The Seacroft: a love story (Paines Creek Beach Book 2) Read online

  Cody stiffened, then pushed Vivian behind him. “Uvi? What the hell’s going on?”

  “Oh, how gallant. Protecting the little waif. Or should I say, the little thief?”

  Vivian couldn’t help herself. “I’m not a thief, Uvi. For goodness sakes, what are you talking about?”

  Uvi stood, holding onto the side of the slightly rocking boat. Her voice shook. Her nostrils flared. “I’m talking about my personal papers that you stole from the desk, you little tramp. My important, personal papers.”

  Vivian reached into her pocket. “You mean these? The passport? The deed to your house?” She unzipped her pocket and tossed them onto the deck between them. “I saved them for you. They were soaked. I dried them out, and I was bringing them back to you.” You shrew, she thought.

  “Where did you go, then?” Uvi shrieked, sounding more outraged by the minute. “I’ve been sitting in that cold dark house for days, waiting for you two to return. I didn’t know what happened to you. Not that I’d care about that whore,” she pointed to Vivian, “but my darling Cody, I was afraid you were dead until I got your phone call.”

  “Our cell phones were destroyed in the flood,” Vivian said evenly. “There was no service, anyway. All the towers were out. The landlines were spotty. We tried to call you on your house phone two days in a row. Finally, today, it went through.”

  Uvi sneered at her. “Really. How convenient.”

  Cody spoke up. “Actually, it was quite inconvenient. We had to rent a car to get over here. My truck was destroyed in the flood.”

  “Didn’t that little wench take it from you? She stole it, didn’t she?”

  Vivian couldn’t believe the malicious glint in the woman’s eyes. Had she gone mad in their absence?

  Cody’s voice was cold. “She went to help her mother in the nursing home. She saved her life, Uvi. The place was flooded and the whole building collapsed just after Vivian got her mom on a helicopter. She was so brave.” He tossed a proud look at Viv over his shoulder.

  Uvi smiled at him, but there was no joy in her eyes. “Well, isn’t that lovely. A heroine in our midst.” She jerked the gun toward him. “Get over here. Now. Or I’ll shoot off your beautiful, big dick.”

  Vivian slid to the floor behind a storage bin. “No. Please.”

  Uvi laughed. “Why? Would you miss it, Miss Vivian? He is quite the lover, don’t you think? With equipment like that, he certainly shouldn’t waste it on the likes of you.”

  “Leave her out of this, Uvi. You’re the only one I’ve ever loved.” Cody stepped forward confidently. “And come on. Put that thing down. It’s not even loaded.”

  Uvi loosed a shot toward the ceiling. The bullet ricocheted off the tin roof and zinged to the floor near Vivian. “I found your bullets, sweet pants. It’s loaded. Now come on down here. I’ve missed you.” She glanced down at his pants. “I’m hungering for you, lover.”

  Cody climbed into the boat, holding out his hands as if giving up. “Okay. I’m here.”

  She licked her lips. “Take off your clothes.”

  His expression wavered. “Excuse me?”

  “You heard me.”

  “Uvi, why?”

  “I told you, I missed you. All of you.” She took a step closer, nudging the gun into his crotch. “Come on. Do as I say.”

  Vivian watched with horror as Cody calmly disrobed. He stepped out of his pants, shooting an uncertain glance over his shoulder at Vivian. “There. Happy?”

  “No. Everything off. I want to see you in all your glory. I want to see every single inch of you.”

  With a shrug, Cody slid out of his underwear. “Satisfied?”

  She looked down at him, grinning. “Very. Now sit over on that bench and clasp these around your left wrist.” She tossed him a pair of handcuffs.

  With a wild thought, Vivian wondered if they’d been used in her bedroom before, if she’d cuffed Cody to the headboard with those metal bracelets.

  He caught the cuffs and smiled at Uvi. “Wouldn’t this be more fun up in your room?”

  She let loose a chuckle. “Always the same horn-dog, aren’t you, dear? Just do as I say.”

  He smiled as if he didn’t care, sat on the bench, and clamped the things to the metal frame that held the overhead canopy. “Really? You want me to be attached to this thing?”

  She nodded. “For now, sweet cheeks.”

  He shot a quick glance at Vivian, and in that one second Viv knew he wanted her to run. She stood and started for the door, but the gun resonated once again with a deafening sound.

  “That’s your last warning, Vivian. The next bullet will be in your back.”

  Vivian slowly turned around with her hands up. “I’m sorry. You’re scaring me, Uvi. Why are you so mad at me?”

  “I knew I should have thrown that fucking passport away years ago. But you know, it was such a nice picture of him. And I sure as hell didn’t expect you to go snooping in my private papers.”

  “Mr. P?” Cody said, as if they were having a normal conversation. As if some madwoman hadn’t made him strip, secured him in handcuffs, and wasn’t waving a gun in the air as he spoke. “When’s he coming home? I guess he must have applied for a duplicate passport, huh, since he left that one home?”

  Uvi chuckled. “Oh, honey. You’re good. Very good. But I know when the cat’s out of the bag. It’s too late for games, dear one.”

  She moved toward him and reached down to stroke his penis, keeping her gun hand well away, still pointed at Vivian. “Oh, how lovely you are, dear one. Don’t try anything silly, now. I’d hate to shoot Vivian in the face by mistake.” She pulled on his organ for a few minutes, smiling at him with lust. “No? Not in the mood right now? What a shame.” She shot a narrow-eyed glance at Vivian. “Now you. Get over here.”

  Vivian stood, her legs trembling. “Uvi. Please let Cody go. He didn’t do anything to you.”

  Uvi laughed. “Really? You’re trying to protect him?” She glanced between the two of them. “Don’t tell me. You haven’t fallen for each other, have you?” She brayed a laugh when she saw Cody’s face fall, worry lines creasing his brow. “Oh my God. You have. You’ve fallen for this pitiful little mouse.”

  She beckoned Vivian closer. “Come here. Sit. We’ll have a chat, compare notes about our gigolo here. And then we’re going for a little ride.”

  Viv froze.

  “I said now,” she said, placing the muzzle against Cody’s temple. “And grab that passport on your way over here.”

  “Okay, okay.” Vivian stumbled into the boat and swept up the passport, keeping her eyes on the gun. “I’m here already.”

  Uvi’s brow lifted. “Really? You’re copping an attitude now, of all times?” She turned to Cody. “Our little mouse has grown some backbone, sweetheart.”

  “Hold out your wrists.” She grabbed the passport, tucking it into her pants pocket. Encircling Vivian’s wrists with two plastic tie-wraps, she attached them to a metal buckle on the side of the boat. “No cuffs for you, sweetie. Just these plastic things they use in the cop shows nowadays. There you go. Now you can’t escape by jumping overboard.”

  Vivian felt drained. Exhausted. How could this be happening? She had to try to reason with Uvi, in spite of the insane way the woman glared at her.

  “Wait here,” Uvi said with a chuckle. She climbed out of the boat and with a flourish, slid the boathouse doors open. “There we go.”

  The green sea sparkled, and would have been a welcome sight if it weren’t for the woman holding a gun on them.

  Hopping back into the boat with surprising alacrity, she started it up and backed out the boat. With a roar, she curved it around to face the open sea and pushed the throttle up, churning through the narrow channel.

  “Uvi. Please. Talk to us. Tell us what you want,” Vivian shouted.

  Uvi chortled, speaking above the roar of the engine and the sound of slapping waves on the hull. “What I want? Oh, well. Let’s see. I want to fuck your boyfr
iend until the cows come home, and keep him at my beck and call for all eternity, ready to pleasure me at a moment’s notice. But you spoiled that for me, Missy. When you stole the passport.”

  Cody spoke up, raising his voice. “Where’s your husband, Uvi?”

  She gave him a grim smile. “You’ll meet him soon enough, my darling. Soon enough.” And with that, she focused on the blue-green horizon, her mouth set in a hard line.

  Chapter 40

  The rocking of the boat would have calmed Vivian, if she hadn’t been tied to the side with a gun pointed at her head.

  “Uvi, please.” Cody smiled at the deranged woman at the helm. “Please just listen. We won’t say a word. We really don’t know anything.”

  “Well, then. Let me tell you. My husband’s down there,” she said, pointing to the open sea. “He’s probably lonely by now. It’s been ten years.” Uvi turned to him, cutting the engine. She approached him and leaned down to kiss his lips, one hand still pointing the gun at Vivian. “I found the fabulous Mr. P fucking the parlor maid. In our bed, no less. Couldn’t have that, now. Could I?”

  She wandered to Vivian’s side, slapping her face hard. “My ruse worked well enough, as long as I changed my employees every year. Until you came along.”

  Viv’s head spun sideways and she spit blood. “Why did you do that?” she said through gritted teeth. “I’ve always been good to you, Uvi.”

  “Maybe. But you look a lot like that slut parlor maid. I don’t know why I didn’t see it earlier. No wonder I hate you so much.”

  Vivian shook her head. “No. I’m not like her. I’ve worked very hard for you. I did everything you asked. I never complained. Don’t you remember?”

  “Sure. You were a good little toad. But now that you know for sure what I’ve done to Mr. P, you’re going to join him with your lover here in the deep, blue sea.” She turned to Cody and caressed his face. “I’m going to miss you, gorgeous.” With a sly smile, she touched his organ again, enfolding it in her hand. “I’ll miss this the most, though.”

  Cody snorted, then reared back and cracked his skull against Uvi’s forehead. She flew backwards, blood streaming down her face. “Really, darling?” She wobbled, her eyes fluttered upward, and she sank to the deck.

  “Cody,” Viv said in a rush of words. “Oh my God. Is she dead?”

  He stared at the woman, trying to reach her with his feet, but all he could do was nudge her legs. “No. She’s still breathing, look. But what now?” He looked up at the blazing sun, wishing Uvi had put up the overhead canopy before they left shore. He glanced down at his hands. “How will we— I guess I didn’t think too far ahead.”

  “We’ll figure it out. Do you think she has the handcuff keys in her pocket?” Viv said, her voice rising to a high pitch.

  “I have no idea. For all I know, she didn’t bring them with her.”

  “She must have, Cody. She planned to shoot us and throw us overboard. How else could she do that?”

  He bit his lip. “Good point. But how do we get them?”

  Viv twisted and turned, reaching as far as she could toward Uvi’s unconscious body. “Oh, God. I can’t reach.”

  Cody yanked at the cuffs, trying to dislodge them from the canopy frame. “Argh! I can’t budge this. It’s solid.”

  “Can you kick the gun my way? Maybe I could pick it up with my feet. I could try to shoot off these restraints.”

  He tried, shoving the gun a short distance across the deck, but still it was too far from her to do any good. “Sorry,” he said. “Oh my God. I can’t believe this.”

  “It’s okay.” Vivian stopped struggling, looking around the boat. “What’s in that cubby beside you? Maybe there are some tools?”

  Cody maneuvered himself so that one hand reached the latch. The cabinet door fell open.

  “What’s in there? Anything we can use?” she asked.

  “Let me twist around this way,” he said, wiggling sideways and craning toward the compartment. “Looks like a flare gun. A filet knife. Screwdriver. Life vest.”

  Vivian’s heart leapt. “Can you get the flare gun? Shoot it overhead?”

  “Maybe. But I don’t have much slack with these cuffs.” He strained to reach into the cubby, scrabbling with his fingers toward the stored items. “Can’t reach it. But I’ve got the life jacket. Not that it’ll do much good.”

  Uvi began to stir, stretching an arm over her head.

  Vivian panicked. “Hurry. Get something. Anything we could use.”

  “I might be able to undo the screws on this canopy frame. If I could get at the right angle.”

  He rotated the screwdriver toward him with fingertips that barely touch it, but it dropped out of the cabinet to the deck and rolled toward the stern, out of reach. “Damn,” he said.

  “Try something else,” Vivian urged.

  The boat began to rock harder and the swells suddenly increased to five feet. Vivian felt sick. What if it got worse? What if the craft capsized before they got their hands free? Her heart dropped to her feet. They couldn’t give in. Not now. Not when they’d just found each other. She wasn’t ready to play a part in a tragedy at sea. Not now. Not ever.

  “The knife, Cody. You need to get me the knife.”

  Cody nodded, focused, and struggled for a long minute. Finally, when the boat rocked in his favor, the knife skittered toward his grip. “Almost… Almost... There! Got it.”

  “You’ll only have one chance to get it to me. Try to throw it across the deck.” She kicked off the flip-flops she’d borrowed from Libby, and lifted her feet off the floorboards, tucking them beneath her. “Now. Do it.”

  Cody almost lost his balance with the next swell, but miraculously tossed the knife in a trajectory that bumped it against the bottom of the bench where Viv sat.

  The waves grew higher, and she knew with the next rock of the boat she might lose her only chance. Quickly, she lowered her feet and cocooned them around the knife handle so it wouldn’t slide away.

  “Careful. Don’t cut yourself.”

  Viv grimaced. “I don’t care if I do. It’s our only chance.”

  She thought of the great artists who’d used their toes to paint masterpieces when their hands gave out. If they could create such amazing works of art, she could maneuver a little knife up onto the bench. Couldn’t she?

  Twice, three times, she tried and failed. But she didn’t let the thing out of her grip.

  Uvi moaned and coughed.

  “Hurry,” Cody said. “She’s waking up.”

  This time she went slower, gripping the knife handle between her toes and slowly sliding it up onto the bench. Once there, she positioned herself sideways and used her feet now to raise it to her hands.

  “Got it!” she cried.

  “Be careful,” Cody said. “Don’t drop it.”

  “I know,” she said, working it into a position where she could cut away the plastic ties. “Ouch.”

  A spurt of blood trickled from her wrist, but she’d cut through one tie-wrap and her hand flew free. Quickly, she broke through the second and released her hand.

  “Good job,” Cody said. “Now get the keys to the handcuffs.”

  She dropped to her knees and leaned over Uvi’s prone body, probing her pants pockets until she found the keys. “Here they are. I’ve got ‘em.” Her heart swelled with the joy of near-success.

  She stood and handed the keys to Cody, but was yanked down to the deck when Uvi grabbed her ankles.

  “Not so fast, sweetie.”

  Uvi seemed unsteady. For one brief moment, her eyes almost rolled back into her head again, but she maddeningly recovered and scrambled for the gun, clutching it in her hands. “You’re clever. I’ll give you that.”

  Cody unlocked himself in seconds and threw himself across the deck at his boss, who hadn’t time to aim and shoot. The gun went off, nicking Vivian’s cheek.

  Viv raised hand to the trickle of blood on her face, and looked with horror as Uvi turned th
e gun toward Cody’s stomach.

  “No!” she screamed, lunging for the woman with the knife still clenched in her hand. “Let him go.”

  The boat rocked. A giant wave assaulted them, rolling all three into the gunwale. Soaked and disoriented, it took Vivian a second to regain her bearings. Still gripping the knife, she brought it forward, straight into Uvi’s leg.

  The woman dropped the gun and clutched at her calf, screaming obscenities at Vivian through a veil of soaking hair hanging over her eyes.

  Cody grabbed a rope and encircled Uvi’s body, pinning her arms to her sides.

  She writhed. She kicked and screamed. When that didn’t work, she tried to bite him. “You’ll pay for this, you low class vermin,” she hissed.

  Another wave hit the boat, this time tipping it dangerously on its side.

  “Tie her up and let’s get out of here,” Viv said, eyeing the waves with apprehension. “Hurry.”

  Cody dragged the woman to the stern, tied her to a metal bracket, and ran aft to the steering wheel. The keys still dangled in the ignition, and he quickly turned the key. “Come on, come on.”

  It spluttered twice, then caught with a roar. Still naked, like a bronzed God, he took the wheel and turned the cabin cruiser into the waves to minimize the rolling, setting his sights for shore.

  Chapter 41

  It took the police two hours to arrive at The Seacroft.

  Cody glanced across the living room at Uvi, who now sat primly on an antique chair with legs crossed, still in damp clothing, with hair hanging ragged over her face. It was as if she didn’t know she was a soaking wreck. She acted as though she were in polite company, chatting with a policewoman and smiling. Occasionally, he heard her words, laced with phrases like “…so hard to get decent help these days…” and “…wild imaginings of the lower class.”

  Vivian had just mentioned the passport to the detective who’d taken the case. He’d forced it from Uvi’s hands, and after a brief struggle, examined it. “Hmm. This guy, this Mr. Polansky. You say he’s supposed to be alive, traveling abroad for business?”