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IT WAS ON THE DRIVE to the club that Ashley looked at Beth and said, “You really do need to tell your brother what happened.”

“You mean about being attacked?”

“Yes. You’re in terror about filing a report because of Amber. He has a right to know.”

“He’ll tell me that I should file a report. And God knows—he might do something stupid and dangerous.”

“You should file a report.” Ashley lifted a hand in the air to silence the protest she knew was coming. “Make it official. If Sandy and Brad are what I think they are—tough-talking but only preying on the vulnerable—they’re not brave enough to go up against real authority. They were at Nick’s, a piece of real stupidity. The place is known for being a cop hangout. I doubt they really know what you’re doing—it’s unlikely that they have the time to continue to stake you out. They intended to scare you. That’s all. Don’t let them succeed.”

Beth mulled over her friend’s words. Then she asked, “They’ve killed before, so why did they just try to scare me?”

“We don’t know that they killed the Monocos, and the couple in Virginia survived,” Ashley said.

Beth shook her head. “I’m convinced the Monocos are dead.”

“Maybe killing you was a risk they didn’t dare take. I don’t know, Beth. But I still think that you need to file an official report. Scare them in return. Hell, there’s already an APB out on them, which they probably know, so what’s the difference if you file a report, too.”

They arrived at the club and easily found Ben and Amber at a table waiting for them. Amber still seemed anxious when she looked at Beth, who couldn’t help but hug her too tightly. Then she smiled at her niece and tousled her hair, trying to defuse the moment. Ben and Amber both greeted Ashley with pleasure. The Sunday buffet was elaborate, the club filled with members in good spirits, and Beth wished she could go back to a time when all she did there on a Sunday was enjoy herself.

After lunch, Ben went off to work on his boat. Ashley, Beth and Amber went poolside. Beth was glad to see that it was busy, and that she couldn’t for the life of her figure out who Amber’s secret bodyguard was.

“Where’s Kim today?” Beth asked Amber.

“I don’t know. She just said she couldn’t come,” Amber said with a shrug. Then she hesitated. “Aunt Beth, I’m really sorry about the other day.”

“You should be.”

“I just…I want you to be happy.”

“Let me be happy on my own, okay? Now swear you’ll never interfere in my personal life again.”

“I swear,” Amber said.

“And don’t ever try to scare me again,” Beth said.

“I didn’t try to scare you,” Amber replied.

“Oh? I remember what you wrote word for word. First the skull popped up and then, ‘I’ll be seeing you soon. In the dark. All alone.’”

“I never wrote such a thing!” Amber protested.

Beth frowned, feeling a new chill seep into her spine.

“Then Kim must have done it.”

“No,” Amber insisted. “All we did was write back to Keith on e-mail.”

“Beth, it’s time you reported this. Officially,” Ashley said firmly.

“You’re going to call the police about Kim and me?” Amber asked, stunned and horrified.

“No, honey…there’s been more than that,” Beth murmured. She looked around uneasily. There was no one around who might be listening to their conversation, she was certain. There was a group of children playing with a ball nearby, and a few members of the women’s charities committee busily discussing their next fund-raiser.

She was startled to see that Maria Lopez was there again. She was elegant in a one-piece black bathing suit, straw hat and sunglasses, down at the other end of the pool. She couldn’t possibly hear anything they were saying.

She looked down toward the docks, shading her eyes. A number of the boats were out. She saw Ben, assembling his scuba gear—he meant to go down and clean the hull. As he gave his attention to his tank, a woman hopped to the dock from the deck of a boat farther down.

Amanda.

Dammit, didn’t she have any other place to go? From being an occasional visitor to the club, she’d turned into a regular—a very unwelcome one, from Beth’s point of view.

As Beth watched, Amanda approached Ben, lightly touching his shoulder.

Ben looked up and smiled.

Beth looked quickly away, but Amber had seen the direction of her gaze. She groaned. “Can we get her arrested?” she asked Ashley.

“Flirting isn’t illegal,” Ashley told her.

“Simply being that woman should be illegal,” Beth said dryly.

“Beth…” Ashley persisted.

“All right, all right,” Beth said. “But…let’s get through the afternoon. Let Ben clean his boat. And I’m telling you, no one’s going to be able to do anything.”

THAT EVENING ASHLEY BROUGHT Amber to Nick’s with her. Jake, Ben and Beth went to the station, where Beth filled out a formal report. Ben was a nervous wreck—and extremely angry with his sister. Beth continued to remind him that he was among those who had kept telling her that she was paranoid. Luckily, with Jake there, they couldn’t fight too openly. Both he and Lieutenant Gorsky—the lead officer on the pirating case—tried to remain casual and calming as the two argued.

They left in a state of stiff tension. But it was done. Ben’s house would remain under surveillance, and it had been suggested that Beth move in with her brother for the time being.

Great. He was barely speaking to her.

But since their lives might well be at stake, Beth agreed. She knew that the department didn’t have the manpower to protect them all as they tried to get through their daily lives. At least, because of Jake and Ashley, extra protection, in the form of off-duty cops, would be afforded to them.

Still, the night was pure misery. Amber was confused, and her father warned her firmly that she wasn’t to make a single move alone. Beth tried to be reassuring, but she had to reiterate her brother’s words to her niece.

On Monday morning she drove Amber to school, glad to see the officer following them all the way.

He didn’t follow her to the club. He was staying downtown, where he would be keeping an eye on the school throughout the day, so Beth was careful as she continued to work. At the club, she noted that the security guard was not alone.

She was nervous, wondering if anyone was inside the club itself or wandering the grounds to keep an eye on things. Midmorning, Commodore Berry came in and sat down gravely. He told her that he’d been contacted by the police and there was going to be at least one officer on duty inside the club or on the property at all times, keeping an eye on things. Since there were known pirates working in the area, he was grateful to have the assistance.

Beth wondered if he blamed her for involving the club. It didn’t seem, however, that he ever realized it had anything to do with her. There were so many exceptional yachts berthed there that he seemed to think that was what made them a potential target.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. She made calls to confirm arrangements for the Summer Sizzler, contacting delivery services and the florist, and talked to the chef and the staff. She called Eduardo Shea’s office, and he assured her that he had not forgotten, and told her that he would be in with Mauricio and Maria later during the week.

That afternoon a police tech came to inspect her computer. She went down to the cafeteria to allow him time to work on his own. The club was strangely quiet. There was no sign of any of the Masons.

The tech was a nice guy, encouraging in his expertise. He was convinced no one had hacked her computer from the outside. The sabotage had been performed right in her office.

Chilling information. Whoever had given her the warning had been at her desk, in her chair.

She left early to pick up Amber. The policeman followed them home. She waved goodbye a few minutes later, after he had inspected the house and she had locked the door behind him.

She spent the evening practicing scenes with Amber.

That night Ben kept his distance, and she found herself growing angrier with her brother. None of this was her fault, though he was behaving as if it were.

Tuesday was more or less a repeat of Monday. She felt the growing strain of the situation.

Wednesday was better. When she went down to lunch, she was startled to run into Eduardo Shea in the dining room.

“Mr. Shea,” she said happily. “You’re here.”

“Miss Anderson, your party is this Friday night. I told you I would see you here.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Ah, there’s Mauricio.”

A handsome young man with dark hair and arresting green eyes approached, and Eduardo introduced him to Beth. A few minutes later Maria Lopez arrived in a stunning gown. Short, sequined, it fit her to a T.

“Where will the performance be held?” Eduardo asked.

“There will be a dance floor on the patio. It’s being delivered Friday morning,” Beth told them.

“That’s not good,” Eduardo said.

“Oh?”

“They should have more time to practice their number on the actual site,” Eduardo said.

“Oh,” Beth murmured. “I’m…I don’t think we can close off the area until then,” she told them unhappily.

“It will be fine, Eduardo,” Maria said. She smiled at Beth. “But for now, where may we rehearse?”

“The meeting room,” Beth suggested. It was actually part of the dining room, but it could be closed off for committee luncheons and was sometimes rented out to corporations for special functions.

It also had a hardwood floor.

Eduardo wasn’t pleased, but he seemed resigned. Disdainful, but resigned.

Beth managed to get Eduardo to allow her to attend the rehearsal. At first she simply watched the two dances in wonder. It seemed unbelievable that anyone could move their hips as fast as Maria did. On the dance floor, she was ageless. Her face glowed; her elegance was visible in every movement.

“Incredible,” Beth murmured.

“Come on. I’ll teach you,” Eduardo said.

“Oh, no, no,” Beth protested.

But she found herself standing up with him anyway. “It’s all in the timing,” he told her. The music was playing again. Mauricio came up to partner her under Eduardo’s direction, while Maria stepped behind her to show her how to move her hips. She grew flushed and happy as she began to get the timing, so involved that, to her amazement, she forgot the current circumstances of her life.

Forgot that she had first thought of this because she’d wanted to meet Eduardo Shea, suspecting that he might somehow have been involved in the Monocos’ disappearance. To her absolute amazement, she was having fun.

Until Amanda Mason arrived.

Amanda greeted Eduardo with enthusiasm, kissed Mauricio, and did the continental kiss-on-both-cheeks thing with Maria Lopez. At that point Beth excused herself and returned to her office. She was startled when she reached her door to turn around and discover that she had been followed.

By Amanda.

The woman stood there, chin high, hands on her hips—looking much taller than her actual stature—staring at Beth belligerently. “Why do you do that to me all the time?” Amanda demanded.

“Why do I do what?” Beth demanded.

“I walk into a room, and you leave.”

Beth stared at her, stunned. Then she replied honestly, “Let’s see. Maybe because you treat me as if I were a servant or a lesser being of some kind?”

“I do not,” Amanda protested.

“You do, too.”

“If I do, it’s only because of the way you act toward me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Let’s see. You don’t do anything overt. That nose of yours just goes in the air a little, and you look at me as if I were…the trash of the century.”

Beth could barely believe the conversation.

“Amanda—” She broke off, shaking her head, not at all sure what to say. “Maybe it’s the way you behave.”

“And that would be…?”

“I don’t know! As if the world was your toy, as if men were there for your amusement, whether they’re married, engaged or…taken.”

“You’re jealous.”

“No, Amanda, I’m not jealous.”

She expected anger, some kind of scathing retort. But Amanda just stared at her. “Am I that bad, really?”

Beth sighed. “I don’t know, Amanda. Maybe it’s me, too. I don’t know.”

She didn’t know what she expected then. Certainly not the frown that furrowed Amanda’s brow. “I…I’ll try to be…” She paused, looking for a word. “Better.”

Then she walked down the hallway, and Beth went into her office and sat down, stunned.

KEITH WAITED IN THE Palm Beach deli. At ten o’clock, Laurie Green walked in, just as she had promised. She saw him at the table, and a smile lit her face. “Keith!”

She rushed over and hugged him fiercely. He hugged her back, then disentangled himself carefully. She had lost her parents when the plane had gone down, and she herself had nearly perished in the muck soup of the Everglades. She had experienced agony and grief, but from the beginning, she had been grateful for her own life. Once on the verge of death, her sandy skin and light hair spoke of her health and well-being.

Slightly embarrassed by her show of emotion, he managed to get her seated opposite him. “So everything’s going okay?” he asked.

She nodded. “I graduate from Nova University next spring.”

“That’s great. I’m delighted to hear it.”

She waved her left hand in front of him, showing him the diamond on her finger. “And I’m getting married in the fall.”

“That’s absolutely wonderful,” he said sincerely.

Then she smiled. “That’s not why you called me.”

“No.”

“What’s up? You know that I’ll help you any way I can.”

“I know that, and thanks…. Do you know if your folks were friends with a couple named Ted and Molly Monoco?”

The smiled left her face. “Have they been found?” she asked.

He shook his head. “So it’s true, they were friends of your folks?”

She nodded. “I didn’t know them that well. My parents decided to take dance lessons for some event they were going to. Ted owned the studio they went to, and they got friendly. They were nice. Are nice. I hope. I don’t know what to think.”

Keith nodded. “Did you ever meet a man named Manny Ortega?”

“Oh!” she exclaimed, her cheeks reddening. “I gave him your number. I told him I’d gotten it a long time ago, that it might not be good. Did I do something wrong? I’d forgotten all about it.”

“No, no, it’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. So you know Manny?”

“Yes, he was a friend of the Monocos. I went to a couple of dance parties with my parents, and he was there, playing with the band. I was sticking out like a sore thumb, and he was nice to me. I can’t say that I’ve seen him in…well, in years. But when he called me, saying that Ted hadn’t called in and he’d mentioned something about your name, well…I’m sorry. I didn’t hesitate to give him the number.”

“It’s fine. I just had to make sure,” Keith told her. “So tell me about this guy you’re about to marry.”

He had a firm destination in mind once he left Laurie, and with a two-hour plus—depending on traffic—drive ahead of him, he pulled out his cell phone and put a call through to Mike. “Manny’s information checked out,” he told his boss.

“Any more finds?”

“Not as of the time I left this morning,” Keith told him. “I’m heading down to the Keys. Look, we’re searching, doing the best we can with what we have. You need to haul out the big equipment for this one, Mike.”

“You need to hang in there. They’ll catch that couple soon. They’re watching the roads, the airports, train stations…and boats.”

“You know how big the damn coastline is, Mike?” Keith asked.

“Yes, I’m aware of the length of the coastline.”

“I don’t think that catching them is going to solve the entire problem,” Keith said.

“It needs to happen.”

“Yes, but, Mike, they can’t be pulling this off alone.”

“You don’t think they’ll squeal once they’re caught?”

“Maybe, maybe not. Mike, you need to get the right people following the financial trail. Someone in the area is making the arrangements to take the yachts, and refurbish and camouflage them.”

“We’ve been looking into every boat shop in south Florida.”

“Start looking at people.”

“Want to give me names?”

He did.

“What makes you certain any one of these people is involved?”

“Because I believe there was a skull on the island when we arrived. And I believe that someone who was there that weekend managed to remove it.”

Mike was silent for a moment then he said, “You know, we’re not really trying to catch pirates,” he reminded Keith. “There are other people who do that. Our job is to find La Doña.”

“I swear it’s involved somehow.”

“You know you gave me the names of your co-workers, right?” Mike asked casually.

“Hey, you’re the one who said you don’t trust anyone,” Keith said. “I don’t have the resources to find out who’s invested where. You do.”

“I’m not an idiot, Keith. I’ve already spoken to the FBI. They’ve been working on the money angle. Thing is, people don’t usually write down their ill-gotten gains on their tax returns.”

“There’s got to be a connection to some kind of boat shop somewhere.”

“They’re on it, Keith. What’s your plan now?”

“First, can you get me a list of students and investors in the old Monoco dance studios?”

“Yes.”

“I’m heading to the Keys. Islamorada. I’m going to hang around a few bars, see who knew Victor Thompson, try to find out what he was doing.”

“The police have questioned at least fifty people.”

“The police can’t go down and hang out at a bar as well as I can,” Keith said with a little smile.

A moment later he hung up. He hesitated, played with the thought of trying to reach Beth, then discarded the notion. She would just hang up on him, if he was even able to reach her. Of course, if she said hello and answered her phone, he would at least know she was all right. Still, he decided to call Ashley at work instead. She assured him that everything was all right: Amber was in school, Beth was well. There had been no more incidents. “Will we see you soon?” she asked.

“Of course. No news on Sandy and Brad?”

“Not yet.”

“You’re sure Beth is fine?”

“Yes, there’s an officer on duty at the club. He calls in on the hour.”

He thanked her and hung up.

MARIA LOPEZ WALKED INTO THE empty dance studio and looked around. A feeling of deep and poignant nostalgia swept through her.

She remembered the old days so clearly.

She could still outdo many a younger dancer, but the truth was, her glory days were over. No matter how hard they fought it, people got older.

Ted hadn’t cared. He had wanted nothing more than retirement. He had always told her to cherish her accomplishments and enjoy life. She did enjoy life. But she had given up so much. Love, a real relationship. She had been too busy when she had been young, too eager to compete. Too determined to hold on to her title—until she had known it was time to bow out, rather than lose. Now she had no children to fill her life. She had traveled, of course. And then she had come back to see Manny at the club. And Manny…

Manny would not shut up about Ted and Molly.

She frowned, thinking she heard a loud voice from the office, and spun around.

Curious, Maria walked in that direction. The staff was gone. Not even the young receptionist was manning her station.

She moved closer to the office door.

And she listened, her eyes widening.

She had wanted to speak with Eduardo about the Summer Sizzler.

No more. She swallowed hard. At first she was afraid. Then she thought again of Ted and Molly and their kindnesses to her through the years, and she grew angry.

IN ANOTHER HOUR, Keith had reached Islamorada. He found the marina where Victor Thompson had kept his boat and run his charters.

The guy had clearly been well liked. At the spot where his boat should have been berthed, there was a cross, and flowers covered the pier and floated in the water nearby. He was standing there when a man walked up to him. “Friend of Victor’s?” he asked.

“Fellow diver, paying my respects,” Keith told him. “You were a friend?”

The man was in his late fifties, with a full head of silvergray hair. Well built and bronzed, he was covered with tattoos and sported a gold skeleton for an earring. “I taught him to dive. I never taught him to go off alone, though,” he said sadly.

“Doesn’t make a lot of sense, an experienced diver like Victor,” Keith said. “Where was he diving when it happened?”

“I didn’t see him the morning he took off, so it’s a mystery to me,” the man said. He pointed toward a building near the docks, with a Keys-style thatched roof and an outside bar. “As far as I know, he didn’t say anything to anyone. But we all hang out up there, at La Isla Bar-A. Some of us are up there now, drinking to Vic. Come join us, buy a round. Man, it’s a sorry thing. I just don’t understand how we lost Vic. It’s a tragedy, and a waste, and I’m angry, I guess.” He shook his head.

Keith thanked him for the information and headed for the bar. “I’ll be up in a minute,” the older man told him. “Name’s John, John Elmer. You can buy me a drink, too.”

“Sure.”

The bar was typical of the area, with lots of tall stools and hardwood tables, chairs and benches. It had the neighborhood feel of Nick’s. The woman behind the bar was attractive, but no kid. She was busy, but she handled the load with ease. He decided that the big group at the far end of the bar had to be Victor Thompson’s friends. He didn’t horn in on them immediately but sat a short distance away. When the woman came to take his order, he asked for a beer, then asked her about the group. “If those are Victor Thompson’s friends, I’d like to buy them a drink.”

“Sure. You knew Victor, huh?” she said. “So many people cared. He was a great guy. So sad…”

He saw the group at the end of the bar looking up after the drinks had been ordered. One of them lifted his newly delivered beer and called out to Keith, “Hey, thanks. Join us?”

Keith rose, taking his beer with him. He offered his hand around, and met Joe, Shelley, Jose, Bill, Junior and Melanie. “Good guy, absolute waste,” the one named Joe, who had summoned him over, told Keith.

“A real friendly guy. Never met a stranger. That’s why we’re all here right now,” Melanie explained.

“He always said he didn’t want a wake, people in black crying over his shell,” Jose said.

“Yeah, Vic wanted a party,” Joe said. “People remembering the good times, laughing. We’re supposed to cremate him, take him out to the reefs he loved.”

“Sounds like a fitting way to handle the end,” Keith agreed. “Still…” He shook his head. “Funny thing. How could he know the reefs so well, and…”

“We can’t figure it out, either,” Shelley said, looking morose despite the fact that she was supposed to be partying. Keith’s heart took a little plunge. The woman had obviously cried her eyes out.

He got them talking about Victor’s destination the day he had died. But they were at a loss, as well. “As far as I know, the day before, he had talked about looking at some new places to take people,” Joe said. “But no destination in particular that I know of.”

“He wanted to get into a day-and-night thing. Like camping somewhere,” Melanie offered. “The Middle Keys are filled with great places.”

“Yeah,” Keith agreed, thinking Calliope Key might be a great place, too.

“I think he headed south, but I don’t really know,” Joe said.

“Hey, remember the time he knocked the whole motor off John’s dinghy?” Melanie said, and giggled.

“Yeah, and remember the time he fell in love with the Cuban girl in Miami and we all had to take dance lessons?” Bill said, snickering. “Man, did we suck.”

“Victor took classes in Miami?” Keith said.

“We all did—he didn’t want it to look as if he was chasing the girl,” Melanie told him. “And speak for yourself. I was good,” she told Bill.

“Where did you guys go?” Keith asked.

“Someplace on the beach,” Bill answered. “It was changing hands when we were there…oh, man, I’m losing brain cells or something. Wait. Monoco. The Monoco Studios. They went missing, didn’t they?”

“Sad, huh? That old Monoco guy was great. But I heard their boat had been seen,” Melanie said.

“Where’d you hear that?” Keith asked.

Melanie looked at him blankly then shrugged. “I don’t know. I think some people in here the other day were saying it.”

Keith remained a while longer, bought another round of drinks, then left. On the way back, he put in another call to Mike.

It was late by the time he had taken the tender back to the Sea Serpent. Lee and Matt were in for the day, and neither seemed glad to see him, though they couldn’t argue with his disappearance; since they had been informed by Mike that he was to come in with the coin and make a full report.

“You find out anything?”

Keith shook his head. “You?”

“Seems like we’re beating our heads against a brick wall,” Lee told him.

“Did you hear anything from your old buddy Hank?” Keith asked Lee.

“No, did you hear from any of your old buddies…like Beth Anderson or Amanda Mason?” Lee asked.

Matt made a choking sound. They both stared at him. “Sorry—swallowed wrong,” he said, and turned away.

Keith and Lee stared after him, then Lee shrugged and turned away, as well.

A rift had definitely formed between the three of them. Lee went down to the cabin, while Keith remained on deck, staring out at the sea. His cell phone began to ring, and he was glad that he’d been left alone on deck when he answered it.

Manny. He listened to what the man had to say, weighed it, then replied, “I’ll need Beth Anderson in on it.”

“How will we manage that?”

“We have mutual friends,” Keith said. “I’ll check in with them. Beth will come,” he added softly, “if you convince her brother and her niece.”

He rang off, hesitated, then he put in a call of his own. He would be sticking his neck out in a big way, but he was convinced it was time. When he hung up, he stood very still in the night, listening, wondering if either of his coworkers had made an attempt to hear his conversation.

It seemed that he was alone in the dark vastness of the sea and sky.

Still…

When he went to sleep that night, it was with one eye open.