The air smelled old and damp, and she wrinkled her nose, unconsciously wiped her hands on her jeans-clad thighs. There was no place to cook a meal, no chairs or table. Nothing but an old mattress lay in the far corner.
The bathroom—Kristen stuck her head inside a small archway and found a dingy yellowed sink, a toilet in worse condition, and a shower stall rimmed on all sides with rust. Suddenly she felt lucky that she had found the women’s shelter on Carmel Avenue. She couldn’t afford to stay in a motel, and an apartment such as this would have been no place for Amanda. The shelter was clean, and the food tasty and regular. And there was this wonderful nun named Sister Marian who had befriended them. That’s who had lent her the black habit yesterday, and who had agreed to baby-sit Amanda today while she was out.
Kristen released a defeated sigh. Yesterday she had hoped that the Blu Devil would recognize her, and when he hadn’t… Well, maybe he didn’t know her, but he certainly knew Salva. That’s why she was in his apartment—to find evidence he had lied. Evidence that might give her another clue as to who she was and where she belonged.
She had stared at his photo a number of times on the sailboat, then on the airplane. As wary as she was of the man and his possible connection to Salva, she’d started hoping he was her brother, or maybe a mean cousin who valued family. She’d imagined him seeing through her nun’s disguise and telling her that he was thrilled she was alive and well. Then he’d call her by name and take her home to meet the rest of her family—all ten brothers who looked as tough and solid as he did.
Fairy-tale garbage, is what it all was. The Blu Devil couldn’t possibly be related to her. Kristen glanced around the room and shuddered. No, she couldn’t be related to anyone who lived like this.
Exhausted, she admitted her bravado was slipping. She was confused and afraid. She wanted to go home, but the only home she remembered was the one on the island and she didn’t intend to go back there. Not ever.
Salva would be searching for her by now, and just thinking about how he would punish her if he ever found her made her sick to her stomach. He had contacts all over the country. Once he’d turned Belize upside down, she was sure he would dissect the coastal towns one by one.
She would have gone to the police if she hadn’t been so afraid that Salva was telling the truth about her fugitive status. She didn’t feel like a criminal, but she couldn’t take the chance. Not with Amanda’s future hanging in the balance.
But all was not lost. At least, not yet anyway. Yesterday when she’d asked to see the Blu Devil’s hand and it was free of Salva’s mark, she had actually felt momentarily dizzy with relief. The Blu Devil was not one of them—he didn’t carry the Maland dagger insignia tattooed into the palm of his left hand. And if he wasn’t one of them, then it was quite possible he was Salva’s enemy. That would explain the picture—her husband was big on vendettas. Once he’d had a statue constructed in a man’s likeness just so he could destroy it piece by piece over a week’s time.
Kristen had watched the Blu Devil for three days before she’d approached him. What she’d learned wasn’t anything concrete, but she had come to realize that, physically, he was an iron man. That his fleet of shrimpers docked full daily, and that he was always the last man to leave the wharf at the end of the day.
In the midst of her musing, Kristen heard footsteps on the stairs. Jerked back to the present, she sucked in her breath. Was it him? Had the Blu Devil come home? No, it couldn’t be him. What would he be doing here at this time of day?
She glanced around, knowing there was no place to hide—she couldn’t even crawl under the bed.
Filled with a sudden urgency, Kristen dashed for the door and flung it open. Bolting into the hall, she knew she had only a few seconds before whoever was climbing the stairs reached the landing. With no time to lose, she grabbed for the first doorknob she came to and nearly stumbled over her own feet to get inside. Heart pounding, she eased the door closed, hoping she hadn’t made too much noise. Her gaze took in the room in one quick glance. The rundown apartment was no better than the one she’d just vacated. In fact, it was exactly the same—bare of furniture, with only a mattress in the corner.
She glanced at the wall that separated the two rooms and to her horror realized that the shell of a wall was missing large pieces of plaster. In some places she could actually see into the next room through the narrow cracks. At that moment it occurred to her that maybe she’d been wrong, maybe this wasn’t the Blu Devil’s home, after all. But she’d followed him here yesterday after he’d pulled himself to his feet in the alley, and the day before that.
Oh, God, what if it had all been a trap? What if he had known she’d been following him? What if he’d gambled on her coming back?
Worse, what if it wasn’t the Blu Devil at all? What if Salva had been on her trail from the moment she’d left the island?
Chapter 4
It was him. It was the Blu Devil.
Kristen covered her mouth as she peered through the crack in the wall, another dose of fear lodging in her throat. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to think of a way out of the building without being seen. At the very least, heard.
As scared as she was, she felt an overwhelming amount of relief that it wasn’t Salva.
It was strange to fear the Blu Devil and at the same time want him to be her savior. His wild hair was so black it looked almost blue, she thought, squinting through the crack. It appeared stubborn, too, as stubborn as his ruggedly built jaw. His good looks were understated by his fierce, dark eyes and serious, hard mouth. It gave the impression he had never smiled a day in his life. His broad shoulders were as intimidating as his long muscular legs and the size of his hands.
Kristen didn’t like big men, didn’t like their forceful natures. She knew her fear was irrational; not every man enjoyed dominating a woman with force, but she had suffered so much at the hands of a big man over the past three years that she’d become jaded. And, she reminded herself, she’d seen this man in action—the Blu Devil wasn’t just strong, he was as quick as a bolt of lightning. Not even his limp seemed to slow him down.
He peeled off his white sleeveless T-shirt in one complete motion and tossed it onto the mattress in the far corner. He was beautifully put together—bodywise there would be few men who could equal him. Even Salva didn’t compare, Kristen decided as she examined every exposed muscle in the Blu Devil’s broad back.
She continued to stare through the crack, determined to find something about this man that might spark her memory. But she found herself again distracted by the sight of him—afraid one minute, in awe the next.
He rolled his head side to side. Stretched. When he reached for the zipper on his jeans, Kristen sucked in her breath and held it. Suddenly his hands stilled. A second later, he lifted his head and slowly turned to stare at the wall she was hiding behind. The crack she was peering through was tiny. He couldn’t possibly know she was there. Still, Kristen jerked her head back and flattened herself against the wall. Surely he hadn’t sensed she was watching him, not unless he had the predatory instincts of a wild animal.
A long minute passed. Then another. More minutes came and went. Kristen took several calming breaths, and shook off her paranoia. Still, she needed to get out of there. It was going to be tricky, but she was going to have to try.
She was still debating her dilemma when something hit the wall with such hellish force it literally bounced her into the middle of the room—something hellish, like an angry oversize fist.
Oh, God! Kristen let out a wild cry, then scrambled for the door. As she thrust it open, she came face-to-face with the Blu Devil. She screamed and slammed the door shut, at least she tried to—the door flew back open, nearly shearing off her nose. She turned to run, her gaze darting around for an alternate escape route. But she already knew there was none, not unless she dove out the second-story window.
She hadn’t made it halfway back into the room before a powerful