by S. E. Rose
“This was a house that was going to get torn down and a local architect decided to buy it and make it an eco-certified house,” she says. I raise my eyebrows at her knowledge of the property. “What?” she asks. “I can do homework when I want to,” she laughs. A small “meow” has me turning my head and I look down to see a black cat come sprinting over and rub my leg.
Vanessa laughs and picks it up. “I thought we needed a pet,” she says. I raise an eyebrow.
“Soleil?” I ask.
She nods and gives me her best pouty princess look. “She needs a home and a family and, well, I may have asked for her to be sent here,” she says with a mischievous grin.
“You have a cat, you know,” I say to her.
“Well, Winter needed a friend,” she pouts. I roll my eyes.
“Great, so now we have a herd of cats,” I groan.
She smiles. “Well, we have to start our family somehow,” she sings as she gives Soleil a kiss and sets her down.
I come up behind her and we stand staring out at our property and the water beyond it. “We’re home,” I whisper to her and she leans back against me. “I’m home,” I murmur as I kiss her.
Interlude
He grunts as he lifts the weights. This place is fucking killing him. He’s been here one too many days and one too many weeks and one fucking too many months.
A prisoner walks by him and slips him a piece of gum. He finishes his reps and then walks over to a treadmill. He unfolds the gum wrapper as he pretends to set up his run and he reads the message written on it.
“Materials requested are under your pillow. Go tonight. Meet vessel at the pre-set location.”
He puts the paper and the gum in his mouth and starts chewing as he begins his daily run. He goes back through his plan step by step and then repeats it and then again. He can’t misstep, he can’t make a single mistake or it’ll all be over before it begins.
Back in his cell he looks at the one memento of his life that resides in the small space. His father’s face looks out from the photograph.
“I’ll make you proud, Dad,” he whispers as he reaches under his pillow and finds the tools he’ll need to escape. “I’m coming for them, all of them,” he adds and then he goes through his plans one more time. He’s ready and they are not. He smiles knowing this advantage he has, knowing they’ll be caught off guard, knowing he get his revenge.
Jesse’s Playlist
“Call to Arms” by Angels and Airwaves
“Glamorous” by Fergie
“Next to Me” by Civil Twilight
“Mystify” by INXS
“Half the World Away” by Oasis
“One More Time” by The Helio Sequence
“Habits” by Tove Lo
“Au Revoir” by OneRepublic
“Light It Up” by OneRepublic
“I’ll Make It Up To You” by Imagine Dragons
“Song 2” by Blur
“Feel It Still” by Portugal. The Man
“Distraction” by Angels and Airwaves
“X&Y” by Coldplay
“Count on Me” by Bruno Mars
“This Town” by Niall Horan
“Cecilia and the Satellite” by Andrew McMahon
“Something I Need” by OneRepublic
“Amsterdam” by Imagine Dragons
“Whatever It Takes” by Imagine Dragons
“Good News” by Ocean Park Standoff
“Unstoppable” by Santogold
“Believer” by Imagine Dragons
“Fallen” by Imagine Dragons
“Won’t Back Down” by Eminem
“Way Down We Go” by Kaleo
“Cool Kids” by Echosmith
“Pictures of You” by The Cure
“Are You Gonna Be My Girl” by Jet
Acknowledgements
A portion of this book takes place where my husband and I honeymooned. Although that was sixteen years ago, it still feels like yesterday. I don’t know how the reefs surrounding Moorea have fared during the past few years, but I hope they are still as beautiful and full of life as they were in May of 2002.
I’d like to thank all the scientists (some of who I work with in my day job), who spend their careers making sure places like these reefs are still healthy and thriving for future generations. It’s an often thankless job, but your hard work is seen by so many, even if you don’t know it.
I want to send a special “shout out” to my editor, Judy. You have made each of my books better! (And you haven’t given up hope on me learning grammar, hehe!)
Thank you to my indie author tribe! You all are my best cheerleaders!
And lastly, Beta One for all your excellent input that makes my books better! XOXO
About the Author
S.E. Rose lives in the DMV. And if you know what that means, then you know where she lives. She currently resides with her husband, two children, and always at least two cats and usually other random creatures her children decide they need. While she works at a desk during the day, her evenings and weekends are devoted to writing and editing her romance novels. She loves all things wine, coffee, tea, and dark chocolate, that’s right dark chocolate. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, traveling, going to concerts, and reading.
Learn more about upcoming books from S.E. Rose at www.seroseauthor.com or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram @seroseauthor. She has many other social media accounts and you can find them all at: https://linktr.ee/seroseauthor .
Books by S.E. Rose
Available on Kindle Unlimited:
Island (Portentous Destiny Series Book One)
Secrets (Portentous Destiny Series Book Two)
Bravura (Portentous Destiny Series Book Three)
Coming Soon…The Final Book in the Portentous Destiny Series, Home.
Prologue
Nick’s Playlist: “Nightmares” by Easy Life
Present Day
It’s eerily quiet, too quiet. I don’t even hear the lapping of the water against the yacht. I sit up, momentarily disoriented and reach out to feel the cold sheets of the bed. Melissa?
“Mel? Beautiful, where are you?” I whisper into the darkness. I flip on the side lamp and look around the cabin. I’m alone.
I toss on some shorts and a t-shirt and find my boat shoes shoved under the bed. I walk out onto the deck of the boat past the small galley and sitting area. The moon is high in the sky and the water of the Bay is still.
I can make out some storm clouds in the distance, but right now is the calm before the storm. There’s not even a breeze in the humid summer air. I look up at the house and outbuildings. There are no lights on in any of the windows. Everyone is still asleep.
“Melissa!” I call out as I scan the yard for any trace of her. There’s no response. I groan and check for the johnboat on the slip next to us. It’s still there. I sigh internally thankful she didn’t decide to go out night fishing or some crazy biologist shit.
I head up the path toward the house. I don’t see anyone or anything. The wind begins to pick up a bit, and I know the storm is imminent. I walk along the hedges near the back of the house. A noise to my left grabs my attention, and I scan the yard. Everything appears in shades of grays and blacks against the moonlight. I squint, trying to get a better look, but I can’t tell if it’s a person slinking along the ground or an animal creeping along the wooded edge of the property.
I want to call out, but something stops me from doing so. It doesn’t feel quite right. My gut tells me something is wrong, and I don’t like it. I look down at my watch and see that it’s 2:30 a.m. Suddenly, a door opens on the front porch.
I breathe a sigh of relief when I see Jesse’s figure walk through it.
“Nick?” he asks quietly.
I walk over to him.
“Yeah, it’s just me,” I reply. “Hey, you haven’t seen Mel, have you?”
“Nope,” he answers as he sips something out of a mug. He gazes up at the darken
ing night sky. “Storm’s coming.”
“I know,” I say to him as I glance back over and don’t see the figure creeping along the tree line any longer.
“What’s up?” he asks.
“I woke up, and Mel was gone. I thought maybe she came up here or something,” I explain.
His arm freezes mid-motion as he brings the mug up to his lips. “What do you mean she’s gone?” he says slowly as he lowers the mug.
“I woke up, and she wasn’t in the bed with me. The johnboat’s still here. I figured she came up to the house,” I say, feeling a little more frantic.
“Shit,” he mutters under his breath. He lifts his wristband to his mouth. “Baxter, we got a problem.”
Baxter’s voice comes through the device. “Ten-four, heading your way,” he answers.
About twenty seconds later, Baxter appears around the corner of the house. “What’s up?”
“Mel’s MIA,” Jesse says to him.
“Shit,” he says.
“Yeah, exactly,” Jesse replies.
“Rally the troops,” Baxter suggests more than asks.
“Yep,” Jesse responds.
“Maybe she’s just inside,” I tell them, not wanting to cause a ruckus over nothing.
“Better safe than sorry,” Baxter says as he hits a buzzer. Within a minute, Jack, Lance, Cody, Dean, and Bryce are all standing on the back porch with us.
“What’s up?” Bryce asks.
“Mel’s missing,” Jesse says.
“Can I just go check your house, before we get carried away here?” I ask. They all freeze and turn to me, as though registering I’m there for the first time.
“Go ahead,” Jesse says, motioning me inside his home. “But, I just came from inside and no one was awake, except me.”
I brush past him and look around the downstairs. He’s right, no one is there. I go to the top of the stairs and listen, but it’s quiet here too. So, I walk back down and join the men assembled on the back porch and shake my head.
“I’m going to go check over by the woods. I thought I saw a shadow there a few minutes ago,” I tell them. Bryce puts his arm out and stops me from walking in that direction.
“Nick, I think we should send Baxter and Dean over there,” he says. As he’s talking, Pierce rounds the corner of the house.
“Did I miss the party invite?” he asks.
“Not your shift,” Baxter points out.
“Still,” he mutters.
“Jesus, stop with the fucking territory dispute. Save it for later, asswipes,” Jesse growls.
Pierce puts up his hands. “Fine, just tell me what’s going on then,” he presses.
“Mel’s missing,” I say.
Pierce’s face alters, and he looks serious. “What’s the game plan?”
“I just checked the house, and she’s not there and not on the boat,” I explain. “I saw something along the woods. One of you needs to check that out.”
Bryce sends Baxter and Dean toward the woods. “Pierce and Jesse, you stay here and maintain a perimeter. Lance and Cody, go check the guest house and garage and then maintain a perimeter around them. Nick, you and I are going to walk the water edge and the far side of the property. Dexter, Riley, and Silas are at the front gate, I’ll make sure they are on alert.”
We all split up and go toward our respective posts. “What time did you last see her?” Bryce asks me as we walk back toward the boat.
“Uh, I think we went to bed at about midnight.” I shrug.
“Can you be any more specific?” he asks me.
I roll my eyes. “Nope.”
“Fine,” he mutters. He climbs on board the yacht and re-emerges a second or two later. “Not here,” he whispers.
“Yeah, genius, I already figured that out,” I murmur as we walk back up the dock toward the small gazebo that’s down by the water’s edge.
Jesse’s voice comes over the wristband on Bryce’s arm. “Mainlines into the house have been cut,” Jesse says. “I’m waking up everyone and sending them into the panic room.”
I know Jesse had a panic room installed, but I can’t imagine it’s big enough for everyone that’s in the house at this moment. I don’t question anything but continue walking the shoreline. I turn back in time to see a figure far down the shore from us.
“Bryce.” I touch his arm and point.
“I’ll go, you stay here,” he says. I nod and tuck myself against a tree, watching him as he stealthily makes his way toward the figure.
He’s about fifty yards from the house when a ball of fire erupts from the back windows. And then all hell breaks loose.