Page 165 of Her Reluctant Hero
He looked from the closet to her with a raised eyebrow. She shrugged. “I can’t believe you thought you were going to go back and dive alone. You’re not usually stupid, Adrian.”
“I’m not going back to dive.”
This time she raised an eyebrow.
He lifted a hand in concession. “Okay, not just going back to dive. I’m trying to catch Smoller in the act of stealing my site.”
“So you think he killed Robert and the others, which I don’t believe, by the way.” Though Adrian’s argument about their possible deaths made chilling sense. “You think he’s going to confess to you and let you walk away?”
“No. I don’t think that.”
“So what? Why would he kill the professor?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he thought Robert would let me know he was coming. Maybe he thought I’d hurry up and get the box and get out of the way. I don’t know. But I know he’s got a hand in Robert’s death.”
She sat forward. “You expected him to hurt me. That’s why you chased me away. What do you think will happen now?”
“Once we’re out on the site, he’ll reveal himself, one way or another. And I have the Belize Defence Force alerted.”
“You do?” Relief washed through her, though she knew what this cost him. By going to the authorities, he’d lost any chance to come back to Belize to excavate. He’d surrendered his site, his treasure to find his brother. If he’d made that choice, he couldn’t hate her for her confession. “I went to the police and told them about Dr. Vigil.”
He stared at her a moment, his expression unreadable, his mouth grim, then he nodded. He might be upset but he didn’t hate her.
At least they weren’t in this alone anymore.
“Mal.” He rested his hands on her shoulders, his forehead against hers, and he closed his eyes. “My brother is out there. I need to find him. I’ve done all I know how to do. I need your help, all right?”
As if she could deny him.
Reaching the barge only took two hours by boat. No one was there and Adrian battled his disappointment that he’d perhaps been wrong, or at least was too soon. He docked and jumped onto the barge before the sound of the engine had faded over the water. The sun had disappeared below the horizon, but the barge’s open design made it easy to inspect. Clearly no one had been here in days.
He returned to the boat and stepped into the galley where Mallory cheerfully arranged fresh pieces of chicken on the broiler pan. He flashed back to one of the happy memories he had of their house, of walking into the kitchen to see her cooking, the feeling of warmth and belonging, of security, that enveloped him. The same feeling washed over him now, diluting the sadness of the past few days, and he moved closer.
“I want to dive the place where our boat went down first thing tomorrow.” Adrian needed to make a more thorough inspection, wanted to see if his brother’s body was there, but he couldn’t say it, not when she looked so happy. He shifted his tone to teasing. “Beats the hell out of cooking over a campfire.”
“A girl could get used to this.” She sprinkled seasoning on the chicken. “I’ve actually become a pretty good cook.”
He slid his hand beneath her jaw, tilted her head up. God, he couldn’t have managed the past few days without her by his side. And tonight, instead of the cramped tent, they’d have an entire bed.
As if reading his thoughts, she stepped back. “My hands.” She held them in front of her as she moved to the sink, leaving him bereft. “I’ll call you when dinner is ready.”
Despite the dining area in the living quarters of the boat, they ate under the stars, balancing their plates on their laps like in camp. Using utensils that weren’t plastic was a novelty to Adrian, as was eating something not flavored with campfire smoke. And Mal was right. She could cook and seemed proud of her accomplishment.
Night after night of this, of this woman, how much better would that be than night after night of campfires and a cold sleeping bag?
“I was going to come back,” he said.
She looked up from her plate. “What?”
“I was going to get this ship raised, and I was going to come back to you. That’s why I didn’t sign the papers.”
She put her silverware down very carefully. “You were going to come back to Pensacola?” Her voice was guarded.
“Pensacola, Austin.” He waved his fork. “Wherever you were.”
“Adrian—”
He kept talking, hearing the doubt, the question in her tone. “I had to do this first. I had to end on a bang, but you were with me all the time, in my heart. I named theMiss Mfor you. Once I was done, I was going to quit and come home to you.”
