by Matt Lincoln
“No!” he replied vehemently. “Well, not really. It’s just… I didn’t mention this to the police when I first reported the boat stolen.”
He was carefully keeping his gaze away from Walter as he spoke.
“That doesn’t matter,” I insisted. “Just tell us now. This girl was a victim for years. Whatever you saw might help us get her some justice.”
“There was some guy after her,” he finally revealed.
“What do you mean?” Olivia snapped, probably more angrily than she’d meant to. “You saw someone trying to hurt her?”
“Yeah,” Kenneth mumbled, unable to look her in the eye. “Right after she took off, this psycho came running up and started shooting at her.”
“Shooting?!” I exclaimed, alarmed at the idea of someone opening fire in the middle of a crowded beach like this.
“Did you see what he looked like?” Olivia asked.
“No.” Kenneth shook his head. “He just came out of nowhere and started shooting. I got on the ground, and when I looked up again, he was gone.”
“And it didn’t occur to you to mention any of this to the police?” I asked him incredulously.
He swallowed and glanced over at Walter again before answering.
“I didn’t want to get involved in anything shady,” he replied nervously. “I figured that girl must have been deep in drugs or something if someone was trying to gun her down in broad daylight. Why else would she steal someone’s boat like that if she wasn’t up to no good?”
“Maybe because she was trying to escape the people who were trafficking her!” Olivia growled.
“Look, I didn’t know, okay?” Kenneth retorted. “You have to understand, though, around here…”
He looked around nervously, as though checking to see if anyone was listening.
“What is it?” I prompted.
“Look, to be completely honest, I’m not really surprised,” he revealed. “It’s awful, what happened to that girl, but it’s not exactly a rare sight around here.”
“Prostitution, you mean?” Olivia asked.
“Yeah.” Kenneth nodded, still glancing around hesitantly. “And the people in charge of those girls, the ones who run the bars and brothels? They’ve got eyes and ears everywhere.”
I suddenly realized why he was acting so skittish.
“You think they’re around right now?” I asked.
“Oh, I know they are,” he replied as he took a backward step away from me. “Look, like I said, I’m sorry about what happened to that girl, but it’s not really any of my business. Just forget about the boat.”
“Wait!” I called as I took a step toward him.
“I don’t want to end up like that girl,” he snapped back at me, his eyes wide and frantic.
“I get that,” I replied. “But we can make sure that doesn’t happen. We’ll get you somewhere safe until we can figure out who’s behind this.”
“I don’t know…” Kenneth muttered.
“Her son’s name is Eddy,” Olivia suddenly chimed in. “She gave her life to get him to safety. He’s all alone now. All we want is to get some justice for him and his mother.”
“What, she’s dead?” Kenneth gaped.
“Yeah, she is,” I added somberly. It had been smart of Olivia to go for an emotional appeal. It had really seemed like we were about to lose him. “She didn’t survive the boat journey. Right now, you’re the only one who might know anything about who’s responsible for this.”
“Come on, man, you can’t put that responsibility on me,” Kenneth grumbled. “Okay, fine. I’ll tell you about what I know. But look, you need to promise--”
I saw the red mist first, so suddenly and unexpectedly that my brain didn’t immediately understand what it was. I was so focused on hearing what Kenneth was about to say that I didn’t even realize at first that he’d stopped talking.
It hit me then, just a split second later, that the red mist was coming from Kenneth. It was his face, exploding into a burst of blood and mangled flesh.
Someone had just shot him, I realized at the exact moment that I registered that the loud bang I heard was the sound of a gunshot.
I’d just watched our primary witness get shot to death right in front of me.
For a long, surreal moment, it felt as though time stood completely still. Then everything began moving again, violently and all too quickly.
“Get down!” Walter shouted as he drew his gun from the holster at his hip.
A second later, panic broke out all over the beach.
12
Ethan
I drew my own gun and spun around to find the source of the gunfire. It felt like time had stopped for just a moment right after the shot, but now it seemed like everyone on the beach had realized what had happened. Some people dropped to the ground, covering their own heads or attempting to shelter children and loved ones. Others frantically ran in every direction, stumbling over the sand and falling to the ground, only to be trampled by others attempting to get away.
“There!” I heard Walter yell as he lifted his gun toward the boardwalk. I followed his line of sight and found what he was looking at. Three men were standing just about a hundred yards away by the boardwalk, their own guns held aloft and pointed directly at us.
“Get down!” I yelled the moment I recognized the murderous intent in their eyes. I managed to throw myself onto the sand just as one of them pulled the trigger again. A woman who just happened to run into the path of the bullet let out a short, surprised yelp of pain before falling to the ground.
“Cover me,” Olivia suddenly yelled before slipping into the crowd.
“What?” I called, but she was already gone.
I rolled into a crouch and lifted my own gun, but there were too many people between us for me to get a good shot.
Walter, on the other hand, didn’t seem to share my concerns. He fired off two shots at the men, narrowly missing a young couple who happened to be running by them as he did.
“What are you doing?” I roared at him. “You’re going to hit a civilian!”
“What am I supposed to do?” he yelled back. “We’re sitting ducks!”
He wasn’t wrong. There was nothing around for us to take cover behind, and the men obviously didn’t have any qualms about killing any of the random bystanders who happened to be running by. Holm stood just to my left, his gun clutched in his hand. It looked like he was also struggling to find an opening to shoot.
I was just about to suggest that we run, if only to lead the men away from the innocent crowd, when I realized I’d lost my visual on Olivia.
I looked around for her frantically, horrified at the idea that she might have been shot in the few seconds my focus had been elsewhere. Then I suddenly spotted her, quickly weaving her way through the crowd as she circled around to catch the men from behind.
“Get ready!” I muttered to Holm, who was still taking cover on the ground. “I think Olivia’s about to give us an opening.”
Just as I finished speaking, one of the men fell forward with a pained grunt. Standing just behind him was Olivia, her gun pointed straight at where the fallen man had just been standing.
The two other men turned toward their fallen comrade in shock, and I took the opportunity to move in. I sprinted straight for the second man, who turned around just as I made it within punching distance of him. He moved to lift his gun, but he was too late, and my fist smashed into his nose with a satisfying crunch.
Holm had already moved in on the first man who had fallen to the ground, and Walter was going after the third. As for the man I was currently fighting with, he had dropped his gun when I’d punched him, and he was currently attempting to hit me back.
I raised my arm to block his blow, but he surprised me when he suddenly switched tack and hit me in the side instead. This guy clearly knew a thing or two about fighting, then.
Nevertheless, I could tell that his movements were unpolished and sloppy.
He was defini
tely strong, though. I could tell that much just from the force behind his punches. He was fast too, and it was all I could do to block his punches as he continued to rain them down on me.
Still, I was a former SEAL. I had years of martial arts and close-combat training under my belt. Regardless of how strong this guy was, it would be embarrassing if I lost to a street fighter who didn’t know how to pace himself.
Just as I’d suspected, after just a minute or so of launching non-stop punches at me at full force, his blows became weaker. This was my chance.
I dodged his punch and hit him hard in the stomach. He wheezed as the blow knocked the wind out of him. I didn’t give him a chance to recover and quickly swept his legs out from under him with a harsh kick to the back of his knees.
He yelped as he suddenly fell backward onto the concrete boardwalk.
He groaned as his head struck the ground, and I wasted no time shoving him onto his stomach and twisting his arms behind his back.
I made quick work of getting him cuffed and then turned to see how my partner was faring. Holm was bent over the guy that Olivia had shot and was taking his pulse. The guy was completely still, and the surrounding sand was quickly staining red. I could tell even from this distance that Holm wasn’t about to get a pulse off of him.
Just as I was about the check on Walter, I heard another gunshot.
I snapped my head around to find the source of the sound, just in time to catch sight of Walter falling to the ground, the man he’d been grappling with taking off a sprint away from the beach and toward the town.
“Dammit!” I yelled as I got to my feet and hurried to Walter’s side as quickly as I could manage on the uneven sand.
“I’ll call for help!” Olivia yelled somewhere behind me.
“I’m sorry,” Walter huffed as I fell to a crouch beside him. He had one hand pressed tightly against his side, and he was struggling to draw breath. “I disarmed him, but he had another gun. Rookie mistake. Didn’t even realize it until he’d already shot me.”
“Just take it easy,” I cautioned him. “Olivia’s calling for help now. We’re going to get you some help.”
He looked ashen, and his hands were beginning to tremble, so I helped him keep pressure on the wound by placing my own hands over his.
Now that I wasn’t hyper-focused on my own fight, I took a moment to glance around at the beach as well. Two people were lying nearby, in similar states as Walter. Several others were scattered along the beach, nursing minor injuries. They’d probably gotten hurt during the chaos as everyone scattered and trampled over one another to get away.
Then, of course, there was Kenneth. He was still lying where he’d fallen, half-submerged in the water, his blood staining the bubbly sea foam a repulsive pink.
I gritted my teeth in anger as I surveyed all the chaos around us, all of these innocent people hurt because of him and his ilk. I was going to make sure he paid for everything he had done.
13
Ethan
I ran a hand through my hair as I leaned against the back of the bench where Holm, Olivia, and I were sitting. The Cheshire Hall Medical Center was located far enough inland that I actually couldn’t see the ocean from here, though that didn’t make the view any less lovely. Massive, bright green palm trees lined the front of the building, though I couldn’t bring myself to relax enough to enjoy them.
Four hours had passed since the attack on the beach, and we were still dealing with the aftermath. Our primary source of information had been shot dead right in front of us. The police officer who’d been escorting us had been shot in the side and was currently in the hospital. One of the three men who had shot at us was dead, and another had escaped and was currently at large. Worst of all, three bystanders had been killed as a result of the chaos. Two had been shot in the crossfire, and a third, an elderly man on vacation with his wife, had suddenly collapsed with a heart attack during the panic. That was to say nothing of all the minor injuries that had been incurred as people ran and struggled to get away.
“Well, it looks like we won’t be getting another escort,” Holm informed Olivia and me as he finished his call with Diane at the main office and tucked his phone back into his pocket. He’d just given her a rundown of everything that had happened.
“Captain Smiley didn’t want to cooperate?” I guessed.
“He did not,” Holm confirmed. “Actually, he insisted that we ‘get the hell out of Turks & Caicos,’ according to Diane. Apparently, he’s telling everyone who’ll listen that it’s our fault that Walter got hurt and that we need to vacate the country as quickly as possible. That’s not happening, obviously. She’d already spoken with the consulate, and we have permission to be here, so that’s not an issue. It does look like we’ll be flying solo, though, since the local PD is refusing to cooperate.”
“Fine by me,” Olivia scoffed. “Too many cooks spoil the broth, as they say. I liked Walter fine, but having four people and three different law enforcement agencies on a single case is a little too crowded for my tastes.”
“Don’t hold back,” I teased. “Tell us how you really feel about it.”
She smirked and rolled her eyes at me.
“I am glad Walter’s going to be okay, though,” she continued. “I was so shocked when he stumbled back looking like that.”
“I am too.” I nodded before turning to look at her. “That was quick thinking on your part, by the way. We would have been screwed if you hadn’t distracted them.”
“Thanks.” She smiled shyly at me. “I didn’t even think about it, to be honest. The moment people started running, I took off too. It was easy to blend into the crowd and circle around behind them. I just wish I’d managed to take him down before anyone else got hurt.”
It had certainly been a rough way to start our first day here, and it was only about to get more stressful.
“So, you guys ready to go interview the one man we managed to arrest?” I sighed as I stood up off the bench.
“That’s still happening?” Olivia blinked at me in surprise. “After the police captain basically tried to kick us out of the country? You really think he’s going to let us?”
“I wasn’t planning on asking his permission.” I shrugged. “We have jurisdiction here. This is our case, and that is our suspect. If he doesn’t want his officers working with us, that’s his business, but I’m not about to let him keep us away from the guy who shot at us.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Olivia sighed. “I just don’t want to go back there again, to be honest. That guy gave me the creeps.”
The hospital was actually far enough away from the station to warrant getting a taxi unless we wanted to make a thirty-minute trek up to the station.
Ultimately, though, we ended up having to call for an Uber since we weren’t able to find a taxi even after walking ten minutes from the hospital. It really seemed as though most people around here just walked, as I’d seen very few cars at all on the roads, aside from the taxis that had been lined up outside the airport.
As we rode back to the station, I wondered if we should look into getting a rental car. Turks and Caicos weren’t particularly big, so getting around by walking was manageable for the most part, though it did become inconvenient in times like these where we happened to be just a bit too far from our destination. As we pulled up to the station, I made a mental note to discuss it with Holm and Olivia that night at the hotel.
We’d barely made it two steps inside before the officer manning the front desk stood up and motioned for us to stop.
“I don’t think you should be here,” he warned us nervously.
“What?” I retorted.
“What the hell are you doing here?!” A voice boomed from further inside the station. Captain Turner was marching straight toward us, his jaw clenched, and his hands balled into fists. “You have a lot of nerve, showing your faces here after the condition you left my officer in!”
“We didn’t do anything to him
,” I bit back. “We’re here to interrogate the man who did.”
“Oh, no, you’re not,” he sneered. “You’re not taking another step forward. Get out!”
“Yeah, that’s not happening,” I scoffed. “That man is a suspect in a federal investigation. You can’t block us from speaking to him.”
“You Americans,” he snarled. “Always thinking you can just go wherever you want, do whatever you want. You might bully everyone else, but you won’t bully me!”
“Maybe you’d be a little more receptive to the MI5?” Olivia interrupted.
It seemed she’d struck a nerve because Turner’s face actually went pale at that.
“The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British territory,” she continued. “If the FBI doesn’t scare you, then maybe they will. I can assure you, though, that they’re going to be on our side. We’re going to speak with that man one way or another. How stupid you wind up looking to British Security Service once that happens is all up to you.”
His face twisted into an ugly grimace as she finished speaking. He was glaring daggers at all three of us, and I was certain he was shooting us murderous thoughts.
“Take them back,” he spat at the officer behind the desk before storming back off.
“Sorry about him,” the officer muttered once he was out of earshot.
“Is he always like that?” Olivia huffed.
“Well, sometimes he’s…” the man trailed off. “Yes, pretty much. You get used to it, though.”
“I feel for you,” Holm murmured.
The man just smiled awkwardly in response.
“I’ll take you back to the interrogation room, then.” He smiled awkwardly before leading us further into the station. “His name is Frank Phillips. He has a few prior arrests for drug distribution, as well as one for domestic assault. Oh, but don’t tell the captain I told you.”
“Not a chance,” I assured him. “Hopefully, we won’t see him again for the rest of our stay here.”
The officer smiled gratefully. I felt bad for the man. He seemed like a good guy just trying to do his job. It must be awful having such a piece of crap boss. It made me want to do something nice for Diane whenever we made it back home.
