Jack Beale 00 - Dangerous Shoals

the door he found it wasn’t easy while carrying a tray with two cups, a pot of coffee, a basket of hot blueberry muffins, and the requisite cream, sugar, butter, knives, and spoons.
    “Jack, you shouldn’t have.” Her voice startled him. It was far too clear considering how he thought she should have sounded.
    She was sitting up in the bed with the covers pulled up to her chin. She had a fresh scrubbed look on her face and her eyes had a sparkle that belied last night’s excesses. “You’re up,” he said as he walked across the room with the tray and set it on the edge of the bed.
    “You are so sweet, Jack Beale.”
    He didn’t reply but smiled as he poured her a cup of coffee. As her arms emerged the covers slipped down, revealing that she had nothing on. She blushed slightly as she pulled the covers up and tucked them around her.
    When she looked up, Jack was holding out the cup of coffee to her and she was sure that he was also blushing. She noted that the smile hadn’t left his face. “What are you smiling at?” she asked teasingly.
    “Nothing. Coffee?”
    The muffins were huge and obviously homemade. While Max nibbled on the crunchy edges, Jack seemed to eat his in two bites. Neither said much as they ate.
    Jack finished first and tried not to seem too eager as he watched Max slowly sip her coffee. He was sure that she was deliberately teasing him and if she wasn’t, it didn’t matter. Either way, he wanted her.
    “That was delicious,” she said as she placed her empty cup on the tray.
    He picked up the tray and turned away from the bed to put it on the table. As he walked across the room, his mind was in overdrive trying to decide what he would do next. As he put the tray down, she made the decision for him.
    “Jack, will you come rub my back?”
    Several hours passed before they checked out of the Inn.

CHAPTER 43
    KURT SAT BACK and inhaled with deep satisfaction. A killer lion on the savannahs of Africa couldn’t have been more proud. Then, as if a cloud had passed over, his face changed as he relived those last moments.
    His patience had finally been rewarded. He had been watching the boat ever since it arrived in the harbor. The fog and rain had kept him hidden, but for each predator at the top of the food chain, patience often reaped the greatest rewards. He had watched them leave the boat just before the rain had started up again, and while he was considering his next step, it had happened.
    It was dusk when his quarry suddenly appeared out of the gloom and mist, and he watched as Daniel looked over the water at Irrepressible , studying the boat. Then, as suddenly as Daniel had appeared, he moved out of sight. Finally, Kurt saw him again moving along the water’s edge until he came to a small boat that was tied to a tree. Daniel stopped, looked at the boat, quickly untied it, took one more look around, and then pushed it into the water, jumping in at the last moment. There was but a single oar in the boat, so he stood in the bow and used it like a paddle as he headed for Jack’s boat. When he reached the boat, he rapped quietly on the hull. When there was no response he climbed aboard and went to the companionway hatch. Kurt watched as he tugged on the lock, and by his movements he could sense Daniel’s frustration. Unable to get in, Daniel abruptly jumped back into the small boat he had borrowed and paddled back to shore.
    Kurt watched all of this like that killer lion would watch his quarry as it prepared to drink from the nearby watering hole. As cautious as Daniel had been, while he re-tied that small boat to its tree, he made his only mistake: he relaxed for a moment. Kurt sensed it, and felt the tension, as a rush of adrenalin surged through his veins. He took long, deep, silent breaths as he fought to control his heartbeat. His focus was complete as he prepared for his next move. He watched and knew that in the end, all of the planning would become purely reactive, as instincts long dormant took over.
    Daniel never saw him coming. Kurt’s questions were short and direct, as were Daniel’s answers. Daniel’s first answers were not the ones desired. Then, as Kurt’s questioning became more compelling and before Daniel could tell him all that he wanted to know, the fog began to lift and voices could be heard in the distance. Kurt ran out of options and Daniel ran out of time.
    He moved quickly to dispose of the body. The tide was running out, so he grabbed some chain that