Lust and Lies 04 - Pretty Maids in a Row

reasonable alibi for that night. I've got to tell you, April, I'm a little worried. We don't know her or how she thinks. There couldn't have been a worse time to bring a new person into the group. This whole situation is liable to get her nervous enough to talk to someone about what she's learned."
    "I don't think she'd do that," April said instantly. "She may get a little nervous, even suspicious, but not enough to expose herself to public scrutiny. Especially if there's a problem with her alibi. Don't help her with that just yet. Besides, I think she's been well tempted by the idea of being involved in Frampton's retribution."
    "I hope you're right, but I think I'll have a talk with her to make sure."
    "I'd rather you didn't, Rachel. I've already started forming a bond with her. She trusts me."
    "Doesn't everyone?" Rachel retorted sarcastically.
    "She's due to check in with me on her progress. In fact, I thought you were her calling. If I don't hear from her by Monday, I'll call her. Just leave Holly Kaufman to me," April said firmly. "Haven't I always taken care of our group?"
    Rachel hesitated just long enough for April to get the message. "So far, Doctor. So far."

Chapter 10

    Another hour crept by while David and Holly took a cab to where the motorhome was parked and David received operating instructions and a map of the area. Additional bottled water had been stocked due to contamination of the regular supply further south.
    David and Holly were told that nothing south of Key Largo was left undamaged and several of the smaller islands had been leveled. But major wind and flood damage was also reported up through South Miami. Property losses would surely end up being in the billions.
    Death toll estimates varied but all of them were tragically high. They were warned that although the expressway had been cleared already, side roads were still covered by debris and fallen trees. Rescue workers were busy searching for bodies of those who had refused to evacuate, while the police had their hands full keeping the curiosity seekers out of the way and the looters under control.
    While Holly and David had been in transit, the President had pronounced all of the Florida Keys a disaster area and promised to send in the National Guard to render immediate assistance. At least the government had learned something from Hurricane Katrina.
    As tired as she was, Holly was too keyed up to take advantage of the bed in the rear of the motorhome. She wanted to see as much as possible before the sun set completely. She'd already seen broken tree limbs and palm fronds littering the ground around the airport, and as they headed south, more evidence of the storm was apparent in the neighborhoods beside the highway—roofs with missing shingles, broken windows, tree limbs on top of cars. They were about fifty miles north of where the outer edge of the hurricane had blown through, but they had been told that tornadoes had caused considerable damage hundreds of miles away.
    David kept his eyes on the road, determined not to think about the bed behind him. He was absolutely exhausted, but it wasn't thoughts of sleep that were disturbing him. It was a mental picture of Holly, stretched out on the compact bed dressed only in her diamond earrings. He couldn't stop himself from imagining how close two people would have to be to share that bed for a night.
    What he could not imagine was Holly allowing anyone to get that close to her. That gorgeous female had a barrier of granite around her. His wayward thoughts drifted to the night he had hammered a crack in that barrier. After what he'd done, though, she would be twice as defensive the next time.
    The next time? Where the hell had that thought come from? Walking away from their first encounter had damn near killed him. Yet he knew he had to find a way past her defenses. What he needed was more time than it was going to take to drive her to her hotel. It was too bad she wasn't a different kind of woman—one who would easily accept his invitation to share his camper, and his bed, for the time they were both in Florida.
    He shook his head to rattle his brain back to a saner topic: Florida, a place he had not previously visited. He wondered if the debilitating humidity and sweltering heat outside were normal or made worse by the hurricane. At least the motorhome's air conditioner made driving comfortable. The clear blue sky and brilliant pink-and-gold sunset seemed incongruous with the storm