Chapter 1
Kelsey Warren arrived at the gated entrance of Diamond Stone Quarry just after sunrise.
She ignored the No Trespassing sign, opened the shiny, new aluminum gate and drove down the winding dirt road until it dead-ended into a freshly bulldozed parking area. From the lot, an extra wide access ramp led to the flooded quarry.
Fresh rays of sun glistened on the quarry’s smooth waters and bounced up rocky, straight slopes. Despite the dawning light, the waters looked cold and eerily dark. This was a dive she’d have gladly skipped. She always preferred diving in the warm waters of the Caribbean or South Pacific to quarries. If her old friend Stu Hamilton hadn’t asked her to dive as a favor, she’d already be on her way to Dulles Airport to catch the next flight to L.A.
She stopped her car and sat back, letting her head fall back against the seat’s leather headrest. At one time, the played-out quarry had been the lifeblood of this region of Virginia. In its heyday, Diamond Stone had brought money, jobs and prosperity to Grant’s Forge. But that had been long before she’d been born.
Why the devil did Stu want her to dive this quarry? She checked her watch. Six-twenty.
Stu was late.
Getting out of her car, she walked to the tailgate of the rented yellow Jeep and opened it. She tugged a large canvas duffel bag toward her and unzipped it as she kicked off her well-worn brown clogs. Years of teaching scuba to tourists with no sense of time had taught her to prep her gear as much as she could ahead of time. She slid off her faded jeans and black shirt, revealing a blue bikini.
Kelsey pulled out her wet suit, tugged it over her hips, slid her arms inside and zipped it up just past her belly ring. She laid out a bright blue tarp, arranged her dive gear and underwater camera on it.
Sitting cross-legged on her tarp, she checked her watch again. Six thirty-five.
It wasn’t like Stu to be late. He wasn’t a tourist, but a businessman who prided himself on punctuality.
Kelsey shifted her focus back to the still waters. Hard to believe that less than a week ago she’d been in Fiji photographing surfers on the reefs near Beaqua Island. That Tuesday had gone particularly well. She’d not only shot a lionfish, but a school of barracuda as well. To top it off, the satellites had been working and she’d been able to email the digital photos to her editors at Travel and National Geographic.
But the day that had started so well had soured quickly when Stu had called and told her that her aunt had suffered a stroke. Kelsey and her aunt hadn’t been close. The old woman had resented having a fifteen-year-old dumped into her life and she never missed a chance to say so. But when Kelsey’s mother, Donna, had taken off for good that last time, Ruth had kept Kelsey with her. The decent thing to do, Ruth had always said. Whatever the reasons, Ruth’s intervention had meant no foster care. And as much as Kelsey had hated her sour aunt’s face, she despised the system more. To her way of thinking, she owed Ruth one last show of respect. So she left Fiji to attend Ruth’s funeral.
But getting back to the States had proven more difficult than she’d imagined. Kelsey had had to wait two days before she could catch a fishing boat to take her to the main island and then another day before she could board a plane to the States. After forty-eight hours of flying and numerous layovers later, she’d arrived early yesterday in Grant’s Forge, Virginia. Three hours too late for Ruth’s funeral.
Kelsey closed her eyes. She could almost hear Ruth now. “A day late and a dollar short. No good, just like your mother.”
To her amazement, tears pooled in her eyes. It had been eight years since she’d seen Ruth and ten years since Donna had ditched her, yet memories of both women had the power to crush the air from her lungs.
A tear ran down her cheek.
Ruth’s dour nature could be explained away by age, but Kelsey had never figured out why her mother had taken off that last time. Donna had left Kelsey before with neighbors and friends, but she’d never been gone more than a week. She’d always come back.
Until that last time.
A car sounded on the gravel road behind her, startling her from her thoughts. Wiping away the tears, she rose as a black Suburban parked next to Kelsey’s Jeep. Painted on the side was Grant’s Forge Sheriff.
Kelsey stiffened. Damn. The last thing she needed was trouble with the local sheriff. Sheriff Buddy Hollis had never missed an opportunity to razz her when she was growing up.
To her surprise, Stu got out of the Suburban’s passenger side. Just under five foot six with a large belly, he wore a white tank top, cut-off shorts and tennis shoes. His thinning gray hair was tied back at the nape of his neck. The sun had etched deep lines into his face.
After she’d gone to the funeral home and discovered Ruth’s service was over, she’d checked into a hotel room and crashed. She’d talked to Stu last night, but this was the first time she’d seen him in eight years. He hadn’t changed a bit. She couldn’t help but smile.
“I wasn’t sure if you’d make it,” he said, limping toward her. He gave her a big hug.
She melted into the strong embrace. Stu had written to her weekly for the last eight years. No matter where she was, his letters found her. He had always made her feel special. “I said I’d be here.”
“You’ve been promising to come home for five years. I was beginning to think I’d never see you again.”
Kelsey swallowed the tightness in her throat. Damn it, she wasn’t going to cry. Sniffing, she glanced down at his bandaged foot. “What happened to you?”
He brushed her concern away with the wave of a hand. “Nothing. A stupid accident.”
He was blowing her off and she was ready to call him on it when the driver’s side of the Suburban opened. Mitch Garrett stepped out.
Broad shoulders stretched Mitch’s faded blue T-shirt imprinted with the words Naval Academy on the front. Corded muscles strained beneath jeans that had seen better days. His black hair, cut regulation style, accentuated a square, unshaven jaw.
A knot tightened in Kelsey’s chest.
Mitch Garrett.
Damn her luck. He’d been her first lover. And he was the last man she ever wanted to see again. This town was nothing but one bad memory after another.
Mitch shook his head as if he half expected her to vanish. He was just as shocked to see her as she him. Recovering, his gaze trailed slowly down her body and then back up to her face. He sized her up, and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure he wasn’t happy to see her.
“Kelsey Warren.” The years had deepened his voice and made it rustier.
Every nerve in her body tensed. She itched to leave right now. Her palms felt damp. “I thought you went into the Navy.” Damn. After all this time, that was the best she could come up with. He’d definitely rattled her.
“I’m out.”
“And you’re the sheriff?” Brilliant. “Right.”
In her daydreams, she’d always been clever and witty when she ran into Mitch Garrett again. Now, she could barely string two sentences together. “Stu, I’m unpacked and ready to go. Whenever you’re ready, we can dive.”
“Mitch didn’t want me to chance a dive with the bad leg. He’s gonna dive in my place.”
“What?”
“Where’s Chris?” Mitch demanded. “I thought he was diving with me today.”
Stu shrugged, unmoved by their shocked expressions. “He’s gone up to Atlantic City for a couple of days of gambling.”
“He took off just like that?” Mitch said. “The guy’s a great diver but a pain in the ass at times. Sometimes he leaves for a few days without notice. Usually, it’s not a problem. Today it was. I’d have been in a bind if Kelsey and you hadn’t agreed to dive.”
Mitch’s jaw tightened and then released. “Stu, I could have called one of my buddies from the Reserves.”
“I figured with Kelsey in town, it didn’t make sense to call in another diver. Sorta like old times for you two.”
Old times. Kelsey nearly laughed. She and Mitch had met eight years ago when they’d both worked in Stu’s dive shop. The job had been a way for Mitch to kill time during the summer months between college graduation and basic training. For her, it had been a lifeline that had kept her sane after her last year of high school. Mitch had been kind and respectful to her. She’d fallen in love with him. At the end of the summer, they’d ended up in bed.
Kelsey sighed. “You should have said something.” Unmoved, Stu wrapped his arm around Kelsey’s tense shoulders. “Relax, you two. I’m just asking for a half-hour dive, not a trip down the aisle.”
Kelsey tensed. “Stu, I don’t think this is going to work. The sheriff doesn’t want to dive with me, and frankly I’m not too fond of the idea myself.”
A muscle pulsed in Mitch’s jaw. Bull’s-eye.
“I’ll pack up my gear,” she said. “He can call in another diver.”
Stu sighed. “Kelsey, don’t go.”
“I didn’t say I wouldn’t dive with you,” Mitch said tensely. He shook his head. “I’ll get my gear.”
Kelsey could cheerfully have strangled Stu right now. “You should have told me I was diving with Mitch,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
“I didn’t think it mattered.”
“It matters.”
Mitch unpacked his equipment and moved toward them, a large silver air tank in one hand and a black duffel in the other. His posture was military straight. Every step was deliberate, precise. Tension tightened his muscles as he moved toward her.
The years had been good to him. Dark hair, with rawboned features, whipcord body and ice-blue eyes that missed little. Very masculine.
He set down his equipment beside hers. “How many places you lived these last few years?”
If he could keep this impersonal and pretend they’d never been lovers, so could she. “Lost count.”
“You plan on sticking around here long?” He sounded as if he were checking the questions off a list.
She smiled, but there was nothing humorous about his question. “I doubt it.”
Mitch lifted a brow. “I figured you’d stay long enough to settle Ruth’s estate. Her house is worth good money.”
“I didn’t come back for the money.” More tension crept into her voice. “I’m pretty successful, despite predictions that I’d not amount to much.”
An unnamed emotion flickered in his eyes. “That’s right, you’re some successful photographer—a real hot ticket.”
It almost sounded as if he’d kept up with her. Unreasonable pleasure bubbled inside her before she tamped it down. “If this small talk is for my benefit, Sheriff, you can skip it. I just want to do the dive and be on my way.”
Irritation flashed in Mitch’s blue eyes. “How long has it been since you’ve flown?”
Now, he questioned her competence. “I never dive within twenty-four hours of flying.” That kind of sloppy mistake could lead to a burst blood vessel in the brain, heart or lungs.
“How long?” he said tensely.
Male divers had underestimated Kelsey before, but she always took it in stride. However, Mitch’s attitude struck a nerve. “Thirty-six hours.”
Stu’s gaze darted between the two. “Kelsey’s logged over a thousand hours. She’s one of the best divers around.”
Mitch lifted an eyebrow. “The best among the rich and famous?”
She didn’t have to justify herself to anyone and yet here she stood ready to recite her résumé. She stopped herself. “You been in the water recently, Sheriff?” she asked tartly. “Not many dive opportunities in the mountains, I mean other than Stu’s Dive Shop pool. I’ll bet the fish Stu’s painted on the bottom are very lifelike.”
Mitch’s gaze hardened. He had always hated a smart-ass, and he clearly hadn’t changed. Once she’d watched him toss a guy out of the diner for mouthing off to a waitress. “I dove in the Atlantic three days ago.”
“Mitch is in the Navy Reserves,” Stu said. “Spent the last two weeks in the water off Norfolk.”
Kelsey brushed back her hair with impatient fingers. Normally, she kept her emotions in check and it annoyed her that he’d gotten under her skin.
The annoyance in Mitch’s eyes gave her a perverse sense of satisfaction. Good to know she could still worm under his skin, too. “Then suit up. We’re already thirty minutes late.”
He yanked off his T-shirt. Dark hair matted his hard, lean and well-muscled chest. When he reached for the snap of his jeans, she tore her gaze away and dropped it back to her gear. A frisson of desire shot through her limbs. From the corner of her eye, she saw he wore bathing trunks. Part of her was relieved, part disappointed.
Don’t be dumb, Warren. Last time you got stupid with this man, you got burned.
Her mouth dry, she shifted her gaze to Stu. “Okay, Stu, why are we diving today?”
“I bought the quarry.”
She lifted her brows. “Why?”
“I’m turning it into an open water dive training spot. There’s a big demand for it. I plan to open next week.”
She lifted a brow. “But?”
“We had the water filtered and Chris and I started surveying the spot last week. Two days ago, we found an old car perched on the lip of a ravine. If a tourist were to get tangled up in it...
