’s a speedboat zipping around out there. We should get to the house.”
“You sound worried.”
“If Dan breaks into my office he’ll find a bill of sale for this yacht, and an invoice from the contractor who painted the name,” he declared. “I’m surprised he hasn’t already. Mind you, I have signs everywhere warning about alarms and security cameras.”
“This is such a nightmare,” she groaned. “I need to disappear. That’s the only way out.”
“Hey, I’m a pretty resourceful guy,” he said, lowering his voice and taking her hand. “You can tell me about the rest of this mess when we get to the house. We’ll figure it out together.”
“You may not like what I have to say.”
“You told me you didn’t kill anyone. Is that true?”
Fresh tears suddenly sprang from her eyes.
“Yes, but I abandoned someone when they were dying,” she whispered, her face crinkling.
“We need to go, but I will tell you this. If staying meant you’d die too, then you did the right thing.”
She wanted to believe him, but the tragic events of the disastrous raid had replayed itself in her head with harrowing regularity. Her dream about the sexy, strict Scottish captain had been mercifully distracting. Now she was with a modern day version of him, whose name just happened to be Captain Scott. The coincidence was titillating, and a welcome relief from the traumatic memory and perilous circumstances she faced.
Making their way to the beach in the small dinghy, he pulled it up on the sand and dragged it into some brush behind a group of impressive boulders. Standing at the water’s edge, she noticed dark gray clouds hovering low over the ocean.
“How long do you think it will take that storm to reach here?” she asked as he joined her.
“No more than an hour.”
“Aren’t you worried about Hi Ho Silver?”
“No, she’s well anchored, and I know this inlet. I come here often.”
“I like storms, but I don’t like the wind. We get the Santa Anas in Southern California. They’re horrendous.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said, hoisting on his backpack and picking up her bag.
“I can take that,” she offered, reaching for it, “you shouldn’t carry everything.”
“This is nothing,” he said with a chuckle. “Come on, let’s go.”
The path through the tropical vegetation and up the hill was wide and well-traveled. Though the slope wasn’t steep, by the time he turned off the trail and started down a narrow track she was panting.
“Is it much further?” she asked, amazed he wasn’t even breathing hard.
“Just around this bend,” he replied. “It’s well hidden. No one will find you.”
“Maybe I could just stay here for the rest of my life. That would—oh, wow,” she exclaimed as the vast ocean suddenly appeared off to her right. “Scott, this is incredible.”
