by Matt Lincoln
“Uh-oh,” I replied. “Who are the bad guys?”
“Dey mean,” Eddy mumbled. He was rocking back and forth more intensely now, and his chin was tucked into his chest. I’d noticed that the kid hadn’t been making eye contact with me the entire time we’d been talking, but I’d assumed it might just be a result of his developmental issues. Now that he’d brought up “bad guys,” I wondered if there might be more to it.
“They were mean to you?” I frowned. “I’m very sorry to hear that, Eddy.”
I wanted to ask him for more details on what he meant by mean, but I was worried that it might just upset him. He already seemed like he was in distress.
“Eddy,” Agent Hastings chimed in.
He looked at her right away, which confirmed my suspicion that it was me, specifically, that the kid was unable to look in the eye. My stomach churned at the thought of what he might have experienced to have that kind of reaction to men as opposed to women.
“You want to know something cool about my friend Ethan?” she asked him as she placed a hand on my shoulder. I might have laughed at the idea of her calling me her ‘friend’ when she’d been practically murdering me with her eyes earlier if it hadn’t been for the kid. “He’s got a super cool power. See, Ethan is a good guy. His special power is beating up bad guys, just like that stegosaurus beat up that mean T-Rex.”
Eddy glanced over at me for just a second, his eyes wide and sparkling with a mix of awe and skepticism.
“Isn’t that right, Ethan?” Olivia muttered pointedly.
“Yep.” I grinned at Eddy. “I’m gonna find those bad guys and beat them up for being mean to my friend, Eddy.”
A long moment of silence passed before Eddy replied.
“Okay,” he mumbled. He was looking away from me again, but I could see the ghost of a smile on his lips.
“Eddy, could you tell us more about what happened with the men?” Olivia asked.
I held my breath as I waited for the kid to answer. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Mrs. Abernathy was hovering nearby, likely ready to step in the moment the kid got too stressed.
“Dey were mean,” Eddy repeated his earlier statement. “Dey got mad and hit. Hitting not nice.”
“You’re right,” I agreed as I attempted to maintain my cool. “That isn’t nice at all.”
“Did they hit you, Eddy?” Olivia asked directly.
“No,” he mumbled to my intense relief. “When dey get mad, Danny play hide and seek wit me.”
“So they would only hit the ladies?” I asked as the picture started to become clearer.
“Yeah,” he replied. “But no face.”
“What?” I asked.
“No face,” he repeated. “No hitting face, or no money.”
“Oh my word,” Mrs. Newark cried suddenly, her face ashen white.
Honestly, I couldn’t blame her. I could barely believe the words that had just come out of his mouth. It was obvious he was just parroting what he’d heard someone else say, but still, it was obvious what the implication was.
“Why don’t we stop here for now?” Mrs. Abernathy suggested as she strode back into the room. “Mrs. Newark, can I get you some water?”
“That’s actually a good idea,” Agent Hastings replied before looking straight at Eddy. “You’ve been a super big help, buddy.”
She stood up and indicated for me to follow with a quick flick of her head. I got up and followed her into the kitchen, passing Christina as she made her way back into the living room.
“Well, as horrified as I am, I can’t say I’m surprised,” Olivia sighed as we stepped into the kitchen. “I mean, Allison was missing for twenty years and suddenly reappears with a kid?”
“How much of that did you manage to catch?” I turned to look at Holm.
“All of it, pretty much,” he replied, his face twisted into a disturbed sneer. “Ugh, that poor kid.”
“Well, we’ve got a pretty good idea of what the situation is, right?” Olivia looked between the two of us. “Judging from the circumstances of her disappearance and Eddy’s description, it’s likely that Allison was being trafficked. She must have gotten pregnant at some point and had Eddy.”
“And… they just let her keep him?” Holm asked incredulously. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they did, but surely it would have been easier and safer to just get rid of him, right? I feel like the last thing a pimp’s going to want around is a screaming baby.”
“You’re not wrong,” Olivia muttered. “It is strange. Regardless, that’s what we have to work with right now.”
Before either of us could respond, Holm’s phone went off.
“It’s the office,” he informed us. “Just a second.”
He stepped out of the kitchen to take the call, leaving Olivia and me alone.
She was staring off into space, an unsettled look in her eyes.
“You okay?” I asked.
She blinked at me in surprise before smiling ruefully.
“Yeah,” she chuckled. “It just never gets easier, you know? Kids, I mean.”
I knew exactly what she meant. I’d thought the same thing myself several times just today. It was always worse when kids were involved.
“I hear you,” I sighed.
“You were great in there, by the way.” She smiled at me. “With Eddy, I mean. A lot of people freeze up or put their feet in their mouths when it comes to interacting with kids. You managed to connect with him, though. I’m impressed.”
“Well, I’m glad I surpassed your expectations.” I smiled back at her. She had an adorable, toothy smile and a little dimple on her cheek when she did.
“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” she scoffed playfully. “I could definitely use a drink after that, though. Are you--”
“That was Diane.” Holm returned at just the wrong time. “She said that they managed to track down the owner of the boat.”
“Already?” I asked. “That was fast.”
“Well, they didn’t have to do much digging,” Holm replied, “since it was apparently reported stolen about a week ago. It popped right up. Guess where the owner lives?”
“Turks and Caicos,” Olivia and I both answered at once.
“Bingo,” Holm confirmed. “Diane wants us back at the office. She wants us to fly out tomorrow.”
“Guess I’ll take a raincheck on that drink then.” Olivia smiled at me a little sadly before leaving the kitchen.
Holm watched her leave with a wide-eyed look of disbelief on his face.
“No,” he balked as he snapped back around to look at me. “No. How? When? She was ready to kick your ass like an hour ago. How are you already flirting and making plans to go out for drinks?”
“I’m just a likable guy.” I smirked at him.
“Yeah, right,” he deadpanned. “Anyway, come on, let’s get back to the office to get briefed. I want to head home and pack before it gets too late.”
I snickered as he continued to grumble all the way out of the house, my blood already pumping at the thought of a new adventure.
10
Ethan
The next few hours passed by in a whirlwind. Diane had come to an agreement regarding jurisdiction with the FBI. As we’d previously discussed, MBLIS would take over the Allison Newark case, while Eddy’s case would remain with the FBI. Specifically, it would remain under the authority of Agent Hastings, who would travel to Turks and Caicos with us. Not that I minded that particular detail.
As I was packing, I spotted Grendel’s journal sitting on the coffee table where I’d left it the previous day, after going through everything with Holm. I felt just a twinge of regret at the timing of the case. After spending days wishing we’d land a new case, we’d finally gotten one right as I was beginning to get excited about delving back into my search for the Dragon’s Rogue.
After thinking it over for a moment, I plucked the journal off the table and tucked it into my carry-on bag. I’d already look
ed through every page of the journal at least once, but I still carried it around everywhere I went.
Even though I’d already looked through the entire thing, it felt as though I discovered something new every time I leafed through the pages. Some of the entries were so disjointed and full of Grendel’s paranoid ramblings that it often took a second, or even a third or fourth reading before I understood what he was trying to say. If nothing else, it would give me something to do on the flight down there.
After a quick final check to make sure I had everything I might need, I left my boat and headed over to my car. I tossed the single duffle bag into the trunk of my car before getting inside to head to the airport.
Really, I didn’t need much. My years in the SEALS had taught me to pack quickly and efficiently. A few changes of clothes and the journal were all I really needed, and it was better to travel light, in my opinion. I never knew when I might suddenly have to move, so it was better not to be burdened down.
I rolled the windows down again as I headed to the airport. I honestly loved Miami. The ever-present sun, the sea breeze that you could smell from anywhere in the city… with my job being as crazy as it was, there was something calming about going for a drive with all the windows down, even if it was just for a few minutes.
Holm and Olivia were both waiting for me by the main entrance when I got to the airport.
“There you are.” Olivia smiled as I approached them. “We both got here at the same time and happened to run into each other. We were wondering what was taking you so long.”
“You didn’t have to wait for me,” I replied as the three of us headed toward security. “There was a lot of traffic.”
“That would have been rude.” Olivia shrugged. “Might as well stick together if we’re going to be working the case together.”
We were flying commercial again, but considering the flight was less than two hours long, I didn’t really care.
“Dibs on the window seat,” Holm called as the three of us boarded the plane.
“I call the aisle then,” Olivia replied without missing a beat, much to my dismay. We actually hadn’t planned to book our seats right next to each other. Looking at how crowded the plane was, though, it was likely they might have been some of the only seats available.
“My legs are longer than yours,” I protested as she began to stow her bag in the overhead compartment.
“And that’s my problem, how?” she teased before plopping down into the aisle seat.
I was a pretty tall guy, so the idea of sitting in the cramped middle seat for two hours actually wasn’t very pleasant, but then again, it was only two hours. Compared to some of the international flights Holm and I had been on, it was nothing.
“Fine, but I get the aisle coming back,” I grumbled.
“We’ll see.” She shrugged before flashing me an impish grin.
The next two hours passed by in a flash as Olivia and I chatted and traded barbs back and forth.
“So, they were actually looking for the exact same ship?” she asked. “Not just to mess with you, but honest to goodness trying to find it as well?”
I had just finished telling her about my search for the Dragon’s Rogue, as well as our hunt for the Holland’s and how they’d been wrapped up in everything.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “Well, at first, it was honestly just a coincidence, but then they deliberately started going for it after they found out I was searching for it, too. They even went as far as to create a fake journal just to throw me off.”
“That’s… bizarre,” she scoffed. “Some people really have too much time on their hands.”
“You’re telling me,” I muttered.
“So, why are you so invested in this?” she asked, genuinely curious. “I mean, I can tell just by the way that you talk about it that it really means a lot to you.”
“It was my grandfather’s dream first,” I explained. “The ship actually belonged to our ancestor, and he spent his life looking for it. He passed the torch onto me before he died.”
“That’s really lovely.” She smiled at me. “It’s nice to see someone pursuing their passion like that. You don’t see it often nowadays. People just go through the motions and do the bare minimum.”
“Thanks.” I grinned at her. “Most people just look at me like I’m a weirdo for being obsessed with pirate ships.”
“Well, those people are boring,” she retorted. “People shouldn’t worry so much about what others think. We only have one life, you know? Better spend it doing what makes us happy.”
“I like that,” I replied as I churned her words over in my head.
She opened her mouth as if to say something to me, but before she could, the plane’s intercom system crackled to life as the captain announced our imminent descent into Turks and Caicos.
“What did he say?” Holm asked as he pulled his headphones off of his ears. “Are we landing?”
“Yeah,” I replied, unable to keep the disappointment completely out of my voice. It seemed as though every time Olivia and I started to get somewhere, we were interrupted.
I’d just have to carve some time out for us while we were on the island.
11
Ethan
My first impression of Turks and Caicos was that it wasn’t unlike Miami. It was hot, it was crowded, and I could smell the salt in the air.
The beaches definitely seemed cleaner, though. That wasn’t to say that Miami’s beaches were ugly or anything, but it honestly wasn’t all that uncommon to stumble across a broken beer bottle, or a pile of trash left behind by careless tourists. The sand along the shore here seemed uniformly pristine and almost spotless, despite the large number of people milling around. The water, too, was stunningly bright and clear, even from a distance.
We’d landed at Providenciales International Airport on the Western Island. Providenciales, commonly referred to as Pravo by the locals, comprised the Western, Northern, and Eastern Caicos islands. Southern Caicos was home to the large, densely populated Cockburn Town, but since the boat owner was located on the Western island, we’d decided to center our investigation there for now. For that reason, our first destination was the police station in Kew Town, in Western Caicos.
“We should drop off our stuff first,” Olivia hummed as she looked around the pickup area. Dozens of tour guides and taxi drivers lined up outside the exit, offering their services to people as they left the airport. “Unless we want to start chasing bad guys with all of our luggage in tow.”
“That’s a good idea,” I replied. “How far is it?”
“Not far at all,” Olivia answered. “Actually, the island is so small that nothing is all that far from anything else. According to the GPS, we could walk from one end of the island to the other in less than six hours. The hotel’s only about ten minutes from here.”
“Let’s go then,” I replied as I slung my bag over my shoulder.
The scenery was beautiful as we made the short trek over to the hotel. I could see the ocean from the street we were on, which was lined with palm trees and bright green plants with enormous leaves. Though most of the houses were painted in shades of white, every once in a while, we’d pass one that was a bright shade of banana yellow or canary blue. Everything on the island seemed extremely colorful and fresh.
“This is it,” Olivia announced as we came to a stop in front of a large green building. I’d been so absorbed in the scenery that I’d barely noticed the time pass.
As we stepped into the hotel, a blast of cool air from the AC hit me. The inside of the hotel looked a little like the lobby of an apartment building, and I wondered if it had been converted from one.
“Why don’t we meet back here in fifteen?” I proposed. “That’ll give us time to put our stuff down and freshen up.”
“Good idea,” Olivia replied as we stepped onto the elevator. We’d all gotten rooms on the same floor. Unlike the plane seats, that had been deliberate, as it would be safer for all of us to
be close by just in case anything went wrong during the case.
We got off of the elevator and headed into our rooms, which were side by side on one side of the hall. Holm had the room to my right, while Olivia had the one to my left.
I didn’t have enough time to shower, so I settled for splashing some water on my face. Though the weather here felt similar to Miami’s, it was definitely hotter on the island, and even the short walk from the airport to the hotel had left me sweating.
After doing one last check to make sure I had all the essentials, namely my gun, my badge, and a few sets of handcuffs, I headed downstairs to meet up with Holm and Olivia.
“Last one to the party again, Marston,” Olivia teased when she saw me. She and Holm had already made it down.
“It hasn’t even been fifteen minutes,” I countered.
“Well, I can’t sit still,” she replied. “Come on, let’s get to the station already.”
The three of us headed out of the hotel and back onto the street. The difference between the cool interior of the hotel and the sun-baked street was palpable.
“The police station is right over here,” Olivia muttered as she looked up the directions on her phone. “Let’s just hurry and get this over with.”
“What do you mean?” I asked as we approached the large, two-story building. It looked a little like a motel, with an exterior staircase that led up to a walkway on the second floor. The only thing that indicated it was a police station was a small banner pasted to the front that read “Kew Town Police Station” in bold red letters.
“I mean that I don’t have time for stupid formalities,” she huffed. “The quicker we touch base with the locals and establish that we’ve got this under control, the quicker we can get down to actually investigating.”
It was becoming alarmingly evident that Olivia very much fit with the stereotype of the territorial FBI agent that didn’t play well with others. Not that I didn’t see her point, though she could do a little better about not making it so obvious.