The Ghost of the Rock, page 10
Edward's head jerks around to glare at Jesse. Then he sneers as the agent yanks him up to put cuffs on him. “This is pointless. The man was threatening my life.”
Jesse scoffs. “No he wasn't. I was sitting right here. Brach never came anywhere near him. De Berg just pulled out his gun and started shooting.”
Gerard looks at Jesse and the younger man shrugs. “I was in it for the money. Seriously, Brach, I didn't mean for Dubois to die.”
“Where's Sutton?” Gerard responds.
“She disappeared at the first opportunity. Sorry, mate.”
Blood runs over his fingers and down his wrist as Gerard turns and leaves the office. The agent and the detective look at each other and frown. The secretary asks, “He's not going to wait for the ambulance?”
Jesse smiles as the detective cuffs him. “Padrille was right. The man should wear a cape.”
Gerard arrives in Kansas a week later and drives to the same motel as his last visit. He leaves his rental car outside and re-slings his arm after opening the lobby door. The elderly man behind the counter nods to him in recognition.
He carries his bag along the corridor and stops in front of the same room he had the last time. His cell phone rings and he pauses to answer before slipping the key into the lock.
“Hi, Connie.”
“How'd you know it was me? I’m not using my phone.”
As Gerard opens the door to his motel room, the door to the room beside his opens and Sutton emerges, purse in hand. They stand and stare at one another a stunned moment, until Gerard finally speaks into his cell phone. “I have to go, Connie.”
He hears her noise of protest as he ends the call and puts away his phone. He pushes open his room door and kicks his bag inside before holding out his hand to Sutton. She walks to him and takes her inside, where they sit on the bed and continue to look at each other.
Sutton touches his arm. “Padrille went back to look but wouldn't take me with him. We both knew you weren't dead.” She looks at the sling. “What happened to your arm?”
Gerard holds up the sling before removing his arm. “Your father once said he'd shoot me if I ever touched you. Guess he found out I touched you.”
A smile tugs at Sutton’s mouth. “I saw the news story about Daddy shooting an intruder. It was you that had Jesse arrested?”
“He knocked Paul in the head and stole the lagoon diamonds. He swears he wasn't the one who hit me that day but there was no one else on the island. It had to be Jesse.”
Sutton has a flash of the Tirza Randon dream she experienced during the hurricane and thinks about mentioning it, but swallows hard and changes her mind.
“So France has their diamonds? What was in the barrels? Does anyone know yet?”
“I haven’t heard,” Gerard says. “We probably won’t ever know. But the core sample from Clipperton was a zero, just as we expected.” He picks up her hand. “What made you come here?”
“I called Mike Strassburg. He said you planned to come back and start drilling in late summer.”
Gerard looks at his watch and gets up. “I said I’d meet him in five minutes. Go back to your room and wait for me, would you? I won't be long.”
Sutton blinks. He hasn't even kissed her. She stands. “Can't I come along? I don’t work for my family anymore. I don’t work for anyone at the moment.”
“I know,” Gerard tells her. “I'll be back soon. I told Mike I'd meet him.”
Confused and hurt beyond words, Sutton leaves him.
The moment she sits down on the bed in her own room, the phone rings. She picks it up and wonders who else knows where she is. “Hello?”
Gerard says, “Five hours from here is a town that requires no waiting period and no blood tests. I want to be married to you by tonight. After I leave Mike, who is a pilot, I'm going to find a ring. Be ready to go when I get back, all right?”
Sutton closes her eyes and pauses a long moment before saying, “You did this on purpose. The phone…again.”
“And…?”
“Do not buy me a ring with diamonds, Gerry. No diamonds.”
“Deal.”
Thousands of miles away, on Clipperton Island, the moon rises high above The Rock, and its light makes visible a solitary form in a long flowing dress. She looks out over the crashing surf and hums along with the melancholy strains of The Moldau.
Near the lagoon, a child's laughter turns to an abruptly choked off scream.
On the shore, a large square-shaped diamond, bigger than any of the others found before, lies partially buried in sand and glitters in the moonlight.
About the Author
S.K. Epperson is the author of numerous novels, novellas and a collection of short stories. For a complete list of titles visit skepperson.com
S.K. Epperson, The Ghost of the Rock
