“Stay with her,” Rafe told Jassy. “I’ll see to it that Dan and Kaila take Carrie Anne home with them for the night. The cops will be here soon. You’ll have to talk to them, Madison.”

“The cops are already here,” a voice said. Jimmy. He, too, was kneeling beside Madison. “You okay, kid?”

She nodded.

“You’ve done something to your wrist, breaking your fall. Your hand is swollen.”

“I’m all right.”

“You need some X rays.”

“The cops—”

“We can talk at the hospital,” Jimmy said.

Sirens were screaming everywhere. The next thing Madison knew, her father was with her. She’d never seen him look so white, so tense.

So old.

“The ambulance is here.”

“Dad, my wrist is swollen! I can walk, I don’t need an ambulance.”

“Right. But it’s here, so get in it anyway.”

Within the hour, her wrist and hand had been x-rayed. She was fine; she’d just sprained it, and an elastic bandage for a few days would make her right as rain.

As if everything that had already happened weren’t enough, she wasn’t even going to get to meet Darryl’s new girlfriend. And she’d ruined Roger’s opening. Talk about your basic day from hell…

When the nurse finished with her bandage, she returned to the waiting room. Her father, Roger, Jimmy, Jassy and Kyle were there, along with a young police officer. She gave him a brief statement, assuring him that she hadn’t seen or heard from Harry Nore since her mother’s death. He didn’t need much from her; there had been witnesses to the attack.

“There are a bunch of reporters outside,” Jassy warned her unhappily.

“I’ll take the Cherokee around back and pick Madison up at a different door,” Kyle said determinedly.

“That sounds good,” Jordan Adair agreed. He kissed Madison on the cheek. “And stay with her,” he cautioned, turning back to Kyle.

“I intend to,” Kyle said, leaving.

Madison could see through the glass hospital doors that a group of reporters were milling outside. Did this mean that it was over? Had Harry Nore been killing women now, and had he really killed her mother all those years ago?

“Let’s get you out of here,” Jassy said.

She almost shoved Madison out the back. Kyle had the car running and the passenger door open. She slipped quickly inside.

He started driving in silence. He looked ashen, she realized, and his jacket was torn and dirtied from his tussle with Harry Nore.

“I really am all right,” she told him. “And Carrie Anne—”

“Carrie Anne doesn’t have the slightest idea that anything happened. She’s with her aunt and uncle and cousins, and she’s happy, because Dan is going to set up a tent in the living room so the kids can pretend they’re camping out tonight.”

Madison fell silent, looking down at her hands. “So, what’s your plan?”

“We’re getting out of here for twenty-four hours.”

“How? Where?”

“You’ll see. Trust me.”

“I don’t trust anybody anymore.”

“Then consider this an abduction and do your best to enjoy it anyway.”

“Where are we going right now?”

“The airport.”

“The airport! I can’t just—”

“Yes, you can.”

“This is an abduction,” she said angrily.

He shrugged.

“I could start screaming and pitch a real fit at the airport, and then you’d have some tough explaining to do.”

“Would you please quit it! I’m taking you to do something you said you’ve always wanted to do.”

“What?”

“Swim with dolphins.”

“What?”

“You did say you wanted to swim with dolphins.”

“Yes, but, we could just drive down to the Keys—”

“That’s not far enough for this evening,” he said determinedly. “We need to get away. I have a friend who runs a private facility on one of the islands off Martinique. We’ll be there in two hours.”

He was crazy. They both looked like refugees from The Poseidon Adventure, and he couldn’t really be planning to just take off for an island with everything that was going on.

But he was.

She followed him through the airport terminal to a shop where they were able to buy T-shirts, baggy shorts, bathing suits and cheap sandals.

“You were the one who insisted I couldn’t just take off without telling people!” she reminded him as they stood in line to pay.

“I’ve told your father and Jimmy what we’re doing.”

“You what? You told my dad that we were going off overnight to a Caribbean island?”

“Yes.”

“How could you?”

“How could I not?”

“But—he didn’t know anything about the two of us!”

“I think he did. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. He wants you alive, Madison. There’s the ladies’ room. Change. Quickly. Our flight is already boarding.”

He was in his new clothes when she came out. She almost smiled, seeing Kyle in a tourist shirt with brightly colored flowers all over it.

“Shut up,” he warned her.

She didn’t say a word.

“Let’s go.”

She raced after him to a gate that was so far out she began to think they would be walking all the way to the island, then found herself on a tiny plane, facing the back of the pilot’s head.

Kyle read a magazine.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this to me!” she protested.

“We’re doing this. I didn’t do anything to you.”

“But this isn’t my idea—”

“You forgot to scream in the airport.”

“Damn you, Kyle.”

“Hey!” he snapped. “Let’s try to have one night without fear, without nightmares, huh? Harry Nore is locked up again.”

“You don’t believe Harry Nore committed any of the murders.”

“This attack on you does make it appear more likely, doesn’t it? He’s back under lock and key, one step taken on the road. And you’re safe—he could have killed you.”

She fell silent, all too aware that she might have been killed. She couldn’t forget Harry’s eyes as he’d screamed at her, couldn’t forget the flash of his switchblade as he’d pointed it at her.

“We can’t stay away too long. Carrie Anne…” she murmured.

“We can’t stay away too long or I’ll get fired. Then again,” he mused, “maybe I’d like to get fired.”

“What do you mean? You love what you do.”

“For a long time, I did. I’m tired now, burned-out. I’d like to open a dive shop. Maybe do some private investigating on the side.”

“You want to follow roaming husbands, after the years you’ve spent on incredibly important cases?”

“Well, not exactly. I don’t know, be a private consultant or something. ‘Diving and Delving’—who knows. I don’t feel definite about anything. Except a rum swizzler. Ever had one?”

“No.”

“You will.”

And she did.

The small plane brought them to Martinique, and from there they took another small plane to a private resort. She met Kyle’s friend Gene Grant, proprietor of the place, a grizzled old fellow who looked like Hemingway. “Old CIA guy,” Kyle whispered to Madison.

She didn’t know whether to believe him or not, but Gene walked them around the reception area, showing them sweeping murals of dolphins at play and warning them about their excursions into the tank the next day. “Remember how strong they are. I don’t let the guests swim with the males, because they can be very aggressive, and as gentle and wonderful as Flipper always looks, a knock from a dolphin’s head can smash a person’s ribs. They’re wonderful creatures, though, intelligent, playful. They like to be stroked, but no poking. The trainer will tell you more in the morning. For now…I understand this rush trip had something to do with an eventful day. Have you eaten?”

“Not a bite in hours,” Kyle told him.

“There’s still a buffet out on the lanai. There’s music, dancing. And your room is ready anytime after you’ve eaten.”

Kyle thanked him and escorted Madison out to the lanai. The resort was beautiful, a huge white wooden structure with vast porches, wicker tables and chairs, and lanterns burning everywhere. A band played soft, laid-back island tunes, and waitresses in sarongs moved lazily among the scattered guests. Food was set up on a buffet table to one side.