Island (Portentous Destiny Series Book 1)

by S. E. Rose

  “Too soon for a third workout?” he asks, looking up at me with a boyish grin.

  “Well, I am out of shape.” He rolls us over and I feel his cock harden inside of me as I begin to move. It isn’t long before I fall over the edge again, followed closely by Jack.

  This time it’s me who collapses on him. “I think I’m too old for three workouts in a row,” I say into his chest. I already feel my muscles aching.

  “Never,” he whispers against my hair.

  “I guess we should get dressed and head into town soon.” I glance at the clock which now reads 10:45. I climb off of Jack and proceed to the bathroom. By 11:50, we are both ready to go. We pick up Nick and head into town. Jack finds a spot near Mal’s shop and we go inside.

  “Mal?” I call out as we walk toward the back.

  “Laura?!” she yells from the back room. Her voice is off and my skin immediately is covered with goose bumps.

  “Mal, what’s wrong?” I ask as I walk around the counter. She comes out of the back room looking around, but apparently doesn’t see what she wants to see.

  “Have you heard from the girls?” she asks. She’s frowning and her eyes tell me she is more than concerned.

  “No, but you know girls. They are probably busy shopping and lost track of time,” I say, rubbing her arm. “It’s not even twelve thirty yet and we didn’t plan on meeting for lunch till one.”

  “I know. It’s just Rose always texts me back and she hasn’t texted me in over an hour. See?” she says and holds her phone out to us.

  Mal: Rose, darling, you almost done?

  Rose: Yep, at Bianca’s shop now. See you in 20.

  Mal: Rose, it’s been 30 minutes, where are you?

  Mal: Rose Evelyn Ross, you better text me back.

  “That last message was forty-five minutes ago and I called Bianca and she hasn’t seen them since ten forty-five.”

  “Let me text Lily,” I say as I nervously check the clock. It is now 12:45.

  Laura: Lily, sweetie—where are you girls? Mal is worried.

  We sit and wait a few minutes.

  “Why don’t I walk over to the pub and make sure they didn’t go there first,” Nick suggests. But I can see the worry in his eyes and that makes me worry more. The twin connection is strong and if Nick senses something is wrong, well, that’s not good.

  “OK, sweetie, please text me as soon as you get there,” I say.

  “Mom, seriously, it’s right across the street.” He rolls his eyes and I give him my best mom death stare. “OK, OK.” He holds up his hands in defeat as he heads across the street. Thirty seconds later he texts.

  Nick: They aren’t here, Mom. Coming back 2 u.

  Jack turns towards the door. “I’ll go walk about and see if I can’t find them, wait here OK?”

  “Sure,” I say meekly.

  “Wait up, Jack, I’ll go the other direction. We can cover town faster if we split up,” Nick says as he heads out the door with Jack, leaving Mal and me standing side by side in the middle of her cheese store. Mal reaches over and clasps my hand and I grip her hand back. No words are necessary as we both know “mom code.” And this is code for a “mom panic attack.”

  I text Lily over and over, but I get no response. Damn it! Mal calls Oliver who I can hear screaming over the phone. Mal starts crying and I am numb. My phone buzzes and I jump.

  “Isabelle?” I say, looking at her name on my phone as I answer.

  “Laura, hey, it’s me. I’m in Aberdeen for the day for work and I was going to pop by later.” I internally sigh, what the hell is it with my family members just popping into my life when I’m supposed to be “hiding” for the summer, so much for my private island. She doesn’t wait for me to speak. “I was down by that fishing village a few minutes ago. Oh, what’s it called?”

  “Footdee?” I ask.

  “Yeah, that’s the one. Anyhow, I saw Lily with some guy and a younger girl, but when I waved she didn’t seem to recognize me or maybe she didn’t see me. When I got closer, I couldn’t find them. There’s a lot of people milling around here today, some festival this weekend or something. I texted her, but she hasn’t texted me back so I thought I’d call you. Why is Lily here? Is she visiting you? Oh no, please don’t tell me I ruined some surprise.”

  “Wait, stop. Izzy, are you telling me that you just saw my daughter and another girl?!” I exclaim. Mal’s head whips around to face mine.

  “Yes. Like five minutes ago, maybe less. She’s with some cute girl, maybe twelvish. She has blondish-red hair, green eyes, and freckles? Oh, and they were with some guy, who is way too old for her, closer to your age.”

  “Oh my God!!” I scream. The puzzle pieces fly together in my head and I know what’s happening. My heart drops.

  “Laura, Jesus, you’re freaking me out. What is going on?!” Isabelle yells.

  “They are missing! Lily and Rose are missing and I think they are in trouble. That man is not their friend, Izzy.”

  “Christ, OK. You want me to call the police? I think I saw one back at the last street corner directing traffic,” Isabelle says. “You really need to explain what is going on. I’m lost.”

  “Just stay where you are, OK? I’m calling someone I know,” I say.

  “Fine, call me back.”

  “I will.” I hang up and call Agent Banks.

  “Yes?” Agent Banks answers.

  “I need you to call your people in Aberdeen right now. They have Lily and Rose in Footdee,” I say.

  “What? Wait a minute. Your daughter and Jack’s niece?” he asks.

  “Yes. My cousin just saw them. We’ve been looking for them. They were supposed to meet us for lunch here in Stonehaven about an hour ago. But they never showed up.”

  “OK, I’m calling it in now. Jesus, Laura, I’m sorry,” he says. Great, now he chooses to show me he has feelings.

  “Don’t be sorry, just get them,” I say sharply trying to contain my sudden anger. I rattle off my cousin’s number to him and he says he’ll take care of it.

  “Keep your phone nearby,” he says.

  “Yes.” And he hangs up just as Nick and Jack walk back into the shop.

  “Mom, I found the rental car but…,” he trails off when he sees my face which I can only imagine is lacking any trace of blood. My normally pale face probably has gone to a vampire white complexion. Jack hurriedly crosses the room toward me placing his hands on my upper arms.

  “Laura, what’s wrong?” he asks, searching my eyes for an answer.

  “He has them,” I manage to whisper. It takes about five seconds for Jack to realize what I just said.

  “FUCK!!!” he yells, pounding his fists on his thighs as he sinks down to a crouch.

  “Mom?” Nick says, his voice cracking a bit as he realizes something is very wrong. I pull him into me and hug him tightly. “Who has Lily? Where are they?”

  I’m about to try to explain without letting too much knowledge pass between us, but just as I go to open my mouth Oliver comes running into the cheese shop. He takes one look at all of us and lunges at Jack, punching him in the face. Jack tries to grab Oliver to stop him, but Oliver tackles him to the ground and starts beating the shit out of Jack. Jack puts his arms up in front of his face, but otherwise, he doesn’t fight back. I stand there like a fool for about thirty seconds before Mal jumps towards them.

  “Stop it!” she yells, trying to pull Oliver off of Jack. “OLIVER!!” she screams louder, tears streaming down her face and only when she touches his face does he stop. He looks up at her. “Love, please, please stop. This isn’t going to fix anything. Jack didn’t do this.” Her voice breaks as she continues to sob.

  His gaze doesn’t leave Mal’s as he rises. She’s still sobbing as he pulls her into an embrace.

  “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry,” he murmurs just loud enough for us to hear it. He clasps her face in his hands and she looks up at him. “Please forgive me.” I watch as he bends down and kisses her. I am almost
certain that I am now having an out-of-body experience. Did I just fall down the rabbit hole? Perhaps I entered a parallel universe? What the hell is happening? I look down at Jack. He’s going to have a nasty black eye and his lip is bleeding and a bit puffy, but otherwise he appears no worse for wear. I release Nick and give Jack my hand, but Oliver, suddenly coming up for air from Mal, slaps my hand aside and puts his out to Jack. Jack takes it cautiously.

  “I’m sorry. That was a bit out of line,” Oliver says to his brother. Jack shakes his head.

  “No, you have every reason to be pissed off at me,” Jack mutters as he wipes the blood from his lip. He looks around at all of us. “Let’s go in the back. We all need to talk now. Mal, put the closed sign up.”

  Mal does as he says and we all head to the back of the shop. There’s a door to what appears to be a giant walk-in refrigerator and a small area that looks to be for cutting cheeses. The other side has Mal’s office and a small break room along with a walk-in storage closet. We all head to the break room and sit down at a giant conference table. Jack remains standing and takes a deep breath.

  “Oliver and Mal, you know about my past.” They don’t speak, but instead nod. “Laura, you know as well. Nick…I, well, I had a rather bad time in my twenties. I got in with some really bad characters, drug stuff. But these guys have since branched out into a bunch of other things that are, how should I put this, worse in every way. Do you follow?”

  Nick nods. “I think so.”

  “After the first time, I got cleaned up and was doing well, but then my fiancée and,” he looks in my direction, “my unborn child were killed in a car accident and, well, I lost it. I got back into drugs and selling. I was a mess. I was contacted by a special law enforcement branch about being an informant and after a lot of persuading from their end, I agreed. I spent two years working as an informant for them. Well, I started off as an informant, but eventually, I did a bit more.”

  By now, all of us are gaping at him. Now I understand why Abby’s grave has “Ross” on it. It wasn’t because they were nearly married; it was because their unborn child also is in the grave. Holy shit, I did not expect to hear that. Jack rubs his temple and winces as he touches his swollen cheekbone. “Alexei is this really bad character. He heads up an international cartel of sorts and he’s been back up here lately trying to get me to run their drug operations around this area. I told him no, but he won’t give up. Laura found out and had Oliver call in a favor and now Laura and I are both acting as informants. Laura saw my old boss, Leo, with some young women in Aberdeen. I can only assume from the look on her face that somehow we think the girls are wrapped up with these guys now.” His eyes have been filling with tears and now they are rolling down his cheeks. My heart breaks for this man. Maybe I should blame him, but at this moment I just blame myself.

  “Jack,” I stop him. “Isabelle is in Aberdeen for business. She saw Rose and Lily with Leo in Footdee. Agent Banks knows. He’s sent his people to Footdee and I’m waiting to hear from him.”

  He grips a chair and his knuckles turn white. Mal starts crying and Oliver pulls her into his lap. Oliver has tears in his eyes as well. Nick looks in shock. I place my hand on his shoulder and he puts a hand over mine.

  Jack walks over to me and pulls me to him. I break my connection with my son and crumble against Jack as a wave of emotion takes me over and I suddenly let myself feel the pain and fear that’s been building in me all day. I’m in shock and no tears come, but the fear has me shaking. My phone buzzes and I look down at it.

  Agent Banks: Laura—sending a car for all of you now.

  Everyone stares at me with anticipation. “They are sending a car for us.”

  “What does that mean?” Mal asks between sobs.

  “I don’t know,” I answer truthfully as tears finally begin to flow down my cheeks. Jack pulls me back against him, squeezing me almost to the point of pain. The knowledge of what has happened is so overwhelming that I can barely process it. My daughter has been taken and there is a chance she will be sold into the sex trade before anyone can find her.

  As this realization dawns on me, I realize that this thought scares me more than I have ever been scared in my life. Losing Sean was heart-wrenching, but the fear only lasted a few seconds. This is uncharted territory.

  My thoughts are suddenly ground to a halt as Jack whispers in my ear, “The car is here, love. We need to go.”

  I have no clue where this giant, window-tinted, black SUV is taking us. I clutch Nick in one hand and Jack with my other and we head toward the door followed by Oliver whose arm is wrapped tightly around Mal. The sight of the two of them together like this is the only silver lining I can see in this moment and it fades quickly as the door to the car opens and a million questions pop into my head.

  Chapter 29

  Laura’s Playlist: “Four Seasons in One Day” by Crowded House

  The car takes us to a house not far from the Ross estate. The guy driving says nothing to us and no one in the car speaks either. We all exit the car and walk toward the front door of the house. It is a nondescript, two-story country house made of stone with a slate roof and a green front door with a small window near the top of it. There’s a pleasant garden on the right and some barns or sheds a bit away on the left. Several horses are out in a pasture about three hundred yards away. And just past that is a heliport with a helicopter sitting on it. The front door suddenly opens and Agent Banks is standing there. I run toward him hoping for news.

  “Laura, calm down.” Cleary my facial expressions tell all my thoughts at this moment. “We have the girls. They are upstairs getting tended to by a physician. They are fine, just drugged and we want them under medical care for the next twenty-four hours so we can watch them until the drugs are out of their system.” I can sense Mal, Oliver, and Nick by my sides. We all look at Agent Banks waiting with bated breath for more information.

  “Let’s come sit down for a minute, OK?” he suggests and ushers us into the house.

  We all huddle on sofas in a front parlor-style room. It is painted a soft blue and has three sofas and two chairs and a few scattered side tables.

  “I want to see the girls,” I say.

  “And you all will in just a moment.” Agent Banks sucks in a deep breath. “We caught Leo and Simon. They are in custody. Your cousin is with our men up in Aberdeen, we are bringing her here to debrief as well. Alexei got away. We think Ben helped him and we didn’t intercept either of them. Our men are still searching but my guess is that they made it to another vessel and will be leaving our waters within the next few hours. Interpol has been alerted. We now have enough to bring him in and put him away for quite a while. I want to thank both of you. I know how scary this has been. Your assistance on this matter will not be forgotten.”

  A man in casual work clothes comes downstairs. “I’m Dr. Bachman. I’ve been attending to your daughters. They are tired from the effects for the drug. It was a Rohypnol or roofies as they are more commonly called. They aren’t having any negative side effects. Rose is more affected by the drug as she is smaller, but neither of them will have any long-lasting effects. We have them hooked up to saline to push the drug through a bit faster. We’ll keep them here until tomorrow afternoon to monitor them. We have a full medical suite upstairs and are completely equipped for this. They will receive better care here than at the hospital. Please, come up to see them whenever you are ready.”

  We all stand and immediately file up the stairs. A young woman in scrubs sits at a desk in the rather large hallway. She gives us a smile and points toward a door on our right. We enter and there they are. Lily is on one side of the room in a hospital bed and Rose is on the other side. It looks just like a hospital room. Mal and Oliver rush to Rose’s side and Nick and I rush to Lily. Jack seems torn and stands in the middle of the room between the ends of each bed.

  “Lily, it’s me, Mom,” I whisper in her ear. She stirs slightly and her eyes open a crack.

  “M
…m…mom,” she croaks out. She seems a bit confused and tired.

  “Yes, sweetie. Nick and I are here and we want you to get some rest. We’ll be here waiting when you wake up, OK?” I smile at her with the most reassuring smile I can muster. I push a small lock of hair away from her eye. She gives a slight nod and falls immediately back to sleep. I look over at Rose. She’s already sleeping and Mal and Oliver each hold one of her hands. She looks so small and fragile in her hospital bed. It’s then that I notice that Isabelle is sitting in a chair in the corner. She looks concerned and pissed. I give her a brief hug and apology. Then, I look to Jack and I can see he is blaming himself as much as I am blaming myself. I walk toward him and wrap my arms around him.

  “It’s going to be OK,” I say to him. I can feel his tears falling on my hair and I look up at him. “It’s not your fault.”

  “Yes. It is,” he whispers. I grasp his face in my hands.

  “No. It is not,” I whisper back at him. “If anything, this is my fault.”

  “Laura…,” he starts.

  “No, not here, not now,” I sigh.

  He nods.

  Chapter 30

  Laura’s Playlist: “Distraction” by Angels and Airwaves

  The next few days are a blur. We bring the girls home to the estate. Agent Banks has us under lockdown until they find Alexei. There has been discussion that we should all go to the U.S. for a bit while things die down or perhaps into some kind of international version of witness protection. My cousin Isabelle is ready to kill me as her patience has just about run out over the past two days. Thank God the house here is so large. I’ve been working through edits on my book. I’m a little shocked that I’ve even gotten close to finishing it considering all that has happened. Lily and Nick are getting antsy as they are supposed to be back home by now and they are eager to get home and ready for their final year of school.

  It’s Monday morning when Agent Banks comes to greet us at the breakfast table. We look at him anxiously hoping that Alexei has been caught and this can all be over.