Page 77 of Last Ticket to Paradise

Georgette coiled her muscles, and although a tingling numbness had spread through her limbs, she raised her knees to her chest, swung forward, and kicked Bones on the side of his head.

Bones staggered to the side, dropping the flaming torch at her feet. It rolled and came to rest inches from the kindling.

Jake roared as he stormed the rock. “Don’t move.”

Bones lunged for the torch, and the sound of Jake’s gun going off made Georgette’s ears ring.

Bones collapsed, groaning, his hand still resting on the torch.

Jake jumped onto the rock and kicked the torch away from the smoking sticks and twigs inches from her toes. Then he stomped on the pile, dispersing it, shoving it into the sand below.

Jake wrapped his arms around her body, dangling from her restraints, and buried his head against her neck. “Thank God you’re safe.”

Curling her legs around his waist, Georgette whispered in his ear, “Can you untie me now?”

Epilogue

The water rushed up the shore and kissed the tips of her toes. Georgette curled them into the sand and scooted back against Jake’s chest as she sat between his legs.

He swept up her hair and nuzzled the back of her neck. “Are you ready for an ocean swim?”

“At least I’m dressed appropriately this time.” She hooked a thumb around the strap of her bikini top and gazed at the gently rolling waves. “Do you think Jamie’s remains will ever turn up?”

“I don’t know, Georgette.” His arms tightened around her. “How’s your mother doing?”

“Last time I talked to her, she had at least stopped crying.”

“Are you sure you don’t need to go home?” He brushed the side of her cheek. “Not that I’m trying to get rid of you.”

“She’s relying on my aunt and actually told me she doesn’t want me home right now.” She lifted a shoulder. “Doesn’t want to be reminded of Jamie.”

“Did you or the FBI give her the details? That Jamie got mixed up in the island drug trade? Stole drugs from a dealer and started selling?”

“The FBI agent who came to the house told her everything, but she only half listened. She’ll never believe Jamie did anything wrong—and that’s okay. Jamie and Jean-Claude both paid for their greed with their lives.”

“I had a feeling Jean-Claude would never recover.” He rubbed her arms. “I didn’t tell you, but I heard this afternoon that when Bones was questioned in the hospital, he confessed everything. When he stole your postcard, he put two and two together and retrieved the drugs from the airport locker—without telling Gunther. He told the FBI where they were located—buried behind his mother’s house.”

“I don’t know how he thought he’d get away with that.”

Jake scooped up some sand in his hand and let it run through his fingers. “I don’t know how Gunther got away with running the drug business from a suite at my hotel—right under my nose.”

“He did it under everyone’s nose.” She smoothed her hand along his thigh. “Don’t beat yourself up.”

“Clive suspected. He tried to question Fiso the day Fiso OD’d but couldn’t get anything out of him.”

“I heard them arguing that day. Do you think Clive wanted a cut of the action?”

“I don’t know, but he looked the other way for a long time. Maybe I looked the other way, too.”

She turned in his arms and cupped his face with one hand. “You would never look the other way. You would always do the right thing, Jake Kincaid.”

“Would I? Did I ever inquire into Gunther’s finances? He ran up a fortune in bills staying at the Palumba Falls, but as long as he paid his balance, I didn’t care.”

“You’re a hotelier, not a lender. It’s not up to you to do a financial background check on every guest.” She touched her thumb to his bottom lip, and he kissed the pad.

“I feel different about the hotel since you arrived. Its success, even its beauty, is hollow without someone to share it with.” He took her face in his hands. “You’re going to stay to share it with me, aren’t you? Because I can’t ever let you go, and I’m not sure I could handle North Dakota winters.”

Georgette’s heart sang, and she cinched her fingers around his wrists. “I-I wasn’t sure you’d want me to stay. Wasn’t sure this...paradise was going to last.”

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