Page 16 of Beachcomber Danger

Chapter 5

Dane heard the yacht’s engines stop, although he didn’t hear the grind of the anchor being lowered.

“No matter how much Gable offers to pay you, not a word to him.”

She punched his arm as she pushed herself away. “Stop trying to make light of this,” she snapped.

Gable stepped down the stairs into the main lounge. Dane had lost hold of Shana and she’d started stalking around like she’d lost hold of herself. Maybe there was more worry in that look of hers than he’d realized.

“What’s wrong?” Gable joined Dane on the long white couch.

“What makes you think there’s something wrong?”

Gable looked pointedly in Shana’s direction. She paused a beat in her pacing and gave them the finger.

Dane laughed.

“Nothing to worry about. Once I get her to myself back home, we’ll be fine.”

“You expect me to believe this is all about a lovers’ quarrel?”

Dane raised a brow at him. Damn.

“What else?”

“You didn’t ask me to come out here on the ocean to make a call because you’re—”

Shana whirled. “Cut the crap, Gable. If we needed to come out here to make a call because it was so top secret, then what makes you think we’re going to share it with you?”

Dane put up his hands and rose from the couch.

“Damn.” Gable looked to Dane for a cue. Dane didn’t give him anything.

“You can get us and the dinghy back to the dock,” Dane said.

“Yes, sir. Anything else?”

“Forget you took us for a ride. Forget we made a call.” Dane didn’t bother hiding his seriousness.

Gable’s face went ashen with concern. He looked like he was about to say something but flicked a look at Shana, who now stood scowling at him, hands on hips and feet spread—her Wonder Woman pose—ready to spring into action. Gable apparently decided better of it and retreated out to the main deck without another word. Dane and Shana followed.

Dane would owe him after this. Since Gable wasn’t a stupid man, he’d figure without being told that it had something to do with the President’s imminent visit. Nothing Dane could do about that. But that’s all Gable would ever know.

*****

On the road, before Dane and Shana arrive back at the shack, he swerved the Jeep into the parking lot of a small unfamiliar mom-and-pop convenience store. He hoped to hell they had what he needed.

“What’s up lover boy? Your nerves so shot that you need a pack of cigarettes suddenly?” Shana raised one brow at him. She didn’t give him a wiseass smirk. She was too honestly worried and nervous herself.

“Not yet.” He’d never smoked and she knew it, but they both needed to joke to blow off some of the tension. He got out of the Jeep and she followed as if she didn’t want to let him out of her sight. He caught her around the waist, nuzzled her ear and whispered.

“We’re picking up a pair of throwaway cell phones. If you have cash on you.”

She nodded and pulled away to rummage in her purse past the small gun she kept, her favorite traveling gun. Dane stepped into the store first, setting off the jingling bells to alert Mom and Pop they’d arrived. He searched the old place—the well-worn carpeting, the smell of coffee and deli meat permeating the air, and the tall shelves stocked tight like books in a library. He spotted the carousel rack at the end of the last aisle filled with electronics, including plastic-packaged cell phones. Thank you, Mom and Pop.

Smiling at the older woman behind the counter as they walked by, he went to retrieve what he needed. Shana followed, taking his hand and holding on as if she were in a foreign place.

He went down the aisle and grabbed a box of Entenmann’s chocolate chip cookies because they were Shana’s favorites. She aimed a world-stopping smile at him, the kind that caused his pants to get too tight. He held his ground and her hand and they went to the cash register to buy their stash from Mom. He absently wondered where Pop was.