Passion Key (A Romance & Suspense Series) Read online

  “If the check is ready, I’m going to be going right past the resort so I can just pop in and save you the cost of a stamp.”

  “Oh, okay,” she said. “That’s fine. I’ve got the check right here.”

  “Great, I’ll be by in an hour or so.”

  “See you then!” she said, and Archer heard the call disconnect. He put the phone down and walked into his bedroom, stripped, and hopped into the shower. When he was done, he toweled himself off and put on a pair of salmon colored shorts along with a form-fitting white silk T-shirt and his favorite pair of topsiders.

  It was a beautiful day, already very warm and humid as he walked over to Passion Key Resort. The wind was mild but steady, and he couldn’t help but feel his excitement toward possibly seeing Justine again. He decided he was going to apologize for his rash behavior, and try to convince her he wasn’t some oaf who kissed beautiful women every chance he got.

  Hopefully she wasn’t offended, and as much as he was sure it was just his imagination, he wondered if he hadn’t felt her kissing him back, just a little?

  One could hope, he figured.

  He walked across the main road and down to the resort to the reception office and went inside.

  The woman he talked to on the phone glanced out from the little office behind the desk and she walked out to greet him.

  “Hello,” she said.

  “I’m Archer Thorpe, we talked a little bit ago,” he said.

  “Oh, yes, I have your check right here,” she said, and handed him an envelope and then glanced over his shoulder.

  “Hi Justine!” she said.

  Archer turned and looked into the surprised face of Justine Beaudry.

  “Hello,” he said.

  “Archer, what are you doing here?” she said.

  “Taye called and said my check was ready so I figured I’d better pop right over as I’ve got bill collectors lined up waiting to break my kneecaps,” he said.

  She laughed. They probably work for my ex-husband, she thought, but kept the comment to herself.

  “Well you did a fine job, everything works just fine,” she said. “It was money well spent.”

  “How’s your leg?” he asked.

  “Fine. How about I walk you out?” she said.

  They walked outside and Archer again felt more comfortable with Justine than he’d felt with any woman in a long, long time. He had the sudden urge to grab her hand but he stopped himself. No more sudden moves with this one, he thought.

  “Have you ever gotten a proper tour of the place?” Justine asked.

  “No, just what I fixed, and not much else,” he answered. “I’d love a tour.”

  Justine led him out to the courtyard, and around the pool area.

  “It’s such a great location,” Archer said. It was hard to make conversation with a woman who didn’t seem to want to talk about herself.

  “I know, I love it, with the beach right there, although I might stay away for awhile and let the jellyfish go on their way,” she said.

  “You probably don’t have much work to do on the place, do you?” he said. “It seems to be newer construction.”

  “No, I don’t think there’s a lot to do, other than general maintenance and upkeep. But that’s why I have Taye, to take care of the day-to-day stuff.”

  She raised an eyebrow at him.

  “You’re probably wondering what I do all day,” she said.

  “No, not at all. You said you sold your business back in the Midwest, right? Sounds like you’ve earned the right to delegate for awhile.”

  She nodded. “I like the sound of that.”

  They walked the grounds and then ended up in front of a condo that was set off from the others and consequently much more private.

  “This is my place,” she said. “Do you want to come in for some iced tea? I just made it and I’m thirsty.”

  “Sure.” Archer felt himself start to sweat. He didn’t want to do something stupid again. Control yourself, man.

  But he couldn’t stop watching Justine as she walked ahead of him into the kitchen. Her shorts were snug and her body looked fantastic. She was so sexy it was killing him.

  She handed him a glass of iced tea and their fingers touched.

  “Here’s to Passion Key,” she said and they clinked glasses.

  Archer took a long drink of his and it tasted great.

  He watched as Justine put her glass down, stepped up to him and kissed him full on the lips. He was so surprised he set down his glass a little too forcefully and some tea sloshed onto his hand.

  Justine giggled and he kissed her back. Her lips tasted like sweet tea and he felt her breath hot on his mouth.

  “I’m sorry I ran out, I guess I was just shocked,” she said. “I’m not really looking for–”

  Archer kissed her before she could finish the thought.

  This time there was no mistake. She kissed him back, and her tongue probed his mouth. Her hands were all over him and he responded in kind. Archer pressed his body against hers, felt the mounds of her breasts pressing against his chest, his hardness straining against her.

  They moved from the kitchen and Archer’s head was swimming. His arms were around her, caressing her body and he felt her hands in his hair, stroking him and then she was pulling him to a bedroom, her hands inside his shirt, stroking his chest.

  They collapsed on the bed together, clothes flying off them and then Archer felt the heat of Justine and he lost himself in it. Her body was smooth and elegant, a sculpture of perfection and he kissed every inch of her, his tongue exploring everywhere.

  Archer felt himself taken away as she returned the favor, his body moving rhythmically along with Justine’s and soon he hear the crashing of waves that had nothing to do with the ocean.

  16.

  She had never felt worse.

  How could she have let this happen? She was supposed to be starting over, finding a new way to go through life and now she’d made love with the first hot stud she’d met?

  Because let’s face it, Archer was hot, and he certainly was a stud.

  Justine giggled a little bit. They’d made love several times and then Archer had left in the morning, perhaps sensing her emotional upheaval.

  Now, she walked on the beach, reassured by the sound of the waves, the sense that nature was still moving on despite whatever was happening in her life, and that the world would still be turning long after her tumultuous time had come and gone.

  Justine walked for an hour on the beach, then turned around and walked the hour back. She realized that she hadn’t eaten breakfast and with all of the “exercise” with Archer, Justine suddenly felt ravenous.

  She went back to the condo, grabbed her purse and headed into the village. There was a restaurant called Mitchell’s that served fantastic grilled fish tacos, the best she’d ever had, and suddenly she had a craving for some of them.

  The streets were fairly crowded with tourists and fishermen, taking a break from their assorted endeavors for a nice lunch. Justine spotted Mitchell’s and went to the front door, which was open, and was manned by a slim young man in a black shirt, holding a menu.

  Justine was about to ask for a table for one when she looked over the man’s shoulder and spotted Archer Thorpe sitting at a table with a stunningly beautiful blonde. They were both smiling and chatting.

  Justine felt like she’d been kicked in the stomach.

  What a fool I am.

  It was bad enough that she’d practically thrown herself at him, but look at that woman, she was gorgeous! Way more pretty than she was. Archer probably figured he’d knock off this dumpy little woman at the resort before going to lunch with a real woman.

  She stood there, her mouth open, her fingers numb and for a second she thought she might faint.

  And then Archer looked up and saw her.

  She turned away, walking as quickly from the restaurant as she could, even as she heard his footsteps behind her.

 
; “Wait, Justine!”

  Justine tried to walk fast, looked for an alley to duck into to get away from him but then he was in front of her

  “Justine, it’s not what you think.”

  Oh my God, how many times had she heard that phrase?

  She stopped and smiled at him, a pretty difficult maneuver considering her emotional state, but she pulled it off.

  “Look, it doesn’t matter. We had some fun, I really don’t care.”

  “She’s my financial advisor, Justine. She just flew in from New York.”

  Justine laughed. What a load of bull crap.

  “You’re a handyman, Archer, please come up with something better than that.”

  “I wasn’t always, Justine. Just like you, I came here after selling my own business, a software company, for a lot of money.”

  She shook her head. “You expect me to believe that? So you’re rich? And fix windows for fun?”

  “Yes.”

  Justine couldn’t, and wouldn’t, believe it. She had vowed not to get tangled up with a man again, and she had. And then her worst fears had been realized. The last kind of person in the world she wanted to be with was a rich man with a vague background. She had liked Archer because she thought he was a simple man, a carpenter. Oh Lord, what had she done?

  “Please, Justine, I’m telling the truth.”

  She tried to walk past him, but he stepped in front of her.

  “Honestly, I am,” he said. “And I’m crazy about you. Come back and I’ll introduce you to Robin, you can see for yourself that she really is my financial advisor. Nothing more.”

  Justine folded her arms across her chest.

  “Even if I believe you, which I don’t, it won’t matter. Even if she is who you say she is it doesn’t matter. Don’t you get it? I’ve been married before. To a guy who kept all kinds of secrets from me and lied to me and–”

  What the hell was she doing? She wasn’t about to start crying right here in public!

  “Look, it was nice. We had fun. I have to go now.”

  This time, he let her walk past him and she hurried back to her condo, slammed the door shut behind her, threw herself onto the couch and started crying. That really hadn’t taken long at all, had it? She’d managed to screw up paradise. Even the government couldn’t help her keep her life together.

  There was a knock on the door and the frustration turned into rage. How dare he come back? Hadn’t she been clear enough? She would tell him a thing or two.

  She stormed to the door, threw it open and came face-to-face with a gun held in the hand of her ex-husband.

  17.

  “Hello Justine,” Daniel Giovanni said.

  She jerked backward and tried to shut the door but he was already through it, followed by one of his goons.

  Justine was shocked at the sight of him. He had not only lost weight, but she was used to seeing him in Hugo Boss with his hair slicked back and a sly smile on his face. The man she saw in front of her looked tired, with his hair in disarray wearing a University of Florida T-shirt, running shorts and Vans tennis shoes.

  The image threw her for a loop and she wondered for a moment if she was hallucinating.

  He pushed her back into the condo and Daniels’ thug, also wearing a T-shirt and running shorts, followed them in. He closed the door behind them and locked it.

  “We’ve been watching since this morning, my dear,” Daniel said. “Saw a big guy leave looking very, very satisfied. It appears you didn’t waste any time moving on, huh? Looks like the end of our marriage allowed you to become the tramp you’ve always been at heart.”

  Her phone. She had to get to her phone and somehow text Agent Herring and Runyan. As always, Daniel read her mind.

  “Get her phone, Pete,” he said.

  Her purse was ripped from her hands and Justine watched as Pete pulled her phone out and held it out to Daniel, who shook his head.

  “Go dump it in the toilet.”

  They were going to kill her. There was no other reason. She knew that. The reason she’d gone into witness protection was because she had seen Daniel kill a man. She was the whole key to the government’s continuing case against him and the rest of his organization. And now where were they?

  Pete returned from his trip to the bathroom.

  “Bring the car around Pete, we can’t kill her here. I don’t want anyone to find the body.”

  Daniel smiled and Justine felt like she was going to be sick.

  However, she didn’t get the chance because Daniel turned and spun, striking her in the head with the gun. It was the last thing she saw before everything went away.

  18.

  Flowers are cheesy.

  Archer knew that, but there he was, in Passion Key’s only flower shop, trying to decide if roses were over the top. Maybe a bouquet of other flowers didn’t seem so serious. But would he look cheap? And come to think of it, wasn’t there something more creative than flowers? Plus, they seemed like such a lame opener.

  Justine apparently thought their time together was another notch on his bedpost, and that he’d run off to some other beautiful woman after he’d had his fun with her. And then, she had to find out that he wasn’t some down-on-his-luck handyman who does fine carpentry on the side. No, she learns he’s wealthy with a private financial advisor who flies in by private jet. Okay, Justine didn’t know that yet, but she would and that would probably make her mad, too.

  Yeah, flowers seemed a little lame.

  But heck, it was all he could come up with.

  He had the nice lady put together a fine bouquet, and then he walked back down to the resort, looking like a guy about to go pick up his prom date. All he needed was an ill-fitting rental tuxedo and he’d be perfect for the part.

  Archer walked through the courtyard and went to Justine’s door. He rang the doorbell and waited.

  There was no answer.

  He knocked on the door, heard a click, and the door moved inward just an inch.

  It wasn’t locked and it certainly wasn’t latched.

  Archer looked around. He didn’t see Justine anywhere, and he’d taken a glance by the pool and only seen a couple of guests.

  Did she normally leave her door unlocked? Some people who lived in the Keys for a long time got pretty comfortable, but he would be surprised if she was already leaving her door open.

  “Justine?” he called through the narrow crack.

  Archer felt a bit foolish standing in front of the door with the flowers in his hand. He nudged the door open just a little more.

  “Justine? Are you home?” he called, much louder this time. He listened for the sound of a shower running, or a television, but he was met with dead silence.

  A little shiver ran down Archer’s back. Crime in the Keys wasn’t exactly unheard of, but it was pretty rare. Still, Justine was a beautiful woman, living alone.

  She was already mad at him; he might as well really tick her off.

  So he stepped inside.

  The first thing he noticed was that a lamp on the side table by the couch had been knocked over and was on the carpet, its shade dented and cord still connected to the wall.

  The second thing he comprehended was the feel of cold metal at the base of his neck and a voice speaking softly.

  “Don’t move,” the voice said. It was a man’s voice.

  The gun, he was pretty sure it was a gun, stayed pressed against his neck while a second person moved around in front of him. A woman, dressed in dark slacks and a sport coat, appeared in front of him. She, too, had a gun pointed at him.

  “Where is she?” the woman said.

  “I don’t know,” Archer answered.

  The woman looked at the flowers in his hand.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  “Archer Thorpe,” he answered. “I, uh–”

  “Put the flowers down,” the woman said.

  Archer complied, and then felt the gun removed from the back of his neck, and hands friske
d him.

  “He’s clear,” the man behind him said, then put a hand in the middle of Archer’s back and pushed him into the middle of the room.

  “What are you doing here?” the man said.

  Now, Archer began to slowly recover and the shock was replaced with anger.

  “Who the hell are you two and what are you doing here?” he asked. “And where is Justine?”

  The woman sighed, reached into her sport coat, and pulled out a badge. “We’re FBI. I’m Agent Runyan, this is Agent Herring.” She put the badge away. “Now, answer the question.”

  “Justine and I–”

  Good Lord, how was he going to phrase this?

  “We just started seeing each other. I came by to give her those,” he said, pointing at the flowers now on the floor next to the lamp. “But she was gone and her door was partially open. I started to get a little worried.”

  “Damn it,” Agent Herring said. Suddenly, his cell phone vibrated and he looked at the screen.

  “Please tell me it activated,” Agent Runyan said.

  “Yes!” her counterpart said. Suddenly, his face went white.

  “Oh, no,” he said. “I think she’s on a boat.”

  19.

  Bang!

  Justine opened her eyes. That incredibly loud thud had been her head banging on the bottom of a boat as it crashed over a savage wave. The sky swirled above her, dark clouds spat rain and a roaring wind filled her ears.

  Pain shot into her head as her eyes were blinded by a lightning flash, and a red-hot poker of agony radiated out from the side of her head, where Daniel had clobbered her.

  “This is far enough,” Daniel shouted. Justine felt herself jerked to her feet, and she saw Pete was at the helm of the boat. She watched him pull the throttle back and the screaming of the boat’s engine slowed to a dull growl. Justine swayed on her feet and she thought she might get sick.

  “I’m not really sorry about this Justine,” Daniel said. “I gave you a good home, plenty of jewelry and you were more than happy to betray me.”

  “You’re a liar,” she said. She felt dizzy, but the pent-up fury momentarily steadied her. “You never loved me; it was all a sham, just like your life. You’re a monster and a scumbag.”