The Beautiful Thief (Stolen Hearts #2)(12)

Billy gave her a knowing look and she knew she wasn’t going to like what he had to say. “GPS can’t float. No roads lead to Adam’s place. You want to get to him, hop on in.”

She glanced to the boat that looked as if it were older than her and Billy combined. There were so many gators in these waters that it probably wouldn’t even take a day for a body dumped there to disappear. But it was silly to be afraid of Billy. Not when the man she truly wanted to find was much more deadly than this unfriendly man.

“Money first,” said Billy.

Melody ran through the options in her mind. She didn’t want this stranger who was going to be taking her into the swamp to know she was carrying a few grand in cash in her bag. But then again, if she made a show of leaving to get more cash, he could change his mind or give Blondie warning. Well, she’d just have to take her chances and hope that the Beretta in her bag would be protection enough.

But her limited sense of self-preservation reared once more as Billy stepped into the boat and it swayed dangerously. “Are you sure it will hold us both?”

“If it don’t, we go down together,” he said, not giving her any comfort at all.

Melody looked behind her. It was her one last chance to leave, but leaving wasn’t really an option for her at this point. So she held her bag tightly to her body and stepped into the boat, sitting down as quickly as possible to stop the swaying.

Even though the heat was oppressive, she was grateful she was wearing her cargo pants, which now protected her from the bugs and the rusted metal she was sitting on. Billy sorted a few of the traps before he pushed off from the old dock and they started down the river.

The banks were lined with lush greenery, and the sky was filled with the sound of swamp birds chiming. It was a completely different, primeval world down here. Figured her enemy would be a swamp monster.

She kept her eyes glued to the riverbanks, looking for any sign of gators, but didn’t see any. But she supposed you weren’t supposed to see them.

The boat passed the ruins of other houses, but she supposed if Billy was still using the run-down shack she’d seen, any of these places could be occupied.

She wondered whether these places were run-down from lack of use and money or whether Katrina had taken them out. This unsuspecting river would’ve become a torrent after all that battering by nature.

Between the weather and the gators, it was clear that this land didn’t want to be tamed. Unconsciously, her hand moved to her bag and rested over her gun. She could feel her phone vibrating but ignored it. She didn’t want to talk to Toni or Jennifer or Scott. All three of them had been calling her repeatedly, but Melody already knew what they were going to say.

They would tell her she was chasing ghosts. They would tell her to go back to Huntsville and wait for them to take care of things. They would tell her not to worry and that everything would be okay.

And they would tell her that what she was doing was dangerous and stupid. She didn’t really have a rebuttal for that one. Just that she knew she needed to be doing this. She needed to be doing something.

Billy navigated off into a smaller channel of the river. She debated asking how long the trip would be, but she wasn’t sure whether he would give her a smartass answer and she really didn’t want to talk.

So instead she kept an eye out along the banks, but there were no more houses of any sort. Maybe Billy really was taking her out to the middle of the swamp to do her in.

By the time he’d made just enough turns for Melody to feel well and truly lost, another boat came into view. A houseboat. She squinted against the sun, which had started to angle directly into her face. Not setting yet, but she’d already spent half the day looking for Blondie. Her heart kicked up in her chest and she clenched her fists as she tried to build up her resolve.

This bout of fear would’ve been more convenient while she was still on dry land.

Billy cut the motor until it was barely on, only slightly propelling them forward. Melody bit the inside of her lip and kept waiting to see Blondie suddenly appear on the deck of the houseboat. She had thought about what would happen a thousand times, and she honestly had no clue what he was going to do when he saw her.

Kill her was number one. But he’d let her go in San Francisco. And in Chicago, he’d had plenty of chances to end her. None of that made her feel safe by any means, but it made her think she’d get the chance to speak her peace. And if he still wouldn’t listen?

She ran her hand over the gun once more.

The houseboat fit into the swampland of Spanish moss and leafless tree trunks. The formerly white walls had faded to a grayish cream and the railing showed signs of rust. As far as houseboats went, it was a decent size, maybe even fifty feet, but it was hard to eyeball it. The most important detail about the boat was that there wasn’t a scowling blond man staring down at her as they approached. “I don’t think he’s here,” said Melody as Billy stopped the boat.

“’E’s around somewhere. Dat boy always out doin’ sometin. Should be back by nightfall.”

“So we’re just going to wait until he shows up?”

“I done my job. You here now. Adam will be by when he decides. Now you pay me and I get dinner.”

She twisted around to look at Billy. “You’re not going to take me back?”

“I take you back now, but there’s no Adam. No time to come back tonight. You throw in an extra five, I can come back tomorrow.” His little smile told Melody that the man knew exactly what a bind she was in.