The Dragon’s Brave Nanny (Mysteries of Dragon’s Island #4)

Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20

***KEITH***

K eith woke the next morning with Stella still cuddled in his arms, and a smile of satisfaction slowly spread across his face. He suddenly had everything he hadn’t realized that he wanted. The warmth of the love he felt spread through him, and he realized that there was so much more in his life to look forward to now besides just building his business. His life had been so empty before Jordan and Stella came barging in, but he wouldn’t change a thing. He was right where he was supposed to be.

After giving Stella a kiss on the forehead, he slipped out of bed, deciding it was his turn to cook breakfast. Instead, he found himself standing at the window watching the sun rise. He heard Stella’s footsteps before she wrapped her arms around him from behind, peeked around him at the sunrise, and smiled up at him.

He reached around and pulled her into his arms. “This is becoming a habit,” he said, smiling down at her. “One I could get used to. I was going to let you sleep.”

“The bed felt empty after you left, I couldn’t go back to sleep,” she said with a shrug. “And then I saw you standing here at the window. It’s so beautiful here this time of day. I didn’t want to miss it.”

“We’re going to have lots more of these mornings,” he said, grinning at her. “Maybe we should both go back to bed.”

“Hmm…that’s a very tempting offer,” she said, but Jordan was already fussing in the other room. “But I think your son has other plans.”

“Darn, foiled by a one-year-old,” he said, then gave her a big kiss. “I’ll make breakfast if you’ll get the baby.”

“Deal,” Stella said, kissing him. “We’ll meet you in the kitchen.”

A couple of hours later, Stella was drying the last of the breakfast dishes, and he was bugging her again to tell him about the plans for their cabin. “Come on, sweetheart, you’ve had a chance to do the math. Just give me a little hint,” he cajoled. I’ll make it worth your while. Jordan should be ready for a nap soon.”

“Oh, so you think you can get what you want with sex,” she said, looking over at him, her face full of amusement. “That might work both ways, you know.”

He got up from the table and pulled her into his arms. “You say that like I would mind,” he said, lowering his mouth until it was only inches from hers. “You have my permission to use sex to get what you want all the time. That’s just fine with me.”

“You’re impossible, did you know that?” she asked him, winding her arms around his neck. “But I’ll give you one hint, our bedroom has a perfect view of the ocean, and we won’t even have to get out of bed to watch the sunrise.”

“Now that sounds like a little bit of heaven,” he said. “I guess I’ll have to leave you alone now, but you’d better hurry up with those designs. I’m not a very patient man.”

Stella laughed, then opened her mouth, but she was interrupted by a knock on the door. “I wonder who that could be this early,” she said, looking down at the tee shirt she was wearing. “I should go get dressed.”

“You stay here,” he said, giving her a quick kiss. “I’ll go see who it is.”

He was surprised to see Max waiting on the other side of the door. “Sorry to bother you so early, but Stella got a phone call a few minutes ago on my private line,” he said. “No one but family and friends has that number. I don’t know how he got it. The guy refused to tell me who he was at first, but he said that it was an emergency. He’s going to call back in half an hour if she wants to take the call.”

Stella was standing in the doorway to the kitchen when he turned around, her face was pale and full of worry, but she took a deep breath. “Did he leave his name?” she finally asked. “He should have left his name.”

Max looked over at him, his face full of confusion, then back at Stella. “He said his name was Mitch Woodrow,” he said, confusion turning to suspicion. “Do you want to tell me what’s going on?”

Stella looked trapped for a second, and she glanced over at him, then back at Max before letting out a long sigh. “I really need to take that phone call, and I’m not even dressed,” she said. “I promise I’ll tell you everything on the way to your office.”

When they walked into Max’s office a half an hour later, the phone was ringing, but Max wasn’t looking at her so suspiciously anymore. “I’m sorry they used your private number, Max,” she said. “I have no idea how they got it, but now you see why it’s so important that I take this call.”

“This island is nothing but a magnet for trouble,” he grumbled, reaching for the phone. “Or maybe it’s my friends. Maybe it’s all their fault.”

Before he could ask Max what he was talking about, he picked up the phone, answered it, and then handed it to Stella. “Hello, who is this?” she asked, then paused to listen. “Where did we meet?”

Her shoulders relaxed, and she let out a sigh of relief. “Hold on a second, Agent Woodrow, I’m going to put you on speakerphone,” she said, then paused again. “I know what you told me, but sometimes secrets can’t be kept. You were the one who called me on Max’s private line.”

The man was still grumbling when the speaker engaged. “Ms. Morgan I shouldn’t have to remind you what’s at stake here. Simon Maynard is a dangerous man. Secrecy is the only thing that’s going to keep you alive,” he lectured. “How can I do my job if you go around blabbing the truth everywhere?”

Keith started to step forward, unable to let anyone talk to Stella like that, but she held up her hand to stop him. “Agent, I’m currently on a tropical island in the middle of the ocean. I’ve told two people the truth, one of them because you gave me no choice,” she said. “Both of them are more than capable of protecting me if the man you people can’t seem to catch comes after me, so enough of the lecture. Just tell me why you called.”

***Stella***

Keith was grinning at her like she’d just won a medal, but for all her bravado, Stella was shaking inside, afraid of what the agent was about to tell her. “One of our agents spotted Simon in Bermuda a few days ago,” the man said, and her knees buckled. “Someone in the analytics department missed the property he owns on the island, so we haven’t been looking there, but we’re on it now.”

Keith was suddenly by her side, holding her up, then Max gently pushed a chair under her, and she sank down gratefully. “So, you’re telling me that you sent me right to him?” she finally asked, shock radiating through her. “Of all the places in the world you could have sent me, you made sure I’m only a few miles away. When are you going to catch this guy?”

“As I said, we’re working on it,” Agent Woodrow said. “Until then, there’s no reason to think he knows where you are. That hasn’t changed, your cover hasn’t been broken as far as we’re concerned. Are you sure you can trust the people you told? This is life or death, Stella. You should have been more careful.”

“I haven’t put myself at risk, Agent Woodrow, you have,” she said, then let out a long sigh. “I just want to testify and get on with my life. This waiting is driving me crazy.”

“We’re doing our best. I had hoped to have this handled more quickly,” Agent Woodrow said. “I’ll contact you again when I have more information, but we will need your cooperation, and Ms. Morgan, don’t tell anyone else who you are.”

The line went dead. “He told me it would be only two weeks, he promised I would be able to go back to my life,” she said, staring at the phone. Then she realized that Keith was standing behind her, his hands on her shoulders. “Not that I want to go back to my old life now, but I thought…well, that I would at least be able to go home and get my stuff…I don’t know…”

“I’m sorry, Stella,” Keith said, crouching next to her and taking her hands. “I know how hard this must be, my apartment isn’t the greatest, most of my stuff is used, but it’s still mine, I would be upset if it was all just gone.”

“Most of it can be replaced,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “But I have pictures and keepsakes I don’t want to lose. That’s what is bothering me the most. I have so little of my parents’ things left. What I do have is very precious.”

“Now, this sounds like something I can handle,” Max said, coming around to stand in front of her. “Make me a list of what you want and where it can be found, and I’ll see that someone gets it out. I can’t guarantee how soon you’ll see it; we have to be careful nothing leads back to you, but I think I can do it.”

“Really?” she asked, a surge of gratitude welling up inside of her. “You know they’re watching my apartment. It might not be easy for someone to get in.”

“Just leave that to me,” Max said, grinning at her. “I have some very interesting friends.”

“Can these friends of yours track this Simon guy down?” Keith asked. “The authorities can’t seem to find him. Maybe we should give them a little help.”

“I’ll do you one better than that,” Max said. “I’ll go over to the big island and do a little snooping around. A guy like that is going to attract some attention, and if he owns property, someone is going to know him, even if he’s hiding out. The island isn’t that big. I bet I can flush him out in a couple of days and hand him over to the police on the island; it will be a big score for them, and I’ll make me a few well-placed friends in the process.”

“Do you really think it will be that easy?” she asked, beginning to calm down, glad that she’d trusted Max. “I mean, he has to know that he’s wanted by the U.S. government, he’s not going to just be walking down the street.”

“You let me worry about that,” Max said. “If he’s in Bermuda, I’ll find him.”

“Max is a hunter, it’s one of his dragon talents,” Keith said, getting to his feet and offering her his hand. “Come on, I think we should go home now and let Max do his thing. I’d offer to go with you buddy, but I think I should stay here with Stella and Jordan. I don’t like the idea of leaving them alone now that I know this guy is so close.”

Stella got to her feet and gave Max a hug. “Thank you for doing this,” she said. “Please be careful. I wish you weren’t going alone. ”

“Oh, I won’t be going alone,” Max said with a grin. “I’m sure it won’t take much to convince Mateo to come with me, and with his help, I’ve got most of the island on my side. We’ll find him, Stella, don’t you worry.”

“Mateo seems like a good guy,” she said, relieved, then shivered. “I still want you to promise to be careful. I’ve seen what this guy is capable of, Max, and I promise you he’s not afraid to kill.”

“I’ll remember that, Stella,” he said. “But I don’t think he’s ever tangled with a dragon shifter, especially not one like me.”

She studied him for a second, looking at him from different angles. “You’ll have to show me someday,” she finally said, clearly surprising him. “I’d like to meet the other half of you. I bet you’re not soft and fuzzy like Keith.”

“Hey, I’m not soft and fuzzy, that’s insulting,” Keith said, his voice full of outrage. “I’ll have you know my fur is designed especially for swimming, and don’t forget I can fly. That’s pretty scary.”

“Yes, sweetheart, you’re a very scary creature,” she said, stretching up to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Let’s go back to the cabin, it’s almost nap time. I have some numbers I want to run while Jordan is sleeping.”

Keith’s face brightened instantly, “I could probably help you with that,” he said. “I’m pretty good with numbers myself.”

Simon Maynard pulled his fishing hat a little lower on his head and pretended to be messing with his bait as the boat approached. Then, he waved when it passed him by, a smile slowly spreading across his face. This was the break he needed, but he couldn’t move too fast, the last thing he wanted to do was attract attention. He couldn’t blow the one opportunity he had to slip ashore and catch the little witch who was ruining his life.

He stayed where he was, slowly reeling in his lines, envisioning what he was going to do when he finally caught up to her, the satisfaction he’d feel as the life slowly drained from her eyes. Dropping the last fishing pole, he looked at the mess around him, disgusted by what he’d been reduced to, but after he’d been spotted coming back the last time, he’d been forced to stay in the boat. He couldn’t afford to be caught, at least not yet. Once the woman was gone, they could arrest him. He’d spend the night in jail and he’d be out the next day without any evidence. He’d been down that road before.

Of course, he’d never had quite the same personal connection to a hit as he’d formed to Stella, he thought as he started up the boat. There was something different about her, a defiance he was looking forward to crushing before he took her out like he should have done that night in the alley. Just thinking about it made his body tense with excitement, and as he guided the boat around the island to the tiny cove he’d found, he let himself think about all the fun things they were going to do together.