Blooming in the Wild Page 0,67

towel. He had to fight the urge to hang on to it, wrap it around her and dry her off himself, every satiny inch of her.

But instead he waited as she turned her back on him and dried herself off quickly. At least that way he got to look at her sweet ass.

She pulled on her little red-and-white bikini bottoms and then the top, reaching behind her back to fasten the catch. Joel moved behind her, fastened it for her, and then leaned down to feather a kiss on her bare shoulder.

“Come on, wahine. Time’s wasting.” He turned toward the trail. “I want to get back and spell Frank for a while.”

“We shouldn’t have left him there alone for so long,” she murmured as she hurried after him.

“Hasn’t been that long. I just made you come really fast.”

She gave a huff of disgust, and he chuckled.

But as they walked out of the trees, Joel stopped, and Bella did as well. On the sun-dappled sea off the point was something new. A large sleek yacht rode at anchor. She was black, with a broad gold stripe and gleaming white superstructure.

“I’ll be damned,” Joel said. “That your cousins’ yacht?”

“No,” she said. “They certainly don’t have anything that ostentatious. There’s a name on the side. Can you read it?”

He squinted in the bright sun, but the craft was at too sharp an angle to the shore. “Nope. Think it starts with an H. But I see they’ve already landed their dinghy.” Beyond the palm trees on the beach, he could see the trio waving as a motorized raft nosed into the bay, manned by three men. “Come on. Let’s go tell Frank.”

He jogged down across the rocks toward the cave, Bella behind him. As they neared the cave mouth, Camille stepped out from under the fig trees. The trees shivered, an odd rattling sound coming from their branches. Bella touched his arm. A lightning glance revealed a frown on her face.

Joel stopped, alarm pinging at his nerves. “Hey, where’s Frank? We’ve got transportation.”

Camille smiled. “Yes, you do. But Frank won’t be needing it. Just you.”

Then Li stepped out of the cave to stand at her side. His knife gleamed as he flipped it, end over end. He smiled at Joel, and rage burned in Joel’s middle. His hands curled, ready to drop the little bastard with a kick and chop.

Bella’s hand tightened. “What’s he doing loose? Where’s Frank?”

“I’m afraid Frank’s had a little accident,” Camille explained with a regretful shrug. “A rock hit him on the head.”

Joel started forward menacingly, and Li stepped back, eyes narrowed, knife at the ready, blade flashing. Joel stepped into the cave, and Bella rushed past him.

Rage fired in Joel’s chest at what he saw. Frank lay sprawled on the cave floor, eyes closed. As Bella dropped to her knees, turning his lolling head in her hands, Joel saw blood in his silver hair and more splotched on the sand under his head. A large chunk of lava lay nearby as if it had been dropped there.

“What did you do?” Joel demanded contemptuously, turning on Camille. “Hit him over the head to free your little whipping boy?”

Camille’s eyes flashed, but then she shrugged elegantly. “Mmm, I may have been holding the rock at the time. But not to worry; he’s not dead.”

And where was the pistol Frank had taken from Li’s bag? Eyeing Camille’s stance, one hand behind her back, Joel suddenly had a pretty good idea.

“You bitch! You didn’t have to do this,” Bella accused, her face pale as she glared up at Camille and Li. “Frank’s twice the man your boy toy will ever be.”

“Maybe,” Camille purred. “But Li’s so much more fun. Anyway, give your old cop a kiss good-bye, because you’re coming on a little sea voyage—with me.”

“You know the owners of the yacht out there?” Joel demanded. “Who the hell are you?”

“Yes, who are you?” Bella echoed. “Because you’re not a photographer, that’s for sure.”

Camille smirked at her. “It took you long enough to realize that, you naïve little fool. You were too busy being nice, weren’t you, Miss Ho’omalu?”

The hair on the back of Joel’s neck stood up, but he ignored her for the moment. He pressed two fingers to Frank’s neck. The other man’s pulse beat slow but steady.

As Bella folded her towel and tucked it carefully under his head, Frank groaned, a faint sound in his throat. He was pale under his dark tan, but he didn’t have the grayish