Her hand shook as she opened the lid. Six red apples. Green grass. She stepped back as a sob escaped her mouth. Why did he keep doing this? Did he intend to terrorize her for the rest of her life?
"Easy, child." Eleni patted her back.
"How did he find me here? The bastard's in solitary. Damn him!" Olivia grabbed the note and tore it open. The words were neatly typed.
Dearest Olivia, I will always find you.
"Dammit!" She wadded the note in her fist and threw it.
"Calm down," Eleni said in a soothing voice. "It can't be that bad."
"It is bad. He knows I'm here. This was supposed to be my safe place. My sanctuary." Tears filled her eyes. "I was supposed to be safe with you!"
"Shhh, child. We'll be all right."
"With a mass murderer sending us gifts and a panther outside the door?" Olivia paced across the room. "I have to leave. We have to leave. I'm not leaving you here alone."
"We are leaving. Eleven days from now."
"We're leaving today," Olivia announced. When her grandmother started to object, she raised a hand. "You don't understand how serious this is. Otis Crump is behind this, but since he's in solitary, he must have someone helping him."
"A friend, maybe, but that doesn't mean we should run away in fear."
"I'm not sure this is just a friend," Olivia explained. "Otis hinted that he might have had an accomplice for the murders, but I could never get a name from him. If this accomplice exists, then he knows where we are. It's not safe for you here. I'll feel better if you're with Dad in Houston."
Eleni sighed. "Very well. I'll go with you, but mainly because I don't like to see you so upset."
"Fine. I'll get busy making the travel arrangements. You start packing."
"Let me call Alexia first. She can help us get the house ready. You start bringing in the table and chairs from the courtyard."
Three hours later the furniture was covered with bedsheets, the blue-painted shutters were firmly closed over the windows, and the food, including the apples, had been given to Alexia. A cab picked up Olivia, her grandmother, and their luggage and took them to the port.
As they boarded the ferry, Olivia's heart sank at the thought of leaving Robby. She'd left a note for him with Alexia. She hoped he would understand.
She stood on deck with a chilly breeze whipping her face as the island of Patmos grew smaller and smaller on the horizon. Tears ran down her cheeks. Damn that Otis. The monster had defiled her sanctuary. He'd put her grandmother in danger. And he'd caused her to leave the man of her dreams. She could only hope that somehow, someday, she would see Robby MacKay again.
"Och, good. Ye're still alive," Robby said as he crossed the family room to the kitchen. At dawn, Carlos hadn't returned yet, so Robby had fallen into his death-sleep not knowing if the were-panther had survived his night out.
Now the sun had set and Robby was newly awakened and hungry for breakfast. He padded into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle from the fridge. Type A negative to remind him of Olivia. After breakfast he needed to shower and change. He was supposed to pick her up at her grandmother's house at nine.
He heard footsteps behind him and glanced back as he stuffed the bottle into the microwave. Carlos was shuffling in with a frown on his face.
"I'm afraid I have bad news, bro." He leaned against a counter and folded his arms across his black T-shirt.
Robby took a wineglass from the cabinet. "Let me guess. Ye have a stomachache from devouring a whole goat."
"No. I only had a few bites before the goat herder started shooting at me. I've never seen such a dedicated bunch of herders in my life. It's bloody hard to get a meal on this island."
"How sad." Robby poured his bottle of warm blood into the glass. "Remind me to cry for you later."
"Save your tears for yourself, Big Red. I went to the taverna an hour ago to eat and listen to the latest gossip on the mysterious panther." Carlos chuckled. "The police say I don't exist, but Spiro's telling everyone that I do. And no one can figure out where the hell I came from."
"Hell being the operative word." Robby guzzled down his glass of blood.
"Very funny. But there were two big topics of gossip today. The panther who has mysteriously disappeared, and your girlfriend who has mysteriously run away."
Robby gulped the last swallow of blood. "What?"
"The tavern owner's wife, Alexia, told me all about it. She helped Olivia and Eleni close up the house for the winter. She's Eleni's best friend, so she always keeps an eye on the house, waters the plants, and so on."
"Wait." Robby set his glass down. "Are ye saying Olivia left the island?"
"A little slow on the uptake, bro. Yes, she's gone. Her grandmother, too."
"She canna be gone. I'm supposed to pick her up at nine."
"The house is closed. I went by it on the way home to make sure."
Robby stared at Carlos, speechless. Completely gob-smacked. She was gone? Why would she leave? Had he pushed her too fast? Bugger. She'd complained about it all happening too quickly. He should have taken it slower. "Why would she leave?"
Carlos shrugged. "Maybe you're a lousy kisser."
"Maybe ye'd like two black eyes to match yer black heart."
Carlos grinned. "Easy, Big Red. I asked Alexia that same question. She said something had Olivia really scared. A man."
Robby swallowed hard. Had he frightened her away? She hadn't seemed that scared last night.
"Alexia was upset about them leaving," Carlos continued. "She wanted Olivia to stay and marry her son Giorgios."
"Anything else?" Robby grated. Now that he'd adjusted to the shock, he was becoming angry. Olivia shouldn't have run away. She'd admitted she was falling in love. You didn't run away from the man you loved. Not if you were loyal and trustworthy.
"I asked Alexia if she knew where they were going," Carlos said. "The grandmother always goes to Houston to spend Christmas vacation with her son there. So they're probably headed to Houston."
Robby nodded and strode from the room. Damn it to hell, he didn't even have Olivia's cell phone number. He hadn't expected her to run away. He went into his bedroom and dressed quickly in a pair of jeans, T-shirt, and hoodie. Then he headed out the back door onto the patio.
"Wait up!" Carlos yelled.
Robby didn't wait. He jumped off the bluff and landed with a thud on the sand below. He stalked toward Petra, tempted to rip the giant rock apart with his bare hands.
"Wait!"
Robby glanced back when he heard a thud. Carlos had leaped off the bluff, holding a jacket in his hand. "I doona want company."
Carlos walked toward him as he slipped on his black leather jacket. "Where are you going?"
"Running." Robby broke into a sprint.
Carlos ran alongside him. "Are we going to her house?"
Robby ignored him and kept running. Maybe he would go to her house. It was better than staying at home all alone. Lonesome. His pace slowed to a walk.
"I'm sorry about how things turned out, muchacho."
Robby grunted. He motioned toward the moon, which was still fairly full. "Why don't ye shift and go away? The goat buffet is waiting for you."
"Actually, I had intended to shift tonight so I could terrorize Spiro's goats again." Carlos grinned. "Just trying to upset your competition, bro. But there's no point in shifting since your bird flew the coop."
Robby ground his teeth. How could she leave him? It didn't make sense. And something Carlos had said didn't make sense, either. "Ye intended to shift, but ye changed yer mind?"
"That's what I said. You're a little slow tonight, bro."
"Ye have control over yer shifting?"
Carlos hesitated. "Yes."
"Then ye're like an Alpha wolf? Ye can shift without a full moon?"
Carlos grimaced. "Please. Don't compare me to those drooling dogs. Cats are naturally superior creatures."
Robby snorted. "Ye're both shifters."
"Our cultures are completely different. Wolves huddle into packs and follow the commands of their pack master like well-trained little puppies. A panther obeys no one."
"I think Phil would disagree with yer assessment of werewolves. He broke away from his pack."
"Phil is all right." Carlos smirked. "For a dog."
Phil had found his true love, Robby recalled. A lot of his friends had recently found their mates. He thought he'd found his.
He trudged past the area where Olivia had asked her three questions.
What do you want more than anything in the world? Without hesitation, he'd answered revenge.
What scares you more than anything in the world? Robby halted with a jerk. Losing Olivia.
A sharp pain pierced his heart. How could he lose her? Somehow, in just a few nights, she'd completely overturned his thoughts and feelings. What did he want more than anything? Olivia. He still wanted revenge, but it was no longer the driving force in his life.
He wanted Olivia. Now when the sun went down and his heart jolted back to life, pumping blood into his brain, his first thought was Olivia. At sunrise, when his heartbeat faded away and his thoughts dissolved into nothingness, the last image in his mind was Olivia.
With revenge as his goal, he'd lived in order to hate. Now he wanted love. More than anything, he wanted love.
And yes, it made him a better person.
His heart ached. He couldn't lose her. She was a part of his heart and soul.
"Don't give up, bro," Carlos whispered. "I tell myself that every day. Never give up."
Robby nodded.
"So are we there yet?" Carlos muttered.
Robby pointed at the Sotiris house in the distance. "That's it."
"I'll race you." Carlos took off at a fast pace.
Robby focused on the courtyard and teleported there.
"Show off!" Carlos shouted from the beach.
Robby surveyed the courtyard. The telescope and table and chairs were gone, probably taken indoors. He examined the house. Blue shutters boarded up the windows. The back door was locked, and the windowpane was covered with another shutter.
Footsteps sounded behind him as Carlos jogged up the stairs to the courtyard.
Carlos paused by one of the lemon trees and broke off a sprig of mint that grew around the base. "Place is locked up, bro." He chewed on the mint.
"I'm going to teleport inside."
"Are you sure that's wise? You could end up part of a sofa."
Robby placed a hand on the door and focused on moving himself just inside. He materialized by the door, unlocked it, and opened it. "Come on in."
"What are we looking for?"
"I'm no' sure. Something wrong."
Carlos pivoted as he looked around the kitchen. "Everything's wrong. The countertops need replacing. That stove is ancient. There's no water dispenser in the refrigerator door. This place needs a major makeover."
"Go check the rest of the house," Robby growled. When his annoying companion headed into the parlor, Robby examined the kitchen. It looked fine to him. But then he'd grown up in a one-room stone hut with a thatched roof.
The fridge was empty; the pantry nearly so. All the dishes had been washed and put away. The flowers he'd given Olivia were in the litter bin. Not a good sign.
He ventured into the parlor. It was dark inside with all the windows shuttered. Still, his superior vision allowed him to see the small room. The furniture had all been covered with bedsheets.
"I got it!" Carlos entered the parlor from a hallway. "I found something of vital importance in Olivia's bedroom."
"What?"
With a smirk, Carlos dangled some blue cotton bikini underwear from his fingertips. "A little memento for you, bro."
Robby snatched the underwear away. "That is no' what I was referring to."
"Oh." Carlos's mouth twitched. "In that case, I'll put them back."
"Piss off." Robby stuffed the underwear into his jeans pocket and stalked back into the kitchen. Something white snagged his attention. A wad of paper underneath the kitchen table.
He leaned over to fish it out.
"What did you find?" Carlos asked.
"I'm no' sure." Robby smoothed the paper out. It was a card with a message typed on it.
Dearest Olivia, I will always find you.
"This is it," Robby whispered. "This is what scared her."
"A note?" Carlos leaned close to read it. "Who sent it?"
"A bastard who's stalking her from prison." Robby stuffed the note into his hoodie pocket. Part of him was relieved it wasn't him that had scared Olivia. But another part was still angry. Angry that Otis Crump was terrorizing her. And angry that Olivia had run away. She should have stayed and let him help her. She should have trusted him to protect her. "Did that woman in the tavern mention any apples?"
"No. But she did mention taking some food from here."
"I need to talk to her."
"No problem." Carlos headed out the back door. "I'll take you."
They locked up the house, and then ten minutes later they strolled into the taverna in Grikos. Robby was surprised when the locals greeted Carlos like he belonged.
"This is Alexia." Carlos gave a gray-haired woman a kiss on each wrinkled cheek. "If she wasn't still in love with her husband, I'd steal her away."