The Reef

why.”
    “Why’s easy. He saw you had potential, and he could use it.” He recognized the look on her face and gave her a quick shake. “He wouldn’t have opened a door if he hadn’t been sure you could have done it for yourself. He doesn’t do favors, Red. You got where you are because you’re smart and went after what you wanted.”
    “Maybe. But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s been there, behind the scenes.”
    “No, it doesn’t.” His grip had gentled. He hadn’t forgotten he was holding her. It crossed his mind that she was upset enough that she might not freeze if he drew her to him. Instead, he ran his hands from her shoulders to her wrists. And let her go. “There’s something else to consider.”
    “What?” Distracted, she fought off a shiver. That small, careless gesture had been so familiar.
    “If he knew you were aboard the Nomad, he knows you left. By now, he knows you’ve teamed up with me again, and where we’re going.”
    She was cold now, icily so. “What are we going to do about it?”
    “We’re going to beat him.”
    “How?” She turned away again, clamped her hands on the wet rail. “He has the resources, the contacts, the means.” And he would, she realized as her insides quaked, use her to get to Matthew. “Our best hope is to throw him off track. If I left, went back to the Nomad, or someplace, anyplace else, he might follow my trail. I could even leak something about your talking my parents into a wild-goose chase toward Anguilla, or Martinique.” She spun back. “I could lead him away.”
    “No. We stick together.”
    “It only makes sense, Matthew. If he respects me professionally, wouldn’t he believe that if I had no interest in this hunt, there wasn’t anything to it? He’d be more likely to leave you alone.”
    “We stick together,” he repeated. “And we beat him together. Face it, Tate, we need each other.” He took her arm and pulled her with him.
    “Where are you going?”
    “We’re going to the bridge. There’s something I want to show you.”
    “We need to tell the others about this. I should have told them before.” She clattered up the short flight of stairs. “Everyone has a right to input, to the decision.”
    “The decision’s made.”
    “You’re not in charge here, Lassiter.”
    He kicked the door shut behind him, grabbed a jacket off a hook. “If you think anyone’s going to vote that you go off on your own, you’re not as smart as you look. Put this on.” He tossed the jacket at her. “You’re shivering.”
    “I’m angry,” she corrected, but jammed her arms into the windbreaker. “I’m not going to let VanDyke use me to hurt you.”
    He stopped in the process of pouring the brandy he’d taken from a cupboard. “I wouldn’t think that would bother you.”
    She angled her chin. “I don’t mind seeing you hurt, but I’d prefer doing it myself, not as someone’s tool.”
    His lips curved. He brought her a stubby glass with two fingers of brandy. “You know, Red, you always did lookterrific wet, especially when you were indignant on top of it. The way you are now.” He clinked his glass to hers. “I know you’d like to slice me up and use me for chum. Just like I know you’ll wait until the job’s done.”
    “I wouldn’t use you for chum, Lassiter.” With a smile, she sipped the brandy. “I have too much respect for fish.”
    He laughed, and threw her off balance by giving her wet braid a quick, friendly tug. “You know what you have, Tate, besides a good brain, a fierce sense of loyalty and a stubborn chin?”
    She moved her shoulders and walked over to stand at the wheel and watch the rain.
    “Integrity,” he murmured. “It flatters you.”
    Closing her eyes, she fought off a wave of emotion. He still had a way of sneaking past any defense and seducing the heart of her. “It sounds as though you’re flattering me, Matthew.” Steadying, she turned to face him again. “Why?”
    “Just calling it as I see it, Tate. And wondering if, with all those other fine virtues, you’ve managed to hang on to that shining sense of curiosity and empathy that made you special.”
    “I was never special to you.”
    “Yes, you were.” He shrugged again to cover the painful truth. “If you hadn’t been, you wouldn’t have left Saint Kitts a virgin.”
    Color rose in her cheeks like flags of war. “Why, you arrogant, conceited bastard.”
    “Facts are facts,” he countered, pleased that