The Cove

pregnant."

    "I'm so glad I didn't shoot him, regardless of the fact that I would have liked to. I wonder where he is."

    "We'll find him. His passport's gone. The agents had Noelle go through his safe at home and his safety-deposit boxes. Chances are he took off to either the Grand Caymans or Switzerland-they found some bankbooks from both places. We'll get him. It won't take long."

    She was quiet, utterly still against him. He liked to feel her push against him, he liked her touching him. He was still on an adrenaline high, but she had to be exhausted. She'd been through quite an experience. He sighed. He settled for a light kiss on her mouth. "You ready to sleep now?”

    "I have this feeling, James," she said slowly, her breath warm against his neck. "It's weird and I can't explain it, but I just don't think he's gone anywhere. That is, I don't think he's left the country. He's here, somewhere. I just can't imagine where. We don't have a beach house or a mountain cabin that I know of."

    "That's interesting. We'll ask Noelle tomorrow. Now come on, Sally, I'm supposed to be the one with the famous intuition, the hyper gut instinct. You trying to show me up?"

    Quinlan shifted his weight. He was still wearing his pants and shirt. He wished he wasn't wearing anything. Sally was in one of her new nightgowns, a cotton thing that came nearly up to her chin and went down to her ankles. He wished she wasn't wearing anything either. He sighed and kissed her right ear.

    He wished all the adrenaline in his body would clear out. He was high and horny. To distract himself, he said, "I forgot to tell you. I got a call from David Mountebank-you remember the sheriff, don't you?"

    "He's very nice. He took care of you." He felt her fingertips lightly touch where the stitches had been in his head. "Hardly even a ridge now."

    "Yes, well, he still hasn't got a clue about the two murders, and yes, Doc Spiver was murdered, no doubt about it. He wants FBI help, officially, and he'll get it since we're talking about interstate shenanigans. He's convinced everybody that the older couple-Harve and Marge Jensen-were killed around there and that all the other missing folks are linked together as well. There'll be agents up from the Portland office, and I'll be there from the Washington office. They'll crawl all over that damned town."

    She was kissing his neck, her fingers lightly tugging on his chest hair. He said slowly, "I'm going, Sally. And yes, Brammer knows I'm going. He thinks it's a good idea. He wants me to talk to Amabel. We all want to know how she fits into all this. And, believe me, she's got to fit in somewhere. I think you should consider coming with me, Sally."

    He had weighed the danger of her being in that small little town on the Oregon coast against the danger of her remaining here, without him, her father still at large. No, he wanted her with him. It was the only way he could protect her. There'd be enough agents hanging around The Cove, no one would have a chance of hurting her.

    "How could she be involved, James? She loves me, doesn't she? She took me in. She-"

    "Don't turn blind on me now. She's involved. When she told David and me how you would probably run because you were scared, well, then 1 was as sure as I could be that she was involved. How deeply, we'll find out."

    "I've got my mother back now. I'd sure like to have Aunt Amabel, too. I'm praying really hard that she isn't involved."

    "Not only do you have your mama back, you've got me, and you'll never lose me, I swear it. And you'll have all my family. They're obnoxious, loving, pains in the butt, all in all a great family. Now, if Amabel is somehow involved with all this, we'll deal with it, you and I together."

    He felt her palm slide down his chest, felt her fingers slip inside his shirt to caress him. He nearly bowed off the bed. No, she was exhausted, he couldn't let her do this, not now, not tonight.

    He'd made up his mind. No way was he going to rush her on this. He shook his head and said, "Sally, are you certain?"

    "Oh, yes," she said and kissed his chest. "Let me get this shirt off you, James."

    He laughed. He was still laughing when her mouth was on his belly, then lower, closing over him. He moaned and jerked with the power of it. He didn't think he'd ever stop moaning, stop wanting, until he was deep inside her. That was what he wanted more than anything, to be deep inside her and for her to accept him completely, to love him, to