“I thought yu’ were together?” Jack said.
“Yu’ know him?” Sean asked, heated. What the hell was she doing with him? She couldn’t have moved on that quick. What the hell was wrong with her? It took all of his restraint to not walk over there and drag her away.
“He’s a businessman.”
“I want to know who he’s affiliated with.”
Jack look at him, concerned. “Yu’ ’tink he’s associated with Curve?”
“He could be,” Sean said. “Lex said they were watchin’ me.”
“Maybe yu’ should warn her,” Jack insisted.
“She’s upset with me right now.”
“Yu’ two had a fallin’ out already? That’s quick.” Jack gave him an inquiring look.
“It’s a long story.” Sean sighed.
“I’m listenin’.” Jack sat back, waiting for the rest of the story. Sean gave him the short version of what had happened between them. Jack was laughing so hard Sean had to kick him under the table to get him to stop.
“Wait till Mavis hears this one.”
“Yu’ tell her an’ yu’ fired,” Sean threatened.
“Yeah, right.” Jack grinned. “Yu’ really like Kelee, don’t yu’?” Jack asked on a more serious note.
“I more than like her,” Sean said. Jack sat back with a surprised expression. Sean really was in love with Kelee, had been since he first met her ten years ago. And the thought of her ending up in danger because of him was nerve wracking. He had to make sure she was protected at all cost.
Chapter 13
“Sean called,” Lori told Kelee as she walked into the kitchen. Lori and Nadine were shelling pigeon peas at the small dining table. It was almost one in the afternoon. The sky was dark and rain was coming down hard. Lori and Kelee had planned to go shopping but the rain had changed their plans.
“Good for him,” Kelee said, getting a glass of water from the refrigerator.
“He wants yu’ to call him. He said it’s important,” Lori insisted.
“Good for him,” Kelee repeated and joined them at the table.
“Yu’ not goin’ to call him?” Lori asked.
“No.” Kelee started to help shelling the peas.
Suddenly the rain stopped and the sun came out. Flash periods of rains were a regular occurrence in the Caribbean.
“So are we still going shopping for the baby?” Kelee asked.
“Sure, why not?” Lori pushed away from the table.
“Yu’ won’t believe this,” Jack said, entering his office. Sean was on the phone with another one of his informers, who didn’t have much to give him. Mike’s people were starting to cover their tracks. It was getting harder to find out anything about his operation. Sean told his informant to call him if he heard anything and gave Jack his attention.
“His name is Tyce Thomas and he’s Mike’s second cousin an’ business partner.”
An undeniable fear raced through Sean. All he could think of was Kelee. She had no idea what was going on and she was definitely in danger. He had to get to Kelee before something happened to her. Sean immediately got on the phone, only to be told by Nadine that Kelee and Lori had gone shopping. He immediately called Lori’s cell but it went straight to voice mail. He left a message asking her to call him immediately. He had to get to Kelee before they did.
Kelee gazed over at Lori, who was fast asleep in the passenger seat, and smiled. The minute Lori had gotten into the car she had fallen asleep. They were heading home after hours of shopping for the baby. Kelee gazed at her sister’s belly while she waited at a light, wondering if she’d ever be in that position. She couldn’t see it on her, but it was beautiful on her sister. Kelee had just turned off the main road onto the sloping road that led up the hill when she saw the black jeep blocking her path. The hood was up. The road was narrow with only two lanes, so Kelee carefully inched her way to overtake the jeep. She could see the driver buried under the hood as she passed. She returned her attention to the road, and that was when she saw him. She hit her brakes. He was masked and he had an M-16 aimed right at her. Lori had come awake with the sudden stop of the car.
“Wha’?” Lori asked, looking at her. Kelee looked at her pregnant sister, frightened. Lori looked at the man with the gun aimed at them.
“Oh, God,” Lori gasped. “Stay calm, do whatever he says.”
Kelee looked at Lori. Silently she prayed he wouldn’t hurt them, especially Lori’s unborn child. Suddenly there was a tap on Lori’s side of the car and they looked to see the man that was under the hood, with a gun pointed at Lori. He, too, was masked.
Kelee started to shake.
“Get out!” the man on Kelee’s side screamed at her. Kelee looked at Lori. Lori quickly took her hand. “Now!” the man demanded. Kelee jumped and reached for the door handle as a tear rolled down her cheek. She looked at Lori, who also had tears in her eyes.
Kelee’s heart was racing with fear as she stepped from the jeep. The man grabbed her and shoved her towards their jeep. Kelee screamed. The man grabbed her from behind and placed a cloth over her face. Kelee panicked, kicking and screaming. Her screams only came out as muffled noise. The scent of the cloth burnt her eyes and nose, and then everything went black.
Sean was about to leave his office when he got the call. They had found a man’s body near a junkyard in the parish of Caldon, south of the capital of St. Pala. The thought of it being Penn or Lex had his stomach in knots. It took Sean five minutes to reach the junkyard. A part of the yard was filled with rusty crushed cars, the other part was a mechanic shop. A few cop cars were there. An officer he knew as Sam Manning was questioning the workers. Sam was the one who had called him. Sam was tall, thin, and dark with rough features.
“Do yu’ know who he is?” Sean asked as Sam took him down a lane of cars.
“No,” Sam told him. “It kinda’ hard to tell, the way he is,” he said.
The body was naked and face down in a puddle of blood. Sean had seen a few executions like this before. It was Mike’s signature style. From the body type and coloring it wasn’t Penn, but Sean knew it was Lex. On closer inspection Sean noted the five bullet holes in the back of Lex’s head. The number of holes in his head told Sean that Lex’s face was completely gone. Lex knew too much and now he was dead. Sean thought of his missing man, Penn, as he stared at Lex’s body. He feared he’d find Penn the same way. There was a reason why Adams was let go. It was a warning. Sean had to be extremely careful.
“Yu’ know who he is?” Sam asked.
Sean looked at him. “Yeah, he was one of my best informants.” He walked away. He had to get to Kelee.
Kelee felt like she was floating. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked around. She wasn’t in her room. Where was she? Then it hit her. She had been kidnapped. Fear gripped her, causing her heart to race. Who would want to kidnap her? This was crazy. She barely knew anyone in St. Pala. Swallowing her fear, she sat up in the four-poster bed she was on. The room was large and barely decorated. Besides the bed it held a long double-drawer chest and an armchair. She noted the window with its curtains drawn, which made the room dark. She got up and went to the door; cautiously she reached for the knob. Her hand shook as she gripped the handle. She slowly turned the handle. It was locked. She slammed her hand against the door, rattling the knob.
“Let me out!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. But no one came. She banged on the door for a good ten minutes, but still no one responded. Defeated, Kelee walked over to the window, pulled the curtains back and opened the window. She saw nothing but dense trees and a gravel yard below. She was too far up to even try going out the window. There was no way out for her, her kidnapper had seen to that. Closing the window, Kelee looked around the room. She searched the chest but found it empty. Frustrated, she returned to the bed where she curled up and cried herself to sleep.
Quietly he sat on the side of the bed looking down at Kelee as she slept. She was so beautiful. Her face was stained with
tears. She had been crying, obviously scared from being kidnapped. He brushed back a strand of hair off her cheek and she moaned, coming awake. He smiled at her. She sprang up, throwing her arms around his neck.
“Oh, Sean, thank God yu’ found me,” she cried. He wrapped his arms around her, inhaling her distinct perfume scent. “Please take me home,” she begged.
He knew she was going to hate him, but he had to keep her safe and this was the only way.
“I can’t,” he told her and felt her stiffen. She pulled away from him, looking into his face. He watched as she realized the situation.
“Yu’ did this. Why?” she asked, confused.
“I need yu’ to stay here for a while.”
Her eyes flared with anger. “Are yu’ crazy? Yu’ can’t keep me here.”
Sean understood her anger, but he had to keep her safe. “The kitchen is fully stocked and Kris will be keeping an eye on yu’.”
“Kris?” she asked, confused.
“He’s here to protect yu’,” he told her.
“Protect me from what?”
“I really don’t have time to explain every’ting right now. I just came by to make sure that yu’ OK.” He got up and started for the door.
“Yu’ can’t leave me here!” Kelee cried, running after him. She grabbed him at the door. He turned to look down at her. Her eyes were filled with tears. He hated doing this to her, but her safety was of utmost importance.
“I’ll be back soon,” he promised and saw anger flare in her eyes again.
“Yu’ can’t do this! This is crazy!”
“I need yu’ to stay here.”
“No!” she screamed, brushing at the tears that rolled down her cheeks.
“I’m not goin’ to lock yu’ in. But if yu’ give Kris any trouble he will lock yu’ in here.”
“Please don’t do this,” she pleaded, and it tugged at his heart. He had no choice. He had to protect her. He pulled out a cell phone and handed it to her.
“Yu’ can call Lori. She knows yu’ safe,” he told her. She took the phone. He walked away.
Kelee couldn’t believe that Sean had just walked away the way he did. She didn’t know how long she stood there with her mouth gaping open. Sean had kidnapped her and on top of that he refused to give her an explanation. She left her room to find herself at the top of a hallway. She walked to the end of the hall to the stairs. The house was barely furnished, she noted as she entered the living room. It only had a large sectional sofa and a large TV. A very large intimidating man was watching the TV. The evening news was on. Kelee instantly noted his gun beside him on the sofa. He looked at her, not moving.
“Hi, yu’ must be Kris,” she said to him and he gave her a slight smile and nodded.
“Which way is the kitchen?” she asked. She was starting to get hungry. He pointed to his left. She went that way; in the kitchen she found bags of groceries sitting on the counter. She started to unpack the food. She was glad when she saw the jar of pasta sauce and bow tie pasta. She made a quick pasta meal.
She poked her head out of the kitchen door and asked Kris if he’d like some pasta.
He smiled at her, surprised, and said, “Thanks.”
She took him a bowl of pasta and joined him on the sofa to watch the news.
“So how long have yu’ worked for Sean?” she asked and Kris looked at her, contemplating his answer. She waited for him to answer.
“Three years,” Kris finally told her after shoveling a forkful of pasta into his mouth. She could tell he was a man who liked his food. She wondered how many meals she’d have to make to convince him to let her go. Her culinary skills weren’t that good, but from the way he was enjoying the pasta, she knew she had him on that dish.
“What exactly do yu’ do for him?”
“Security mostly.”
“Yu’ mean baby-sitting,” she taunted and he smiled. At least he had a sense of humor.
“Yu’ could call it that.” He stuffed more pasta into his mouth.
“Do yu’ know why he’s keeping me here?”
“He said yu’ needed protection,” Kris said.
“From who?” She was curious. She wanted to know why Sean would go to such an extreme to protect her, and who the hell was he protecting her from?
“Don’t know. Yu’ have to ask him.”
Kelee didn’t exactly like Kris’s answer, but she doubted she’d get any information out of him. She finished her pasta.
After she washed the dishes Kelee returned to her room. She noticed an overnight bag at the foot of the bed. She opened it to find toiletries and some of her clothes inside. Sean had gone to the house and gotten her clothes. She wondered how long he’d planned her abduction. The thought of it all only made her steaming mad.
She called Lori.
“Are yu’ OK?” Lori asked upon hearing her voice.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” She frowned. “Do yu’ have any idea why I’m here?”
“I think it might have to do with a case he’s workin’ on,” Lori said.
“What case?”
“It has to do with a drug dealer named Curve.”
Kelee recalled Lori telling her about some big case Sean was working on involving a businessman and drug dealer.
“And what the hell does that have to do with me?”
“He feels the need to protect yu’.”
“This is a bit drastic, don’t yu’ think?”
“I know, Kelee, but just hang in there. I know Sean and if he ’tinks this is best, it is.”
“Thanks for taking his side.” Kelee rolled her eyes.
“I’m not, but I know him an’ I trust him.”
“Good for yu’. All it’s gotten me is locked up in some strange house with a baby-sitter who happens to have a gun.”
“Yu’ safe, don’t worry,” Lori reassured her.
“Anyway, how are yu’?”
“Good. The baby’s kickin’ like crazy; I hardly slept last night.”
“This isn’t exactly how I want to spend my vacation, locked away from yu’.”
“I know,” Lori said, disappointed.
They talked for the next half hour before saying good night.
Kelee took a shower and changed into a sleeping shirt and went to bed. She was about to fall asleep when the phone rang. It was Sean.
“Yu’ OK?” he asked.
“Yeah, if I was home and not here,” she snapped.
“Yu’ll be home soon, I promise,” he said in a gently soothing tone. “It’s late, get some sleep. We’ll talk soon.”
“Sean?” she started but the call ended.
Chapter 14
“Kelee OK?” Jack asked.
“She’s upset,” Sean said. Jack laughed and shook his head.
“Kidnappin’ her was a bit extreme,” Jack said.
“I know,” he said. “She wouldn’t talk to me when I tried to call her an’ I didn’t have time to explain ’tings to her.”
They were watching the loading docks from the jeep parked in the shadows. They had gotten a tip that the boat was coming in at this dock tonight. While this was the designated dock, Sean wasn’t about to leave the other docks uncovered. He wasn’t taking any chances. Besides Jack he had ten other undercover cops in various locations with him. Six covered the docks with him and Jack and the other four were just off the main road that led away from the docks. He also had the coast guard on standby, with others to take the boat if it tried to leave the docks.
An hour went by as Sean and Jack watched the dock through night vision binoculars. It was almost three A.M. and nothing. Sean called the other four locations that were under surveillance. They reported nothing.
“’Tink they know we here?” Jack said, rubbing his temples.
“Maybe, maybe not.” Sean rotated his neck. He was getting tired and that was when he heard it. It was the low hum of an engine. Jack heard it, too. They looked at each other. Sean informed the others, then he and Jack got out of the
jeep, guns drawn.
From a safe spot they watched as a small luxury yacht docked. Moments later Kurt emerged with six heavily armed men. Kurt looked around the dock. Sean had instructed the men not to do anything until Kurt and the drugs were off the boat. They watched as two men emerged with an oversize tub. Just then a large black van came roaring onto the dock. The van came to a stop and a man jumped out. Sean didn’t recognize the driver. He told his men to lie back. He wanted the drugs off the boat before he made a move. He watched as Kurt stepped off the boat and greeted the man. The men doing the unloading placed the tub on the dock, then went back down only to emerge with an identical tube. That done, they moved to load the first tub into the back of the van and that was when Sean called in his men. In a matter of seconds they had them covered from all angles.
“Don’t move!” Sean told them, his gun trained on Kurt. When Kurt saw him, his face took on a deadly expression. Sean knew he wasn’t going down without a fight, and he was about to give him one. Suddenly Kurt drew his gun, firing at him. Sean took cover by the side of the van, returning fire. Then all hell broke loose as both sides fired at each other. Sean could see Jack opposite him behind a post as he fired at the boat. Jack signaled to him, to cover the other end of the van. Sean spun and went around the van, taking down the driver as he came at him firing like crazy. From where he was Sean could see Kurt making a run for it down the dark side of the docks. He went after him. Sean glanced back to see Jack not far behind. Kurt stopped firing at him. Sean took cover. As he glanced back at Jack, he saw a man coming up on him. He signaled Jack, who turned, taking the man down. Sean was up and after Kurt as he watched him disappear into the warehouse ahead. Sean followed with caution. Inside the semidark warehouse, moonlight streaming through the high large glass windows gave him some visibility. Barrels and crates of all sizes filled the room. Sean glanced behind him to Jack. He signaled for Jack to cover the other side.
Sean could feel his adrenaline rise as he ventured farther inside. Suddenly he heard the rumble sound and looked up to see a barrel falling towards him. As Sean dove out of the way, Kurt came out from hiding, firing at him. Sean slammed hard into a crate. A sharp pain ripped through his shoulder, but he was up and firing. He saw Kurt running and went after him. Kurt fired blindly as he ran. Sean chased after him, dodging the wild bullets as they came at him.
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