Page 26 of Secrets of the Dragon's Heart

“Hold on a second, you didn’t really think I did it?” sheasked, scowling up at him. “That’s terrible, Cameron, you could have just asked me, you didn’t have to…”

He cut her off with his mouth, and when they finally came up for air, she wasn’t mad anymore; in fact, she was feeling very generous. “I did ask you,” he said, grinning at her. “Now, how are we going to show this Walter character that he’s messing with the wrong people?”

CHAPTER 16

***CAMERON***

Cameron followed Kennedy up the steps to Max’s front door, keeping her hand firmly grasped in his, aware of how nervous she was but proud that she wanted to fight her own battle. After taking a deep breath, she reached up and knocked, then stepped back to wait until Max opened the door, her foot anxiously tapping a rhythm on the porch. He gave her hand a squeeze, then smiled at her when she looked over at him, hoping Max would listen to what she had to say.

“Well, here we are again,” Max said when he opened the door. “I guess you’ve come to explain yourself again.”

“I didn’t write this, and I’m insulted that you think I would,” Kennedy said, shoving the paper into Max’s chest. “I was completely honest with you the last time I was here. You would have saved yourself a bunch of trouble if you’d come to me instead of inventing your own version of the truth and getting yourself all worked up and angry with me.”

It was hard not to laugh when he saw Max’s look, but he held it in, knowing it would only make things worse. “Nowhold on a second,” Max sputtered. “How do you explain that picture and the story, then?”

“Do you see this?” Kennedy asked, tearing the paper out of his hand. “This is called a byline, and I don’t see my name here, do you? I didn’t write this story, I wasn’t working with this slime ball. He must have followed me onto the island and must have been following us that day. He’s done it before. I just didn’t think he’d go this far.”

Max’s eyes widened. “You know this guy?” he asked. “You really think he followed you?”

“I told you, Max, she wasn’t involved,” he said over Kennedy’s shoulder. “They’ve got history. If you’ll let us in, I’m sure Kennedy would be happy to explain it.”

Max let out a long sigh and stepped back to let them in. “I think this island is making me paranoid,” he said. I’m sorry, Kennedy. I didn’t want to believe it either, but…”

“It’s okay, Max. I’m sorry I brought Walter to the island,” she said. “I had no idea he was following me. I wonder how he got here. I mean, it was really hard for me to get here on such short notice.”

“We’ve had a few issues with people sneaking on the island. There’s just too much coastline and too many places to land a small boat,” he said. “Mateo and I have been going round and round about more security, and he’s finally agreed to let Harrison come on board and help us out.”

“Harrison is one of us,” he explained to Kennedy when she looked over at him. “He was a Navy seal; now he owns his own private security business and he’s good at what he does.”

“Well, that explains how he got here. I’m just sorry it happened,” she said, then looked over at Max. “How much attention has the story gotten?”

“A lot more than I would like. A couple of other papershave picked it up, and it’s all over the internet,” he said. “Who is this guy anyway?”

Kennedy swore under her breath. “He’s a low-class reporter who works for one of the sleaziest papers in the country, the kind you pick up at the checkout in the grocery store,” she said. “I didn’t think anyone would take him seriously.”

“Well, they are, and we’ve got a problem,” Max said. “Since this popped up, I’ve had so many requests for reservations I had to shut down the phones and my computer almost crashed. If I don’t find a way to get this mess out of the news, I’m going to have a major problem on my hands. I’ve already got half the staff down in the bay turning boats away. If it gets any worse, they won’t be able to keep people off the island.”

“I might have an idea if you’re willing to listen to me,” Kennedy said. “I know this is all my fault, but I really do think my idea will work.”

“I’m willing to listen to any ideas you might have at this point,” Max said. “You’d better come in, I’ll put on some coffee.”

“We just need to give a plausible explanation for that picture,” Kennedy said, following Max through the cabin. We could say it was a balloon, or a kite, or something like that. I haven’t really worked out all the details.”

Max was silent as he put together a pot of coffee, then turned to face them. “Sit,” he ordered, then joined them. “So, basically, we counter the story with a statement of our own claiming that it was…a kite. Do you really think all those crazy people out there are going to believe that?”

“I thought about that too, and no, I don’t think it would get rid of all of them,” she said. “That’s where my plan gets a little tricky. We need to produce this thing, the kite or balloon or whatever. I’m not sure how we could pull that offbefore this thing really gets traction. It would take some very skilled people, and we’d need to be ready tomorrow.”

“I see where you’re going with this,” Max said. We make this thing, then reveal it tomorrow. Mystery solved, everyone goes away.”

“Exactly, but I don’t know if we can pull it off,” Kennedy said. “It’s going to have to look realistic and be able to fly.”

“Well, we’re not alone on the island,” Max said, getting to his feet. “There are some very talented people around here who love the island, and I’m sure they’ll be willing to help, but we don’t have any time to waste.”

Before he could move, there was a knock on the front door, then Keith’s voice echoed through the house. “Max, are you here?” he called. “We’ve got an update for you from the other side of the island.”

“Perfect, here comes our engineer and our builder,” Max said, a look of relief on his face. “I knew keeping them on the island would pay off eventually.”

***Kennedy***

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