A Cold Dark Promise (Cold Justice #8.5)(36)
Taylor sat up. “Where were you?”
Jane was desperate to touch, to grab hold and never let go, but she didn’t want to frighten or overwhelm Taylor. “I was looking for you. Every single day, I was looking for you.”
Taylor wiped the back of her hand across her cheeks while Jane held her breath. Taylor launched herself against her, and Jane wrapped her arms around her baby. Jane held on so damn tight it was a wonder she didn’t suffocate the child.
Taylor’s sobs filled the air, great bursting bouts of pure grief. Jane rocked her, rejoicing at her warmth, at the rapid heartbeat thudding against her ribs. She looked up. Reilly watched them with bright eyes. Alex stood behind him with a small smile on his lips.
She smiled back. Funny. She wasn’t scared of him anymore.
“Thank you,” she mouthed.
He nodded and turned away.
She caught Reilly’s gaze. She didn’t say anything but let her gratitude for him shine through, along with an acknowledgement of the attraction that simmered between them. She didn’t know if it would come to anything, but it was honest and pure. Not based on wealth, or the need to punish herself. It deserved a chance.
Starting something up right now was probably the dumbest thing either of them could do, but she didn’t care. She wanted to crawl into bed with Jack Reilly and sleep in his embrace. It didn’t need to be more complicated or difficult than that. And if they survived this thing that was exactly what she intended to do.
Chapter Twenty
The handheld propulsion device that dragged Alex beneath the surface of the water might have been a lot more fun if he hadn’t had to share it with an ugly-ass Navy SEAL. The water was cold, and his teeth clamped hard onto his regulator so they didn’t start chattering. He caught sight of Jane holding on tight to another Navy SEAL and little Taylor was flying along with yet another. Jack was there, too.
When French police stepped onboard in a few days’ time they’d find it empty except for the dead bodies in the refrigerator. Tests had been done, everything had come back clean. They hadn’t been exposed to anything deadlier than cornstarch.
But the French had stood by the seven-day quarantine rule they’d imposed, and Alex refused to wait that long. He was getting married in just over thirteen hours, and the entire Atlantic stood between him and his intended. He wasn’t going to sit around here while French authorities added this arbitrary time span just because they could. If it had a scientific basis, if he’d thought there was even the slightest risk, Alex would have stayed put. But it didn’t, and he wasn’t going to get caught up in red tape or endless legal enquiries when he had promises to keep.
The bottom scraped his knees, and the SEAL turned the submersible off as they reached shallow water. Alex popped his head above the surface and dragged off his mask. “Thanks, man.” He shook the SEAL’s hand.
“Anytime.” The frogman grinned. “That was fun.”
On shore, a small group of people stood staring at them. Alex spotted Frazer motioning him to move it. Alex staggered out of the surf, trying to avoid the sharp rocks with his bare feet. Frazer grabbed his arm and dragged him to a nearby car and virtually threw him into the backseat.
“Drive,” Frazer ordered.
“Nice to see you, too.” Alex tried to catch his breath.
The driver floored the engine and they shot away, fishtailing and spitting grit. Alex glanced behind them. Reilly, Jane and Taylor were being bundled into a second vehicle. Obviously, Frazer wanted to brief him alone.
Water ran off his t-shirt and board shorts, soaking the upholstery. They sped past the rocky outcrops as the driver really booted it.
“Think we can make it?”
“We better,” Frazer said dryly. “Greenburg lent us his new Gulfstream G-650. It does over seven-hundred miles an hour and will get us to Virginia in nine and a half hours. That gives us an hour’s drive time when we get there.”
Alex looked down at his attire. “I don’t have my tux.”
“It’s all been taken care of. Some of the others went ahead yesterday and took those damned place cards with them. Why didn’t you have them printed for god’s sake?”
“Apparently, it’s more authentic to write your own.”
Frazer rolled his eyes. “Remind me not to hire your wedding planner.”
Alex grinned. Frazer ignored him and carried on, “We’ll have three cars with drivers and a police escort waiting for us at Reagan National. Clothes for the wedding party should be in each of the cars. Ashley’s, yours and mine. We can change in the cars on the way.”
Frazer took a phone call and Alex stared out the window. He had a feeling it would be a long time before he visited the region again. “Does Mallory know what happened?”
“No.”
“I should have told her.”
“No.” Frazer said sharply. “You shouldn’t. You only got the one hundred percent all-clear two hours ago and we hadn’t got you off the boat yet. There was no guarantee we’d get here at all. Now we just have to navigate a few thousand miles.”
“I promised her I wouldn’t ever lie to her again.”
“You didn’t have a choice.”
Alex was emotionally exhausted. “Are the French going to try to stop us?”