Page 88 of The Pretender

The steady beat of waves sliding into the open slip and lapping against the back wall mesmerized him. Like Tabitha, he didn’t see the reason for the two-story structure. He would take it apart with his bare hands if he had to.

“Where do we start?” Gabby stood on the side with her hands on her hips. Her gaze traveled over the nets and lines and hooks on the walls. Lots of fishing equipment and a few shelves. The kayaks Harris doubted anyone used.

Off to the side Harris spied what looked like a boat engine that had been taken apart and now sat there. He doubted anyone had worked on it for a long time since it had cobwebs on it. He inspected it anyway, looked around it for footprints. The only trail he saw was the one lone one toward the ladder. He was pretty sure that came from his look around up there when he first got on the island.

The boxes and shelves. The memory hit him as he stood at the bottom of the rungs.

“Upstairs.”

Gabby seemed to snap out of the daydream that had her standing there in silence. “What?”

“The place to hide something would be upstairs. There’s no water up there and very little reason to venture up these steps.” He put a hand on the ladder mounted to the wall.

Gabby moved closer and peeked up into the open space above her. “Tabitha would hate it up there.”

Exactly his point. “She only had to go up there once.” Harris started climbing then stopped. He looked down at Gabby. “I can do this alone if you want.”

She shook her head. “We’re in this together.”

He liked the sound of that. Too much. He liked everything about her too much. He even liked who he was when he was with her.

This emotion crap was a pain in the ass.

No wonder he ran in the opposite direction. He should have this time, too.

His shoes thudded on the top floor as he stood up. Reaching down, he helped her through the open hole and into the storage space.

She made a face as she looked around. “I don’t even know what’s up here.”

“Let’s hope a map and some paperwork.”

Gabby touched a shelf then held up her fingers to show off the layer of dust she collected. “It doesn’t look like anyone has been on this floor in months.”

“Which makes your sister pretty damn smart.” Harris studied the floorboards then scanned the ceiling.

He was sure they were in the right place. The space was stifling. With the window closed very little air moved around up here. It smelled stale and old. Everything he touched felt damp from the humidity. He heard a noise and turned to see her dragging a box off the shelf and opening it.

The cardboard creaked as she folded the sides down. “Huh.”

“What is it?” He walked over to stand next to her and peered inside.

She lifted out an empty bottle and brushed her finger over the label. “This is from my great-grandfather’s illegal brew.” She shook her head. “The whole family had an alcohol issue.”

“Why would someone keep that?” He didn’t really get family nostalgia. He liberated paintings and other artwork in the name of it, so he’d benefitted from that sense of wanting to be tied to the past. He just never understood it. The past was something you overcame.

“Why do people collect anything?” She looked around again. “There is a huge house sitting on the other side of the island. This room seems like a waste.”

Every word she said made him more convinced. The room was useless. There was no reason to be up there, and Tabitha would hate the ladder. So, anyone who knew her would think she’d skip this as a hiding place. It only made sense.

For the next half hour, they unloaded every box on the shelves on the right side and rifled through the contents. They found plenty of papers, just not therightpapers. They looked inside things and around things. The dust kicked up and they coughed. And nothing.

“We’re going to suffocate up here.” Gabby got up from her seat on the floor.

She wiped her hands on the back of her jeans, smearing the dust over her ass. Harris almost didn’t want to tell her. He’d rather wipe his hands all over her, too.

“You may have to burn those jeans,” he said as he sat there and watched her move. Those sexy hips swayed and her neck glistened with sweat as she pulled her hair up and held it there.

She shot him a you’re-out-of-your-mind look. “Do you have any idea how long it takes to find jeans that fit?”

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