Breaking Even Read online

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE

  You Can't Go Home Again

  CHAPTER TWO

  A Family Affair

  CHAPTER THREE

  Making the Move

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Long Voyage

  CHAPTER FIVE

  A New Home

  CHAPTER SIX

  Around the Globe

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Connnection

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Tunnel Vision

  CHAPTER NINE

  Island Escape

  CHAPTER TEN

  Island Swim

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Island Action

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Island Natives

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Island Ice

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Hurricane Warning

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Enough is Enough

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Best Laid Plans

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Dinner and Then Some

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Christmas Eve on Calliope

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Christmas in Vegas

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Leaving Las Vegas

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Long Trip Home

  A Word From the Author

  CHAPTER ONE

  You Can't Go Home Again

  For months, Lindsey had been looking forward to graduate school. Now, the day before moving day, her thoughts whirled around Calliope and Ricardo Salzana.

  She had to unpack from her Calliope trip before she could pack the rest of her things for Clemson. She pulled the new Rainbow flip-flops out of her suitcase and blinked to get rid of the tears. He had been so sweet to buy her these.

  How could she leave him? Just that morning, his strong arms had cocooned her in a hug and his lips had taken her places she had never been. Why had he waited until the airport to kiss her? She had her whole life mapped out, her education and career plotted for the next ten years. How could she not leave him?

  It had all started when Ric had put her under house arrest for her own protection. Somewhere along the way, he had gone from being her captor to her friend. If she were honest, she had hoped for something more. Now she faced moving forward without him.

  She shouldn’t mind so much. Lindsey and her older sister Laura had no one else now. Their mother had died the summer after Lindsey graduated from high school. Laura had only vague memories of their father, who had died shortly after Lindsey was born. Their mother had entertained a string of men over the years, but none of them had cared enough to stay.

  Lindsey took one look at Ric, and he had flipped her world on its axis. He had said just that morning that he would call her, but she had her doubts. Once he realized the difficulties in a long-distance relationship, he would find someone else. Men like Ric didn’t exist in her world, and if they did, they didn’t fall in love with plain, average girls like her. A man like Ric dated beautiful models, not geeky math girls.

  Lindsey heard her phone ringing, but at first couldn’t find it. When she spotted it across the room, she dove over the bed and stubbed her toe. The picture that popped up on her phone told her Ric was calling, just as he said he would. Now she felt foolish for doubting him.

  “Hello.” The word came out rushed and breathless, not at all how she wanted to sound. She had finally gotten her wits about her after banging her toe.

  “Lindsey? You sound out of breath.”

  Excitement pulsed through her at the sound of Ric’s voice. She laughed. “I stubbed my toe trying to get to the phone.”

  He laughed, and across all the miles, she felt like he was beside her.

  “Díos, I missed your voice,” he said. “Your sister has recovered from the Taser incident?”

  “She fussed the whole flight back about you and your security guards, but she’ll be fine.” She hadn’t mentioned winning the tournament to Laura, and she hadn't told her about Ric.

  “I’m glad to hear it.”

  “How can it only have been a few hours since I saw you? I feel like it’s been days already.” Lindsey felt sappy, but it was true. Since the plane had touched down in Miami, she couldn’t think about anything but Ric.

  Calliope ran on its own island time, removed from everything. In one weekend, she had won enough money from the blackjack tournament to pay for graduate school. When Ric's men arrested Vaughn for playing with counterfeit chips, she expected the worst. Ric had assured her she could keep the money. He had paid her tournament entrance fee, not Vaughn.

  “I’ve been in meetings all afternoon, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Finally, I got a text from the pilot telling me that you had landed safe.” Ric’s voice sounded like silk over sandpaper.

  Lindsey blushed, pleased that he had been thinking of her. “Well, good, because I’ve not gotten a thing done here.” She laughed.

  “When are you supposed to leave?”

  “We’re leaving early in the morning, driving up over two days.” She realized as soon as she said “we” that she would have to explain. She should have already told Ric that she would have a male roommate in the fall, but the subject hadn’t come up. At the time, she hadn’t expected to talk to Ric again. Now she struggled to explain.

  “Who are you driving up with? Your sister?” Ric asked.

  Lindsey took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “No, my new roommate, Ben. He’s a friend from Tallahassee who is also moving to Clemson.”

  Ric didn’t answer at first, but the air between them crackled with his disapproval. When he spoke again, his anger bled through. “You’re moving in with a man?”

  “Not like that. We’re just friends,” she rushed to reassure him.

  “You never mentioned him before.” Ric kept his voice even, but she could tell he was not happy.

  “No, because it didn’t matter.”

  “Most men can’t be just friends with women. Sex gets in the way.”

  Lindsey sighed. She could have written out this entire conversation in advance. “I didn’t have sex with you, and we slept in the same bed. Why do you think I would immediately have sex with him?”

  “I trust you, querida. I don’t trust him.”

  Lindsey grinned at his lapse into Spanish, but she still felt like she should defend Ben. “You don’t even know him. He’s harmless.”

  “I don’t have to know him to not trust him.”

  “Ric, it’s sweet that you’re jealous, but you don’t have anything to worry about. If I planned to get down and dirty with anyone, it would be you.”

  He laughed. “I guess that will have to be enough. I miss you.”

  “I miss you too. When I get everything together in my new space, you’ll have to come up and see me.” Lindsey’s phone beeped. “I have another call coming in. I’ll call you back later.” She hung up and switched to the second line. “Hello?”

  “Lindsey?” The man’s voice sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it. “Fox Thornton here.”

  “What?” Lindsey recognized the name, but at first couldn't place him. She had just met him the night before, on Calliope.

  “You might not remember me, but this is Fox Thornton. I’m with Laura at the hospital.”

  “What happened?” Lindsey could hear her voice growing more and more frantic. Laura had always been the calm one.

  “Long story. She will be fine, but you might want to come over here.” He just managed to tell her the name of the hospital before he ended the call so he could talk to the doctor. Lindsey rushed down to her car without waiting for him to call back with more details.

  She tried to call Ric back, but when he didn't answer, she left a message abo
ut Laura being in the hospital. She promised to call him back later that night.

  #

  Lindsey didn’t know how to find the hospital, so she downloaded the directions to her phone. When traffic stopped on the main road, she tapped the steering wheel in frustration.

  Laura’s too bossy for anything serious to be wrong. She wished she knew more, but Fox had been abrupt on the phone. She refused to think about the alternative. Fox would have told her if he thought it was serious. As much as Lindsey clashed wills with Laura, she couldn’t imagine a life without her bossy sister.

  In the emergency room, a nurse directed her to Laura’s treatment room. Lindsey started through the open door, but she hesitated when she saw her sister. Laura’s face was so pale she almost disappeared in the pillows.

  Lindsey touched Laura’s shoulder and Laura looked up at her, but her eyes didn’t focus. “Oh my God, what happened? I was so worried!”

  Lindsey saw movement in the corner and noticed Fox sitting in a straight-back chair. He came over to where she stood. “Lindsey? I thought you had blonde hair?”

  “That was a wig. Long story. What happened to Laura?”

  Laura started to speak, but Fox waved her silent. “The FBI raided the office to arrest Lloyd. After a scuffle, Lloyd tried to flee and he fell on top of Laura, hurting her arm.”

  Lindsey stood there, looking from Laura to Fox and back again. None of this made any sense. She would have to get more detail later.

  “We know she has a sprained wrist, but we’re waiting for the test results to rule out internal bleeding. There was some concern that she lost consciousness,” Fox explained.

  Laura waved Fox's concerns away. "My wrist hurts, and I want to go home.”

  “Where are your clothes?” For the first time, Lindsey noticed Laura wearing a hospital gown.

  “I don’t know. The nurse said she would find me some scrubs to wear home.”

  Fox explained. “She’s a little bit out of it. Lloyd fell on her, and some of his blood splattered on her clothes. The nurse cut off her clothes looking for injuries.”

  “How did you know to call me?” Lindsey asked Fox.

  “Laura told me your number before she went back to X-ray.”

  Lindsey pulled up the second straight plastic chair and sat down beside the bed. “After everything this week, now this.”

  What had she been thinking, going so far away to school when her only family was in Miami? And she should start her move tomorrow. “How can I leave and go to Clemson now?”

  Laura opened her eyes at that. “The same way you were going to leave before. This doesn’t change a thing. You go finish packing.”

  Laura leaned back and closed her eyes. Lindsey could tell she was still in pain.

  “I can’t just leave you here.” Lindsey struggled to find a solution. Maybe she could delay her departure a few days. She didn’t have to go up there right now.

  Lindsey checked on her sister, who had zoned out. “Be right back,” she mouthed to Fox as she stepped out of the emergency room treatment area. She went outside so she could use her phone.

  Lindsey took a deep breath, willing her heart rate to slow down. Too much had happened for one day, and she was nowhere near done. She tried to call Ben to suggest they wait a few days to make the drive to Clemson.

  By the time she reached him, he was already at his sister Kayla’s apartment in Coral Gables. They wanted Lindsey to meet them for dinner.

  “Tonight’s not a good night. I’m at the hospital with my sister—”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, but she will be okay, right?” Ben asked.

  “I guess, but I don’t want to leave her.” Lindsey paced the sidewalk outside the Emergency Room.

  “Oh, please, Lindsey, you have to. It’s Kayla. Dad isn’t exactly supportive of me moving to South Carolina. Kayla can calm him down about it, but she won’t talk to him if I don’t play her game. She has some sort of weird power trip going on. We won’t stay out long, I promise. Just meet us for dinner.”

  Lindsey didn’t understand his issue. “So you’re helping your uncle with his bar. I still don’t see why your dad wouldn’t support that.”

  “It’s complicated. He doesn’t like my mom’s brother. Kayla says that she hasn’t seen you much at all this summer. You have to come out with us tonight. Otherwise she’s going to think you’re trying to avoid her.”

  “We’ve all been busy.” Lindsey didn’t tell him that Kayla had avoided her. He forgot that Lindsey and Kayla didn't know each other that well.

  When Ben wouldn’t back down, Lindsey agreed to meet them for a short dinner. She warned him that she couldn’t stay long. She still had packing to do and clothes to wash. They agreed to meet at a bar and grill not far from Laura’s condo.

  Back in the treatment room, Laura didn’t look any better. Lindsey was about to speak when Fox jumped in. “If you have things you need to do, don’t worry about it. I’ll give Laura a ride home.”

  Laura sat up. “I’m fine. Fox is here, and I’m leaving as soon as they run a couple of more tests,” Laura reassured her.

  When Laura took Fox’s hand, Lindsey clued in. Her sister didn't want her there. “Oh, well, if that’s the case, I need to finish packing. My friend Ben is coming from Tallahassee to help me move, and he will be here later today. I’ll see you at home.”

  She gave Laura a quick hug, and then, sure that Laura was in good hands with Fox, she headed back to the condo to pack.

  #

  Lindsey hated moving so much she had left most of her clothes and books in boxes all summer. She planned to buy furniture when she got to South Carolina.

  With Laura gone, at least Lindsey didn’t have to listen to her thoughts on what to take with her. She could finally decorate this new place how she wanted and start her own nest. She had loved the dorms, but hated that she had to leave for two weeks during the holidays.

  She lifted the pink princess lamp, a gift from her mother for her tenth birthday. At the time, all her friends were into princesses. Her mom had been so excited by the present that Lindsey pretended she liked it. Now, over a decade later, she couldn't part with it because it reminded her of her mother.

  Laura had tried to make the second bedroom feel like a home, but it never felt like hers. It never would, no matter how many times she went home for the holidays. She had decided against getting an apartment in Tallahassee. She had made close friends in the dorms, and their little group stuck together. Besides, living in a dorm room, there had been less pressure to be sexually active. The excuse that she had a roommate had helped her several times.

  Lindsey glanced at her phone, half expecting a call from Laura when they left the hospital. It froze, and she had to reboot it. When it came back on, several old messages and voice mails popped up. She breezed through the first message, which was a general reminder from Laura to call her. Guilt hit full force after listening to the second one.

  Lindsey should have tried to call Laura again on Saturday, but she knew Laura would tell her not to go with Vaughn. She hadn’t wanted a lecture. Once she found her passport, she had gone with Vaughn to the airport without calling again.

  The second message was from Sunday. At the time, she couldn't find her phone. Now, in hindsight, she guessed Ric had already let himself into her room and taken it.

  When she listened, Laura sounded like she was almost in tears. “I don’t understand what has happened. Please call me. I’m going out of my mind with worry.”

  She couldn't dwell on it. When she played the third message, Fox's voice sounded irritated. “Lindsey, this is Fox Thornton. It is urgent that we meet with you and Vaughn. Please call me back on your sister’s phone immediately.”

  What was that about? Fox had been nice to her, but was there more to the story? In this message, he sounded like another man.

  Lindsey was in her room throwing books into boxes when she heard a knock on the door. She opened the door for Fox, but Laura wasn’t with him.r />
  “Where’s Laura?” she asked.

  “Asleep in the car. I wanted to make sure you were home first before I tried to bring her in. I have her purse, but I didn’t want to dig for her house key unless I had to.”

  “Oh. You can just lay her on the couch—”

  “I think it’d be better to put her in the bed. The doctor said to keep her wrist elevated on a pillow, at least for the first few hours.”

  “Oh. Her bedroom is upstairs—can you carry her that far?” Lindsey asked.

  “I’ve got her. Just make sure all the doors are open.” He went outside and came back carrying Laura.

  “Upstairs, first door on the right.”

  Lindsey wondered how he would negotiate the narrow stairs carrying Laura, but he managed. He kept her bandaged wrist resting against his shoulder.

  When he laid her down, she helped him arrange Laura’s wrist on a pillow. Through it all, Laura didn’t stir except for a whimper.

  Lindsey would have asked him questions, but he shook his head no.

  “They gave her a shot of something pretty strong before we left. She's been sleeping like this the whole way over here. They said she won’t wake up until tonight, but I didn’t want to chance it. She might hurt more if she wakes up.”

  After the voice message she had listened to, Lindsey hadn’t expected Fox to be so nice. She still had to ask what happened. “I need to talk to you.”

  “Sure.” Fox sat down on the sofa and clasped his hands loosely between his knees.

  “I didn’t have my phone most of the time when I was on the island. When we got back, I turned it off because it was acting weird. When it came back on, several old voice mails popped up.” Lindsey wanted to see what he would say.

  “I was wondering if you had listened to that.”

  “And? You don’t have anything to say?”

  “Money was missing. I found out about Laura’s flight to Nassau. We detained her on the ship so she wouldn’t leave. My theory was that she was going to Nassau to join Vaughn. When I found out about you, I figured you were in on it.”

  “So you kidnapped her?”

  His jaw twitched. “Detained is a better term.”

  “So that explains why I never heard from her. But you told Ric you were her fiancé.”