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  “Yes.” Dave paused. “And it doesn’t take much to twist a young mind into wanting more.”

  “Exactly,” the old woman said. “But it’s not necessary for all.”

  “No, of course not,” he agreed. “And we don’t want to insult you by assuming or accusing anyone.”

  “No,” she murmured, shaking her head. She sighed. “I will ask questions.”

  “Of?”

  She just waved a hand, and it was almost as if they were being sent away.

  Katie looked at Dave, then back at the old woman. “I don’t know what you want us to do,” Katie said quietly. “We’re scared to stay because of this shooter. I was nearly killed.”

  The woman looked at her with a frown; then she looked at the ground.

  “More people are coming, you know? Including Leia,” Katie added. “This needs to stop.”

  “Yes. Go now.” The old woman turned to stare sightlessly in a direction that didn’t include either of them.

  Dave straightened and tugged Katie gently to her feet.

  She looked at him and frowned. “Is the conversation over just like that, and we’re supposed to leave?”

  “Looks like it. She may already know who to talk to.”

  “It’s a little odd though,” Katie noted.

  “It’s more than odd, but this is the way of the island. Leia was comfortable here, and they were good to her.”

  “Until they weren’t. Somebody anyway,” she reminded him. “But we don’t know for sure that it was somebody from the island. Someone may have come over from the mainland, realized something was going on, and decided to capitalize on it.”

  “True.”

  With a last glance, they turned and walked back through the village toward their boat.

  As they got closer, he noted several men gathered around their skiff. “I hope they’re leaving the boat alone.”

  Katie looked out to the water to see the men surrounding their boat.

  Dave walked closer and called out, “It’s our boat.”

  One of the men just looked at him and frowned.

  Dave looked back at him. “What?”

  But the man shrugged and backed off. Dave untied the boat and motioned for Katie to get in. When he looked up again, he saw the men staring at him. “Are you always this unfriendly to Leia’s friends?”

  Hearing the doc’s name, they frowned again, and then one started to speak with animation.

  When Dave didn’t understand what they were saying, one of the other men translated. “They’re asking if she’s coming again.”

  He nodded. “Yes. She’ll be here in a few days.”

  At that, their faces broke into broad smiles, and they stepped away from the boat.

  “So does her name open doors for this place?” Katie muttered to Dave.

  “Possibly,” he replied. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

  “Not sure we’re supposed to either.” But she gave a bright smile and spoke to the crowd. “Leia is looking forward to coming home.”

  The men nodded. “We miss her.”

  “Yes. She’s a wonderful lady.”

  And, with that, they carefully turned on the engine and pulled away from the dock, heading back around to Leia’s corner.

  “That was a very strange affair,” Katie noted.

  “Clearly they don’t like outsiders,” Dave stated.

  “You can’t really blame them. And Leia?”

  “I don’t think she counts as an outsider to them.”

  “But is that how they treated her too, at least at first?”

  “Not now, but they may have originally. You can hardly blame them. People come here who like to exploit them. If not them personally, then I’m sure many a land developer had his sights on defacing the beauty of these islands into some concrete jungle. You can reverse the damage, but I’m sure it takes years or decades. Still, the loss of all that natural beauty is painful to bear, even in theory, much less before our very eyes. So I’m sure it took a long time for them to become comfortable with her presence.”

  “I guess we are safe now, assuming they steer clear of the yacht.”

  “I’ll assume so,” he said. “But whoever the gunman was, he isn’t necessarily associated with the island. We have to remember that. Boats come back and forth all the time, and these people all have family, likely many of them on the other side of the mainland.”

  “Good point,” she muttered. “So, in other words, nothing is for sure.”

  “Often it isn’t.”

  *

  Their date night had been set aside, with Sam and Dave and even Katie taking shifts aboard the yacht as lookouts during the night, as Sam steered the yacht into deeper waters. The next day, Sam dropped off Dave and Katie once again on the island, where they were stayed busy taking measurements and getting things set up and ordered. And Dave was thoroughly enjoying working with Katie.

  Something had changed in their relationship. It went a little deeper that night, as they took some well-deserved downtime from all their work today, almost a belated date night but they never mentioned it. They sat on the deck of the yacht, while she served an incredibly lovely meal of fresh fish wrapped in some large native leaf, served with a lemon sauce. He was a hell of a cook himself, but she took his skills and completely turned them up a notch or ten.

  “I may never cook again,” he muttered, as he stared at the wonderful flambéed concoction in front of him.

  She laughed. “I’m trying to impress you.”

  “Consider me impressed.” He beamed at her. “But listen. You don’t have to impress me. I’ve known you for years.”

  “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” she asked. “It’s almost like there’s no excitement in a relationship if you’ve known somebody for years.”

  “But that’s the basis for a more exciting relationship, as two people get closer. To start out with a sense of family, a sense of knowing already, is huge. It’s the basics. It’s the sharing of values before too many volatile emotions can lead us astray, without that good foundation. I’m not sure that having something that’s calm and peaceful from the beginning isn’t a nice thing in its own right, whether it leads to something greater or not.”

  “Sounds boring.”

  “Does it?” He looked at her in surprise, then frowned and thought about it. “I was thinking of it as more like a warm hug, something you could count on, somebody who you knew would be there in the tough times, not just the easy times.”

  She stared at him in surprise. “Oh, I like that. We’ve seen a lot, haven’t we?”

  “We have indeed, and tomorrow will bring a lot more people into our sphere, and that will change things again.”

  She leaned across and laced her fingers with his. “I’ve been enjoying our time together.”

  “It’s almost sad to see it end, isn’t it?” he murmured.

  “It is. Maybe we should try to book some time at the island ourselves.”

  “I’m all for that,” Dave said, with a laugh. “We’ll have to fight everybody else to get here though.”

  She smiled. “Maybe. I guess it depends on what space there will be, as far as living quarters.”

  “I think it’s likely to be pretty subdued with construction for a while. Bullard doesn’t want to shock the environment or the nearby locals by moving in and taking over. Plus the whole point of a retreat is to give each of us some space, some solitude, some uninterrupted solace,” he stated. “So whether there are ten huts here or fifteen, Bullard wants each one to be its own little hideaway. Then, if the team wants, they can come together for a group meal or a hike or a fishing trip or whatever. Everybody needs to heal. An awful lot of lingering trauma from all the different events that have gone on since that plane fell out of the sky.”

  “But it’s over now, right?”

  “Well, it is,” he said, then hesitated. “I just don’t know what’s going on here.”

  “At least whoever it is hasn’t
tried anything new.”

  “No, and that’s a good thing. I still suspect it’s somebody from the mainland, and they’re now afraid of getting caught.”

  “So, what was that? A really close warning shot?” she asked drily. “Because, honestly, it didn’t feel like it.”

  “And that’s a concern, isn’t it?”

  “It certainly is.” She put on some gentle music, and they sat here on the deck of the yacht, enjoying their wine and the twinkle of the lights under the stars.

  It really would all change tomorrow. Right now, it was just the three of them, but the captain was almost always off in his own quarters, where he visited over the satellite phone with his family, most evenings. He had two young children, and, while he didn’t really like being away from them, this was the way he made a living.

  “You want to dance?” Katie asked.

  Dave looked at her in surprise. “Not sure I can.” He motioned at his prosthetic.

  She nodded. “Won’t know until you try.”

  Awkwardly he got up and opened his arms. She stepped into them, and he wasn’t sure that it was as much of a dance as it was a slow swaying to the music in the moonlight.

  “Now this,” she declared, “is romantic.” He chuckled, the sound warm and gentle against her ear.

  “That it is.” He paused. “And tomorrow everything will change again.”

  “It doesn’t have to,” she said. “We’ve come together and made great progress between us. We don’t have to slide backward.”

  “Everybody will be surprised if we act like we’re a twosome,” he noted.

  “Does that matter?”

  He thought about it, staring off into space, then shook his head. “No. It’s probably better if everybody does know.”

  She leaned up and kissed him gently. “I’m all for that.”

  “You don’t want to keep it quiet?”

  “No, I really don’t. I feel like we’ve wasted enough time.”

  “And here I was trying to be circumspect over you and your ex-husband.”

  “No need.” Katie shook her head. “I dealt with that quite a while ago. He was a bully but only because he was so insecure inside. Those were his issues, and I’ve worked hard to recognize that and to leave it with him.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She looked up at him and smiled. “Have you ever known me not to be sure about something?”

  He grinned. “Okay. I was trying to be respectful.”

  “And I appreciate that, but I feel the need to share with you, as a woman, that you trying to be respectful is coming across as being really dense and slow.” She smiled, waiting for his reaction.

  He burst out laughing. “Well, I don’t want you to think badly of me,” he replied in a dry tone.

  “Good.” She looped her arms around his neck. “In that case, I suggest going one step further.” And she reached up and kissed him gently on the chin.

  Without hesitation, he lowered his head and kissed her softly on the lips.

  She couldn’t believe the tenderness, as if she were something breakable, something fragile. When he finally lifted his head, she murmured gently, “That was nice, but you know I’m not breakable, right?”

  “No, but the moment is,” he whispered. “Seems like a very long time since I held something so precious in my arms, and I don’t want to ruin it.” He kissed her gently, his hands stroking up and down her back.

  Then she cuddled in closely, and they continued to move to the music.

  He sighed. “I was thinking of this back at the compound, wondering if you’d be interested in going away for a holiday.”

  “And instead here we are in the beautiful South Pacific, enjoying a work trip.” She raised her head to look up at him. “What could be better?”

  “I hear you,” he murmured, kissing her gently again.

  Just then they heard footsteps, and the captain appeared. They broke apart. He took one look, raised an eyebrow, and smiled. “Well, I can see that love abounds, even out here. I approve heartily.”

  She flushed. “We’ve been friends for years.”

  “Friends make the best lovers,” he stated, “because you already know who you are. You know that you don’t have to worry about those things that really matter in a relationship, like values and honesty, because you’ve already worked that out.”

  “Ah, you’re just one of those guys who loves to see a happy ending,” she murmured.

  “I am, indeed. Sorry to interrupt, but we’ve got company coming. I figured you would have noticed by now, but, considering you were otherwise engaged, I completely understand.” He waggled his eyebrows.

  She turned to look at Dave, but he’d already stepped away and searched the distance.

  “What did you see?” Dave asked.

  “A boat approaching,” Sam replied, “but their lights are out. I was down below watching it, while I was talking to my daughter. When their running lights went out, I got suspicious and kept my eye on it. Now they’re drifting.” He pointed them out, and they were only about fifty meters off. “They’re approaching now.”

  “With lights out and still moving toward us, as if under power,” she murmured. “I’ll take that as not a good sign.”

  “Nope, it’s not a good sign at all. You should go down below,” Dave said, walking over to the side of the yacht and opening a side panel. There he pulled out several handguns. As he reached for another one, he found her reaching for the small one in front.

  “This is the one I prefer,” she said calmly.

  He looked at her and frowned.

  She shook her head. “None of that. I won’t let him attack you, while there’s something I can do about it.”

  Dave opened his mouth to protest, when the captain called out, “Looks like we’ve got swimmers.”

  With that, Dave sat down close to the edge and moved to where he had a better view and was out of sight himself. They each quickly rearranged themselves flat along the dark edges, as Sam dropped down to the lowest level and set off to the other side. Dave knew that, if he didn’t move, it would take the attackers time for their eyes to adjust.

  Now he saw two swimmers. The fact that there was two of them was disturbing. There had been one shooter, but what they hadn’t seen at the time was that a second person could have been with him. Yet Dave should have considered that. It would almost be expected, given most circumstances where any intruder would work with a partner. Clearly someone was after them.

  As Dave watched, the slight foam of white water broke as a head surfaced. Dave studied him, wondering if the swimmers were bringing weapons on board. If they were, they would find a little more than they expected. Except that if they knew about the yacht, they should also know about the connections to Bullard and Leia. Were the intruders really prepared for that? Dave didn’t think so. But then again, assholes full of arrogance were all over the world, so what were two more?

  As Dave continued to watch, the two separated, one going left and one going right. The captain immediately joined him on the upper deck level and whispered, “I’ll take this side.”

  Sam and Dave slipped back into position and waited, one of the swimmers approaching at the jumping-off landing water port, while the other pulled himself up to the front cabin area. Dave waited and watched as the first interloper came up silently and fully covered in a wet suit.

  The first man turned, looked around, opened up his wetsuit, and withdrew a handgun with a silencer.

  Immediately Dave knew he was dealing with a pro—or at least someone professional enough who had given him the wetsuit and the fancy silencer. He took steady aim and, with a single shot, took out the gunman’s hand at the wrist. The man screamed and immediately dove back into the water. Maybe not the smartest move on his part, given that he would be pumping out blood that would attract predators.

  But his handgun had dropped to the deck, and he was long gone under the water, probably heading back to the boat he’d come from. The
man in the front of the yacht was dealing with the captain, and the two were in some kind of a fistfight, but the captain was six foot six and an easy three hundred pounds. He wasn’t somebody you would take down fast. Dave went up to help him, and, coming up behind the second intruder, he put him in a little choke hold, until he lost his breath and dropped, unconscious.

  At that point they dragged him over to where the other man had disappeared. “I shot him in the wrist,” Dave told Sam, “and he dove back into the water.”

  “I wouldn’t do that around here,” Sam said. “I know we don’t have a huge shark problem, but something like that will bring them in from miles around.”

  “I know. He might make it to his boat. It’s not that far away.”

  “Well, this guy isn’t going anywhere.” The captain sneered, as he stared down at their captive.

  The guy moaned and opened his eyes.

  Dave looked down and smiled. “So, did today look like a good day to die?”

  The man groaned again.

  Dave looked at the captain. “Did he have a weapon?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I wonder if he was meant to be the decoy, while the other one came up and took care of us.”

  The man on the deck groaned. “Yeah, I didn’t think you would go after him.”

  “We went after both of you. Why wouldn’t we?” Dave snapped, as Katie slipped out of her hiding spot and joined them.

  He groaned once more. “What did you do? It feels like you broke my jaw.”

  “Well, if I didn’t, I’ll try to next time. Who hired you?”

  “The other guy. He thought he’d try one more time.”

  “One more time at what?”

  “Cleaning up loose ends. He figured, if you guys were snooping around Leia’s place, you’re part of it.”

  “Part of what?” Dave asked. “We’ve got a ton more men coming in tomorrow, so, if you guys want to start playing games like that, you better be loaded for war.”

  “He won’t like that at all.”

  “You’re from the island?”

  The man nodded. “Yes. And I didn’t want to come out here, but he forced me to.”

  “And why is that?”