Slow Summer Burn: A Loveswept Contemporary Romance (30 page)

Cameron gazed out at the horizon and took a deep breath. The aromas of salt, sea, wood, and fried food commingled. She’d been to so many places around the world, but there was nothing like a walk on the Star Harbor piers early on a summer’s evening. Tourists were still out in full force, laughing, walking, and eating, enjoying the evening before the rain hit. She could tell it was coming. Dark clouds were forming over the water, and the air was heavy and damp. Val would be able to gauge how far off it was. He could tell the time by the sun and the weather by the feel of the air. Just one more thing to love about him.

As she passed in front of the Clam Shak, she spied a few early birds having some clams and corn. Babs herself was out front, sweeping up some debris with a long-handled broom.

“Heya, Cameron,” the older woman said. “Good to see you.”

“It’s good to see you, too, Babs.”

“Val coming home tonight?”

She nodded. “Yes. Late. We’re planning to go to the Schoolhouse with his family when he gets in.”

“Sounds nice,” Babs said. “Hope he beats the storm.”

“He might not, but I don’t think he’ll mind.”

“Never does, that one. Well, make sure you stop by one of the next couple of weekends to get some clams before I close up for the summer. You know I close right after Labor Day.”

Cameron smiled at her. “I’ll do that. Maybe afterward Val will take me for a frappe.”

“Once you try ’em, you’re hooked.”

“They’re almost as addicting as your food, Babs.”

“Ha! Knew you’d be good for Val.” Someone called out from inside the Clam Shak and Babs cocked her head to listen for a moment. “Gotta get back to the place. Catch you sometime this weekend.”

“That’d be nice,” Cameron said. “ ’Bye!” She continued down the pier, when who should be walking toward her but Junior. Tonight, he looked every inch the gentleman sailor, from his crisp dark-blue windbreaker to his khaki shorts to his Sperry Top-Siders.

“Hello, Cameron,” he said.

“Ted!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

“Waiting for you.” Concern creased his face. “Didn’t you get my message that I was in Star Harbor this evening?”

“No,” she said. “Did you call my cell?”

He shook his head. “Work. I talked with a young woman …”

“Anna. She must have forgotten to give me the message.” Things had been a little hectic between three and five, when they’d had a deluge of customers.

“Well, you’re here now. That’s what matters. Want to join us?” He motioned to his thirty-five-foot yacht, the
Josephina
. It was a beautiful craft, white and sleek, and as she recalled from the few trips she’d taken on it before, quite comfortable.

“I’d love to, Ted, but I’m meeting someone later. And I’m not really dressed to go boating.” She indicated her strappy high-heeled sandals, which were decidedly not rubber soled.

“We’re docked for a while. Why don’t you come on board, have a drink, and relax after the long day. I won’t take no for an answer.” He was putting on all the charm now.

“All right,” she said. “I
would
like to see the boat again, but I don’t need a drink.” The glass of wine she’d surely have later at the Schoolhouse would be plenty, and maybe she could use this opportunity to call it off with him for good.
Safety in numbers, right?

“Wonderful,” he said, his hand in the small of her back as he ushered her down the pier and onboard the
Josephina
. She slipped off her sandals as soon as she reached the deck so as not to scuff it. “Just head on downstairs to say hi to the others in the saloon. I’ll be there in a second.”

“All right,” she said, heading below deck. It was pretty quiet down here. No voices. Bypassing the cabins, she was going toward the saloon when she heard the motor start.
What the—?

A pit in her stomach, she ran back topside as quickly as she could manage. She burst out onto the deck only to watch the boat pulling away from the marina at a rapid pace. She went straight for the cockpit.

“Ted, what are you doing?” she demanded. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but this isn’t funny. Take me back to the piers right now.”

“It’s perfect sailing weather, Cameron,” he said. Was his tone hard or was it just her
imagination? “I don’t want to waste the evening. I came all the way down here just for you. You used to love boating.”

It wasn’t perfect sailing weather. Not by a long shot. “I don’t love being taken captive,” she said, debating whether to jump overboard. Was that too dramatic? They were pretty far out now, past the outer harbor, and she wasn’t the strongest swimmer. With the choppy waves and the tide going out, she’d most likely be swept out to sea unless another boat picked her up fast.

“We can unwind on the open water. It’s very peaceful out there. Quiet.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Seriously, Ted, I am
not
joking around. There’s a storm coming. Take me back to shore right now!”

“Just relax, Cameron. You’re always so uptight.”

“I am
not
going to relax! This is insane. You can’t do this!”

“I just have,” he informed her, coolly.

She walked to the deck and contemplated her next move. They were close to Star Harbor Point now, and she could still jump overboard, but she really didn’t feel comfortable enough swimming in the open water. Another option would be to lock herself in a cabin below deck, but that would just trap her further. She didn’t have any weapons, and anything she had Ted would probably use against her anyway. But wait—the alarm Val had given her the night of the congressman’s party!

She reached into her bag and pressed it, fully aware of the irony of the situation. It didn’t make a sound, but she prayed that Val could hear it on the other end. A moment later, from inside her bag, her cell phone rang. Junior just walked over, wrenched the bag from her grasp, and flung the entire thing overboard.

“Ted! What are you doing?”
Crap
, would the alarm even work if it was underwater? She couldn’t panic. She mustn’t panic.
Think!

What could she use? Buoyancy.
Yes
. She picked up one of the seat cushions and found a stash of life jackets. But when she pulled one out, Junior snatched it from her hand and threw it overboard.

“You’ve gone crazy!” she yelled.

“Never been saner in my life,” he said, tossing the rest over the railing. “I know you’re not a great swimmer, and you’re very risk-averse. Two of your greatest failings.” He reached out to stroke her cheek, but she jerked away.

Junior merely shrugged and went back to the cockpit, where he cut the engine.

Silence. Well, not quite silence. More like white noise, what with the sound of the water hitting the boat, the ebb and flow of the waves, the occasional seabird crying overhead, and a buoy clanging in the distance, a harbinger of the storm. She usually enjoyed the feeling of solitude on the water, but today it was almost oppressive.

He strode back onto the rear deck. “Time to relax,” he said, sitting down on a white-cushioned bench seat and leaning back so his arms were stretched out on the boat’s rail. “Have a seat.”

“I think I’ll stand,” she said, furious at the whole situation. And scared. Very scared. The lifejackets had floated far away from the boat now. She crossed her arms over her chest and tucked her hands against her body so he couldn’t see how hard they were shaking.

“Suit yourself,” he said, pulling out some champagne from an ice bucket and unwrapping the foil. Incredulously, she watched as he undid the wire and popped the cork, then poured two servings into plastic cups designed to resemble champagne flutes. As if they were out on a pleasure cruise. “Champagne?” he asked, offering her the cup.

“No, thank you,” she said icily.

He shrugged and tossed back her serving, then put the cup down. “An Endicott through and through.”

“Why am I here, Ted?” she asked, losing patience with this whole charade. “You lured me onto this boat under false pretenses, threw my bag overboard, and now have disregarded my wishes to return to shore. What is going on?”

He took a sip of his own champagne and regarded her, his gaze cold. “I think you know what’s going on, Cameron.”

She frowned. “I have no idea.”

“We can start by talking about that little hide-and-seek game you were playing at my father’s party last weekend.”
Is he baiting me?
Panic began to set in, but she tried to keep her cool.

She gave him her best Endicott stare. “Hide-and-seek game? It was an evening soiree, not a kid’s birthday party.” She rolled her eyes for good measure. “Seriously.”

“Oh, you are good. You are really, really good,” he said, wagging a finger at her. “For a while there, you even had me fooled, and I am one tough customer.”

Convince him
. “I’m not trying to fool you, Ted. I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, shaking her head. “But you’re starting to scare me. For the last time, take me back to Star Harbor.”

He stood up. “I think we both know I can’t do that. Not after you grilled my dad about his trips to Canada.”

“Cici told me—”

Junior shook his head. “And after you scoped out the grounds at the house.”
Did he know?
“You went missing at the party for so long, I got suspicious. After you left for the evening, I checked the video footage.”

Oh, God!
The security had been disabled but the feed had still been on. No wonder Junior had been texting and calling her over the past week—he wanted to know what she knew! Well, she wasn’t going to tell him anything. Maybe she could bluff her way through this. “I told you I wasn’t feeling well that night,” she said, praying the feed hadn’t captured her going into the hangar. “I stepped outside for some fresh air.”

“Cut the crap, Cameron,” he said, his voice harsh. “Or have you forgotten what I do for a living? I’m an assistant DA. I listen to people lie all day long. You think I can’t tell the difference between truth and fiction? You’ve been playing me for months. Me!” He was getting angry now, a sneer distorting his face, his voice much louder than she’d ever heard it. “Do you think I’m a stupid man, Cameron? Do you?” He stepped toward her.

“No. No, I don’t think you’re stupid,” she said quickly, taking a step back.

He calmed down immediately and took a sip of champagne. “And you’re not stupid, either,” he said. “I was so sure—” He shook his head. “Look, I know you’re helping the DEA investigate my dad.”

He knew
. And based on the way he was acting, she was in real trouble. At this point, reasoning with him didn’t seem like the right option. “
What?
” she said, trying to sound outraged and giving him her best Clarissa impression. “Endicotts do not involve themselves in any sort of government shenanigans.”

“Come on, Cameron. You’ve been hot and cold with me for the past couple of months, and now I know why.”

“I’m not happy our relationship has had its ups and downs, Ted. I like you, truly, but with all this going on,” she uncrossed one of her hands and waved it around, as if to encompass the
whole situation, “and the scrutiny I’ve been under with the Symphony fundraiser, you can imagine how overwhelming it’s been. Clearly, you’re overwhelmed, too.”

He just shook his head. “You really don’t get it, do you?” he said. “Obviously, they didn’t fill you in on all the little details.”

She frowned and tried to keep up her cover. “Who’s ‘they’? And what ‘little details’ are you talking about?” She was so tired of this. Tired of the lying and the talking in code and the double-speak.

He just gave her that unattractive smirk again.

“I don’t know what that smile means, Ted,” she said, tapping her bare foot on the deck. “What are you trying to tell me?”

“Is that what you’ve been angling for all along? A confession?” He eyed her. “Or maybe you just want in.”

He and his father were a team?
“In to what?”

“Oh, no,” Junior said with a disgusting smile as he put down his champagne flute. “First we find out if you’re wired.”

“If I’m
what
?” Before she realized what he intended, he’d grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her close. Then he ran his hand up her back and ribs and over her breasts.

“Stop, Ted! Stop!” she cried, batting at his roaming hands. “This is not okay.”

“No wire,” he said, backing up and reclaiming his glass. “You’re a smart woman, Cameron. Very smart. So we can talk. I’ve been looking for a partner. Someone who’s got the connections and power to really take my operation to the next level. Dad’s out. When he stumbled upon my files a couple of months ago, it killed him to keep the secret, but he wanted to see me ascend to power so badly, he couldn’t let up. Gotta keep the politics in the family, right?”

Junior had been running the drug operation by himself all along! She pressed her lips together. She was going to throw up. She really was.

He cocked his head at her. “By the look on your face, I gather that’s not what you were expecting to hear. What a pity.” Junior sighed. “I thought—clearly foolishly—that you were pumping Dad for info on Canada and checking out my assets because you wanted to be invited into the operation. And that would have been fine with me. You have a thriving import business. We could have used that to our advantage to get the money and drugs out and in. Plus, your reputation is … pristine.”

As if she would ever have joined an empire based on drug running and illegal activity and hurting innocent people! “You don’t know me at all,” she murmured. God, she’d totally misjudged him! Ever since Cici had told her about what he’d done at Taylor’s party, she’d had doubts about Junior’s character, but not to the extent that he’d be the mastermind behind a colossal drug operation. And she realized with the utmost clarity that her lapse in judgment was probably going to cost her her life.

Even though she hadn’t admitted her involvement, Junior was convinced she was a CI. And he was right. She just blinked. Val had been right all along. She was way out of her depth here.