Hurricanes in Paradise by Denise Hildreth (best ereader under 100 .TXT) 📗

want you going backward. I mean, that’s what the other night at the church was all about, wasn’t it? Moving forward?”

His words struck deep. How did he know so much when she had shared so little? “You’re right. It was.” She wanted to say more, but she didn’t. “I really need to go, though. I’ve got to pack up my office and make sure everything else is secure and ready. Sounds like the winds are going to be pretty heavy by early evening and downright evil tonight.” She stopped and looked at him. Really looked at him. His face held no guile. No indictment. Just questions. Questions she could never answer. “It was really good getting to know you, Christian. You are a truly wonderful man. And if I was a better woman, I would hold on to you and not let you go.” She heard the crack in her own voice, gave him a soft smile, and walked past him.

He reached out and took her arm, pulling her toward him. The tears she had been holding back with all her might rushed to the surface and fell rapidly down her face. “You are an amazing woman, Riley Sinclair. Despite your past. Despite what happened last night. There was something in all of that that was crazy and so different from our night before. But when I looked at you last night, it wasn’t you. It was something, but it wasn’t Riley. I don’t know your story. I can tell there’s been a lot of pain, but I know this, the Riley that I saw last night wasn’t you. It wasn’t this Riley. Trust me, I’m not a man looking to rescue a woman with issues. But I am a man looking at an incredible woman who gives herself way too little credit for the woman that she is.”

She shook her head. “You see what you want to see, Christian.”

“And you see what you were.”

She slid her arm from his grasp and turned away. She didn’t stop until she got to the top of the stairs. That was when she leaned against the wall, and the choking sobs came once again.

* * *

Riley dashed through the open doors of The Cove Suites. She pounded on the Up button of the elevator as if that would hasten its arrival. Mia’s panic-stricken voice on the phone had driven Riley back to reality. She kept running the room number through her mind . . . 575 . . . 575—that one was so familiar. When the elevator doors opened, she propelled her body through them and poked the fifth-floor button with a jolt. When her finger jabbed the round button, she realized whose room it was. It was Tamyra’s.

* * *

The door was held open by a frantic housekeeper. “What’s going on?” Riley asked, her own panic rising as she rushed into the room.

The housekeeper was on her heels. “I came in to clean her room, Ms. Sinclair, and he was on top of her. I screamed and it startled him. He jumped up, pushed me out of his way, and ran out the door.”

Riley stopped at the foot of the bed. “Oh, God.” The words slipped from her throat at the sight of the body before her. Mia was pounding frantically on the phone. “Oh, God, please help us.”

Riley climbed gently onto the bed. Tamyra was not moving. Her face was hardly recognizable. Blood was caked everywhere and had created a puddle around her head. “Get me a warm washcloth now.” Riley tried to hide the panic in her intense whisper.

Riley took Tamyra’s dainty wrist in her hand and felt for a pulse. “God, please. Please let there be a pulse.” Nothing. She moved her fingers again, her body pleading. “Oh, please, God, please.” The faintest thump came beneath her fingers. She exhaled the breath she hadn’t even known she held.

“Yes, we need an ambulance at the Atlantis resort now! Room 575,” Mia said, her voice high-pitched with fear.

The young housekeeper’s hand trembled as it extended a warm, wet washcloth to Riley. She took it and began to wipe as gently as she could across Tamyra’s forehead. “Hey, Tamyra, honey. It’s Riley. We’ve got an ambulance on the way. They’re coming for you, okay? Now you just hold on and we’re going to take really good care of you. You’re safe now. You’re completely safe.”

Riley raised her head to Mia. Mia stood there, her face contorted with fear, the receiver still in her hand. “Mia.” She didn’t respond. She just stared through Riley. “Mia, come on now. I need you to focus. Get back on the phone. Call security. Have them contact the police immediately. This guy can’t get off the island without us finding him. Now come on.”

Mia turned toward the receiver and began dialing the number for security.

Riley continued to wipe as gently as she could. Tamyra’s face was already swollen to the point that Riley didn’t know how she could even breathe. Tamyra gurgled. “It’s okay, honey. I’m right here. Riley is right here. I’ve got you taken care of and the ambulance should be here any minute.” Her words came out as soothing as any mother’s would be to her own child. “Mia, go on down to the lobby and wait for the ambulance so you can bring them right up.”

Mia stood there. Unmoving.

“Mia, go on now. I need you to make this as smooth as possible. Tamyra doesn’t need any delays.”

Mia put the phone back on the receiver and headed out the door, doing just as Riley told her.

Tamyra moaned.

Riley kept wiping and kept praying. The only two things she was capable of doing.

* * *

Laine saw Mia as she rounded the corner. “Okay, Winnie, we’re on.” Laine leaned back on the sofa, waiting for Mia to walk through the door. Both she and Winnie watched as Mia ran right past the office and stood at the main entrance.

“Looks like we’re on hold.”

Laine stood. “Oh no she doesn’t. She’s not going to avoid this any