Fierce Shadows: Shadows Landing #4

by Kathleen Brooks

  “That’s the man who helped to drag me away from the beach at Palm Meadows Resort. I didn’t know it was him until I smelled his cologne and it triggered the memory. I remember that strong smell,” Harper told Granger as she pointed.

  Granger cleared his throat. “The one with the knit kitty hat with cute ears on over the scarf with kittens playing with a ball of yarn on it?”

  Harper nodded. They might laugh at Miss Mitzy, but tonight she’d been a tigress. “I believe Miss Mitzy did a wonderful job capturing their playful likeness.”

  “That she did. I know they’re not kittens, but I’d love a scarf with a panther on it. Do you think you could do that, Miss Mitzy?” Kord asked.

  Mitzy puffed up with pride. “Well, panthers are part of the cat family. I’ll look for a pattern tomorrow.” Mitzy and the knitting club fell into hushed consultation over the commission of a panther scarf.

  “And this one?” Granger asked.

  “I don’t know him,” Harper told him. “But Lydia grabbed their wallets.”

  “Here you go.” Lydia handed the wallets to Granger.

  “Kitty here is Carson Cruz, the head of security for Palm Meadows Resort. And the cute bunny there is also an employee of Palm Meadows. Hoyt Schmidt. And the last winner is a Vern O’Donnell. Where is Vern?” Granger asked looking around.

  “He’s the one who served me the drink,” Harper told him as Lydia groaned.

  “Sorry, I have to go. My time’s up. The neighbor said he’d only watch the kids for an hour. Oh, and we left Vern tied up in the tunnels. We don’t know how he broke his knees.”

  Granger shook his head. “I saw you all tie him up on the live feed Harper streamed. Glad you got your phone back. We better call your boyfriend. He’ll want to see all of this.”

  “I tried. He’s not answering,” Harper told him. What had been annoyance was turning into uneasiness. She was really starting to worry about Dare.

  “I guess I can call the office,” Granger said as he pulled out his phone.

  “They won’t tell you anything,” Kord piped in. “He’s new, remember?” Kord leaned forward and dropped his voice to a bare whisper. “They don’t know undercover agents. Only a few do.”

  “I’ll ask for the head agent. Take these guys to jail while I call.”

  Granger stepped off to the side as Kord lifted the guys by their arms. With the help of the still-armed book club, Kord took off their coverings and walked them to jail.

  Granger’s curse drew Harper’s attention. “Kord was right. They won’t put me through. The best I got was leaving a message with the night clerk that the chief agent will get in the morning.”

  Harper gasped as it hit her. “Wait! He knows Agent Castle.”

  Granger was already dialing the phone. He put it on speaker when it began to ring. “I’m busy, Granger.”

  “It’s about Dare.”

  “I know. I just got a call that there’s an unconscious woman who was assaulted by a Palm Meadows Resort employee named C.J. in a villa. I’m leaving now to take care of it.”

  “You talked to Dare?” Harper interrupted whatever Granger was going to say.

  “No. He had his boss call me. Horn is on his way over to my office and we’re going in together—quietly. Why?”

  “I found illegal alcohol under the cemetery in Shadows Landing and was attacked by a man named Vern who was a waiter at the resort. He’s the one who served me tainted alcohol at the resort. Then two more men arrived. One I don’t know, but the other is named Cruz and he’s head of security. And then one who helped Vern drag me someplace. I passed out, but that’s when Dare found me. I’m sure it was those two.”

  “I’m sure Dare will be glad they’re caught. What can I do for you since you won’t listen to the fact I’m in a hurry?”

  “We can’t get hold of Dare.” Granger looked up at Harper and she saw her worry matched in his eyes.

  “I’ll tell him to call when I see him. Now, I have to go.”

  This time it was Harper who cursed. She felt a hand smack across her wrist. “No cussin’ in the house of our Lord.”

  “Sorry, ma’am.”

  Harper waited for Miss Ruby to leave with the rest of the women. She made sure to thank them all before facing Granger again. “I’m worried.”

  “I am too. I think we need to pay a visit to the resort.”

  Harper nodded and grabbed the candlestick nearest Granger and tipped it over. She pulled a sharp dagger with a jeweled handle from it. “Let’s go.”

  30

  Dare was shoved onto a chair in the storage room. He was hanging onto his cover as he tried to figure out what to do next. He could fight his way out or he could sit tight and see what happened next. He opted for that when he saw C.J. carry in the first case with the chain logo. He went over to a wall and pushed in a brick. A door that looked as if it were part of the exposed brick wall swung open.

  Dare’s pulse raced. There it was. The evidence he needed. But was Cristian the one behind this or was he just the manager? “You have quite the operation going on here. I want in.”

  Cristian laughed as he took a seat opposite him on a whiskey crate. Benny handed him the gun and went to help C.J. move the rest of the boxes into the hiding space. The chain logo boxes and the altered BGM boxes all went into the hidden room.

  “You want in? I don’t think so, but it’s not my call. If it were my call, you’d be dead and lost at sea.”

  The door from the restaurant opened and Dare waited to see who would come around the curtain.

  “Isabella!” Dare yelled to try to warn her away.

  Isabella glared at Cristian in response. “What is he doing here?”

  “Benny caught him down at the marina spying on us.”

  Dare narrowed his eyes even as he was putting the pieces together. He had known she was a Coronado and that her father was corrupt as they came, but she never gave any signal that she was part of it. For that he was mad at himself for not knowing. “I told you then and I’ll tell you again. I want in. Can you get that through your thick skull?” Cristian leapt up and slammed his fist into Dare’s face. Dare took the hit but didn’t stop glaring at him.

  “Oh, Darrell.” Isabella sighed and took the seat Cristian had just given up. “We could have had such fun. I was really looking forward to our time together.”

  Dare moved his eyes over to her perfectly smooth face. “Well, you certainly have made the chase more interesting, but I think I’m the one who should be tying you up.”

  Isabella gave him a sultry grin. “Like I said. We could have had such fun.” With a sad sigh, she turned her head away from Dare. “Benny, I need the drug for our guest here.” Benny hurried from the room as Isabella returned her gaze to his. “We need to find out what you know.”

  “You don’t need drugs for that. I’ll tell you. Your boy toys use tainted alcohol to have some non-consensual playtime with attractive young women. See, just like you with your type of young men, I have a type too, and I want to play.”

  Isabella cocked her head as she looked at him. “You’re clever. How did you figure out that we were using tainted alcohol?”

  “Hello? It’s my job. But you fooled me.” Dare admitted to her. “I didn’t think you were a part of it, which is why I didn’t ask you to let me in.”

  “Ah, but I’m not a part of it. I lead it.” Isabella stood and looked down at him. “Does that surprise you?”

  Dare shrugged. “They use it to get women. I guess you could use it to get men too.”

  Isabella’s lips tightened as her eyes narrowed. “That’s a perk of their job, not the reason for it.”

  “I don’t understand. Why would you do it if not for easy sex or to rob someone?” Dare knew many reasons, but he needed to hear it from her.

  Isabella shook her head in disappointment. “And here I thought you were so clever. It’s all about money. The sex and robberies are the perks for the guys who help me get the product made and shipped. R
esort owners buy name-brand alcohol from us at dirt-cheap prices. Name-brand alcohol we’ve either watered down or mixed with methanol. We mix it ourselves and repackage it before Cristian distributes it. We pocket a profit and they save money. To the nervous buyers, we give them the water-downed stuff in BGM cases. It looks like we ordered too much from BGM and are offloading some to help our bottom line. To those who want it extra cheap, they get it from our own Coronado brand.”

  Dare let his eyes widen even now as the chain symbol made of Cs made sense. “You let Manny be a part of it, but you don’t let me?”

  Cristian snorted in amusement. “That goody-goody isn’t part of it. Yet, he makes the perfect fall guy, doesn’t he? Well, until you joined the party.”

  “Don’t get carried away,” Isabella snapped. “If he hasn’t told anyone, we can keep the operation going. C.J., get back to the boat and start picking up the new order. Cristian and I can handle this.”

  Having a cousin in the Coast Guard was a nice perk. He’d called ahead and told harbor patrol to leave their boat alone—a boat she’d totally hotwired after Granger shot the lock off her cousin’s private dock. Harper stood at the controls of Ryker’s superfast speedboat and navigated the bay. She shot around container ships and late night fisherman and couples out for a romantic evening cruise.

  Harper flew past the ferry to the island and then slowed as the resort came into view. “He’s somewhere on this island.”

  “There’s a marina,” Kord pointed out at the opposite end of the island.

  Granger turned to the small group. “Kord, take the beach. Trent, the nightclub we just saw. Walk along the condos and villas if he’s not at either place. Harper and I will take the main building.”

  “What about me?” Edie asked.

  “You stay with the boat. If we need an quick evacuation, head over to the beach and we’ll swim out to you,” Granger told her.

  Edie nodded as Harper pulled into the marina next to a flat-bottom boat that looked very familiar. “Granger, this is the boat from Shadows Landing.”

  “I got this.” Kord vaulted off Ryker’s boat and over to the boat she had seen leaving Shadows Landing. He lifted a hatch and a second later came back with a bunch of wires in his hand. “Not going anywhere now. Let’s find these guys.”

  Kord and Trent jogged off as Harper quickly turned around and grabbed Edie’s hand. “Are you okay here? You can come with us if you’d like?”

  “She’s safer here than with us. I don’t want her stuck in any crossfire. Hide from sight on the boat,” Granger ordered. He was annoyed at Harper for questioning his order, but they weren’t in Shadows Landing right now and Harper was never one to do what she was told anyway.

  “I’m fine. Go find Dare. You have something important you need to tell him.” Edie reached out and pulled Harper to her for a quick hug. “Be safe.”

  “Damn, it didn’t look so far when we were on the boat.” Granger cursed as it sunk in that the marina was a good distance from the main resort building. He looked around and saw a fleet of resort trucks. Harper stood back as he picked up a rock and smashed the passenger side window. Granger reached in and unlocked the doors before going around to the driver’s side. “Jump in the back so you don’t get glass on you. I’ll drive to the lobby. Knock on the window if I need to stop.”

  Harper didn’t question him this time. She leapt into the truck bed and hung on. A small headache was trying to start, but it wasn’t bad enough for her to stop looking for Dare. It was only minutes before Granger pulled into a parking spot a couple of buildings down from the main resort building.

  “I’ll start with the restaurant on the far side,” Harper told Granger as she climbed over the side of the trunk and landed on the ground. “They know me there and will tell me where Dare is. You start there and we’ll meet in the lobby. Hopefully with Dare in hand.”

  “Be careful. Don’t do anything without me,” Granger warned her.

  “Who, me?” Harper asked innocently. “I’m always careful.”

  Harper jogged away from Granger as he grumbled about all the times she wasn’t careful. She slipped into the side entrance since the storage area door was closed. Taking a deep breath, she plastered a smile onto her face as she walked into the restaurant. She waved off the hostess and headed straight for Rudy.

  “Hey! Where you’ve been, stranger?” Rudy asked, pulling out a new bottle of bourbon. “Look at this beauty I got this week.”

  Harper let out a low whistle at the twenty-five hundred dollar bottle. “Nice. I’ve missed you too. We need to do another tasting.” Harper paused and looked around. She didn’t see Dare anywhere. “Hey, Rudy. I was supposed to meet Darrell here. Have you seen him? I know I’m late but I didn’t think he’d leave.”

  Rudy looked around and shook his head. “I haven’t seen him all night. In fact, I didn’t know he was here.”

  As Rudy talked, Harper saw a staffer walking with Dr. Vella. They were whispering to each other as they hurried by. They entered the bar area and then knocked on the door leading to the liquor storage room. Strange, that door was usually unlocked. The door was opened and the two men slipped inside. The way the storage room was set up, there was a fancy curtain about six feet by ten feet so that when the door was open, patrons didn’t have to see the storage room. That meant when the guys entered the room, Harper wasn’t able to see if Dare was in there. However, the tingling sensation running up her spine told her he was.

  “What was that all about?”

  Harper kept her eyes on the door as Rudy shrugged. “Benny said they had a sick employee. They wanted Doc to look at him and told me to stay out until they made sure he wasn’t contagious.”

  Harper turned her eyes to Rudy. The sweet older man was mixing drinks for the tables filled with couples on date nights or those staying at the resort for the weekend.

  “Do you have a key to the storage room?” Harper asked.

  “Of course. Why? You don’t want to get sick. Just stay out here. I can have the hotel page Darrell for you,” Rudy offered.

  “Rudy, I really like you, but if you don’t give me that key right now, I will hurt you.” Rudy paled and Harper felt really bad, but everything in her screamed that Dare was inside that door and in danger.

  “Harper,” he gasped in surprise as he reluctantly handed over the key.

  “I’m so sorry. I need you to be really quiet right now. Okay?”

  Rudy nodded as he watched with wide eyes as she came around the bar and slowly inserted the key. The room was heavily insulated so they could run a small air conditioner in there to keep it chilled. Harper was worried about the restaurant noise, so she took a deep breath and pivoted around to face the restaurant. “Attention!” She didn’t scream it loudly, but she held up her hands and shushed everyone. “I’m planning a surprise for a co-worker’s birthday and I need you quiet for just a moment.” She smiled and gave them the thumbs-up as she turned the key in the lock and then placed the key in her back pocket near her dagger.

  Harper steadied her hand and cracked the door. She went for fast instead of slow as she quickly slipped silently through and closed the door. She didn’t want to risk someone in the restaurant blowing it by making a noise.

  Harper’s heart pounded as she waited with her hand on the knob for someone to race around the curtain to confront her. Instead, she heard exactly what she worried about—Dare’s voice.

  “Doctor, get out of here! These are not good people.”

  Harper knew most people walked to the left to enter the storage area so she crept to the right side of the curtain. Instead of looking around it, she pulled the curtain just enough from where it met the metal pole of a storage rack so she could peek through.

  Dare was sitting in a chair. A woman was sitting across from him. The doctor and the staffer were standing to the woman’s left. But it was the man with a gun that worried Harper the most. He stood closer to her. His back was toward her, but she saw the gun in his hand
resting at his side.

  It worked before, so Harper pulled out her phone. She sent a text to Granger and started the live stream. Everyone in Shadows Landing would know Dare’s real identity, but if things went wrong, then there’d be evidence to point to who did it. Harper dropped to her knees, lifted the curtain from the floor, slid the phone between two cases, and propped it up.

  The woman in the elegantly cut suit leaned forward. Harper couldn’t see her face, but she saw her perfectly manicured hand reach out and clasp Dare’s knee. She saw it slide upward until it rested on his upper thigh and her lips were inches from his. Anger surged in her, hot and reckless. The old Harper would have jumped her, but Granger had taught her to be careful.

  “Well, that just told me all I needed to know. You aren’t with us, so who are you?”

  Dare looked to Dr. Vella with knowledge in his eyes. “Dr. Vella, you’re in on it too? You know about the alcohol poisoning.”

  “Of course I do. Who do you think patches up the guests after they’ve been used? I make sure they think they just drank too much and send them on their way after a lecture. If C.J. or one of the others gets too rough, I tell them how they fell and hurt themselves. They almost always believe me.”

  Chills ran down Harper’s spine at the thought of what countless women had gone through before her and how lucky she’d been Dare had found her when he did.

  “Almost always?” Dare asked exactly what she as thinking.

  “Well, if they don’t believe me, Cruz takes care of that. He doctors the surveillance videos and kicks them off the resort after threatening legal action against them.” Dr. Vella looked around and Harper froze. She was so scared he’d seen her she didn’t even breathe. “Where is Cruz?”

  “He’s overseeing the product manufacturing,” the woman answered.

  Cruz was the man in the kitty cat ears that Miss Mitzy had tied up in Shadows Landing.