"He didn't speak today, but that day outside the gas station and minimart, he apologized for his poor English and asked for my assistance."
"To do what?"
"Translate for someone having a difficult time with his accent, I think. At least that was the impression I got. But I'm not really sure, because you roared out a command to shake my tush or be left behind before we got very far into the conversation."
He ignored that. "So he's not an American?"
"No. Or if he is, English isn't his first language, although I didn't think it was nearly as bad as he seemed to believe."
"What nationality would you say?"
"Well, since he said gracias , and has that dark-haired, dark-eyed, handsome Latino thing going for him, my guess would be Hispanic."
An unlikely thought occurred to Zach, but he shrugged it aside as farfetched. "Do you have any idea who he wanted you to talk to?"
"No. I remember him waving toward either the mini-mart or the pumps on the other side."
Zach whispered a curse. If the initial encounter had been the extent of things, he might have blown it off as nothing. But his gut insisted this was definitely something. Orcas was a fairly remote island and mostly a rural one. What were the odds of Lily running into someone here who'd wanted to escort her to the unpopulated side of a minimart clear across the state?
Slim to frigging none. Pulling on his shirt, he headed for the phone.
She followed in his wake, standing so close he caught vagrant suggestions of her warm scent as he flipped through his dog-eared address book. She peered at the organizer over his shoulder. "Who are you calling?"
"Camp Pendleton." He paused in turning the pages to look at her. "When I came home from my last deployment, I brought back three South American nationals for a course of specialized training. I'd had a problem with one of them, but I thought we'd put it behind us."
"And you think this might be him?"
"I don't know. But I plan to make sure he's still where I left him." The line on the other end connected, and he pulled the receiver up to his lips. "Yes. Who am I speaking to?" The voice on the other end identified himself and he said, "Corporal Sanford, this is Master Sergeant Zachariah Taylor. Put me through to Magnusson."
Put on hold, he had no problem hearing the hysterical squealing that broke out downstairs a second later. Actual words were indistinct, but the tone was clear, and he exchanged a look with Lily. Something was going on. The question was what?
Then Mrs. Beaumont's voice distinctly screamed, " David !" and he tossed the receiver back onto the hook and raced for the door. Lily's phantom stalker could be dealt with later. Right now it sounded as if they had a more immediate emergency on their hands.
Oh, man, he thought as he pounded down the stairs, his stomach churning anew as his sister's face floated before his mind's eye. Let that have been a scream of joy. God, please, if You're up there, don't let this be bad news. I don't think I can bear to lose Glynnis .
Lily was hot on Zach's heels, so when he came to an abrupt halt at the foot of the stairs, she was moving too fast and was too close behind him to stop. Slamming into his back, she bounced off with enough force to knock the breath from her lungs. The next instant found her sitting precipitately on one of the stair treads.
Zach didn't seem to notice. " Glynnie ?" he said with soft wonder, and Lily's swimming head jerked up.
Dear Lord. Glynnis was here? Craning to see around Zach, she found herself blocked by the solid wall of his back, and to her frustration, it seemed to shift in synchronicity with her own movements. She started scooting her rear toward the banister.
Before she'd shifted enough for a clear view, how-ever, she heard Glynnis's voice saying, " Zach ? What are you doing here?"
He moved then, and Lily finally saw Glynnis, who looked every bit as stunned as she felt, but also hale and hearty, thank goodness. As Zach strode toward his sister, Lily saw Glynnis catch sight of her struggling to get up off the stairs. The younger woman's eyes grew even rounder, and she squeaked, " Lily ? Holy shit—um, cow, I mean! You're here, too? What on earth is going on?"
Zach swept her into a hug so tight it lifted her feet clear off the ground, and burying his face in her dark hair, he rocked them from side to side. "God, Glynnie, I can't tell you how relieved I am to see you safe. I was worried sick."
"You were?" She pulled her head back to peer at him. "Why?"
Zach's brows came together and he set her back on her feet. "What do you mean, why ? You think ransom demands for you and your boyfriend here aren't gonna cause a slight ripple of concern?"
"Ransom demands!" exclaimed both Glynnis and a deep male voice, and Lily's fascinated gaze left Zach and Glynnis to zoom in on David. Even as she watched, he disengaged his mother's frantic hold from around his neck and held her at arm's length to stare down at her. "You thought we were kidnapped ? That's what you've been screaming about?"
"Yes," she sobbed, and collapsed against his chest again. Once more David gently disentangled himself from her embrace, but he slung a comforting arm around her shoulders and escorted her across the foyer to where the Taylors stood. He thrust his free hand out at Zach. "You must be Zachariah. Glynnis's told me a lot about you. But I don't understand. Why would you think we'd been kidnapped?"
"Because a ransom note was left in our mailbox," Mrs. Beaumont said as Zach's dark eyebrows gathered above his nose. "And we've gotten phone calls!"
"But that doesn't make a lick of sense." David looked baffled, but before he could say anything further, the front door opened and Cassidy strolled in. She stopped when she saw the crowd in the entryway.
"Well well" she said in her I-have-terminal-ennui-but-am-still-terribly-amused-by-the-little-people voice. "What have we here, a military coup in the foyer?" She reached up to pull a bejeweled hatpin out of her beret. "Are you on the rampage again, Master Sergeant? How very macho of you—" Her arms froze overhead as the individuals comprising the group in front of her suddenly registered, and her mouth went round with shock. "David? Omigod, David! You're all right!" And with a peal of the most genuine laughter Lily had ever heard out of her, she rushed to close the space separating them.
"Cass. I'm fine. I'm just trying to figure out what the hell's been going on."
"Aside from that pesky kidnapping thing, you mean?" She gave him a fierce hug.
"We weren't—"
The front door opened once again and Christopher strolled in. Giving the group a curious glance, he closed the door behind him. Then he, too, went very still. "David." A smile broke out, making his face, already striking, downright gorgeous, and he closed the space between them, his hand thrust out. "It's good to see you, guy. Thank God you're okay. Jess is gonna be so relieved."
"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Glynnis snapped, and her let's-all-just-dispense-with-the-BS tone of voice was so like her brother's that Lily had to smile. "We were not kidnapped."
Lily had been getting that impression, but it was still a shock to hear it said aloud. And clearly she wasn't the only one who felt that way. Looking at David's relatives, she saw they looked as dumbfounded as she felt.
Cassidy was the first to recover. She slid her arms out from around David's waist and turned to give Glynnis a thorough perusal. "This must be the little girlfriend," she said and raised her brows at her cousin. "A tad simpleminded, is she?"
"Knock it off, Cass." Breaking away from her and leaving his mother by the parlor door, David made his way to Glynnis's side, where he slipped an arm around her shoulders. "She's telling the truth. We were never kidnapped, and I don't know why you would think we were. We've been in touch."
"With whom?" Mrs. Beaumont demanded incredulously.