Dangerous Deceptions: A Christian Romantic Suspense Boxed Set Collection

by Lisa Harris

  “Helen, could you work on the Kimball angle? Maybe talk to the Special Agent in Charge about her tactics? They’re brutal,” Earl said.

  “I’ll do that. I’m calling Espy. You remember her?”

  “Good idea.” Esperanza Diaz-Mendenhall owned a security firm that sometimes gave Hu Knows a hand whenever they needed paramilitary help. “Ask her to be on standby in case we need a rescue team.”

  “It will be costly, but Mendenhall Security is worth multiple times their weight in gold.”

  “First we have to find her.” Earl thanked Helen. He held his head, praying the dizziness would go away. “Father God, help me find Sienna. Help me track her whereabouts.”

  Track…

  Who was the best tracker Earl knew? There was only one. If anyone could hack into the FBI, pin down the signals coming from Sienna’s bracelet and watch, and locate her point of origin, it would be her.

  Earl speed-dialed hacker Leland Yang-Joule, and prayed she would be available at this hour.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Sienna woke up, feeling the motion of the floor beneath her, and knew she wasn’t on land anymore. She felt the same way she had a year before when GOOP took all the employees and their families on an Alaskan cruise.

  A window showed her an unfamiliar ceiling of the outside hallway.

  Where am I?

  She tried to remember what happened, but all she could recall was sitting on the couch with Earl, trying to watch Pride and Prejudice, but never getting to the first scene.

  Was it something she had eaten in the dinner?

  She tried to get up but realized that her hands were tied behind her back and that she was not alone in the room. She tilted her neck to look up. She couldn’t see anyone, although she heard soft sobs. Using her free legs, she pushed against the wall and the floor to try to get herself to sit up.

  With great effort, she succeeded in sitting up only to find that her cellmate wasn’t a stranger. “Genevieve, fancy meeting you here.”

  Genevieve wiped her eyes with her sleeves. Her hands were tied in front of her, unlike Sienna’s. “Give them what they want and they’ll let us go home.”

  “You know as well as I do that they won’t let us go.”

  “I refuse to believe it.”

  “Believe whatever you want,” Sienna said.

  “You know the combination to Finnegan’s safe.” Genevieve’s voice rose. “Give it to them, Sienna.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yes, you do. Finnegan told me.”

  “Told you what?” Sienna looked around the box of a room, trying to figure a way out.

  “That he gave you not only the combination of the safe, but the password to the laptop inside.”

  “Why would Mr. Ford tell you all that?”

  “You’re his insurance.” Genevieve’s voice steeled. “In his memory, don’t let us both die.”

  Insurance?

  When Mr. Ford asked her to his office several weeks before, he showed her a photo of the location of the safe in the basement of his beach house on Tybee Island. He told her that there was something he wanted her to do should anything happen to him.

  He gave her the passcode to get into his house, the combination to the safe, and the password to access the laptop inside.

  If anything should happen to Mr. Ford, Sienna would take the laptop to the authorities—notably the FBI.

  Sienna had thought she was the only person Mr. Ford had told. Now she found out that he had told his girlfriend—the same woman now trying to do what the captors told her. If everyone who knew were to point their fingers at Sienna, she could be dead very soon.

  “You’re going to get us both killed,” Sienna mumbled.

  The door opened, and Joy “Killjoy” Burditt walked in, one handgun on each side of her belt, plus a sheathed knife attached to one thigh.

  She said nothing to anyone. Her assistants went to Sienna.

  “Talk to them, Sienna. Save us both!”

  Killjoy’s men helped Sienna to get on her bare feet. She struggled to walk on the cold floor. They strong-armed her and led her outside.

  Beyond the railings was the ocean, deep and wide. The sky above them was filled with clouds.

  From the looks of the wooden deck floors, the railings on the side, the helipad on the other end of the vessel, Sienna guessed that this was a superyacht. If they could afford a superyacht, why would they bother wanting to break into Mr. Ford’s safe?

  Killjoy ushered Sienna down one flight of stairs and into a lounge surrounded by glass and windows.

  There, sitting on a bright red settee, was none other than Celestia Gavard.

  Sienna’s jaw dropped. She glanced over at Killjoy, who remained with her. The henchwoman didn’t talk much.

  “Welcome to the Blue Sea Diamond, Sienna.” Celestia smiled. “Nice to see you again.”

  “What’s going on?” Sienna asked.

  “Do you know how much this yacht cost me?”

  Sienna ignored her.

  “A hundred and five million dollars. That’s how much.”

  At this point, Sienna was happy to let Celestia ask and answer her own questions.

  Celestia nodded to someone nearby. He went over to what looked like a rectangular side table with a black tablecloth on top, covering it all the way to the floor and then some. He pulled off the black tablecloth, revealing a safe.

  It was about four feet high, and looked like the safe in Mr. Ford’s beach house.

  “Open the safe.” Celestia pointed.

  “Whose safe is this?” Sienna asked. At the back of her mind, she prayed that Earl would find a way to track her down and get her out of here.

  “You know as well as I do that this is Finnegan’s safe.”

  “Who brought it here?”

  Celestia pointed to Killjoy, who nodded slightly.

  “Now it’s your turn,” Celestia said. “The only person in the world Finnegan gave the code to is you.”

  Which made her valuable enough not to be murdered prematurely?

  Perhaps she could use this to her advantage. If she could stall as long as possible, it could give time for Earl to find her. Maybe? Unfortunately, she wasn’t wearing the watch he had given her. She knew she hadn’t because she remembered leaving it inside her purse back at the hotel room.

  “Why didn’t Mr. Ford tell you the code to get in?” Sienna asked.

  “He was going to. We were going to meet at Moss Grand Bahama and exchange information.” Celestia shook her head. “He didn’t make it out of Florida.”

  “So the secret dies with him.”

  “Unless he left the information with you.”

  “Find another way to crack the safe. I can’t help you. I’m only an administrative assistant, not a safe cracker.” Sienna knew there was danger to being a difficult hostage.

  “Sit her down,” Celestia ordered Killjoy, who pushed Sienna onto a couch.

  Sienna tried to straighten up on her own. It was hard with both hands tied behind her back.

  “Comfortable?” Celestia asked.

  What was wrong with that woman? It was obvious that Sienna was not comfortable at all.

  Sienna prayed for wit and tact and whatever other verbal weapon she could implement. At this point, she had to stay in the good graces of her captor.

  “I can’t believe I’m seeing you here,” Sienna said. “I mean, you’re worth billions of dollars. You don’t need to do this.”

  “I’ve used it up.” Celestia said as a matter-of-factly.

  “Sorry?”

  “I made some incredibly stupid investments and lost quite a bit of money, but primarily someone has been stealing money from my personal funds, and it’s my own husband. Can you believe it?”

  “Mr. Gavard?”

  “He thinks I don’t notice a billion here and a billion there.”

  “How?” Sienna found it hard to believe.

  “Our accountant fr
iend, Dana, did it for Zach—while she was dating Finnegan.”

  “What?”

  “She rubbed it in by carrying Zach’s child.”

  The other shoe dropped, and Sienna’s head spun. Had Dana been sleeping with both Mr. Ford and Gavard?

  Better yet, had Gavard used Dana for the express purpose of stealing money from his wife? Why would Gavard need it?

  “Zach and I were unable to have children,” Celestia explained. “You can imagine how broken I was when I found out Dana was pregnant.”

  “I thought that was Mr. Ford’s child.” Sienna figured that everything would be clear after Dana delivered the child.

  “Could be, but Finnegan told me that he had a fight with Dana, and she stopped talking to him for a couple months. However, Zach was all too happy to talk to her.”

  “I don’t…I mean, this is confusing,” Sienna said.

  “Nothing confusing about it. I’m divorcing Zach, and I want my money back.”

  “So you took money from the GOOP funds?”

  “Only what’s mine.”

  “Did Dana do it for you?” Sienna had to know.

  “Funny how it works. Dana stole from me for Zach, and I hired her to steal the same amount back from GOOP for me.”

  “Why didn’t you take money from Mr. Gavard himself?”

  Celestia laughed. “He’s broke, dear. He’s been raiding the GOOP coffers too.”

  “What?” Sienna couldn’t believe it. Could it be possible that the top leadership of the company had been draining it dry? How could they possibly get away with such a thing?

  Celestia laughed. “If you didn’t already know, Zach and I have lavish lifestyles.”

  “What about Mr. Ford? How is he involved?” Sienna asked.

  “Finnegan was my fall guy. Only he died on me.” Celestia sighed.

  “Is that the truth?”

  “Might as well tell you. Killjoy has prepared a feast for the sharks she has been feeding.” Celestia smiled, but there was pain in her smile, as though she was reluctant to kill Sienna. “I wish I didn’t have to, you know? You’re a good worker, and I wanted you to work for me. I really did. However, we’re beyond that now.”

  Celestia’s face turned into a hardened look. “If you don’t want to die, then open the safe.”

  “My hands are tied.”

  Celestia looked at Killjoy again. “Untie her.”

  Sienna felt the restraints around her wrists loosen. Then they were gone. She flexed her arms and massaged her wrists. She tried not to look overjoyed that her bracelet was still there. Ironic.

  Indeed God had used it all for good.

  Let my rescuers find me soon, Lord Jesus.

  “Did you pay off Agent Kimball?” Sienna asked.

  “Who?”

  Sienna heard the answer like a giant bell tolling. It meant that Kimball messed up on her own.

  “You know what the Bible says about money,” Sienna stood there. “I Timothy 6:10 says, ‘For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.’ You love money, sorrow comes.”

  “Sorrow?” Celestia laughed. “It came a long time ago.”

  “Did you kill Rocco and Arun?” Sienna blurted.

  “Stop asking questions and open the safe.”

  Someone prodded Sienna on the back, pushing her forward. Probably Killjoy.

  “How do I know you won’t kill me anyway?” Sienna asked as she walked to the safe. She knelt down. Killjoy was standing next to her. The henchwoman’s tall boots went all the way to her knees. They were polished black, but her shoelaces were red.

  “We’re just going to throw you overboard. The sharks will feed on you. Good for the ecosystem, good for us. End of story.”

  “Then at least tell me what you and Mr. Ford did to pull it off. I need to know for my own conscience.”

  “Open the safe and I’ll tell you.”

  “How about you tell me as I open the safe. There’s something inside that needs a password too.”

  “So you do know about this safe.” Celestia snapped her fingers. “Then I will humor you with stories you wouldn’t believe.”

  “Like what?”

  “Some of us have been skimming off the top of GOOP for years in ways you don’t expect,” Celestia said. “Technically, if you use a pen from work to write your own non-work things, you’re stealing.”

  “Except in Mr. Ford’s case it’s billions of pens?”

  “Mr. Ford? Surely you jest.” Celestia laughed again. “Finnegan was freaked out about helping me get even against Zach. He was afraid the company would go under. I had to tell him it had already gone under.”

  Poor Mr. Ford. “Perhaps the situation was so bleak that his heart gave out on Friday.”

  Celestia shrugged. “He was a good friend, but we must move on. Open the safe.”

  Sienna did as she was told. She remembered the code that Mr. Ford had told her. The safe opened like a charm.

  “The hardest part was for Joy to get the safe from Tybee Island to the Bahamas.” Celestia laughed. “Give me the laptop.”

  Sienna handed it to her.

  Celestia opened it. “Log in. You know the password.”

  Once again, Sienna did as she was told.

  Quietly, the laptop booted up.

  “Looks like it might be running out of battery,” Sienna said. “Who knows how long Mr. Ford had that laptop in the safe. I need to check the safe for a power cord.”

  “Go ahead.” Celestia motioned for Killjoy to look at their find.

  As both of them pored over the laptop, Sienna opened various drawers inside the safe. She spotted a phone. And realized what Mr. Ford had been up to. She turned on the phone and left it on. She saw the icon coming alive, showing that the laptop was now tethered to the phone and transmitting something somewhere.

  To whom?

  Sienna didn’t know at this point.

  Even though Helen Hu told him to wait for her, Earl did not. His quick and cryptic call to Leland Yang-Joule at Binary Systems opened up all sorts of doors at the NSA. Once Leland located the bracelet that Sienna was hopefully still wearing, the CIA got involved because the yacht was on international waters and one of GOOP’s investors, Mr. Lee of Canada by way of Hong Kong, was wanted for his involvement in an investigation that Earl wasn’t privy to.

  One thing led to another, and Earl Young ended up reuniting with an old friend, Dario de la Cruz, who flew him to a vessel at sea, from which the Mendenhall Security team launched inflatable boats that took them across the water toward the Blue Sea Diamond superyacht. In the dark of night, they shot grappling tools into the air, and climbed aboard the yacht.

  It was utter chaos, and half the time Earl wasn’t sure where he was because he wasn’t used to the night vision goggles. He found himself running down a hallway, ducking to avoid getting shot at, and then hiding behind anything that looked like steel. Thankfully, his Special Forces training from years ago kicked in, and he soon picked up speed and kept in step with the Mendenhall team.

  Then he heard calls for help.

  “Sienna?” It sounded like someone else, but she could be nearby.

  He radioed the team leader as he ran toward the voices. Somewhere he could hear the thwack-thwack of chopper blades. Either more Mendenhall Security team members were dropping in, or someone was leaving.

  The voices got louder and louder. Behind him came six or seven former military guys. The locked door posed no barrier to them as they broke it down.

  Two women inside. Both had their wrists tied up.

  “Sienna!” Earl shouted her name.

  “Earl?” Her voice sounded shocked. “Am I dreaming?”

  “No, you’re not. I’m here.” He sliced the ties around her wrists.

  “Thank God!” Sienna exclaimed. “If you came tomorrow—in the morning—we wouldn’t have been here.”

  “Why?”


  “Shark food.”

  “Not on my watch.” Earl grabbed her hand as they ran out, surrounded by armed Mendenhall Security personnel.

  “Genevieve!” Sienna tried to look back.

  “We got her,” someone said. “She’s with us. We’re going to get you out of here.”

  “It’s Celestia,” Sienna told Earl.

  “What?”

  “Killjoy works for Celestia,” Sienna said. “She had me open Mr. Ford’s safe. His laptop is in the—”

  A bolt of lightning brightened the sky above the yacht, revealing the entire top deck. Mendenhall Security surrounded them, battling Killjoy’s people, pushing them away from Earl, as he led the two women toward the chopper waiting for them at the other end of the top deck.

  It started to rain. The superyacht rocked a little on the waves. Through his night vision goggles, Earl thought he saw a swelling ocean. Great.

  “Hurry! We need to get to the chopper before the storm comes.” Earl pressed forward.

  Before he knew it, Earl found himself flat on the deck, the wind knocked out of him. A knee was on his chest, a weapon pointed at his head. He looked up into the eyes of evil.

  Killjoy?

  He could hear women screaming around him. Sienna?

  Suddenly, the knee lifted off of him. The pressure on his chest lightened. Earl caught his breath. Through his night vision goggles, he saw Sienna and Genevieve struggling with his attacker, pulling her away from him. They rolled on the tipping deck.

  A shot rang out.

  “Sienna!” Earl yelled, rushing toward the brawl.

  Genevieve slumped back and went motionless.

  Sienna screamed.

  Earl took the opportunity to aim his Glock. “Get behind me, Sienna!”

  He wasn’t the only one shooting back at the armed Killjoy.

  One of the Mendenhall Security personnel came over to Earl. “Get out of here!”

  “Let’s go home,” Earl ran toward the chopper with Sienna in his arms.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Seven months after they buried Genevieve in Atlanta next to Mr. Ford’s grave, the sun shone bright over Tybee Island, but the December weather was cool enough that Sienna didn’t break a sweat driving the moving van to her new beach house. Earl was in the passenger seat, the muscle man who had gone with her to Chattanooga to haul the remaining boxes from Uncle Tabbebo’s house.