"Welcome, Detective," Asa D said. "Glad to see you could join us."
"Let the women go now," Alex said. "I'll give you whatever you want."
Dellahousaye walked up to Alex and threw his full weight into a punch that hit him in the gut and dropped him to his knees, gasping for air.
"I know the Feds already have the information, Frank. We'll deal with that down the road."
Alex was trying to catch his breath to speak. Dellahousaye kicked him hard in the side and Alex fell over, holding himself in almost a fetal position.
"Just cleaning up a few loose ends tonight," the gangster snarled.
"Stop it!" Hanna yelled out. Dellahousaye turned to her and smiled as if he was really enjoying all this.
"Pick him up, Etienne!" Asa D commanded and the other man who had stayed inside knelt down and lifted Alex to his feet. "No need to drag things out."
She saw Alex look over at her as he tried to gather himself. She could see the pain he was in. She struggled at her restraints but was held fast. In horror, she watched as Dellahousaye took a long knife from one of his men and walked over to Amelia. "Pick her up!" he shouted, then stood behind her chair and drew the knife up to her neck. "Let's stop playing around, Detective."
Hanna screamed as she watched the knife cut into the side of Amelia Richard's neck, a thin slice of skin erupting in blood as Amelia yelled out and fought to get free.
Dellahousaye just laughed and stared back at Alex. "You would think people would have learned better than to betray me."
Alex struggled to stand. "Let them go!" he demanded.
Hanna saw the blade of the knife go back to Amelia's neck and the woman stopped screaming now, trembling in anticipation of the next cut.
A loud explosion of broken glass shattered across the dark room and Hanna nearly fell back in her chair as chaos erupted all around. She watched in horror as the side of the face of Dellahousaye's man holding the shotgun on Alex was blown away in a bloody mist. He fell to the ground in a heap and Alex turned quickly to grab the long gun.
The door burst open and Hanna saw the old sheriff, Pepper Stokes, rush into the room. He had a shotgun up ready to fire. The gun thundered in a deafening blast and Hanna saw Dellahousaye's other man blown back against a counter and fall, a large bloody wound opened in his belly.
She turned as Alex yelled, "Stop!" Dellahousaye was running to the back of the cabin, a door there to the back deck. Another shotgun blast caused her to recoil again as she saw the gangster's right shoulder explode. He crashed into the wall and then fell to the floor. He still had the long knife in his other hand. He managed to stand, blood dripping from his arm. In a fury, he rushed at her with the knife coming straight for her face.
She screamed out as the sound of a shotgun echoed again behind her and Asa Dellahousaye's chest exploded as he was hurled back against the wall and then fell in a lifeless heap on the floor.
Hanna was gasping for breath. The air was heavy with smoke and the smell of gun powder. She felt Alex cutting at the ties holding her to the chair and then he was kneeling in front of her. She fell into his arms and they both tumbled down onto the floor still holding each other.
She heard Pepper Stokes say, "Holy shit!"
Chapter Fifty-nine
The long sailboat cut through the swells of the blue Atlantic. The air was cooled by a steady wind from the west, waves capping white as far as the eye could see. A school of flying fish raced along beside the big boat, slicing in and out of the ocean swells, then were gone. Hanna sat on the high side, feeling the wind and the mist of the water on her cheek, watching Alex at the wheel of the sailboat.
Skipper and Ella Frank sat across from her, Ella snuggled down into her new husband's arms, a margarita half gone in her free hand. Skipper had his old stained fishing cap on and the most joyous expression on his face. His third drink was helping with his good mood.
Hanna looked up at Alex. "Good job, Captain!"
"Thanks, we should be in Havana for lunch," he said, smiling back at her.
"Right." They had chartered the boat out of Key West for the day. She and Alex had suddenly decided to get out of town after the horror of the night at Skipper Frank's fish camp and all that had gone down in the Dellahousaye affair. She was still struggling to get the terrifying images of that night from her mind.
They had surprised Skipper and Ella, arriving in the Keys just a few days after they had come down for their honeymoon. It had taken some time for the Sheriff's Department and agents Foster and Fairfield from the FBI office to clear up all the mess linked to the death of Asa Dellahousaye and his men. Amelia Richards was recovering from the neck wound inflicted by the brutal gangster, but doctors had assured them she would be okay. In the end, the authorities had privately thanked her and Alex for saving them considerable time and expense in prosecuting and convicting the man.
In the process, Hanna had been surprised to learn that her husband's old partner, Phillip Holloway, was the informant the FBI had referred to who was to testify against Dellahousaye with plans to disappear in the Witness Protection program afterward. She had seen Phillip briefly at the FBI office in Charleston and he assured her that now, with Dellahousaye gone, he planned to stay in town and continue his work at the firm. Of course, he offered to take her to dinner to celebrate the demise of Asa Dellahousaye, but she quickly put an end to his lecherous invitation.
She and Alex had caught a plane to Key West the next morning and surprised his father and new bride. The last couple of days were clouded with drink and celebration and relief at surviving the frightening ordeals in the swamps of the Low Country and offshore on the blue Atlantic.
"Where to next?" she said to Alex, standing at the helm in front of her.
"Wanted you to know," Alex said, "I called the Department this morning and quit my job."
"What!"
She watched Skipper and Ella turn in surprise as well.
"Enough already with Charleston PD," he said, a big smile spreading across his sunburned face.
Skipper said, "What do you plan to do?"
Alex looked down at Hanna. "Our friends at the FBI want me to apply for a job there."
"Are you serious?" Hanna said, standing to join him behind the big wheel of the sailboat. He placed an arm around her.
"We'll see."
Hanna said, "Special Agent Alex Frank. It has a ring to it."
"Like I said, we'll see."
Hanna looked over as two dolphins surfaced just beside them and continued along, playing in their wake. Their smooth gray shapes slipped effortlessly along, wet and shimmering in the bright sunlight and clear green water. She looked back at Alex who was smiling at her. She glanced at her watch. "Time to take us home, Agent Frank. Wouldn't want to miss happy hour at Sloppy Joe's."
"I agree!" Skipper yelled out, holding up his margarita.
THE END
A NOTE FROM MICHAEL LINDLEY
Thank you for reading my latest novel, DEATH ON THE NEW MOON, the follow-up to the Amazon #1 for Historical and Psychological Thrillers, LIES WE NEVER SEE and A FOLLOWING SEA in the “Troubled Waters” series.
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ALSO BY MICHAEL LINDLEY
THE SUMMER TOWN
THE “TROUBLED WATERS” SERIES BOOK #2
The sequel to Amazon Kindle #1 THE EMMALEE AFFAIRS. A compelling story of historical fiction, mystery, suspense and enduring love, bridging time and a vast cultural divide.
Buy THE SUMMER TOWN
BEND TO THE TEMPEST
THE “TROUBLED WATERS” SERIES BOOK #3
A story of lost love, betrayal and murder set in Prohibition-era Atlanta and a remote North Florida village. Mathew Coulter seeks refuge in a remote Florida beach town to escape his ruthless family who control the liquor trade in 1920’s Atlanta. He meets a ten-year-old blind girl, Melanee Dalton, who will lead him on a journey that may be the final salvation for her wayward mother and Mathew’s own haunted soul.
Buy BEND TO THE TEMPEST
LIES WE NEVER SEE
THE “TROUBLED WATERS” SERIES BOOK #4
A South Carolina woman, struggling to endure the loss of her husband and financial ruin, finds an old journal from a distant grandmother who suffered a similar path of betrayal. Set in Pawleys Island and Charleston, South Carolina during the Civil War and in present-day, a gripping and suspenseful tale of betrayal, murder and new beginnings. A #1 Amazon pick for Historical and Psychological Thrillers.
Buy LIES WE NEVER SEE
A FOLLOWING SEA
THE “TROUBLED WATERS” SERIES BOOK #5
A captivating and twisting tale of love, betrayal and murder in the Low Country of South Carolina, and the continuing love affair of Hanna Walsh and Alex Frank. Hanna was starting to believe she might have a future with Detective Alex Frank until his ex-wife returns intent on making up for past sins and they both get caught up in a dangerous murder investigation.
Buy A FOLLOWING SEA
About the Author
Michael Lindley is a #1 Amazon author for Historical Fiction Mystery Thriller & Suspense with his debut novel THE EMMALEE AFFAIRS. His subsequent novels follow this same genre with his most recent, DEATH ON THE NEW MOON, focused mostly on the present-day storyline of Hanna Frank and Alex Clark in the Low Country of South Carolina.
The settings for his novels include a remote resort town in Northern Michigan in the 1940's and 50's, Atlanta and Grayton Beach Florida in the turbulent 1920's, and most recently, 1860's and present-day Charleston and Pawleys Island, South Carolina.
Michael writes full time now following a career in Marketing and Advertising and divides his time between Northern Michigan, Colorado and Florida. He and his wife, Karen, are also on an annual quest to visit the country's spectacular national parks.
"You will often find that writers are compelled to write what they love to read.
I've always been drawn to stories that are built around an idyllic time and place as much as the characters who grace these locations. As the heroes and villains come to life in my favorite stories, facing life's challenges of love and betrayal and great danger, I also enjoy coming to deeply understand the setting for the story and how it shapes the characters and the conflicts they face.
I've also been drawn to books built around a mix of past and present, allowing me to know a place and the people who live there in both a compelling historical context, as well as in present-day.
Writers like Pat Conroy and Sue Monk Kidd grace my bookshelves along with Ian McEwen, Dennis Lehane, Amor Towles, Anita Shreve, Kristin Hannah, Lisa Wingate, William Kent Krueger and on and on. I need a lot of bookshelves!" ML
Copyright © 2019 Michael Lindley All rights reserved.
This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters and events as depicted are the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, or other real incidents, is purely coincidental.
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