The man had docked in Fleming Key. Bane and Cooper, who’d arrived ahead of them, picked up the tail on Rafe. It seemed the man had gone into a sports shop where he’d stayed for three hours.
Pretending to be two guys enjoying their time out on their boat, Flipper and Viper had waited at the pier and knew when Rafe had left the island to return to Key West. Mac had been there to pick up the tail and reported that the man had been carrying a package when he went inside his tattoo shop. A package Rafe had gotten from the sports shop, according to Bane and Coop.
“I’m ready.”
He looked up and when Swan met his gaze, she quickly clarified, “I’m ready for dinner.”
He placed his phone back into his pocket and smiled. “That’s all?”
The smile she returned made his insides quiver in anticipation. “For now, Mr. Holloway.”
Twelve
It was getting harder and harder to leave Swan’s bed, Flipper thought as he and his teammates docked at Fleming Key close to two in the morning. But at least he’d left her sleeping with the most peaceful smile on her face.
Without waking her, he had brushed a kiss across her lips and whispered that he loved her, knowing she would remember neither. But he decided to tell her how he felt when he saw her later today. He couldn’t hold it inside any longer. She deserved to know. He wanted her to know. And when all this was over and she knew the truth, he would do whatever he needed to do to win her forgiveness and her love.
He jumped when fingers snapped in his face. He glared at Mac, who glared back. “Stay focused. You can daydream later.”
“I wasn’t daydreaming,” Flipper countered. He then realized he was the only one still in the boat. The others had already gotten out.
“Then night-dreaming. Call it what you want” was Mac’s reply. “Just get out of the damn boat.”
Flipper didn’t have to wonder why Mac was in a rotten mood. Teri had texted him earlier in the day to say the new washer and dryer had been delivered. They were new appliances Mac hadn’t known they were buying.
Moments later, dressed in all black military combat gear, the five of them circled around to the back of the sports shop Rafe had frequented lately. Being ever ready and not taking any chances, Glocks were strapped to their hips and high powered tasers to their thighs. Due to Viper’s hypersensitive ears—known to pick up sound over long distances away—he would stay outside as the lookout. Flipper, Bane, Cooper and Mac bypassed security cameras to enter the building.
Once inside, they used Flipper’s cameras and it didn’t take long to find a hidden room. Making swift use of their time, they took pictures of everything. It was obvious this was the group’s operation headquarters. More tattoo ink was stored here along with several specific tattoo designs. One design Flipper quickly recalled seeing on the side of Rosie’s neck.
Flipper scanned the room with his camera and then opened several drawers in the huge desk and took photos of the contents. When he came across a photo in one of the drawers, he suddenly froze. “Damn.”
“What is it, Flipper?” Bane asked.
Instead of saying anything, he motioned his head to the photograph he’d found. Mac, Bane and Coop came around him to see it as well. They looked back at him and Mac said, “We’ve been royally screwed.”
An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of Flipper’s stomach. “I need to get back to Swan as soon as possible.”
* * *
Swan was awakened by the knocking on her door. She glanced at the clock on her nightstand and wondered who on earth would be at her house at four in the morning. Was it David returning? She didn’t recall when he’d left but knew it was the norm for him to leave her place around midnight to return to his hotel because of his work. Usually she would be awake when he left but tonight sexual exhaustion had gotten the best of her.
Pulling on her robe, she tied it around her waist as she headed for the door. Looking out the peephole, she saw it was Jamila and Horacio. What were they doing out so late and why were they at her place? She found it odd that Horacio was on the island when the cruise ship wasn’t due back in port again until next week.
From the look on Jamila’s face, it appeared she wasn’t happy about something. In fact, from her reddened eyes, it appeared that she’d been crying. Swan wondered what on earth was wrong. Had something happened?
Suddenly filled with concern, she quickly opened the door. The minute she did so, Jamila was shoved inside, nearly knocking Swan down.
“Hey, wait a minute. What’s going on?” Swan asked, fighting to regain her balance.
“Shut the hell up and don’t ask questions,” Horacio said, quickly coming inside and closing the door behind him.
Swan frowned. “Horacio? What do you mean, I can’t ask any questions?”
“Just do what you’re told,” he barked.
Swan glanced over at Jamila and saw the bruise on the side of her face. “Did he do this to you?” Swan demanded, getting enraged. At Jamila’s nod, Swan then turned to Horacio. How could he have done this when he adored Jamila? “I want you to leave now.”
“If I don’t, what are you going to do? Call the police? Or call that SEAL you’re sleeping with?”
Swan frown deepened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Now leave or I will call the police.”
“You won’t be doing anything other than what I tell you to do. When I get the word, the two of you will be coming with me.”
Swan placed her hands on her hips. “We’re not going anywhere with you.”
A cynical smile touched Horacio’s lips as he pulled out a gun from his back pocket. “This says you will.”
Swan stared at the gun, not believing Horacio had it pointed at both her and Jamila. She was about to say something when Horacio added, “I’m giving you five minutes to go into your bedroom and put on clothes. Bring me your phone first. I don’t want you to get any crazy ideas.”
Swan had no idea what was going on, but from the pleading look in Jamila’s eyes, she knew it was best to do as she was told. She went and got her cell phone and handed it to him, but not before she noticed several missed calls from David. Why had he been trying to call her? Her mind was filled with so many questions.
“You got five minutes to get dressed. If you’re not back in five minutes or try some kind of funny business, your cousin here will pay for it.”
Cousin? Why did he refer to Jamila as her cousin? At what was obviously a confused look on her face, he said, “That’s right. Secrets. There are plenty more where those came from, Swan, and you’ll be finding out about them later. Now go.”
Swan got dressed in less than five minutes. If she hadn’t thought Horacio was serious about hurting Jamila, she would have escaped through her bedroom window. That bruise along the side of her friend’s face indicated the man was serious.
Swan was walking out of her bedroom fully dressed when Horacio’s phone rang. Instead of answering it, he said, “That’s my signal that things are ready. We’ll go out your back door to the beach. The boat is waiting.”
“What boat?”
“Please don’t ask him anything, Swan,” Jamila pleaded, reaching out and grabbing her arm. “All of them are crazy.”
Swan wondered just who were all of them. But she decided not to ask.
“Move!”
Following Horacio’s orders, she and Jamila walked toward Swan’s kitchen to go out the back door.
* * *
As soon as their boat docked, Flipper raced through the streets of Key West toward Swan’s home with his teammates fast on his heels. He had tried reaching her on the phone but didn’t get an answer. He immediately knew something was wrong because she kept her phone on the nightstand next to her bed and the ringing would have woken her up. He had tried several more times with no luck, which was why his heart was beating out of control
and fear was gripping his insides, especially now that he knew who was involved.
They had contacted their CO and told him what they’d discovered. He was as shocked as they’d been and they knew Shields would be taking the necessary actions on his end. Flipper hadn’t had to tell the man there would be hell to pay if anyone hurt one single hair on Swan’s head.
When they reached her house, they found the door unlocked. Her cell phone had been tossed on a living room table and a quick search of her bedroom indicated she’d change clothes.
“Take a look at this, Flipper,” Mac called out.
When he reached them in the kitchen, Mac pointed out the window. Flipper saw lights from a boat that was sitting idle in the ocean as if waiting to rendezvous with another vessel.
“I traced footprints in the sand that led to the water. A small watercraft probably took them out to that boat,” Viper was saying. “There were three sets of shoe prints belonging to two women and a man. And they left around thirty minutes ago.”
Flipper raced out Swan’s back door and after putting on his night-vision eyewear, he stared out at the ocean.
“Intercept with our boat,” he shouted over his shoulder to the others. Quickly dropping to the sand, he began removing his shoes, T-shirt and pants, leaving his body clad in a pair of swimming trunks.
“Don’t try it, Flipper. The boat’s too far out,” Mac said. “It’s too dangerous for anyone, even you.”
Flipper glanced up at them while putting the waterproof military belt that contained combat gear around his waist. He then put a pair of specially designed water goggles over his eyes. “The woman I love is on that boat and I have no idea what they plan to do, so I have to try. Even if I die trying.”
Without saying anything else, he raced toward the water and dived in.
* * *
Horacio had tied their hands before forcing them into a small boat, which carried them out into the ocean to a much bigger boat. Now they were sitting idle in the waves.
Swan wondered why. She glanced around and noticed that, other than the lights on the boat, there was only darkness. They were so far from land she couldn’t see the lights from the homes where she lived anymore.
As if Horacio realized she was trying to figure out what was happening, he said, “I’m waiting for the rest of the gang, then we’ll decide what we will do with the two of you.”
What he said didn’t make much sense. “Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” Swan asked, getting angrier by the minute. None of this made any sense.
“I’ll let your cousin go first since Jamila has a lot of explaining to do,” Horacio said, grinning.
Swan turned to Jamila, who was sitting on a bench beside her. “What is he talking about? Why does he keep referring to you as my cousin?”
At first Jamila didn’t say anything. In fact, it seemed she was refusing to meet Swan’s gaze, but then she finally met Swan’s eyes and said, “Because we are cousins, Swan. My mother is your grandfather’s youngest sister.”
“My grandfather?”
Jamila nodded. “Yes, Lawrence Jamison is my uncle. I knew for years that Uncle Lawrence disowned your father but I didn’t know why until I was much older. Then I thought the reason was downright stupid and told the family what I thought. Everyone else in the family thought the same thing but were too afraid to stand up to Uncle Lawrence.”
Swan didn’t say anything. She was still trying to dissect the fact that she and Jamila were related. She’d known from her father that Lawrence had a sister and another brother. That was all she’d known.
“When I turned twenty-one and finished college, I decided to come find you. Uncle Lawrence didn’t like it but I told him I didn’t care. I’m one of the few who stands up to him. He said the family would disown me if I came here.”
“Yet you came anyway,” Swan said.
“Yes, I came anyway.”
Swan glanced over at Horacio. He wasn’t saying anything and didn’t appear to be listening to what they were saying. Instead he stood at the bow of the ship looking through binoculars as if he was searching for someone. He’d said they were waiting for another boat with the gang and Swan couldn’t help but wonder who the gang was.
She wanted to ask Jamila how much she knew and why they were being held hostage but figured that although Horacio was pretending not to listen to their conversation, he probably was.
Swan glanced over at Jamila. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were when you first came into my shop that day? Why did you keep it a secret all this time?”
“Because I knew how my family had treated you and your mother. I figured the last thing you’d want was to meet a relative from that side of the family. I decided to let you accept me as a friend and then later I would tell you the truth that we were cousins.”
“Now isn’t that a touching story?” Horacio said, strolling back over to where they sat.
“Yes, it is touching,” Swan said, defiantly lifting her chin. “Why are we here?”
He smiled. “You’ll find out soon enough. And I hope you’re not holding out any hope that your SEAL boyfriend will be coming to rescue you because he won’t.”
“Why do you keep saying David is a SEAL when he’s not? He was in the military once but he was never a SEAL.”
“Sounds like you’ve been conned by him just like your cousin here was conned by me,” he said as if it was something to brag about. “Your lover boy is a SEAL and he was sent here to get the goods on you. Whether you know it or not, you’ve been his assignment.”
Swan shook her head. “No, that’s not true. I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t care if you believe me or not but it’s true. I only found out today what he’s been doing and why he was sent here by naval intelligence.”
Naval intelligence? Swan glanced over at Jamila, who said, “I don’t know whether what he’s saying is true or not, Swan, but he told me the same thing tonight.”
“Why would naval intelligence suspect me of anything? It doesn’t make sense.” And more than that, she refused to believe David wasn’t who and what he said he was.
At that moment, they heard the sound of a boat approaching. Horacio drew his gun and pointed the flashlight toward the oncoming boat. He put his gun back in place. “Hold on to that question, sweetheart. The person who will explain everything just arrived.”
Swan kept her gaze trained on the boat that pulled up beside theirs and saw two people onboard. Both of them she knew. What in the world...?
She watched in shock as Rafe and Rosie came aboard. She was so focused on staring at them that she almost missed the third person who also came on board.
She gasped in shock when the person said, “Swan, you look well.”
Suddenly losing her voice, Swan couldn’t do anything but sit there and stare. There had to be some mistake. A very big mistake. There was no way the person standing before her was a part of this craziness.
No way.
She finally found her voice. “Georgianna? What are you doing here? What is this about?”
Thirteen
Flipper reached the boat and attached himself to the ladder on the side. Lucky for him, no one had thought to pull it up. Taking slow, deep breaths, he pulled air into his lungs while ignoring the pain in his arms and legs. He didn’t want to think about just how far he’d swum, but like he’d told his friends, he’d had to try.
He quickly eased back into the water when he heard the sound of an approaching boat and was grateful the vessel pulled up on the other side from where he was hiding. He glanced at his watch. It was synchronized with the ones worn by his teammates, and he knew they would do their best to get here soon. In the meantime, there was something he had to do.
Pulling a micro audio recorder off his belt, he moved back up the ladder to peek over the railing and into the boa
t.
Good. Everyone’s attention was on the approaching vessel and no one saw him when he attached the audio recorder that was no bigger than a dime to the interior wall of the boat. He saw Swan and Jamila seated on a bench with their hands tied behind their backs and Horacio was standing not far away. Other than a man in the cockpit, there was no one else onboard. Flipper knew that was about to change when he heard voices.
Satisfied that the conversations would be recorded, he eased back down the ladder. When his watch began vibrating, he glanced down at the text message from Bane. On our way. Had 2 take care of a little problem 1st.
Flipper wondered what kind of problem his friends had to take care of. No matter. They were on their way and that’s what counted. He listened to the conversation going on in the boat as he began pulling items from his belt. He intended to be ready to crash this little party when the time came.
He shook his head, knowing Admiral Martin would be heartbroken to discover his own daughter had sold out their country.
* * *
“I hate you,” Georgianna said, glaring at Swan.
Swan was taken aback by the woman’s words. “Why? What have I ever done to you? To any of you?” she asked, glancing around at the people she’d assumed were friends—Rafe, Horacio and Rosie. She hurt more at seeing Rosie than the others because she’d believed the woman had been a good friend.
“They work for me and did what they were told,” Georgianna said.
“Work for you?” Swan was even more confused.
“Yes. I’m in charge of the entire operation. But I’ll tell you all about that later. First, let me tell you why I despise you so much. I’ve waited a long time to get this out in the open. When your father died and your mother would send you to us for the summer, my parents thought you were golden. They put you on a pedestal, especially my father. Did you know he called you his little island princess?”
Yes, Swan knew but she also knew her godfather hadn’t meant anything by it. It was just a nickname he’d given her when she was born. All three of her godfathers called her that sometimes. “It was just a nickname, Georgianna.”
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