Accidental Shield (Marriage Mistake #6)(93)

“This man saved your life?” Lorelei asks, frowning.

“Yes,” Valerie says, a rough edge in her voice. “He was a Navy SEAL. He’s kept me safe ever since the accident. We never went to the Big Island. We’ve been on Oahu the entire time. He’s been trying to figure out who tried to kill me.”

“Kill you? Oh my God. You’re telling me this is why Ray disappeared?” She looks frayed, utterly distraught, and who the hell can blame her?

“We’ll figure this out, Mrs. Gerard,” I say, keeping them moving.

The poor woman looks totally bewildered.

For a second, I flash my tattoo, the eagle holding the trident. “Every word Val said is true. I served with the best. I’m here to help. Just need you to answer some questions about Ray.”

“I’m so worried,” she murmurs. “He’s just been odd lately. It reminds me of Stanley years ago, how he wouldn’t tell me what was going on, all these secret meetings, but I could tell it was something awful. He was so stressed.”

“Stanley or Ray?” I ask, leading them through a narrow space to the truck.

“Both,” she says. “Stanley was terrified a decade or so back. He thought he’d have to file bankruptcy. But after he partnered with a new investor, things changed. We expanded. All went well for several years. His worries were gone, except for the first ship that went missing, lost in that terrible storm. Then Stanley died...and it’s Ray who’s been stressed lately. He’s gone all the time, but he’s not at the office. He hasn’t been the same since two of our ships turned up missing last year.”

“You mentioned a new investor.” Zeroing in on it, I ask her point-blank, “Who?”

She lets out a heavy sigh. “I never knew much about it. Still don’t, I’m afraid. Stanley kept his business affairs close to his chest, just like his son.” Tears gleam in her eyes. “You have to find him. I’m afraid something terrible has happened.”

“We’ll find him,” I say. “Right now, we need to find you a safe place.”

“Me?” Fear flashes in her eyes as she looks from me to Val. “You think someone wants me, too?”

“There’s a strong possibility,” I say, opening the door to my truck.

This is where the rubber meets the road.

My eyes flick to Val, who’s gone quiet, hashing the latest agony injected into her life.

It isn’t fucking fair.

Somehow, some way, I’ll keep her and Lorelei safe, and then I’ll end this cloak and dagger fuckery once and for all.





17





A Little Heart-to-Heart (Valerie)





I’m starting to think life without Flint Calum doesn’t exist.

He’s saved me, and now he’s taking care of Mother.

He ferried her out of Honolulu, then convinced her to take a private flight to Kauai, to stay at a resort there, one he knew was safe, until we get this sorted.

That’s the word he uses, and it kinda makes me smile.

It’s a lot easier to handle something that sounds like a bad mess of laundry than a missing snake of a brother and soulless men who want us dead.

Whatever else happens, I’ll always see Flint in a special way nobody else does. I’ve had a chance to peek into his heart, and it’s so gold, it’s blinding.

It’s not just his muscles or his good looks or his whip-smart words and freaky ability to pivot instantaneously. No way.

This man is my rock, my shield, and my hero.

I’m grateful I’m hiding behind my shades on the frantic drive around the island. Even after we let Mother off at the airport and watched her flight take off, I’m tearing up every time my eyes catch the light from that black pearl still on my finger.

If a miracle happens, if we find our way out of this, I have to tell him.

If Flint leaves the door to his life cracked even a teensy little bit, I’m his, and no one else’s.





*



It’s night by the time we’re almost back at his house.

It’s been a whirlwind of a day and this is the first time I’m able to catch my breath.

It hits me then. We still need Ray’s fingerprints.

Crap.

“We can go to my mother’s house,” I suggest as soon as I tell him what I’m thinking. “The maid knows me and so does Webster. They’ll let me in.”

“No,” he says. “They’re watching every Gerard property like hawks, babe. That’s why we booked a resort for your ma on Kauai instead of her own place, remember? I’ll grab them off something in his office.”

I blink a couple times. “You’re going back there?”

He nods, his azure eyes a shade darker, yet full of so much energy.

“But if the houses are being watched...same goes for the office, too.”

“You’re not wrong,” he growls.

“Then—”

“Val, there’s no choice. I have to figure out if Ray’s missing by choice or because somebody made him disappear. The office is the best place to look.”

My stomach twists up at the thought of him going alone. “I’ll come with you.”