Romancing the Crown: Kate & Lucas

If you ever change your mind, be sure to let me know.

“Lieutenant?” the sergeant asked.

“Yes, that would be helpful,” Kate answered belatedly.

She turned her attention to the papers she’d been given. She could handle this, she repeated to herself. No matter how difficult it was to concentrate, the situation was only temporary. As soon as Chambers was captured, this mission would be over and Sam would be on his way to his next one. Just like last time.

No, it wasn’t going to be like last time, not by a long shot. They were colleagues, that’s all. She wasn’t going to get drawn into a physical relationship with Sam Coburn again. She lifted her hand, her fingers touching the small bulge where her necklace rested beneath her uniform. When they parted this time, her life wasn’t going to take any painful twists. She was going to insure they had an easy goodbye.

The Montebellan policeman who was manning the tip line that had been set up for the public pulled off his headset and swiveled in his chair. “Lieutenant Coburn?” he called. “We have a development.”

Sam strode across the room. Kate hesitated only briefly, then set down her clipboard and followed him.

“A woman just called,” the policeman said. “I thought you would want to listen to this.”

Sam glanced at Kate, then waved away the telephone headset. “Put it on the speaker, Sergeant Chelios, so we can all listen,” he said.

Chelios nodded and punched a button on his console. “Go ahead, ma’am. Please repeat what you just told me.”

“Hello? Yes, my name is Sophia Genero. I’m worried about my son.”

“I’m Lieutenant Sam Coburn, United States Navy,” Sam said. “What seems to be the trouble, Mrs. Genero?”

“Armando’s only sixteen. He’s usually a responsible boy, but he didn’t come home for dinner tonight and I just know something is wrong.”

Sam glanced at the policeman who had taken the call. “Ma’am, this is a special police tip line. It sounds as if you should be talking directly to someone at—”

“No, you don’t understand. He’d been out sailing this morning, and his friends told me they saw him, uh, flirting with a strange woman on the beach around noon.”

“Flirting?”

“He’s only sixteen,” she repeated. “He’s a wonderful boy but not the kind a grown woman would be interested in. It didn’t sound right. He went back out in his boat after that, and no one has seen him since.”

“Your son has a boat?” Sam asked. “What kind? How large?”

“It’s a catboat. Only twenty-three feet.” The woman’s voice hitched. “We gave it to him for his birthday last month. He knows we don’t want him going far offshore with it.”

Sam looked at Kate. She could see by the hard set of his jaw that he didn’t think this was a case of an overprotective mother worrying about a wayward teenager. “Mrs. Genero,” he asked carefully. “Do you have a description of the woman your son was last seen with?”

There was a muffled sob. “That’s why I called this number. From what Armando’s friends said, she sounds as if she could be that woman on the news. The one who’s wanted for murder.”

The police helicopter swooped low over the headland. Shadows from the setting sun stretched across the sand and into the surf like camouflage stripes, making it difficult to focus on the change from light to dark. Sam kept the binoculars pressed to his eyes as he peered through the window.

The surveillance net wasn’t yet fully in place. Most boats had made it to their assigned grids, but there were still holes. Nevertheless, he believed Kate’s idea for a low-key blockade by civilian vessels was already proving to be a good one. Otherwise, Chambers might not have dared to come out of hiding so soon.

“We’re coming up to the beach now, sir.” The pilot’s voice came through Sam’s headset. “This was the spot where the boy was last seen, right?”

“Yes,” Sam said into his mike. “Can you drop your speed so we can get a better look?”

As the helicopter slowed, Sam continued his scrutiny of the area. There was a man tossing a stick for a dog, an elderly couple strolling along the tide line and a few cars parked in the lot on top of the bluff. The police were on their way and would arrive within minutes to do a ground search. This helicopter was the first on the scene.

“Do you see anything, Sam?” Kate asked, her voice crackling in his headphones.

“Not yet.” Sam didn’t lower his binoculars as he replied to Kate’s question. He knew she was peering through a pair of her own as the pilot headed along the coast. “What about you?”

“Two fishing vessels, a moored sloop but nothing matching the description of the boy’s boat. This could be a wild-goose chase.”

“That’s a possibility, but we can’t afford to dismiss it.”

“I agree. The boy’s mother sounded distressed.”

“I don’t blame her. Her kid was last seen playing touchy-feely with a woman in a bikini. Given the lure of sex, a kid that age would be willing to do just about anything.”

There was a silence. Sam could have kicked himself for bringing up the topic.

What he’d said was true, though. Men of all ages tended to put their common sense on hold when it came to sex. He was no different. It didn’t matter how many times he reminded himself of Kate’s disinterest, he still responded to her.

Well, if she didn’t want his interest, she should stop wearing that gardenia perfume, he thought irritably. And stop sitting so close.

He frowned. He knew he was being unreasonable. Neither of them had any choice in the seating arrangements in this helicopter. If they had, Kate would probably have opted for a perch on the landing strut. He instructed the pilot to fly a pattern of parallel sweeps that would take them progressively farther from the shore.

As the helicopter started its fourth sweep, Kate spoke. “I see something that looks like debris in the water about a hundred yards to starboard.”

The pilot brought the helicopter around in a stomach-wrenching one-hundred-eighty degree turn.

Sam felt Kate’s warmth as she leaned toward him to look past his shoulder. “Over there. Do you see the colors?”

Something red glinted on the crest of a swell. Sam adjusted the focus on his binoculars. Red, yellow and blue stripes flowed in a listless swirl on the surface of the water. “Looks like a sail. Fits the description of the one on the kid’s boat.”

The pilot brought them closer. The rotor’s backwash pushed the water into a circle of fuzzy waves.

A long white object glistened in the spray.

“Could be a hull,” Sam said.

The object bobbed in the turbulence from the helicopter, revealing a long, thin keel.

“That’s a hull, all right,” Kate said. “It must be the Genero boy’s boat.”

“Any sign of Chambers or the boy?”

“Not here.”

Sam instructed the pilot to radio their coordinates to search and rescue for assistance as they began a slow, methodical examination of the area.

“If Chambers was aboard that boat,” Sam muttered, “our mission could be over. She might not have survived her escape attempt.”

“Let’s hope she didn’t take the life of an innocent boy with her,” Kate said.

“Yeah. From what we’ve learned about her, I doubt if she’d have cared.”

“We’ve got to find him,” Kate said, startling Sam by slipping her hand onto his knee. “We can’t let him die.”

He lowered his binoculars to look at her. “We’ll do our best, Kate.”

She was leaning toward the window, her frame stiff with tension. She didn’t take her gaze from the sea. “Armando’s mother said he’s only sixteen. Imagine what she must be going through. He’s barely started to live.”

She probably didn’t realize that she was touching him, Sam thought. She was so intent on scanning the waves, she wasn’t aware of what she’d done.

But Sam was. From his knee to his groin, he was extremely aware.

This was the first hint of passion Kate had shown. Okay, it was because of her duty, not him, but at least it was something. She’d always been a passionate woman. It was good to know his memory hadn’t misled him about that much.

He lifted his hand to give hers a reassuring squeeze. Before he could complete the motion, he reconsidered.

If he touched her, she would doubtless snatch her hand away. She would draw herself up in that cool way she had and make some comment about not letting personal feelings interfere with their duty. Sure, she was the one who had touched him this time, but she hadn’t meant to. His hand hovered above hers for a long moment before he closed his fist on empty air and turned to the window.

Five minutes later and four hundred yards farther out, they spotted the boy. His arm was hooked over a piece of what must have been the mast. He didn’t acknowledge the arrival of the helicopter. His face was drained of color, his eyes closed. He appeared to be unconscious.

“Bring us down as low as you can,” Sam instructed the pilot.

“Sir, the swells are too high to risk going lower. Search and rescue has our coordinates and will arrive—”

“Too damn late,” Sam said. “The kid’s going to slip under with the next wave.” He took off his headset and got out of his seat.

Kate twisted to face him, shouting over the noise of the engine. “Sam, what are you going to do?”

“Give Armando some company.” He kicked off his shoes and moved to the door. “It’s no fun to swim alone.”

“Sam, this helicopter doesn’t have a winch. There’s no way we can get you back on board.”

“No problem. The kid and I will hitch a ride with the rescue launch.”

“Sam, no!”

Without further discussion, Sam opened the door in the side of the helicopter, lowered himself to the landing strut, then jumped.

Full darkness had fallen twenty minutes ago, but the pier was alive with more than its usual activity. Several cars with the black and gold markings of the Montebellan police were parked next to a waiting ambulance. A small crowd milled around the vehicles. As the helicopter approached, a dark-haired woman in civilian clothes pulled away from the crowd and hurried toward it.

The moment the helicopter settled onto the tarmac, Kate gathered Sam’s shoes and pushed open the door. Ducking under the rotor downdraft, she went to meet the woman. Kate guessed her identity as soon as she saw the anxious expression on her face. “Mrs. Genero?” she called.

“Yes, yes. Where is he?” She made as if to go past Kate. “Is he here?”

Kate put her fingers on Mrs. Genero’s arm to stop her. “Your son is being brought back on a search and rescue craft. It should arrive in a few minutes.”

The woman spun to face Kate. “How is he? Is he all right? They told me he was found alive, but—” Her chin trembled. She waved her hand, unable to speak.

Kate hooked her arm and drew her away from the noise of the helicopter. “He was unconscious when we found him. The paramedics are giving him the best care available, Mrs. Genero. Young people are very resilient, so—”

“Oh, God,” she said. “This is my fault.”

“Ma’am, it appeared to have been an accident. The boat capsized.”

“No, it’s my fault,” the distraught woman repeated. “I shouldn’t have let him have that boat. I should have known better.”

The boy’s mother was blaming herself for what happened, Kate realized. Guilt seemed to go along with motherhood, didn’t it? Whatever happened to a child, even an unborn child, a mother would forever be haunted by feelings that she should have known better or tried harder, or that if she only had another chance things would have turned out differently….

Kate forced herself to focus. She was doing that a lot lately. “Mrs. Genero, do you remember the Navy officer who spoke with you on the phone earlier?”

“Who?”

“Lieutenant Coburn. He and I are coordinating the naval search for Ursula Chambers. He was in the helicopter with me when we found your son.”

Mrs. Genero looked around. “Yes?”

“I thought you might like to know that Lieutenant Cob-urn is a Navy SEAL. He jumped into the water from the helicopter in order to see to your son’s welfare until the paramedics could reach him.”

The woman spun to Kate and clutched her hand. “A SEAL? Like in the movies? And he saved Armando?”

Kate nodded, pleased to see that Mrs. Genero was taking comfort from her words. The boy had been on the verge of slipping under, so Sam very likely had saved him from drowning. The search and rescue launch had arrived less than fifteen minutes later, but it had been an agonizing wait. All Kate had been able to do was watch helplessly from above as Sam had clamped one arm around the boy, anchored his other arm around the broken mast and let the waves toss them about in the gathering dusk.

There had been no guarantee that the rescue boat would get there as quickly as they’d hoped. Furthermore, a sudden gust of wind could have buffeted the helicopter and knocked its searchlight off Sam and the boy, leaving them to drift off alone into the darkness. They could have been run over by another boat, or they could have encountered sharks. Anything could have happened, and in her anxiety, Kate thought of every nerve-racking possibility, no matter how far-fetched.

Sam had risked his life to save the life of a strange boy. It had been a heroic act, but he hadn’t hesitated. He’d even made light of what he had been about to do. Considering the dangerous missions he must have been on during his years with the SEALs, he probably hadn’t blinked an eye at the risk he was taking.

What he had done today proved he hadn’t changed. He was still the same impulsive, adventure-loving man who had left her five years ago. Witnessing his heroism should have reminded Kate of the reasons she needed to keep away from him.

But it hadn’t worked that way. Seeing him drifting on the swells, so near and yet so far, opened a crack in the wall of duty she’d struggled to keep between them. She’d wanted to stand in the doorway of the helicopter and scream at him for taking the chance he had. And at the same time, she’d wanted to weep over the wonderful, selfless gesture he’d made.

God, she was a mess.

“I can see the lights from the rescue boat now, Mrs. Genero,” she said, pointing to the left of the pier. “If you’d like I could take you—”

There was no point completing the sentence. The boy’s mother was already racing to the edge of the pier.

Armando was conscious and was talking with two policemen as he was wheeled on a stretcher toward the ambulance. His mother stayed by his side, grasping his hand and stroking his hair. The tears on her cheeks glistened in the flashing lights.

Sam was one of the last people off the launch. He had draped a gray blanket over his shoulders, his hair was wet and his feet were bare, but otherwise he seemed no worse for wear. He spoke with the policemen who had questioned Armando, then scanned the crowd. As soon as he caught sight of Kate he started toward her.

She wanted to hold him. There was no logic to the reaction. It came straight from her heart. Her arms felt so empty, it was almost a physical pain.

She hadn’t realized she was running until she saw the surprise on his face.

She slowed before she reached him, stopping a yard away. Oh, God. Now what? “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re sure? You hit the water hard, and the surface temperature that far from shore would have been in the fifties.”

“Kate—”

“Shouldn’t you be getting checked over by a doctor?”

“What for? I just took a little dip, that’s all.” He looked at her carefully. “Why? Are you worried about me, Kate?”

“I…” Oh, God. It was no use pretending to herself that she didn’t care. Even now that she’d stopped herself from barreling into his arms, she still wanted to kiss him. Right here, right now. Despite the people who milled around the pier, despite everything she’d told him and herself, she wanted to grab his wet shirt in both hands, haul him toward her and press her lips to his.

Damn it, she should have run the other way. “I just don’t want you coming down with pneumonia on me,” she said. “We’re partners, and we have a lot to do.”

Sam rubbed his hair with a corner of the blanket, trying to stem his disappointment at her reply. What had he expected? When he’d seen her race across the pier to him, for a crazy moment he’d hoped she would fling herself into his arms.

Yeah, right.

“I noticed the Genero boy was conscious,” she said. “How is he doing?”

“He’ll be okay. He got hit on the head by the boom when the cat went over, so he’s going to have a headache for a few days, but otherwise he should recover.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Yeah.” Sam watched the ambulance pull away. “He was lucky.”

“Thanks to what you did,” Kate said.

He returned his gaze to hers. Was that concern he saw in her eyes? Worry? Or his own wishful thinking? “It was no big deal. Haven’t you heard? SEALs are—”

“Tough,” she finished for him. “You mentioned that before.”

“So I did.”

She continued to regard him with an expression he couldn’t identify, then held out the shoes she’d been carrying. “How tough are your feet?”

He smiled crookedly. “No match for the pavement. Thanks, Kate.” He slipped his bare feet into his shoes, rolled the wet blanket into a bundle and started forward. “Come on. I’m going to get rid of these wet clothes.”

She didn’t move. “I think you can manage that on your own.”

He had a sudden memory flash of a hot night, with Kate peeling his damp shirt off his body one inch at a time, her lips brushing each inch of skin she uncovered….

She’d been good at undressing him. She’d been good at everything.

He glanced over his shoulder to where she was still standing. She was also good at her job, he reminded himself. “I thought you’d be interested to hear what I learned from Armando Genero. Seeing as we’re partners and have a lot to do,” he added, giving her own words back to her.

She strode after him, falling into step as he resumed his progress down the pier. “What did you find out?”

“First of all, it’s certain that the woman Armando met on the beach was Ursula Chambers. The police who met the launch showed him her photograph, and he positively identified it.”

“So his mother was right.”

“Ursula wanted him to take her to Tamir.”

“That’s just what we figured.”

“Uh-huh. She practically seduced the poor kid to get him to agree. Promised him more of the same in payment.”

“She would be short of cash by now, and her credit cards are at their limits, so that would be her only, uh, asset left to bargain with.”

“Well, she used her assets effectively. Armando had agreed to meet her at sunset.”

“Was she on the boat when it capsized?”

“No. Armando was the only one on board.”

“Had he already taken Ursula to Tamir?”

“He hadn’t had the chance. He had spent the day cleaning up the cat’s cabin and finagling a way to buy some wine in preparation for what he’d thought would be a hot date. He was in a hurry to meet her and admitted he wasn’t paying attention to the sailing conditions when he ran into trouble.”

“Where was he supposed to meet her?”

“At the same beach where they met this morning.”

“We have to alert the police,” Kate said immediately. “They need to search the area.”

“It’s already being done. I radioed the information from the rescue launch.”

“Oh. Good.”

“I doubt Chambers would have hung around waiting if the kid was late.”

“Probably not,” she said. “At least we know she’s still on the island.”

“Yeah. Our mission isn’t over yet.” He looked at Kate. “And neither is our partnership. Sure you don’t want to help me with my buttons?”

“Sam…”

He held up his hands. “Just checking.”

Chapter 6

Kate lowered her binoculars and turned her face to the sun, inhaling the scent of the ocean as she braced herself against the breeze. It had been too long since she’d sailed. Odd, when she thought about it, that someone who was in the Navy would think she didn’t spend enough time on the water. Still, there was nothing like the crack of canvas and the hissing slap of waves on the hull to remind her why she loved the sea.

“Can you take the wheel for a minute?” Sam asked. “It’s my turn to check in.”

She let her binoculars dangle from the strap around her neck, grasped the top of the cabin house to steady herself and made her way to the cockpit. This sloop had been volunteered for the mission by a retired Montebellan police captain. It was a nimble boat, responding superbly to each adjustment in their course as they navigated along the coast. Although it was equipped with an auxiliary motor, both she and Sam preferred to use the power of the wind.

Of course, they both knew this wasn’t a pleasure trip. The surveillance net had been in place for almost a week now. Ursula Chambers hadn’t yet been spotted despite the close scrutiny the undercover “fleet” had provided. When Sam had suggested that they direct from the front rather than from behind a desk today, Kate had been quick to agree.

Professionally, it was a good idea, but as far as her peace of mind was concerned, it was bad. She had found it difficult enough to ignore Sam when they’d been working together at the base. Hadn’t she realized how much worse it would be when they were alone on a sailboat? Didn’t she realize that sailing with Sam would evoke memories of their time together five years ago, when they’d been on another boat, another sea?

Or was that one of the reasons Sam had suggested this?

Those were questions that were better left unanswered, she decided. She took the wheel from Sam, her gaze following him as he went below.

Like the rest of the personnel who manned the fleet, neither of them was in uniform today. Sam wore a faded T-shirt with a beer logo and a pair of well-worn jeans. To a casual observer he would look like an ordinary man out for a sail.

No, not an ordinary man. Not with those broad shoulders and rangy muscles. Not with that air of determination around him. To Kate he looked good enough to make her palms sweat.

She curled her fingers more tightly around the smooth wooden spokes of the wheel and concentrated on keeping the boat on course.

They were following the eastern shoreline, skirting the edges of several established surveillance grids to verify the effectiveness of the search pattern. So far, they had been spotted by undercover police and Navy personnel at least two times in each grid. From the communications they’d heard on the radio frequency assigned to each area, they had been visually checked out and their progress tracked all morning. It was encouraging. Chambers was bound to make another attempt to leave the island soon, and this time they would be ready.

Sam was carrying two mugs when he emerged from the cabin. “Here,” he said, holding one out to her. “I thought you might like some coffee.”

“Thanks.” She took a mug and eyed it cautiously. Sam liked his coffee strong enough for a spoon to stand up in. It had been an ongoing joke between them five years ago. He’d claimed he’d needed the caffeine boost to keep up with her, but they’d both known he hadn’t needed any chemical help. In fact, he used to demonstrate his stamina delightfully each morning within minutes of awakening….

No, this excursion probably hadn’t been a good idea at all. She took a tentative sip. To her surprise, the coffee was smooth and perfectly brewed. He had even remembered to add a teaspoon of sugar, just the way she liked it. She lifted her eyebrows. “This is good.”

A corner of his mouth curled in a lopsided smile. “Didn’t think I knew how, did you?”

“Well, I remember you prefer it stronger. I wasn’t expecting you to, uh…”

“Compromise?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“But you seem surprised each time I do something reasonable.” He tilted his head and regarded her closely. “Why is that, Kate?”