A Cold Dark Promise (Cold Justice #8.5)(35)
“I didn’t tell her you were coming. In case you changed your mind.” Alex had stripped off his shirt and was wearing what looked like cutoff pants.
“How are you feeling?” she asked him.
His skin looked tanned and healthy except for a bandage wrapped around his one arm. There was sweat on his chest, but not the pallor of sickness. Just the gleam of hard, physical labor. She knew he’d been moving bodies so anyone doing a flyby wouldn’t see anything was amiss.
He grinned, white teeth flashing and matching the eerie paleness of his silver eyes. “I feel good. And Taylor seems fine, too. It doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods…”
But it was a good sign.
A hand came up onto the railing behind her and Jane startled. A moment later, Reilly was on deck beside them, taking everything in with a few sweeping looks.
“I thought I told you to head back to the other yacht?” Alex said.
Reilly put his hands on his hips. “Thought I’d take a few vacation days.”
Alex huffed out a laugh. “On a vessel that is potentially contaminated with anthrax?”
Reilly gave his boss a smile, and Jane’s heart sped up. “I’ve had my jabs. Anyway, I didn’t do it for you, boss. I did it for Jane. But now that I’m here you may as well put me to work. Jane and her daughter have a lot of catching up to do.”
Jane swallowed the tightness in her throat and reached to take Reilly’s hand. He squeezed her fingers. “Thank you.”
Alex blew out a big breath but didn’t look happy.
“French version of the CDC will be here in the next hour. They’ll start top to bottom decontamination as well as take blood samples from each of us and give us massive doses of just-in-case antibiotics. They’ll have people autopsying the bodies in one of the big walk-in refrigerators in the galley. And they’ll be analyzing the powder directly.”
“I’m sorry for getting you mixed up in this, Alex,” she told him.
He looked at her. “We helped get a great many evil people off the streets last night.”
She swallowed. “But still…”
Alex shook his head. “Whatever guilt you’re harboring, forget it. Charles Salamander knew about Mallory.” His eyes held that light she recognized from when they’d worked together for The Gateway Project. “As soon as I discovered that, he had to die.” A cold smile curved his lips. “At least this way I got to kill him in a fair fight without fear of spending the next twenty years in prison. It’s done. Mallory’s safe, and that’s all I really care about. Go find your daughter. She’s watching TV in the main salon. No dead bodies in there.”
Jane nodded uncertainly, and Reilly rested a hand on Alex’s shoulder as she walked away.
It wasn’t hard to find the salon. Taylor was lying on the carpet in front of the TV. She’d fallen asleep watching a Beauty and the Beast DVD. The terror of the night before had caught up with her.
Jane ached. She stared at the sun-streaked, blonde hair held back with a black band. Long, thin limbs sprawled, arms cradling her head.
Was she breathing? Jane took a step forward, but suddenly Taylor’s back rose in a slow, steady motion. Jane paused in relief and swallowed. She kicked off her shoes and quietly padded across the floor. Despite being desperate to talk to her daughter, she didn’t want to wake her from a restful sleep. Jane sank to her knees and placed a gentle hand on the child’s back. Taylor didn’t waken, but she did snuggle up closer to Jane’s legs.
Jane sent up a prayer, thanking God for allowing her this moment. Even if Taylor died, or she died, Jane felt like she’d finally come home. She glanced up and there was Reilly, staring at her through the open doorway. He smiled and she saw something in his eyes that made her blink. Admiration. And maybe something else. Something…honest. Something pure.
Tentatively she smiled back. She didn’t know what would happen when they got off this boat, but he’d come with her on this journey at great risk to himself. Maybe he’d done it for Alex too, because she knew he had a great deal of regard for his boss. But Reilly wasn’t an impetuous man. He was strong, reliable, and understood that her priority right now was her child. He’d come anyway.
He grinned at her, and hot tears gathered in her eyes, which she blinked quickly away. No crying was allowed. Suddenly, Taylor rolled over and opened her eyes.
“Who are you?” she asked softly, eyes wide with wonder.
Jane held her breath and opened her mouth. She had practiced introducing herself a thousand times, but all that preparation fell away in the moment. “I’m your mommy.”
Taylor’s young face pinched in confusion. She’d lost all her baby roundness and had grown tall and lean. Tears had left white lines on her cheeks—she must have cried herself to sleep earlier. “Daddy said you were dead.”
Jane reached out very slowly and moved a piece of Taylor’s hair off her cheek. “Daddy got very mad with me and wouldn’t let me see you anymore.” She asked the question that had burned a hole in her soul. “Do you remember me?”
Taylor grabbed her hand and held on tight. “Yes, I just don’t know if you’re real or if I’m dreaming.”
Relief hit her. “I’m real.” Those fingers wrapped around Jane’s heart and squeezed. “Your daddy made a mistake, Taylor.” Jane would save the blame for another day when their child’s grief wasn’t so fresh. “He wanted you to be with him, not me.”