Shores Of Love

She shook hands and gave him a polite smile. ‘Avalon Rivers.’

He looked at her sadly. ‘Did they actually take everything?’

She gave a resigned nod. ‘I don’t know how I’m going to get home now. My hotel room is paid for tonight but tomorrow I’ll have to sleep on the beach then try to get a job somewhere.’

He shook his head doubtfully. ‘I think you might need a work permit. As for sleeping on the beach, I wouldn’t recommend it. Far too many odd-looking characters going around.’ He paused as if he’d had a sudden inspiration. ‘Look here, Miss Rivers…I don’t know if the idea will appeal to you or not but there is a way I can help you out of your predicament. It’s entirely up to you, of course.’

Experience had taught her to be wary of unsolicited offers of help. There were usually strings attached.

As if sensing her reluctance he went on quickly, ‘The truth of the matter is that you’d be doing both my wife and me a great favour. We’re sailing back to England tonight but the girl who was doing our cooking has decided to stay on. She seems to have formed some kind of attachment to a local boy and is quite devastated at the thought of leaving him. Anyway, the position is yours if you want it.’

It sounded almost too good to be true and she said cautiously, ‘It’s a wonderful offer, Mr Smith, and I’m grateful, but I’m afraid I’m not much of a cook.’

He laughed and brushed her objection aside. ‘I admire your honesty, but you’ve nothing to worry about. We don’t go in for haute cuisine aboard the Caprice. Just plain, simple cooking. I’m sure you can manage that.’

A voice in her head was telling her to be careful. All this seemed like too much of a coincidence to sit comfortably, but she stifled it. She was in danger of becoming a distrustful cynic. Anyway, the offer and Mr Smith seemed genuine enough. If she passed up this chance she’d still be left with the problem of how to get back to England.

‘The trip shouldn’t take too long,’ he went on persuasively. ‘And of course I’ll see that you’re well paid at the end of it.’

That was enough to settle the matter and she smiled at him. ‘All right, Mr Smith. When would you like me to start?’

He rubbed his hands together briskly. ‘Good show. I’ll take you to the boat now and show you around.’

They went by taxi to the harbour where he led her down the gangway on to the deck of a motor-cruiser. She knew nothing about boats but she could tell affluence when she saw it. Beneath the bridge there was a hatchway and once they were down the short flight of steps he proudly showed her the layout. There were two large and luxuriously furnished cabins at the front. The main lounge and dining-room was amidships, and to the rear of that was the galley where the meals were prepared. A door led from the rear of the galley and he pushed it open. ‘This will be your own cabin. It’s small but I’m sure you’ll find it comfortable enough.’

She showed her appreciation with a smile. ‘It’s very nice.’

He beamed with pleasure. ‘Now, then…My wife and my friends are shopping at the moment. I’ve to meet them for lunch back at the hotel. We’ll be gone for most of the day and don’t expect to be back until late this evening.’ He fished a sheet of paper from his inside pocket and handed it to her. ‘This is a list of provisions we need. I was going to fetch them myself but this can be your first job.’ Next he handed her a card. ‘This is the name and address of the supplier. Everything has already been paid for. I’ll give you money for a taxi and you can go and collect them some time this afternoon.’

She stopped telling her tale and looked at Fraser resentfully. ‘You don’t believe a word of this, do you? You think I’m making it up as I go along.’

‘Get on with it,’ he growled impatiently. ‘At the moment I’m keeping an open mind on the matter.’

She glared at him in angry silence for a moment longer then went on, ‘Well, there were a lot of provisions. Four medium-sized crates, in fact, and I wondered why they needed so much stuff for a short trip to England. The taxi driver just left me and the crates on the quayside and I had to manhandle them aboard myself.

‘Anyway, Mr Smith and his party came back about nine-thirty. He introduced me to his wife and the other couple then he went to the bridge and I heard the engines start up. When we were clear of the harbour he came down and examined the crates. Three of them were filled with cans of peaches and he told me to lay them aside because they were a present for someone back in England. I thought it odd at the time. Whoever heard of giving tinned peaches as a present?

‘Well, everything went well until last night. I’d been keeping out of the way as much as possible and just doing my job. I wasn’t keen on the two women, anyway. In spite of their airs and graces you could tell they were a pair of hard-bitten good-time girls. They wore flash jewellery and—’

‘Never mind the women,’ snapped Fraser. ‘I’m only interested in what happened last night’

She pouted at him. ‘I’m doing my best.’ She took a deep breath then went on…

It had been the sticky patch on the galley floor that had caught her attention and she had traced the source to one of the cans of peaches. Rather than let them go to waste she had pulled the leaking can from the crate, opened it with a tin-opener and emptied the contents into a bowl. She had looked at the result and frowned. A big can and so little an amount of peaches? She had peered into the empty can and found that it had been split into two separate compartments. Turning the can over, she had attacked the bottom with the opener and spilled the contents on to the worktop. White powder? My God! It had been cocaine or something very like it!

‘How did you know it was drugs?’ Fraser asked her.

She eyed him scornfully. ‘Well, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t talcum powder. Not after the trouble someone had taken to hide it.’

His mouth twitched and he nodded. ‘Go on.’

‘Well, I opened another tin and that was the same. And then it suddenly dawned on me that I was the one who’d brought it aboard. If Customs had stopped and searched the boat before we left Portugal Smith could have denied all knowledge of it. He could have said that I applied for the job as cook then used the opportunity to smuggle the drugs myself. It would have been his word against mine. Anyway, that was when Mr Smith came through and caught me. To cut a long story short, he pulled out a gun then locked me in my cabin and said he’d deal with me later.’

‘I’d prefer to hear all the details,’ Fraser said curtly. ‘Everything!’

She shrugged. ‘At first he tried to deny that it was drugs, then when he saw that I didn’t believe him he tried to bribe me. I told him what I thought of drug dealers and that when we got ashore I was going straight to the police. That’s when he got nasty and pulled the gun.’

A shiver ran down her spine. It was probably delayed shock, she told herself. She’d be having nightmares for the next six months and peach melbas would never taste the same. ‘He…He was going to kill me,’ she said in a subdued voice. ‘I could see it in his eyes. He only needed to wait until we were further out to sea then he could dump me overboard and watch me drown.’

She closed her eyes and shivered again and suddenly she found herself being supported in Fraser’s arms. He held her tightly for a moment and the world stopped swaying.

‘I…I’m all right now,’ she muttered. ‘You can let

go.’ He led her to a rock and made her sit down then he went to the Land Rover and returned with a flask. ‘Take a sip of this. You’ll feel better.’

She raised it to her lips and drank, then coughed and spluttered, ‘What…what was that?’

‘Whisky and honey. A well-known remedy around here for everything from depression to pneumonia.’

A warm glow spread throughout her and she breathed deeply at the sweet, clean air. God, it was so good to be alive. Even in a place like this.

As she got to her feet he eyed her closely then, apparently satisfied that she wasn’t going to keel over again, he said, ‘How did you manage to escape from the locked cabin?’

‘I climbed out through the porthole,’ she said mat-ter-of-factly. ‘It was dark but I knew we were close to the shore. Then I saw the light and I knew there must be people so I jumped.’ She shivered again. ‘What I didn’t bargain for was how cold the water would be. I was frozen stiff and getting cramp. I remember a big wave…and crashing down on a rock…Then waking up in Kirsty’s cottage.’

He studied her in silence, his eyes betraying nothing, then he remarked drily, ‘That’s a pretty farfetched story.’

She made a sound of disgust ‘I knew you wouldn’t believe me.’

‘I find it hard to believe that anyone could squeeze themselves through a motor-cruiser porthole. Even someone as slim as you.’

‘Well, I did,’ she retorted. ‘It wasn’t easy. I got stuck but managed it in the end.’

‘Hmm…’ His blue eyes surveyed her again, then he said quietly, ‘Take down your jeans.’

Her mouth fell open. ‘What…?’

‘You heard me. Take them down, now.’

She backed away from him in alarm. ‘Don’t be disgusting. I’ll do no such thing.’

His hand reached for her threateningly. ‘Perhaps you’d prefer me to do it for you.’

‘D-don’t you dare lay a finger on me,’ she warned. ‘I’ll scratch your eyes out.’

‘For God’s sake, girl, be sensible!’ he rasped. ‘I’m not going to rape you. When I do avail myself of that luscious little body of yours you can rest assured that it’ll be in more comfortable surroundings than this.’

His statement that he wasn’t going to sexually assault her there and then but that he would definitely get round to it sooner or later did nothing for her peace of mind. ‘Then why do you want me to take my jeans off?’ she demanded.

‘If you had trouble getting through the porthole then you’ll have abrasions. Probably on your hips,’ he explained slowly. ‘I examined you last night for injuries and the only abrasion I saw was on your temple.’

Her cheeks flared at the memory of his hands all over her and she replied heatedly, ‘Then you couldn’t have looked closely enough. Not that you had any damn right to in the first place.’

His eyes weighed her again, then he growled, ‘If there are no marks then I can only assume that everything you’ve told me is a pack of lies.’

‘They’re there, I tell you,’ she insisted vehemently. ‘They were stinging like hell when I had a bath this morning.’

‘Then show me.’

‘Get lost.’

He took another step towards her and she backed into the Land Rover, her heart thudding at the expression of harsh resolution on his face. ‘All right!’ she yelled at him. ‘Don’t touch me. I’ll show you.’ Turning her back on him, she unzipped her jeans, slid them down over her hips, hooked the hem of her briefs upwards then turned sideways and thrust her hip at him. ‘There. See for yourself.’

He grunted. ‘Now the other one.’

She repeated the process with her other hip then looked at him resentfully. ‘Are you satisfied? Have you seen enough?’

He watched as she hurriedly did up her jeans then his eyes glinted with amusement. ‘Yes. For the time being at least. When we get back to the house you can put some ointment on those scratches.’

She looked at him in alarm. ‘What house?’

‘Mine, of course. You’ll be living there from now on.’

The idea didn’t appeal to her in the least. It sounded too much like going into the lion’s den. ‘In your dungeon, no doubt?’ she challenged acidly. ‘Chained to the wall like the rest of your prisoners? I think I’ll decline the invitation if it’s all the same to you.’

He gave a sigh of mild irritation. ‘I wish you’d stop being so damned awkward. Anyway, you’ve no option in the matter.’

Now, at last, she had the chance to mock him for a change. ‘Of course I have,’ she said smugly. ‘I can get in touch with the police and give evidence against that gang. No doubt they’ll find me accommodation in a hotel until the trial is over, then I can go back to London.’

He shook his head. ‘I wouldn’t advise it, Avalon. At the moment Smith probably thinks that you drowned last night. If you suddenly turn up as a witness against him then he and his friends might try to implicate you out of sheer spite. It would be a case of your word against theirs, odds of four to one. The judge might not be so easily convinced of your innocence as I was.’ He shrugged philosophically. ‘It would be a pity seeing someone as young and pretty as yourself languishing in prison for the next ten years.’

Again her spirits plunged and she stared at him bitterly. ‘I see. So now it’s blackmail, is it? Either I agree to stay here or you’ll hand me over to the police?’

‘I hadn’t thought about that…’ he drawled. ‘But now that you mention it…’

‘You’re despicable,’ she snorted. ‘I think I’d rather spend ten years in prison than be married to a man like you.’

He grinned at her and shook his head. ‘No, you wouldn’t. Now that I’m satisfied that you aren’t a part of that gang after all you’ll find me much friendlier.’

Her mouth dropped open as she gaped at him. ‘What? Are you seriously telling me that you thought that I…I…?’ She spluttered at him in indignation. ‘For God’s sake! Do I look like a drug smuggler?’

He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. What do drug smugglers look like? Anyway, you were certainly acting as if you had something to hide when I asked you how you got here.’

‘I hate people who deal in drugs,’ she muttered, rubbing her hip and thinking of Smith.

‘And so do I. At least we’ve got that much in common.’

She eyed him warily. ‘Well, don’t let it go to your head. And don’t start getting any funny ideas. If I have to stay here I’ll feel a lot safer in Kirsty’s house than in yours.’

‘Out of the question,’ he said firmly. ‘I can’t get to know you better if we’re living a mile apart’ He paused and flashed his white teeth at her. ‘Besides, Kirsty thinks that it was her fairies that sent you to me. We’d better humour the old dear…just in case.’

CHAPTER THREE

AS THE Land Rover bounced and rattled its way back along the track Avalon sat tight-lipped, grim-faced and thinking furiously. He was as mad as a hatter, of course. It was the only explanation. And so was Kirsty—which was a shame because she seemed to be such a cheery, harmless old dear. In a way it was also a pity about him because if she’d met him in any other circumstances…Well, who could tell? You couldn’t deny that there was something about him that appealed to the baser instincts, and let’s face it, her instincts were just as basic as any other red-blooded woman’s. There had been a moment back there when she’d felt light-headed and he’d put his arm around her—

That train of thought came to an abrupt end as he brought the Land Rover to a stop. They’d just passed Kirsty’s cottage and were halfway down the hill leading into the village. He pulled on the handbrake then contemplated her with a critical frown. ‘Relax,’ he growled. ‘You look as if you’re about to be burnt at the stake.’

She narrowed her green eyes at him. ‘You say a thing like that and expect me to relax?’

With a glint of cold humour in the depths of his eyes he began lecturing her. ‘News travels fast in a small place like this and everyone will have heard about you by now. They’ll be eager to see what kind of woman has been sent to marry their Chief.’

Oh, no! she thought with despair. It couldn’t be! Not the whole population? There had to be someone around here whose head was on straight.

‘So I’d be obliged if you would at least try to look a little happy at the prospect,’ he went on grimly. ‘Otherwise they’ll feel let down.’

She looked at him rebelliously. ‘This is crazy. Surely some of them are bound to wonder how I came to be in the water in the first place?’

‘They won’t be interested in that,’ he declared firmly. ‘However, for the benefit of any strangers who turn up, the story will be that you were on holiday, sailing single-handed up the west coast, when you were suddenly caught in a squall and your yacht capsized.’ He flashed his teeth at her again in a humourless smile. ‘So far I’m the only one who knows about your involvement with the drug smugglers. For your own safety we’ll leave it that way.’ He paused then added pointedly, ‘For the time being at least.’

There was no mistake about that threat—and wasn’t that just typical of the kind of man he was? Smile and look happy, or else!

With a final look of warning he released the handbrake and they drove down the hill into the village. The main street ran past the harbour and halfway along it he pulled up outside a shop which, by means of a weatherbeaten, faded sign above the door, proclaimed itself to be the Suilvach Fashion Emporium. Barely glancing at her, he said brusquely, ‘Get out. We’ve some shopping to do.’

She was quickly learning that when he spoke in that kind of voice it was better just to do as he said. Reluctantly she got out and followed him into the shop.

In spite of its outward appearance the interior of the place came as a surprise. As modem as any large city store, it was well-lit and laid out with racks of skirts, tops, dresses, sweaters.

A bright-eyed little brunette welcomed them with a smile. ‘Good morning, Fraser.’ She turned to Avalon and said a little breathlessly, ‘And you will be the girl from the sea everyone is talking about. You gave old Gavin a terrible fright last night, I can tell you.’ At Avalon’s look of incomprehension she explained, ‘He was the one who found you on the rocks. After he took you to Kirsty’s he came straight down to the pub. The poor old soul needed four big drams before he could stop shaking long enough to tell us the story. An hour and six drams later he had to be carried home and put to bed.’

Fraser smiled tolerantly. ‘All right, Aileen. Never mind the gossiping. You’ve got work to do. This young lady’s name is Avalon and she has nothing in the world but the clothes she’s wearing. I’ve got business to attend to at the harbour. You’ve got half an hour to see that she gets everything she needs. If there’s anything you haven’t got in stock, telephone Oban and have them send it up on the first boat.’