Jilt Trip

Opening the car door to a blast of heat, Nikki climbed out, wincing as her black patent pumps sank into the dry sand. Removing the folded wheelchair from the trunk, she struggled to pull it apart.

Sand sifted into her shoes. Sweat dampened the silk blouse beneath her black suit. She’d worn black on purpose. Somehow, the occasion had called for it. But now, with the sun blazing on her back, she regretted it.

Besides, they all looked like gangsters.

The wheelchair ready, she tried to push it toward the open door of the limousine. The wheels sank. And this was without Carter’s weight. She sighed. Kidnapping Carter had seemed so simple this morning.

Julian leaned an elbow against the car. Saunders fussed with the afghan.

Carter’s face turned ruddy and sweat dampened the hair over his forehead.

“This isn’t going to work,” Julian said in a low voice. “How are we going to get him into the wheelchair with everybody watching?”

“Can’t we just slide him in?”

“He’s supposed to be an old woman.” Saunders joined them at the door. “We have to treat him with respect. We can’t haul him around like a side of beef.”

Nikki pushed the chair as close to the open door as she could. “I’ll block the view from this side. You and Julian get him in as best you can.”

Grumbling, they tugged, pulled and slid Carter into the wheelchair. Nikki tried to keep him covered.

The wheels stuck in the sand. They all stared.

Julian sighed and raked a hand through his hair.

Saunders scanned the distant horizon. “What’s happened to me? I had a nice life. I had a job that didn’t bore me and supported me in the style I desire.” He wiped his forehead. “And what do I do? Why, I drug and kidnap my boss, of course. Then I stick him in the sand to roast like a pig at a luau!”

Carter turned his head in the first sign of recovering consciousness. Three soft gasps were carried away on the gentle beach breeze.

“Doomed.” Saunders slumped against the car.

“We’re all doomed.”

“Nonsense.” Nikki grabbed hold of the wheelchair handles and tugged. “C’mon. The three of us should be able to move this thing.”

They managed—barely. Nikki expected to hear police sirens at any moment. As they bumped along the wooden pier, Carter moaned.

They walked faster and pushed him up the ramp onto the Honey Bee and out of sight.

Once on board, the men slung Carter onto the berth in the master stateroom and Julian ran back to the limo for supplies.

In the pilothouse, Nikki started the engine and checked to see that the radio worked. She let out a breath in relief. From here on out, it should be smooth sailing—at least for the Honey Bee.

“Nikki?” Saunders stuck his head in. “You’re going to have to tell him.”

She knew. “Let me handle Carter. You work on the legal end.”

“All right, then. Speaking as an attorney, I’d advise you not to venture into international waters.”

“I’ve got to sail out far enough so Carter won’t jump overboard and try to swim back.”

Saunders gave her a stern lawyer-look. Nikki didn’t like his stern lawyer-looks. Saunders, surprisingly, made a very intimidating lawyer. It must be something about the contrast in personae.

“We don’t know if the Karrenbrocks will call the police,” he warned. “We don’t know who thought we looked suspicious here at the beach and called the authorities.”

Nikki rolled her eyes. “Any rational person would think we looked suspicious.”

Julian was back on board. “I stowed everything below. Looks like you’re all set.”

“The papers?”

“Right here.” He tapped a leather briefcase. “We’re going to keep digging. You work on Carter.”

Nikki shivered.

“I know,” Saunders said with a gentle touch to her arm. “Don’t worry. Check in at eighteen hundred hours. We’ll be standing by.”

She nodded, loathe to see them leave. Both men had shed their jackets and she did likewise, peeling the black gabardine off her sweaty blouse.

They checked in on Carter one last time. He had slipped back into a deep motionless sleep.

“Looks like he’ll be out a while yet,” Julian said. “At least long enough for you to get away from shore.”

Nikki drew a deep breath and nodded.

Julian grinned. “Well, then. Bon voyage.”

She watched as he and Saunders walked down the ramp, jackets slung over their shoulders. They reached the bottom, cast off the ropes and waved.

Nikki waved back, then shoved the throttle into reverse.

The Honey Bee drifted away from the dock and for the first time in three years, seven months and twenty-two days, Nikki was completely alone with Carter Belden.

Her husband.

3

THE HAPPIEST TIMES of Carter’s life were spent aboard the Honey Bee with Nikki. Just heading south in the car was enough to loosen the kinks in his shoulders. Inhaling the salty air cleared his mind, the feel of gritty warm sand underneath his feet lowered his blood pressure. As the sun beat on his head, stress evaporated, leaving him pleasantly sleepy.

As soon as the Honey Bee was under way, he’d indulge himself in a nap, leaving Nikki at the helm.

Rocked to sleep by the waves of the Gulf of Mexico, Carter always fell into a deep, healing slumber, leaving his well-being in Nikki’s capable hands.

He trusted her as he’d trusted no other person. With Nikki, he shared his life and his dreams. When he needed her, she was there for him. Always. Without question.

Ah, Nikki. Just the thought of her filled an emptiness in his life that he hadn’t realized was there. He couldn’t remember the time before Nikki.

He inhaled with a sigh, reassured by the familiar faint musty smell of the Honey Bee’s bedding. Nikki combated mildew with the fervor of a religious zealot, but never completely obliterated it, despite her best efforts.