LOGAN (BAD BOY BIKER ROMANCE)

by Jacobs, Kyle

  As he looked through all the keys, in hopes of finding the correct one, he was suddenly struck with a thought. Cole did not say anything about his piloting the boat. He made no joke about his needing a captain. Unlike every other man he had encountered since his arrival, Cole did not make fun of him about it.

  Interesting. More points for this guy. So far, he was racking them up.

  Owen found the right key. It was huge, and even had the word 'Front' stencilled on its side. He slide the huge key into the equally huge lock, but found it wouldn't turn.

  As he struggled with it, Cole pretended not to notice his plight and took pictures of the building.

  He struggled to turn the key. After a few minutes of this nonsense, and on the verge of cursing and screaming, he looked to Cole. "Want to take a shot at this? I don't think its been opened in years."

  "Sure thing," Cole said, and stepped forward. He took the key from him, almost gently, then gripped the lock.

  Owen was struck by his hands. They were large, and muscular. Almost like a carpenter's, or even a boxers. So this guy did more than sit behind a desk counting his money. He was in obviously good physical shape, and his hands more than completed the picture.

  He found himself thinking what other body parts of his were in good working order, when Cole twisted the key, and the lock came undone.

  "There we go," Cole said. "Just needed a special touch." That grin again.

  Oh, it's on, he thought, and his heart started to hammer in excitement.

  Before he could say anything, that could potentially betray his thoughts, Cole pulled the chains away from the door handles. Once cleared, he gripped both handles, then looked at him.

  "Ready?" Cole asked.

  "You bet," he said. He found he meant that in more ways than one.

  Cole pulled on the doors, which opened outwards. With a loud squeaking protest, both doors swung open. A wide dimly lit foyer presented itself to them.

  Cole piled the chain against the bottom corner of one of the doors, to prop it open.

  For a moment Owen had a sense of foreboding. As if they were about to enter a long abandoned haunted castle, as opposed to a neglected luxury resort.

  "Big strong men first," Owen said to him with a grin.

  Cole laughed at his comment. "Well, since there doesn't seem to be any around, I'll take the lead." He entered.

  Trying not to think of all the other potential magical things those big strong hands could accomplish, Owen followed him inside.

  Chapter 5

  Owen

  As soon as they entered nothing jumped out to attack them, much to Owen's relief.

  The main entrance foyer was huge to the point of being cavernous. The vaulted ceiling extended up to the third story roof. Large, open entryways lead to the east and west, with what looked to be the start of the dining hall directly to the north.

  A wide stairway, slowly curved along the wall leading up to vanish at the second floor. The floor was composed of wide square stone tile, and other than a fine layer of dust and sand, was none the worse for wear.

  The entryway alone could easily have handled several dozen arriving tourists at the same time and still had room for a football team to play a game.

  "Wow," Cole said, stating the obvious.

  "Yeah, wow is right," Owen agreed.

  They both stood for a few moments drinking in this huge wide structure. And this was but a fraction of what the main building had to offer.

  "Doesn't look to bad for being ignore for several years," Cole said, kicking at the dusty floor.

  "Guess they had it sealed up pretty good," Owen said. "The construction used the best materials and most advanced architectural techniques. Or so the brief says."

  Just looking at it all one could tell a tremendous effort was made to make this one of the finest buildings in all the South Pacific. To think some greedy idiots ruined it was almost an offence on common sense.

  "Doesn't look like we even need flashlights," Cole said.

  Owen agreed. Most of the windows had some amount of outside boarding done to them, but enough space was left that the bright early sunshine found its way in. That and the wide bright colored walls helped bounce light around.

  "I have a couple of flashlights, just in case," Owen said.

  "For someone who had to show up in a rush, you came prepared."

  Again, a compliment. He smiled. He was getting use to them.

  But Owen didn't want him to stop.

  "Let's just take a peak in the dining hall, then head upstairs and work our way down," Cole said.

  Owen nodded and they walked across the huge room, their footsteps echoing off the walls. Other than the occasional breeze from the front entrance, it was otherwise as silent as a tomb.

  They stood in the double wide entryway of the dining hall. There was no longer any furniture. Anything of worth had long since been stripped away to sell. So all that was here were some discarded folding chairs and tables leaning up against one wall. The rest of the huge hall was barren of features. At the far end was a stage, long unused.

  Owen could almost imagine this hall full of people and wide, round tables. Food of all kinds being served to happy couples, and newly weds. A cheerful band could have played on the stage, taking requests and keeping the mood upbeat throughout the meal.

  Now it just looked sad. Like the rest of the complex.

  The Realtor in the back of his mind waved a red flag and Owen glanced over at Cole. He seemed lost in thought as his eyes took in the vast space.

  "I think with a couple of throw pillows and a little dusting, this place would be as good as new," he said with some levity.

  For a brief moment, Cole did not appear to comprehend his dry quip, but then he burst into laughter. Slightly relieved, Owen found himself laughing, too.

  "Actually," Cole said, "I was thinking this would convert well into a bowling alley."

  Owen couldn't read is dead pan expression, but when Cole laughed again, he joined in.

  And a sense of humor, too, he thought. This keeps getting better by the minute.

  "Come on," Cole said. "Let's check upstairs."

  They went back into the main foyer then started to ascend the stairs along the wall. It was so wide that a half dozen tourists hauling luggage could have climbed these steps and not got in each other's way. The banisters looked to be of a thick mahogany and just underlined how much money was used here.

  "I can imagine children sliding down those and causing their parents to have heart attacks," Cole said, indicating the banisters.

  "Yeah," Owen said. Then he found himself blurting, "Do you have any children?" And immediately regretted it.

  Cole's face transformed from one of outgoing happiness, to a sudden sullen gloom. "No," he answered. "I don't." And went quiet, instead focusing on the steps they were climbing.

  Ah, damn! Owen thought. What did he just do? Based on his research of Cole, he never considered looking into the public details of his personal life. He sensed that asking such a question just made whatever friendly progress they had going slip into reverse.

  Then, unexpectedly, Cole looked over to his and said, "Well, not yet, anyway." And offered him a wide, glowing smile.

  Owen's heart was suddenly hammering in his chest. Whoa.

  The reached the second floor entryway, while the stairs continued up to the third, and final floor. Directly across was another wide hall, with vaulted ceilings. It appeared to some sort of resting area. On its far side were some double glass doors, that lead out to a huge balcony.

  They looked down the east wing, then west wing hallways. Dozens of room doors presented themselves.

  "What do you think? Should we check out the balcony?" Owen asked. He was a little relieved that whatever mood swing he accidentally triggered had gone. Cole appeared back to his old, cheerful self.

  "Sure," Cole said. As they approached, he noticed another set of chains, and a padlock, but this one was considerably small
er than the one at the front.

  "You are the key master," Cole said.

  He fished out the key ring again, and started to hunt through them. Finding the key he inserted it into the padlock. Thankfully, it did not fight back and unlocked. As he unwrapped its small chain from the doorhandles he looked to Cole who was trying to peer through the boards to see outside.

  At his handsome profile Owen was struck with a thought. This guy would most definitely be worth adopting children with.

  "There we go," Owen said. He stepped back as Cole pushed the wide doors outward.

  They were hit with bright sunshine and a warm breeze, as they emerged from the the grey murk of the resort's interior.

  Like the rest of the building, the balcony was gigantic. No doubt it was used for an eating area as well.

  As they stepped out, Owen's phone burred, indicating a message.

  "Oh," he said. "This will just take a moment."

  "No problem, take your time," Cole said, and walked toward the edge of the balcony.

  The text message was from Naomi. It read, "Handsome? Gorgeous? Studly? Tell me!" Owen could practically hear his sister's voice hollering these words from New York, demanding answers.

  "Oh, boy," he said. He didn't have time for this right now. he simply texted back, 'Busy now. Later.'

  He hoped that would placate Naomi. At least for the moment.

  Owen walked over to join Cole at the edge of the balcony.

  "Stunning, huh?" Cole asked.

  It was. The view was absolutely spectacular. At this height, they had a commanding view of almost the entire bay, save for some overgrown trees which muddled it a bit. But the vista was breath taking, to say the least. Deep green jungle, aqua marine ocean, bright blue endless sky.

  Owen needed a moment to truly appreciate what he was seeing. "Sheesh," he said, finally.

  Cole was equally impressed. "I guess this explains the price, eh?" he said, indicating all before them.

  Owen laughed. "Definitely. And worth every penny." He said this with the widest smile possible, showing as much of his pearly whites as he could.

  Cole laughed. "I guess I asked for that. But, still, I've been to many places in the world, and I am completely bowled over by this."

  Owen's inner Realtor was now screaming at him, with trumpets blaring. He's sold on the place! Get him to agree to a price while he's weak with the appreciation of its beauty! Go! Go!

  "Well, this is quite unique, you must admit," he started to say, slipping into business mode. That was why they were there, after all. "Perhaps if you looked at this agreement, I'm sure you'll find - "

  Just then Owen's phone rang loudly in his bag.

  "Ah, crud," he said. Bad moment or what? "Let me just get rid of them."

  "Sure," Cole said, but instead of taking the agreement from Owen's hand he returned his gaze back to the view.

  Damn it! he thought. Moment ruined!

  He snatched the still ringing phone from his bag and checked the display. It was from Naomi.

  "One second," Owen said to Cole, but he didn't seem to hear him, lost in the majestic view.

  Owen took a few steps away, then answered. "You have some very bad timing, sister mine!" He hissed into the phone.

  From clear across the planet, his sister responded with, "Why? Are you two naked already? Sealing the deal, as it were?"

  "No, but I was close," Owen said, trying not to growl. "I have him on the ropes. He's in love with place. I just have to get it down on paper."

  "Ropes? Love? Getting down? Brother, you just can't keep your hands off our clients can you?"

  Owen made an effort to count to five before speaking. "Look, things are going well. I should have a tentative agreement soon. If you would just leave me alone to - "

  "But that is just my way!" Naomi interrupted. "You know how darn paranoid I am. When I didn't hear from you I started to worry. Thought I'd call the navy, or the marines, or whatever it is they have down there. What do they have, anyway?"

  Owen had to set his sister straight once and for all, or this could very well go on all day. Well, at least until the agreement was signed, then Naomi can pester him all he wanted.

  "I want you to listen to me, please," Owen said.

  "Okay, little brother, I'm listening," Naomi said. Owen sensed she was still not being serious.

  "Listen carefully," Owen continued. "It is very, very important that you - ."

  His phone connection suddenly went dead with an audible click.

  Having lost his momentum, Owen gaped at the phone's display, trying not to curse. No signal.

  "Shoot," he said, glaring at the little screen.

  "What's up," Cole asked, walking over to his.

  "Ah, my signal cut out. Dropped the call on me."

  "No worries," Cole said. "Here, you can use mine." He produced a sleek black phone that looked like it belonged on the set of a science fiction movie. "Its a prototype from one of my companies. The military uses it and will never lose its signal."

  "Ever?" Owen asked, impressed.

  "Ever," he said. "Well, unless someone shoots the satellite out of the - ." He stopped talking, staring at the screen.

  "What is it?" Owen said.

  "Well, that's odd." Cole looked at the phone, concerned. "There is no signal. But that's impossible."

  "We both lost our signal? Huh," Owen said. "Maybe someone did shoot the satellite out of the sky after all."

  Cole was not sharing the joke. He wasn't smiling. He looked worried.

  Uh oh, Owen thought, alarm bells starting to ring in his head.

  "The only other way," Cole said, thinking out loud, "was if the signal was being purposely jammed." He looked up from the phone to Owen. His face serious. "Maybe we should just return to the boat and - ." He glanced out toward the bay, and froze. His eyes widened.

  Owen looked.

  Through the leaves and branches of the over grown trees they could see the bay almost clearly. At the end of the dock sat their boat. But behind it was another ship. A large one. It looked like it had just arrived because men were jumping off of it and hurrying down the dock.

  But there was one particular detail that had Owen's immediate and full attention:

  All the men were carrying guns.

  Chapter 6

  Gideon

  Gideon was extremely pleased with himself, although he made an effort to hide that fact from his men. No need to give them reason to get sloppy.

  Almost on schedule, they spotted Grant's boat appearing on the horizon. This had given credence to Gideon's decision to pay the Marrishan Harbor Master almost double what he originally intended. That decision had paid off. With that information they knew exactly when Grant would arrive.

  And arrive he did.

  Despite Sannik's murmuring protests, Gideon made sure no one moved from their position, or even started the engines, for fear that anything at all might raise Grant's suspicions. Having your prey escape because someone was impatient would not be ideal. In fact, given his current crew of thugs, it would be quite fatal.

  Once Grant's boat had vanished into Vadisha's cove, he gave the signal. All pieces were now in play.

  As they had approached the island and full speed, Gideon cycled through all their communications one final time. When everyone checked in, only then did he tell Martin to activate the electronics jammer.

  The device was as ingenious as it was an annoyance. Not only would it kill any electronic signals, especially from satellites, it greatly limited his own communications with his men. Martin had attuned things so that, at the very least, they could use short range walkie talkies. But even then they would be almost unreliable.

  No matter. Everyone knew the plan, and everyone was well versed on its contingencies if anything went awry. Not that it would. There was only a fat cat billionaire, and some Realtor to contend with. He expected things to go smoothly.

  He found himself grinning as his ship pulled into the bay, presentin
g a full view of the resort. But his own eyes locked on Grant's rental boat, firmly tied to its moors on the dock.

  Perfect.

  As Sannik pulled their own ship up behind Grant's, the Filipino mercenary barked orders to the men who jostled along the ships railings to be the first on the docks; to be the first to nab Grant.