The Other Lady Vanishes (Burning Cove #2)(50)

“Nope. Just the bastard who wants to hurt you.”

“Right, so we will stay out of sight until whoever it is gives up and goes away.”

“You look like a fairy-tale princess,” Jake said matter-of-factly.

“It’s the shoes.”

“I like the shoes. They’re made of moonlight.”

“They’ll never be the same again after this little hike.” She aimed the flashlight toward the far end of the beach. “The caves are in that direction. Hurry. Whoever is driving that car might stop, and if he does, I’ll have to turn off this light.”

They wouldn’t be able to trust any stranger who stopped, she thought. She was still trying to come to grips with the fact that Conrad Massey was in Burning Cove. If he was there, maybe Gill was, too.

With his easy, natural coordination and sensible masculine footwear, Jake did not have any problem navigating around the tide pools. She was the one who was in constant danger of slipping and falling. The silver dancing shoes and the turquoise evening gown were not made for beachcombing.

Jake caught her twice when the heels of her sandals skidded on wet, seaweed-draped rocks. When it happened a third time, he scooped her up in his arms and tossed her over his shoulder.

“What are you doing?” she yelped, startled.

“Faster this way,” he explained.

There was no time to argue. He was moving much faster now that he no longer had to steer her around the treacherous tide pool rocks.

“The caves,” she said. “That’s where we want to go.”

“Right. The midnight tunnels.”

She realized she was still gripping the flashlight and that the beam was aimed straight down.

“You’ll need the flashlight,” she said.

“No. The moonlight from your shoes is all I need to see where I’m going.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Hush. The monster will hear you. We’re supposed to hide.”

He was right. The vehicle she had heard a moment ago was coming to a halt up on Cliff Road. She switched off the flashlight. Sure enough, the beach was flooded with moonlight, although none of it was coming from her shoes.

“Here,” Jake declared. “The tunnel of midnight is the secret entrance to the moonlight highway. The monster can’t find you there.”

He lowered her to her feet, steadying her. She saw the black mouth of a cave. There was a pale glow of moonlight emanating from inside. But that was impossible.

It took her a couple of seconds to realize she was looking through a narrow tunnel that had been carved into the rocks by the sea. The light she saw was the moon splashing on the beach on the far side of the passage.

“Right,” she said. “Let’s go find the answers.”

Jake was already moving inside the tunnel, turning sideways so that his broad shoulders would fit. She could tell that he was transfixed by the moonlight on the other end.

She was small enough to slip easily through the entrance. Once inside, she could see that the passage widened. The rocky walls dripped with moisture and the pounding of the surf reverberated through the tunnel. When the tide was in, the cave would be flooded.

She fought the claustrophobia that threatened to engulf her. Not much farther, she told herself. Just a few more feet.

“We’re going down under the sea,” Jake announced. “It’s all right. We can breathe there.”

“That’s good to know,” Adelaide muttered.

It was a relief to reach the exit of the cave tunnel but the patch of sand on the other side was very small, almost nonexistent. A jumble of large rocks littered the beach. They would provide cover if anyone came looking for them, Adelaide thought.

Jake had stopped at the water’s edge. He stood looking out at the moonlit ocean, once again mesmerized by something only he could see.

Afraid that in his delirium he might decide to wade into the water, she put the flashlight on a nearby rock and grabbed Jake’s arm.

“It’s all right,” she said. “We’re safe now.”

“I can’t see the answers yet,” he said.

“You will,” she said.

“No answers, but I can see the monsters now.” Jake’s voice hardened abruptly. “They’re hiding behind the rocks. Give me my gun.”

There was no fear in his voice. He was the hunter who had spotted prey.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said.

She did not dare give him his gun, not when he was in the grip of the drug. He was already seeing things in the shadows. The hallucinations were getting worse.

“All right,” he said, agreeably enough. “You keep the gun. I’ll use this.”

He reached inside his dinner jacket and took out his fountain pen. She realized that to his hallucinating mind it probably appeared to be a knife.

“Excellent choice of a weapon to use against monsters,” she said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

She tightened her grip on the pistol. She knew how to use the weapon, thanks to Raina, but she had never shot any living creature in her life, let alone a human. The thing that scared her the most was that she might kill some hapless individual who had stopped to help. But unless the new arrival was Conrad Massey or Dr. Gill, how could she tell the difference between an innocent passerby and one of the real monsters? And what about Paxton? How did he fit into the situation? She decided that, for now, at least, she would have to classify him as a bad guy.