Rekindling Old Flames (BWWM)

CHAPTER 25

It's been a few days since the girls and I arrived in Hawaii, and it's been amazing so far. I don't think I ever want to go back home.

"Tamara, could you put some sunscreen on my back, please?" I sit up on the beach chair and turn around after handing her the bottle of sunscreen.

"Sure," Tamara says but doesn't begin applying it immediately as I expect. I'm about to turn and ask her if something is wrong when I feel the sunscreen on my skin. She begins to spread it all over my back, but somethings not right. My brows pull together as I realize her hands feel larger and rougher than they should.

"Not to be rude, Tamara, but why do your hands feel like a man's?"

"Because I am a man," a deep voice says. I quickly turn around, and a frown appears on my face once I see who's standing behind me. Taking off my shades, I look around the beach for Tamara. I find her arguing with someone a few feet away from me. Squinting my eyes to see who it is, my frown only deepens. Harvey. What the hell is he doing here? My gaze swings back to the man standing before me. And not just him, but Beau, too?

"How're you doing, love? I missed you."

"It seems my threat wasn't clear enough last time." I snap, wrapping my towel around my body and picking up my beach bag. I begin to walk back to the hotel and away from him. I can't believe this. I left Texas to get away from him. Who told him I was in Hawaii?

"I know you don't want to see me, but I need to speak to you," Beau says, catching up to me.

"I don't want to talk to you."

"What I need to tell you is important. Please just give me a minute." Beau grabs my hand and pulls me back to him.

"Don't touch me!" I yank my hand from his hold and take a step away from him.

"Delilah, please," Beau begs, moving toward me.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Beau obviously has a death wish, because he wouldn't be doing this if he valued his life.

"I don't want to speak to you! Stay the hell away from me!" I yell before turning to continue walking back to the hotel.

"Delilah," he says.

I ignore him.

"Delilah!" he calls again.

I do my best to tune out the sound of his voice. I just need to get inside, and then he'll have to leave me alone.

"Delilah, please!"

I halt in my tracks. His voice...it's different. He sounds genuinely desperate to speak to me. I turn around and face him, wondering if something is wrong. My eyes widen as an awful thought pops into my head. Is Beau dying? Quickly walking back to him, I begin to inspect his body.

"What are you doing?" Beau asks as I pass my hands through his hair. I widen his eyes, look into them, and then feel his abs to ensure everything is fine. I'm not a doctor, but I don't think anything is wrong.

"You are not dying. Don't ever call my name like that again." I turn back to leave again. For a minute, I was terrified he might be sick, and he was here to tell me he had cancer or some other terminal disease. God! I was worried about him for a second and I hate that.

"Oh my God," he says, walking up beside me. "You care about me."

"No, I don't." I roll my eyes at him.

"You care about me," he repeats as his lips spread into a cheeky smile, and his dimples pop out. I hate that I think his dimples are so endearing. God! I wish Beau were ugly. It would be so much easier to hate him.

"You sounded desperate to talk to me. So, I thought you were sick. Don't read into it."

"Whatever you say, love."

"What do you want to speak to me about?" I stop walking and face him, might as well get this over with.

"I wanted to ask you if—"

"Delilah!" Camila calls my name, cutting Beau off.

"Camila?" My eyes widen once I see the worried expression on her face. I move away from Beau and walk toward her. She'd decided to get a massage instead of coming to the beach today, so it's been a few hours since I've seen her. "Is something wrong?" I ask once I reach her.

"Have you seen Tamara?" she asks, biting her nails. That's her tell. Something is definitely wrong.

"She's by the beach, talking to Harvey." I squint my eyes at her, trying to figure out why she's so on edge.

"I just came from there and didn't see her. So, I went to her room, but found it trashed."

"Trashed?" I ask, wide-eyed.

"Yes, I think something bad has happened to her. There was blood on the ground." Panic laces Camila's tone.

"Oh my God! Did you try to call her?"

"Yes, I did, but it's not going through. I'm not a cop, but enough episodes of Criminal Minds tells me there was a struggle in her room. I think someone might have taken her," Camila's voice cracks. She's on the verge of tears.

Oh God, could someone really have kidnapped Tamara? But why?

"Are you sure she's missing?" I ask, hoping the worst isn't possible. "It's only been a few minutes since you started looking for her."

"She is missing, and I know who took her," Harvey says, striding up to us.

"Who? And why?" I ask, confused.

Harvey gives Beau a look, and they begin to speak to each other in Cajun French.

"What is going on? What are you guys talking about? Is Tamara in danger?" I cut them off mid-sentence. I'm getting more worried by the minute.

"Delilah, do you trust me?" Beau asks, staring into my eyes.

"Why are you asking me something so stupid? Does it have something to do with why Tamara is missing?"

"Do you?" Beau ignores all my questions, asking his again.

Despite everything, I know there's only one answer I can give. "Yes," I admit. "I do"

"That's good. So, I want you to trust me to bring her back."

"How? Do you even know who took her?" I'm so confused right now, and Beau is refusing to explain anything.

"Harvey and I know how to get her back. You just have to trust me to do it."

"Okay, but at least tell me who kidnapped her, and why?"

"I promise I'll explain everything when I get back." His eyes flick over to Harvey. "Time is running out."

"Alright, fine. Please find her. I don't want her to be hurt or worse to be—"

"I won't let that happen," Harvey interrupts, looking more determined than I've ever seen him. "Let's go, Beau."

Beau kisses my forehead before walking away with Harvey. I run my hand through my hair and look to Camila whose face is streaked with tears. What the hell is going on?