Beachcomber Danger_Beachcomber Investigations Book 8_A Romantic Detective Series

by Stephanie Queen

“Did you think we didn’t know about the phone? The only thing that surprises me is how quickly you managed to get free to use it.” He smiled at her and grabbed her by the hair to haul her back to her chair.

  “Looks like the bread crumbs have been laid,” Emeline said as she took Sassy by the arm.

  Chapter 15

  Dane’s phone vibrated in his pocket, but since he was sitting in front of the Governor and the President, he didn’t answer it. He paid for the decision with a vicious twist between his shoulder blades.

  They sat in the efficient security room in the house that the President had commandeered for the week. Two banks of monitors lined the walls along with several sets of computer controls. There were no windows and two doors. One led outside and the other to a short hall into the kitchen.

  As it turned out, this man was the real deal President of the United States, not a look-alike.

  “Problem?” Peter asked, not missing a trick.

  “No sir, Governor.” Dane kept his face neutral.

  “You think they’ll make their move tonight?” the President asked.

  Andrews spoke up from the chair next to him.

  “No, sir. Not necessarily.”

  “Yes. I do,” Dane ignored Andrews. He figured the President had asked for an audience with him for a reason. His friend Peter was probably the reason. He couldn’t imagine the propaganda Peter had filled the President’s head with about him. The legend was old news.

  “Explain.” The President met his eyes. So, Dane explained.

  “They know we’re onto them. They’re desperate enough to have shot a federal agent and kidnapped a woman who they thought was Shana George, a hired assassin. Once they find out Sassy isn’t Shana, they’re going to either cut their losses and get out of town, or step up their assassination plans.” He paused but he had more to say and the next part was tough for him.

  “They’ll likely use the girl for leverage, as a hostage, if they need to. Whatever they had for an exit plan won’t work as well now that we know who they are and what they look like.”

  Andrews said, “We haven’t put that intel out there. How would they know we know who they are?”

  “They wouldn’t know for sure, except they saw me and Shana captured by the feds, so they’re assuming the worst.”

  “Why wouldn’t they cut their losses and leave now?” the President asked.

  Dane shrugged. “A hunch. There’s pride.” He paused and added, “They wouldn’t have shot an agent and attempted to take Shana if they’d planned to ditch the job. They would have spent their energy getting off the island.”

  The governor spoke up. “From what I understand, because this is a terrorist organization who hired them, perhaps they were told there would be consequences if they failed.”

  The President nodded and contemplated the situation.

  “Thank you, gentlemen. I appreciate your candor. We’ll go forward with our plans. I’ll be talking to your bosses, Andrews.”

  “So the party is on then?” Andrews spoke in disbelief but rose with the President.

  Dane stood and clapped him on the back as the President walked out the door without a response and was immediately joined by his personal detail. The house swarmed with men in suits.

  “Don’t worry, Andrews, we have a good plan.” He didn’t tell him that Shana had been out looking for Sassy and the Chambers couple. He held back from telling them that he hadn’t heard from her because he was fairly certain that the call he’d gotten had been from Shana. He hoped to hell it was a call to report on her progress.

  “I’ll see you at 7 p.m. then?” Peter asked as they all exited the security room.

  “After I take care of a few things and change into my tux.”

  “You’re not going after that Sassy woman, are you? I told you to leave that to the feds,” Andrews said.

  Peter put a hand on Andrews’s arm, telling him to back off without uttering a word.

  “Yes.” Dane expected an argument. He held the man’s gaze a beat extra just in case. But the Governor’s touch worked its usual magic charm. If formidable power and influence could be called magic charm.

  “You’ll be assigned to the front door since you’re most familiar with the suspects and they’ll likely be in disguise. Report through the security door in back at seven. At the latest.” Andrews turned and followed the trail of men behind the President.

  “Will your wife be joining you?” Dane asked Peter.

  “No. I refused to let her near the island.” He smiled and Dane felt the guilty stab through his shoulders yet again, knowing he’d love to have sent Shana away.

  “Later, then.”

  Dane had six hours to rendezvous with Shana and get ready before reporting back for the showdown. He was as certain that there’d be a showdown with Preston and Emeline Chambers as he was certain that he wanted Shana for his wife. All in.

  Once outside and heading to the back gate, Dane realized he had no vehicle. Shana had taken the Jeep when he’d gone off with Andrews. He lifted his phone from his pocket to his ear, and stopped to check the voicemail message. To hell with surveillance. Funny that Shana hadn’t sent a text like she usually did. He’d been the one who preferred voicemail. It was getting harder to read the texts, but he’d never admit that to her.

  As he listened he slowed his walk to a stop and felt his heart go wild with protest in his chest. Concentrating to keep his cool, to force himself into go mode like the professional he was, he listened to the voicemail three more times.

  Then he typed in Acer’s number. As soon as the man answered, after only two rings, he said, “Come get me. Now.” He gave Acer the address.

  *****

  Acer picked him up on the road outside the back gate of the estate where the President was staying. On the drive to the Lucky Parrot, Dane tried calling Shana back but the number where she’d called from had been blocked and he couldn’t get through. There’d been no mistaking that she’d been cut off. Violently. He played the message back in his mind over and over.

  Dane, I found Sassy and she’s all right. We’re both—

  And then there was a loud cracking sound and the line went dead.

  She hadn’t told him where they were. Hadn’t mentioned that they were in the company of the Chambers, but it was more than a good guess. Dane only wondered if they’d put her up to making the call to set a trap, or if she’d managed to find a way to get out before getting caught again.

  Either way, he had to find her. He had six hours.

  But there was no way in f—ing hell he would stop until he’d found her and killed Preston and Emeline Chambers if they’d touched a hair on her head.

  Acer ran down the stairs to the basement of the Lucky Parrot ahead of him. He was pumped with urgency. They both were, but Dane had to maintain his head and keep focused, control the adrenaline. As always. Only this time it counted more. And this time it was a hell of a lot harder to do.

  “Give me the phone.” Acer shut the door behind him.

  Dane handed it over.

  “What can you do with it?”

  “If the call was made from a landline, I can tell you the street address.”

  “And if not?”

  Acer shrugged. “I’m betting it was—you already tried calling her cell and it wasn’t functional. Plus, she left a voicemail instead of sending a text. It’s not like her.”

  “You make good points. I’m glad one of us is thinking clearly.” The admission cost Dane another stab through his shoulder blades, but the pain was so familiar, it felt comforting more than hurtful.

  He deserved the pain for allowing her to go off on her own. What the hell had he been thinking?

  This was quickly followed by the thought that he was a sick bastard to entertain the notion that he could stop Shana from doing what she needed to do, or that he should stop her. And it was sick to think he deserved pain. He’d been there—suffering self-inflicted pain to nullify guilt—and he didn’t want to
go back. He’d wallowed enough in the dark pit of self-pity. Shana had lifted him out and, damn it to hell, he was going to find her and marry her. Today.

  He straightened and rolled his shoulders. He was up to this. Shana was up to this. She could hold on until they got to her. And he was sure as hell it would not take six hours to find her.

  Acer had the phone plugged into his computer via USB port and was tapping away on his keyboard. Sweat dripped in beads from his temple. Dane looked over his shoulder and concentrated on the map showing on the screen as it zeroed in, narrowing to a smaller and smaller area.

  Dane reached in and enlarged it.

  “Damn. I know this place. It’s the pie shop. Sassy’s pie shop.” He didn’t waste time or breath on any further explanation, but went for the weapons locker Acer had assembled and flipped it open. He took out what he needed, an assortment of several items to augment his trusty old Glock.

  With Acer following behind him, he ran up the stairs into the crowded dining room of the Lucky Parrot.

  “Tom, we’re taking your car on a mission. Not sure if you’ll get it back in the same condition.”

  Tom looked at him and Acer a beat and then nodded.

  Then Dane took off out the back door and jumped into the driver’s seat. It was always where he was most comfortable and it felt good to be back.

  They picked up a tail and two cars surrounded them with lights and sirens. Dane got out and Andres got out of one of the fed’s cars.

  “Did you think I didn’t know what you were up to? Where is she?”

  “What the hell are you doing, Andrews? I told you I’d be back at 7 p.m.”

  “Where is Shana?”

  Dane didn’t speak. He didn’t want the feds messing this up, turning it into a shoot-out blood bath with no concern about killing the two innocent bystanders. He’d seen enough of this operation to know there was a lot of excitement in the agents to be the one to get the assassins, the one to save the President.

  There was definitely a shoot first and ask questions later mentality that he didn’t want to test once they got into the close confines of Sassy’s pie shop.

  “Where the hell is she? I know you know. You were in a hurry to go somewhere. You know where she is and you know the assassins have her.”

  Andrews got in his face, standing within a foot of him. Dane looked down into the agent’s eyes without flinching. He noticed in his peripheral that two men had hold of Acer and Acer had his you-can-torture-me-until-I’m-dead face in place.

  “Don’t give me this stonewall act or I’ll have you thrown in jail.”

  “You’re too smart to do that. You’re not Goodley.” As soon as Dane had uttered the words, he knew he’d made a mistake. This was no time to diss Goodley even if he was justified. Goodley was Andrews’s partner and he was hurt, probably still in intensive care.

  “Take him in.” Andrews turned and three Secret Service agents who’d been standing by his side grabbed Dane, pulled his arms behind him and plastic-cuffed his wrists within three seconds. They did the same to Acer.

  Damn.

  They brought him and Acer to State Police Headquarters and down to the basement to the lock-up area. Dane figured they’d keep them in separate cells—the only two available. They were under the watchful eyes of the two staties on duty, Mike and Frank. He’d beat them both at poker at Cap’s Friday night game the week before. He hoped they didn’t hold that against him right now.

  Andrews appeared within a moment after Mike and Frank made their apologies and went to stand guard and wait for instructions. Dane knew he could get out of here. He hoped to hell Cap and the two staties would forgive him for what he’d have to do.

  “This is for your own good,” Andrews said. “You should have told me Shana was missing.” He paused.

  Dane said nothing. He’d be out of there soon enough. Even if he trusted Andrews, he still didn’t trust the federal agents under his command, and especially not the agents not under his command from DHS and the FBI and who knew where else. They’d swarmed the island and Dane could smell the blood lust permeating the air wherever he spotted the agents. They were everywhere and even those not assigned might get wind and want in on the operation to catch the assassins.

  There was no way Dane would try to explain his concern to Andrews. He was a smart man and he’d figured things out this far. He knew without being told why Dane didn’t trust anyone but himself and his team to get Shana and Sassy out of there. It was simple really.

  Shana was his priority.

  Dane couldn’t give a f—ck about bringing Preston and Emeline to justice. Not really. That would come later.

  Dane wanted only one thing when it came down to it. He wanted Shana out of this alive and unscathed. Period. Everything else was secondary. Even Sassy was secondary, damn his soul to hell.

  “You’re a stubborn SOB,” Andrews said after several more beats of silence. “Have it your way. I can’t let you go after her. You know the Chambers couple has Shana. We’ll find her. Last word is NSA has a lead on a phone call. To you.”

  Dane swore in his head, but didn’t give anything away to Andrews, the smart bastard.

  Andrews paused another beat.

  “We’ll find Shana. You leave it to us.”

  Chapter 16

  As if that were possible. They’d have to kill Dane to prevent him from going after Shana, but he didn’t say that out loud.

  Andrews turned away. He walked to the stairwell and disappeared, leaving Dane and Acer with an agent, presumably Secret Service, and the two staties, Mike and Frank, to lock them up.

  Dane didn’t have a lot of time, but he needed to be smart and whole to get to Shana, so he waited until only the Secret Service Agent was left with them. Mike and Frank returned to their duties upstairs when their comm devices buzzed. Then while smiling, he punched the poor Secret Service man in the face, took his weapon and locked him in the cell.

  Adrenaline had fueled his quickness and he still had his penchant for surprising his opponent. Dane apologized, but the man was irate and shouted a warning at Dane as ran up the stairs, leaving Acer behind.

  Once he got upstairs, he was met by Mike and Frank. He’d prepared himself for this, but he didn’t like it. He grabbed Mike by the arm and drew it up behind him and leveled his gun on Frank.

  “Sorry guys. Down stairs.”

  “Don’t do this, Dane. You’re getting yourself into more trouble than Cap can get you out of.”

  Dane ignored him, mostly, as he shoved the two men into the second cell. He ignored the swearing by the federal agent. But before he left Frank stopped him.

  “You wouldn’t have shot us, Dane. Would you?”

  He turned to the man and answered him honestly, the stinging twist of guilt and regret overshadowed by his need to find Shana, to get her out of this unharmed.

  “It wouldn’t have been a kill shot, Frank.”

  Then he ran up the stairs and left by the back door.

  The sky was bright and the air hot. Dane thought for a second about running to the pie shop. It wasn’t far, located on the quaint main street of Vineyard Haven. But he’d need the car once he had Shana and Sassy.

  He’d also need the car to either bring the assassins in or to get back to the President’s house to protect him because they’d escaped.

  For one second, Dane was torn between returning to the President to stop the assassins or going after Shana. Because he knew chances were good that the two would-be killers would split up to cover both bases. Dane knew he needed to choose now.

  He chose Shana.

  *****

  After jumping into Tom’s car, a red Mercedes SL convertible, not ideal for sneaking up on a hot location, Dane decided he’d head down a back road. As soon as he turned onto the narrow street, he parked the car. Taking a chance, he dialed Cap as he drove. He wasn’t sure if Cap would be with him or not on this, but it was worth it to have the backup. Cap could arrest him later.

  Dan
e didn’t need to wait long for Cap to answer.

  “You are a f—ing bastard. What the hell are you calling me for?”

  That was not a typical response from mild-mannered Cap, but Dane held himself in check.

  “Shana and Sassy are at the pie shop. The assassins may or may not be with them. I’m outside and I could use some back up.”

  “You have a helluva nerve. You had all the backup you needed. All you had to do—”

  “Don’t give me shit now, Cap. We both know the likelihood of collateral damage with an army of federal agents on the hunt for a couple of assassins. They smelled blood and I didn’t want it to be Shana’s blood that got spilled.”

  He stopped and took a deep breath into the silence.

  “I’ll be there if you can wait three minutes.”

  *****

  Shana had not much else to look at besides the clock on the wall opposite her. Sassy had been taped to a chair now and their chairs were fastened together back-to-back. Emeline had decided it would be amusing to leave the duct tape off their mouths.

  She questioned them repeatedly and her lover occasionally interrupted her with a slap across Shana’s face. So far they hadn’t bothered slapping Sassy and asked her only a few questions. Since the girl’s only answers were sobs, they sneered and turned their attention to Shana.

  Shana made sure she was a more entertaining prisoner by giving lip and maintaining their focus on her. She ignored Sassy’s flinching each time she was slapped. Her face burned and her lip was fat, but she was otherwise fine. She could handle this. Though the minutes seemed to drag on.

  “How long do you think your boyfriend will take to get here? We’re tired of waiting. We need to get ready for the party tonight,” Preston said as he marched in a circle.

  “We have hours. We can wait a few more minutes,” Emeline said. “I might find another provoking question to ask our guests.”

  “Don’t let me stop you from—”

  “Shut up. We don’t need to wait for him. We know he’s out looking for you. This kidnapping was more a diversion than anything else. And when we’re finished, we have you two for insurance.” He shrugged.