Page 20 of Last Ticket to Paradise

And just when Georgette started enjoying herself on the island and got ready to breathe yet another sigh of relief, Jake Kincaid stepped into the picture. Jake with his strong, hard body, his ready grin, his intelligent eyes...and his connection to Jamie.

Georgette shivered. The breeze from the window chilled her body, still damp from her dress. She bounded off the bed to close the window, which she’d left open before she went to dinner. With her passport and money locked in the hotel safe, she’d felt secure. Ha! Little had she known.

She pulled off her dress and stood under the warm shower.Jamie, where are you?Once she came tripping back to the island, her sister would put to rest those ridiculous rumors. Ritual sacrifices? Murder?

Georgette toweled off and slipped into a thin nightgown. If Jamie had just traipsed off with Jean-Claude, why was someone threateningher? Was Jake right?

Georgette didn’t plan on leaving Palumba until she found out. And if Jamie was in trouble, she’d do everything in her power to save her. She always had, ever since Jamie was a scrawny, sickly little kid who turned to her big sister for protection against schoolyard bullies.

She thought of the postcard that had set off Mom in the first place. Mom hadn’t liked the tone. To Georgette, it was the same old, same old. Jamie had met some fabulous people. She’d bought some jewelry. She’d hooked up with a hot guy.

Georgette swallowed. Was that hot guy Jake?

She sprang up from the bed and pulled open the dresser drawer where she’d stashed her underwear. She pawed through the silky lingerie.

She removed each piece of underwear separately, shaking it out, until the drawer was empty. She turned to the little evening bag she’d taken out tonight and snapped it open. Nothing but sand. She searched the rest of the room, dumping the contents of drawers, patting pockets, groping through her suitcases.

The postcard was gone.

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