He felt Mathilda’s gaze on him, and glanced over at her. A small frown appeared between her eyebrows, but he couldn’t tell if it was sympathetic or disapproving.
“What’s the lawsuit about?” she asked. “Can you at least say that?”
“The lawyers would have my ass if I did.”
Bjorn answered her question, because of course he did. “Aren’t you trying to box her out of her share of the company? That’s what my mother said. She thinks you should treat your sister with more respect.”
Interesting. How did this random dude in the jungle know more about Lincoln’s business than Rory did? He really ought to follow the business news more. Was it possible that this lawsuit was connected to Lincoln’s mission to Maui? Or the drone? Or even…the crash?
“There’s two sides to every story,” he said. “At least two. Usually more. And that’s really all I should say.”
But the disappointment in Mathilda’s eyes was hard to take. There wasn’t much he could do about that, not without admitting he knew nothing about any of this.
“It’s so sad when money tears a family apart,” she said. “You should really consider taking a different approach to your sister.”
“That’s very good advice. Not much I can do at the moment, but it’s something to think about.” Desperate to change the subject, he turned to Sasha. “How does Rory seem tonight?”
“About the same. I got more movement of his eyeballs during this last exam. I’d say that’s progress. I did some movement exercises with him to make sure his muscles don’t atrophy. He needs to do those a couple times a day.”
“Good. Thanks,” Rory told her. “Will any of those exercises help him wake up?”
“Unlikely. But you never know when something will wake up a coma patient.”
When Lincoln regained consciousness, Rory needed to make sure he was present, not Sasha or anyone else. He was going to have lots of explaining to do. “Show me the exercises, I’ll do them with him.”
“I was going to suggest the same thing.” Sasha grinned at him. “I just wasn’t sure you’d be into playing physical therapist for your pilot.”
“Bring it on.” He interlaced his fingers and flexed his hands. “I’m pretty good with my hands.” He winked at Mathilda, but she just rolled her eyes. Fair, he thought. Time to upgrade his dorky jokes.
9
The next morning, Mathilda was in the midst of packing her backpack for her trip to the pittosporum patch when someone said, “Knock knock,” outside the door of her tent. She unzipped it to find Lincoln standing outside the plywood platform on which her tent was perched. He wore a gray t-shirt that set off his dark features, along with a serious, almost worried expression. Her heart gave a little surprise flip. Very annoying.
“What’s up? Is everything okay with your pilot?”
Everyone else had already left for the day, except for Robert, who’d been gone since yesterday.
“Yeah, he’s fine. I mean, he’s the same. He was actually muttering things in his sleep last night. That seems like a good sign.”
She waited for Lincoln to explain why he was outside her tent. “Then what is it?”
“Don’t go on this trip,” he blurted. “At least, not yet. You just got shot at yesterday. What if that drone comes back? Or something even worse?”
Her eyes widened at the idea of “something worse.” What would that be? Trained assassins?
“I’m not going anywhere near the crash site. The pittosporum is a completely different direction. I don’t see why there’d be drones patrolling it, unless they’re monitoring endangered Hawaiian flora?” She smiled at him whimsically, but he didn’t smile back.
He glanced around the empty camp, as if looking for ninjas sneaking in from the jungle. “Just in case, I don’t think you should go alone. There are people out there who wish me ill.”
“Isn’t the key word, you?” She tucked her hair behind her ears. High winds were in the forecast, and she could already feel the first gusts. “As far as I know, I have no enemies coming after me. I guess it’s a good thing I’m a broke graduate student.”
“Yes, but you’re now associated with me and that puts you at risk. I realized that those drones might have also been recording video,” he explained. “If someone is after me, they’ve probably now identified you as a potential target to get to me. Maybe I’m being paranoid, but I just think it would be better if you didn’t do anything alone for the time being.”
She stared at him for a long moment, looking for the joke, or the come-on, or the hidden agenda. Those little winks of his, those shared glances, the prickling of her skin when she was in his presence all added up to “sparks.” Was this a ploy to spend some time with her?
“Are you saying you want to come with me?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I can’t leave the camp. No one else is here to keep an eye on Rory. I just…think you should hold off on this trip. Just until someone can go with you.”
