Against the Tide (34 page)

Epilogue

It was a perfect late June day, the water in Prince William Sound smooth as glass, the sky even bluer than the ocean. The forty-three-foot North Pacific that Rafe had bought and named
Sea Scorpion II
was bigger and newer than the first boat.

“There's two of us now,” he told Liv as they stood on deck looking out at the sea. “We'll be using it ourselves more. I wanted a roomy cabin, a stand-up head with a separate shower. I wanted a galley where you'd be able to cook. This thing's got that and everything I need for fishing, got twin diesels and all the latest electronics, and it's built solid and safe.”

He missed the Mac. He'd loved that boat, but this one was fast becoming his favorite. Since he'd reassigned all
Scorpion
's summer charters, he planned to take some time off, take Liv and go exploring.

Peter Keller had worked tirelessly to get all the charges against her dropped and exonerate her completely from any wrongdoing in the murder of Stephen Rothman. Finally the job had been accomplished.

Today they were out on the water with Zach and Jaimie, just getting used to the boat and its equipment, its capabilities, learning the best ways to handle her. Tonight the gang at the Pelican was throwing a small engagement party for the two of them.

Standing next to Liv, he glanced down at the brilliant marquise-cut diamond he had picked for her. After losing Ashley, he hadn't been sure he'd ever get to buy a ring for the woman he loved.

“It's beautiful,” Liv said, admiring it. “Exactly what I would have chosen. I love it.” She leaned toward him, pressed a soft kiss on his lips.

They hadn't set a wedding date. Rafe was ready, but he figured Liv deserved at least a few months of being courted.

He rested a hand at her waist, and she looked up at him. They were both wearing the matching red-and-black baseball caps he had bought at the souvenir shop. Liv's said HIS on the front. Rafe's said
HERS
. Every time they looked at each other, they grinned.

“Nice day,” he said, and though it was the best God had to offer, it was the lady standing beside him that made it so.

“Perfect,” Liv agreed and he knew she was thinking the same thing.

“You ready for the party tonight?”

“I'm still not used to being the center of attention, but I'll handle it.”

“Nell and Katie have been planning it for a couple of weeks.”

“I know.”

“I guess we'd better head back in, give you time to work up your courage.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “Long as I have you on my arm, I'll be fine.”

The party was in full swing. Just the people who worked for Liv, the guys who worked for Rafe, and a few close friends.

At least that's how it had started. But word had leaked out and now the restaurant, closed for the occasion, was packed.

Along with Nell, Katie, Cassie, Wayne Littlefish, and Charlie Foot, Cassie's mother, Lois, was there; Mo Blanchard and his daughter, Cindy; Josh Dorset; Zach and Jaimie; and the rest of the Great Alaska Charters crew. Ben Friedman, Sam King and his latest girlfriend, even Chip Reed. Half the Valdez police force was there, including Chief Rosen, Lieutenant Scarborough, and Rusty Donovan.

Olivia stood next to Rafe, his arm around her, looking out at the group eating mounds of raw oysters and fresh shrimp, heaping platters of roast beef and chicken, and big pieces of the
CONGRATULATIONS LIV AND RAFE
chocolate cake that Nell and Wayne had baked. Everyone was drinking spiked fruit punch, wine margaritas, and beer.

Liv smiled as she looked out at the group, her heart trembling. She had never had friends like these, people she could count on, people willing to stand by her through thick and thin. She had never known a man like Rafe.

He was laughing at something Zach said, and Jaimie was blushing. He glanced up when the door opened and two familiar faces strode into the café.

Noah Devlin and Derek Hunter. Noah looked big and powerful in pressed blue jeans and a white western shirt with pearl snaps on the front. Derek wore black jeans and a black leather jacket, both men just as hot as the last time they were in town.

Noah enveloped Liv in a big bear hug. “Congratulations, both of you.” He shook Rafe's hand, clapped him on the shoulder. “First time I met Liv, I figured you'd find a way to keep her.”

Derek bent and kissed Liv's cheek. “Looks like everything worked out okay. Only problem is, now that your life's back to normal, things won't be nearly so much fun.”

Olivia laughed.

“Welcome to the family,” Noah said, and she realized that's what these people were. Maybe not by blood, but family just the same. And she loved them all.

“Zach left a car for us out at the airport,” Noah explained. “We figured you wouldn't let us in if you knew we were coming.”

Rafe grinned.

The door opened again and a tall, ruggedly handsome man with incredible blue eyes, and a beautiful woman with gorgeous red hair walked into the restaurant. Rafe smiled so big the air in the room seemed to warm.

Dylan strode toward him. “Hey, big brother.” Their man-hug lingered a few extra moments. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

The redhead hugged Rafe, then Rafe turned to Liv. “Dylan and Lane, meet Olivia. She made the mistake of saying yes, and I'm holding her to it.”

Liv smiled at the amazing man she was going to marry. “I'm lucky he picked me. Luckier than you could ever imagine.”

“One thing about my brother,” Dylan said. “He finds something he wants, he goes after it. Once it belongs to him, he keeps it. Welcome to the family, Olivia.” Dylan kissed her cheek.

“Thank you.”

Lane hugged her. “We didn't bring our little girl, Emily, this trip. We thought . . . we figured we'd make it a romantic weekend.”

Olivia smiled. “I'll meet her next time.” More family. Even a little niece. A year ago, she couldn't have imagined being anything but alone for the rest of her life.

“Nick couldn't make it,” Dylan said. “He wasn't happy about it, but Ian and Meri are away on a belated honeymoon. Nick's running the office. He says he'll see you at the wedding.” Ian was a Brodie cousin, the owner of BOSS, Inc., where Nick worked.

“Which wedding?” Rafe asked with a smile. “Mine or yours?”

“Mine, since it's coming up first. He and Samantha send their love.”

Lane smiled at Liv. “Samantha can't wait to meet you. She's pregnant, you know, so you'll have another niece or nephew in the fall. I hope you like kids.”

“I do. I love kids.”

Rafe gazed down at her and she didn't miss the hot look in his eyes. “We thought we'd practice for a while before we got serious about having a family of our own.”

Something melted inside her. They had never talked about children, but she had always wanted a family. If she hadn't been standing in a room full of people, she would have thrown her arms around his neck and kissed him.

She gave him a brilliant smile. “Rafe thinks we should just keep practicing until we get it right.” She grinned. “Which, considering he's already mastered his part of the job, shouldn't take all that long.”

Rafe laughed. So did Dylan and Lane. Derek grinned and Noah chuckled.

“I'll drink to that,” Derek said. “Where can a guy get a beer around here?”

Katie sailed up just then, took his arm and laced it through hers. “Why don't I show you?” she said.

And the party was on.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed Rafe and Olivia in
Against the Tide
, book three of the Brodies of Alaska series. If you haven't read Dylan's story,
Against the Wild
, and Nick's story,
Against the Sky
, I hope you will.

Next meet Ethan Brodie, one of the hot Brodie cousins, and catch up with Nick and Samantha. Ethan works in Seattle with Nick at Brodie Operations Security Services. His current assignment at BOSS, Inc.—providing security for the
La Belle
lingerie fashion show tour—is the last thing Ethan wants. He's already got more woman trouble than he can handle.

But when the models receive threatening notes and one of them is murdered, Ethan must go into bodyguard mode to protect them. And there is the promise he made to Nick's wife, Samantha, that he'll protect her supermodel friend, Valentine Hart, which makes the bombshell blonde Ethan's first priority.

It's a high-action, romantic adventure filled with passion and intrigue. I hope you'll watch for
Into the Fury
coming next February.

Till then, very best wishes and happy reading.

 

Kat

 

 

Sinners, whores, and sluts beware—your time is at hand:
A faceless menace is threatening lingerie models on a cross-country tour, and Ethan Brodie is there to defend and protect.

 

Ethan's learned the hard way that beauty is no substitute for character. So even though Valentine Hart is one of the most breathtaking women he's ever seen, he's keeping his hands off and his eyes open. Or that's what he tells himself.

 

Then one of the models is murdered, and the closer Ethan gets to answers, the closer he finds himself to Valentine—and the hotter the pressure he feels. There's more to Val—more to the other girls—than he could have guessed. But one is keeping a secret that could kill them all.

 

 

 

 

Standing next to the long mahogany table in the conference room at Brodie Operations, Ethan Brodie reached for the letter Matthew Carlyle held out to him. The note was printed on a plain sheet of white paper, but each word was done in a different font, all of them in big black letters.

 

 

Fairly old-school for the twenty-first century, Ethan figured. But then, e-mail was a helluva lot easier to trace.

Carlyle, a man in his late forties, five-ten, lean and fit, had silver-threaded, dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and a birthmark that ran close to his ear along his jaw. He was head of operations for
La Belle,
a retail lingerie chain, kind of a knock-off of Victoria's Secret with slightly less expensive garments.

Ethan returned the note to Carlyle. The other man in the room was his cousin, Ian, his boss at Brodie Security and owner of the company. “I imagine, in the lingerie business, you get notes like this all the time,” Ethan said.

“We get kooks, all right,” Carlyle agreed. “Plenty of them. But a note like this was mailed to each of our top ten models, sent to them at our flagship store location here in Seattle, and they weren't happy about it.”

“You check for prints?”

“We did. Papers were clean. The letters were posted out of different post office locations in the area so that led nowhere. Since we're about to go on tour, we decided to temporarily beef-up our security operation, just to be on the safe side.”

“Probably a good idea.” Though he wished someone else was taking the job. The thought of traveling for weeks with a group of air-headed fashion divas was the last thing Ethan wanted. Still, he worked for a living and this was exactly the kind of job he was good at.

Silently communicating his dislike of the assignment, Ethan flicked a hard glance toward Ian, the tall, blond man standing next to Carlyle.

“Ethan's the best man for the job,” Ian said, catching his look, amusement in his blue eyes. “He's an ex-cop, worked personal security for some of the top execs in the dotcom business. You can be sure he knows what he's doing.”

Carlyle nodded. “I read his résumé. Looks like he can handle the job.” He turned his attention to Ethan. “Aside from working protection, you're a private investigator, right?”

“That's right. Before I went to work in Seattle, I was a detective on the Dallas Police Force.”

“Good. I'd really like to find the guy who sent those notes. I've got a feeling about this, and I'm not liking it. I'm hoping with your background, you'll be able to sniff around, talk to the models and the people backstage. If the guy's part of the crew, we want him out.”

“I can do that.”

“You'll need to be discreet. I don't want people shook-up before we go on tour. But it'd be best for everyone if you could come up with something that will help us track this bastard down.”

“Understood.” And he'd rather be busy than standing around waiting for trouble that probably wouldn't come. With any luck, the most he'd have to worry about was crowd control and a few overzealous fans.

“How many more men do you think you'll need?” Ian asked Carlyle. Though they'd gone into the conference room for privacy, they hadn't bothered to sit down. The meeting wasn't going to take that long.

“We've hired a couple of guys already, but we could use at least one more man with a background in personal protection.”

“That would be Dirk Reynolds,” Ian said. “I'll talk to him, see if he can take the job.”

Dirk worked freelance, same as Ethan and his brother, Luke. Luke was on a case. Even if he weren't, his specialty was bail enforcement, not personal protection. Dirk Reynolds was one of Ethan's best friends, former Army Ranger, and a damned good man.

“I'll leave you two to discuss this further,” Ian said. “Matt, I'll get back to you after I talk to Dirk.”

But Ethan figured his friend would take the job. The money was extremely good, and since Dirk was easily bored, the tour might provide an interesting escape from Seattle.

Ethan thought of the weeks ahead and inwardly groaned. For him, babysitting a bunch of hot-bodied women in scanty underwear would be a twenty-four-hour-a-day headache. He'd had more than his share of trouble with the female sex, still did, and he didn't want more.

“One thing I need to make clear,” Carlyle said as Ian closed the door. “These are some of the most beautiful, sexiest women in the world. They're every man's fantasy. That's the reason
La Belle
has a strict no-fraternization policy. There is no way you can do your job if you're thinking about getting laid. We expect you to be pleasant, but steer clear of anything more than that. You with me so far?”

“Oh, I'm with you.”

“I realize you're only human, but I need to know you understand and accept that. Any breach is grounds for automatic dismissal.”

“All right. One thing you need to know. I wouldn't accept the job if I thought my dick would get in the way. I admire a beautiful woman, same as any other man. But I'm being paid to do a job and that's exactly what I'll do.”

Carlyle seemed relieved. “I hope you're speaking for your friend Reynolds as well.”

“Dirk's a professional. Beyond that, he'll have to speak for himself.”

“Okay. Sounds like we understand each other. We'll be doing dress rehearsals for the rest of the week. Then our first show is here in Seattle on Saturday night. You can report to the Paramount Theater at eight tomorrow morning. At that time, I'll introduce you to the rest of your team and our top ten models. Just keep in mind what I said.”

Ethan made no reply. If Carlyle knew how much he wasn't looking forward to meeting a gaggle of vein, self-absorbed females, he would probably do handstands. But actions spoke louder than words. It shouldn't take the man long to figure out Ethan was off women indefinitely.

His ex-girlfriend, Allison Summers, had done everything in her power to make sure of that.

“Oh, my God. Would you look at the eye-candy that just walked backstage.”

There was awe in her friend Megan O'Brien's voice. As Val bent over to buckle the strap on her high-heeled sandal, she absently nodded, though she couldn't actually see who'd just arrived.

Megan continued staring and just kept talking. “You see the one on the left? The guy with the sexy mustache? He can knock on my door any time, day or night. She rolled her eyes. “Especially at night. And the big one on the right turns the words tall, dark, and handsome into an understatement. I think I'm in love.”

Val finally looked up. Two men stood next to Matthew Carlyle. One was about six-two, good-looking, with medium brown hair, and a horseshoe mustache that curved down to his jaw, and made him look like a real badass. A real sexy badass.

But it was the bigger man who held her attention, at least six-three, with dark brown hair, dark eyes, and a face any red-blooded female would be hard-pressed not to admire. His hair was trimmed cop-short and fit his hard-jawed, handsome face perfectly. The way he filled out his snug black T-shirt said he was two hundred plus pounds of solid male muscle.

When those dark eyes moved in her direction, skimmed lightly over her frame, a little zing of electricity shot through her.