that each detail of the night and the dawn had come to such perfect fruition.
Now…
Patience. Web had to practice patience.
There was nothing left to do but wait…and watch as the plan unfolded.
CHAPTER 1
Kelsey Cunningham walked into the Sea Shanty like a diminutive whirlwind.
Dane Whitelaw was stretched out on one of the lounge chairs beneath the palm-covered roof of the back patio when he saw her walk through the rows of crude wooden tables toward him.
He’d been sitting there downing draft Budweiser as if it were water, and it still hadn’t dulled the brutal dilemma that pounded through his mind like a storm surge.
He’d come here, far off the main road, to sit in the breeze and watch the boats out on the gulf because it was something he often did. The norm for him. Usually, though, he didn’t inhale his beer.
If he’d expected something to happen after his recent discovery, it sure as hell wasn’t her.
The minute his eyes fell on her, he knew she just meant more trouble.
She wore designer shades, a straw hat, sandals and a brief white halter dress. She was tanned, and her hair was a light honey shade, not the kind of color caused by endless days in the sun but a natural amber. She had dressed the part for a lazy, laid-back place like this one—she was even carrying some kind of fruity, umbrella-laden drink in a plastic cup. She looked like a tourist, which maybe she was now.
She knew him right away. Well, naturally. He hadn’t changed much. She, on the other hand, had changed. Despite that, he had known her the minute she entered his vision. And a single word had come into his mind.
Fuck.
What the hell was Kelsey doing here now?
She made straight for him with long, no-nonsense strides and stopped right next to his chair.
Even with the heat, she managed to smell like some kind of expensive perfume. She was well-built, smooth and sleek, nice cleavage displayed above the bodice of the casual white dress that still managed to maintain a strange look of elegance on her form. She had gained an edge of sophistication in the years that yawned between them. And she didn’t seem to remember him with any affection, or that they might once have been considered friends. Still, Kelsey was a beauty. Always had been, always would be. And a torpedo of pure determination.
And, long ago now, she had determined to keep herself far away.
So what the hell was she doing here now? Today, of all damned times?
She didn’t give him a chance to ask, didn’t even start off with so much as a simple “Hello.”
“Where’s Sheila?” she asked, a sharp note of demand in her voice.
His heart slammed. The name hit him like a blow to the head.
“Sheila?” he said, forcing a quizzical frown to his lips.
“Yes, Dane, where’s Sheila?”
He studied her for a long moment. “Hmm. Not, ‘Hi, Dane, how are you?’ Or, ‘Long time no see. How are you?’”
“Don’t get funny. And don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.”
“Kid, I’m not pretending anything.”
“Don’t call me ‘kid,’ Dane.”
“Sorry. You are still Joe’s kid sister, aren’t you?”
“Dane, where is Sheila? And don’t tell me you haven’t seen her. There are witnesses, you know.”
“Witnesses to what?”
“No one has seen Sheila in a week. The last time she was seen was here, with you. And you’re going to tell me exactly where she is.”
He was glad of his own sunglasses. And though there were few times in his current life when he was glad of his past, this was one of them. He kept his face totally impassive.
Because he did know what had happened to Sheila Warren, even if he didn’t know exactly where she was. And in the last two hours, the one driving purpose in his own life had become finding the exact whereabouts of Sheila.
Of all the damned things he didn’t need, it was Kelsey Cunningham coming here now, accosting him. Looking for Sheila. As far as he knew, the two women hadn’t seen each other in years.
“Sorry, kid. So she was here with me. She’s here a lot. With a lot of different people. Why in God’s name would I know where she is now…honey?” he asked, his voice a slow, lazy drawl, the tone purposefully insinuating. Why not? They weren’t kids anymore. And the time when they’d been bonded together in sorrow was eons ago now. The last time they had met, she had been far more than cool. In fact, she’d been as frigid and brittle as ice.
Kelsey the compassionate. Sincere, earnest, a daredevil at times. Quick with laughter, swift to challenge. Full of empathy for any underdog; a pit bull against any evil, real or imagined. Once upon a time, Joe’s darling of a sweet little sister.
Times changed.
“Dane, dammit, she talked to you. You were seeing her again.”
Irrelevantly he noticed that she had grown into her effortless grace. And she had gained the ability to appear as cool and remote as a goddess.
He almost sat up, but didn’t. He forced himself to shrug casually. “Seeing her? Well, yeah, honey, I was seeing her. In a way. Me and half the men in the southern half of the state, not to mention nearly every tourist in pants who set foot on the island.”
“You asshole,” she said. Her tone didn’t rise, but something in her words conveyed the extent of her contempt.
“Yeah, honey, I’m an asshole. But before you go off in a tizzy about Sheila Warren, you need to accept the fact that she’d changed over the years. In fact, you pretty much need to accept the fact that she was damn close to being a prostitute.”
She was silent for a moment. She didn’t move, but it didn’t matter. The fury she was feeling seemed to emanate from her like heat waves off black pavement.
“She was…a free spirit. But I know she was with you again and now she’s missing. Someone knows something. If it’s anyone, it has to be you. You talked to her, and she talked to you.”
“Yes, she talked to me. And I talked to her.”
“So talk to me.”
He slid his glasses down his nose for a moment, studying her. “She talked to me nicely,” he said.
“This isn’t a social call.”
“Right. So leave me alone.”
“Since you don’t seem to want to talk to me, I’ll have to see to it
