Page 31 of Cross Point

“Why the hell did you take off like that?”

She smiled sweetly. “I have plans today. Thanks for stopping by, but I have shit to do now.” She turned away and her smile slowly faded when he grabbed her arm. “Do you want to sing soprano, Jackson?”

“Stop that. I just found out someone tried to kill you last night. Again. Why the hell didn’t you call me?”

“Why would I?” she shot back. “You poofed, Jackson.”

“I did not poof!”

“You did, and because you did, I’m moving on. Now, I have things to—”

“The hell you are,” he growled. His narrowed eyes swung over to Maxwell as he exited the office with the manager.

The knowing smile on Maxwell’s face made Trinity sigh.

This was not going to go well.

“Him? You’re throwing me over for him?” Jackson asked incredulously.

Instead of answering, she walked away to join Maxwell and the slightly creepy manager, aware that Jackson was right on her heels.

“Ms. Cross? It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Simon Johnson. Welcome to Blue Horizon Marina.”

Trinity took Simon in at a glance as they shook hands. She deemed him to be in his early thirties with the tanned skin of a true man of the sea. He would be considered attractive to some, with his brown hair artfully swept back from his face and his smiling brown eyes, but something about him had her ick factor radar pinging. She had to pull her hand away from his grasp as he tried to hold on and hid a smirk as both Jackson and Maxwell glared at him, making Simon take a cautious step back.

He cleared his throat. “We have your boat all set up and ready for you.”

“Thanks. Just point me at her and give me the keys.”

“Ah, since Mr. King signed…”

Maxwell took the keys from Simon, and the man was smart enough to just point at the speedboat they had chartered for the day. He trotted away quickly, retreating back into the office and leaving them to their business.

“Mate, we have a schedule to keep, so if you would excuse us,” Maxwell said with a slight “fuck off” tone of voice.

“You aren’t going anywhere until you tell me what the fuck is going on,” Jackson snapped.

Trinity sighed. “We really do have a schedule, so if you want to know, then you can come with us.”

“Well, now, is that really necessary?” Maxwell asked.

“It’s easier.”

She walked down the pier toward their boat and climbed aboard. Setting her bag down, she took a seat and watched Maxwell start the boat up after Jackson undid the ropes tying them to the pier.

Turning to glance at her, Maxwell said, “Ready, love?”

“Let’s go, blue eyes.”

She pointedly ignored Jackson as Maxwell maneuvered the boat out of the marina. They headed down the coast toward the resort on the west side of the island at a leisurely pace. She leaned her head back, enjoying the sea air blowing across her face as they moved across the calm water, absently wishing for more waves. Then again, they weren’t going for speed at the moment. She could practically hear Jackson grinding his teeth from where he was seated next to her.

“Explain.”

Her moment of peace over, she turned to focus on the furious man glaring at her. She told him what happened the night before in a short, concise explanation. She watched as the fury in his green eyes burned brighter as she told him about the knife and what had been a sedative in the syringe that the intruder had been carrying.

“Son of a bitch! He tried to fucking kidnap you?”

“Yeah, but he failed. He was supposed to take me to some drop-off spot on the mainland, but he didn’t know who was actually paying him.”