Dangerous Men, Dangerous Places

by Krystal Brookes

  “Won’t Hector be looking for us?” Leigh asked.

  “Killing two Americans here to traffic drugs and leaving their bodies to rot in the Amazon is one thing. Hector wants to force us to work with him. If we were all dead, Eden ’s Exploration would be of no use. He needs a legitimate business front.” Ty sighed. “I’m not sure how we’re going to be able to stay in business after this anyway.”

  “Nick and I saw him kill those two men. We can tell the Quito officials.”

  “He will deny it. While he doesn’t control the drug trade in Quito yet, without solid proof of his involvement no one will risk making him angry in case he does gain full power.”

  Nick knew what Carlos had just said was the truth. Eden ’s Exploration was done.

  “We do have proof,” Leigh said.

  Raul shook his head. “You are very brave to want to testify against Hector but in my country, sadly, justice is sometimes difficult to achieve.”

  “I have pictures.”

  Now Nick shared his friend’s look of surprise. “We had gone to a water spot so I had my camera. I thought they were going to leave when they went to the river, so I was going to take their picture for proof of their thievery. I was clicking when Hector gunned them down.”

  “You’re going to make the most amazing wife.” He turned her in his arms and kissed her. Nick felt the unease slip away and he knew for certain that he now had his own Tony and Maria tale.

  “Only to you, Tarzan.”

  Dangerous Place For Love

  Dangerous Men, Dangerous Places

  Chapter One

  The plane was going down and Erik Coldwell didn’t know how to stop it. The engines were on fire, the crew were dead and all he had to show for his effort was a whimpering woman, Kelly O’Donald. Great. His life couldn’t get any fucking better.

  “We’ve got to get off this plane,” he shouted above the howling wind and alarms blaring throughout the aircraft.

  Kelly sat huddled against one of the chairs. Her tears and whimpers were driving him crazy. The mission had been simple. To take Arthur O’Donald’s daughter to a secure location on the coast of Italy to one of his many villas. What Erik hadn’t taken into account were the few extra men on board who had killed the whole crew.

  Running fingers through his hair, he glanced all around him trying to think on his feet. Situations like these called for fast and quick decisions.

  Working for drug runners was going to be the death of him. At least he could finish one mission, which was to keep Kelly safe. He took hold of the screaming blonde and pushed her to the front of the plane and into the main cockpit. The door was still secured. He rummaged through the supplies, looking for anything to help him make the jump out of the plane. It helped if he didn’t allow himself to think, only to act.

  It had been years since he’d taken the lessons but he didn’t have much choice. He would have to go by instinct and the vague information he could recall from his lessons. Glancing at his watch, he tried to determine where they would be flying over.

  “They’re all dead,” Kelly whispered from behind him.

  Erik turned to talk to her and held himself still. A gun was pointed at his chest.

  “Now, sweet thing. Where did you get the gun?” he asked.

  The killing device in her hand shook and he knew, even though her father had a reputation for killing people, Kelly had never hurt anyone. Her blue eyes were wild and the hysteria she tried to control was close to the surface. He saw all of her reactions and knew he had to contain it.

  A gun going off right now would end both of them.

  “I’m here to help you,” he soothed, taking a small step forward but holding his hands in the air in surrender.

  “You killed them.”

  “I took out the men who posed a threat. They were here to kill you, Kelly. You know that.” Another step moved forward and her eyes darted over his shoulder.

  “They said I’d be safe.”

  Erik blinked and placed his hand over the barrel of the gun. “You are safe. I’m here and I’ll never let anything happen to you.”

  Slowly he took the gun out of her hand and pulled her close to his body as her sobs filled the air. He didn’t have much time. The plane was going down and there would be a small window of opportunity for him to get them to safety.

  “They said I’d be safe,” she whispered again and Erik closed his eyes. She wasn’t ready for what the world was about to do to her. He hoped after this next obstacle, she’d be strong enough to pull through.

  His life and her life depended on it.

  “We need to get out of this plane.”

  “How?”

  “You’re going to have to trust me.”

  Erik found the parachute he was looking for. He would have to quickly secure her and make do with what he remembered from his jumping days. He’d promised to keep her safe and until he died, that was exactly what he was going to do.

  “I need you to hold onto me.”

  “Are we about to get stranded in the ocean?” She glanced outside the window and he knew she wouldn’t see much. Night was the worst time to consider a jump let alone jumping with a burning and falling plane around you.

  “Let’s hope there are no sharks,” he teased.

  Erik took her hand and pulled her to his body. “I want you to face me. Wrap your arms around me and no matter what, don’t let go.” He instructed her on the best way to secure herself. Trying to keep his voice calm and giving as much information as he could. Once he opened the door they’d be sucked out into the night air with only luck on their sides.

  Erik said a quick prayer, closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift.

  He couldn’t do this if he heard her fear. He broke himself off from the feelings and from thinking. Common sense wouldn’t do in this situation.

  He opened the exit door and the wind sucked them out.

  Dangerous Men, Dangerous Places

  Chapter Two

  Three weeks later...

  Kelly gazed out at the endless view of ocean. If someone was to tell her, she would get sick and tired of seeing the still blue waters she would have laughed at them. Looking around her, Kelly would gladly replace the scenery with a busy and dirty working city any day of the week. For three weeks she’d stood in this spot and glanced out looking, for any sign of life. No boats, no planes, nothing. She was totally alone with one of the hunkiest, scariest men on the earth and she’d rather be back in a stinking city.

  Bending down, she picked up a shell and launched it into the vast blue. She watched it skim the water for a few seconds before it landed and sunk.

  “No matter how many times you throw stuff in, it isn’t going to change,” Erik said coming to stand beside her.

  They were lucky. The plane had been a few miles from a little island. She still shuddered, remembering the impact of the water on her body. The worst kind of belly flop in the world.

  “I want to get home,” she complained. Kelly wanted to know what was going on. Her secrets ran deep. Her father had been a drug cartel. A crook of the highest order and Kelly had finally found a way of getting rid of his sorry ass. For years she watched her father parade woman after woman inside their house in front of her mother.

  As a young girl she hadn’t thought anything about the constant supply of women in her home until she grew up. The moans and groans sickened her and soon she found herself listening to the staff and the talk that went on behind closed doors.

  Being a young girl no one took much notice of her, and they believed she was in her own little world when in truth she was listening to every single word they said. Kelly use to watch her mother and see the tears of despair in her eyes. When her mother thought no one was looking, she would sit and gaze out of the window sobbing. It broke Kelly’s heart to see her lovely mum so heartbroken.

  When she finally grew up and moved away to attend college and get some work experience, she had the time to find more information
out about the man she called a father. Once she started finding out more about her father and his business dealings, Kelly found, she wished she hadn’t. There were tons of articles and newspaper clippings not to mention the gossip surrounding her father and the family. Soon, some of the women she recognised as having been paraded through her home, were now on the lost newspaper pages of missing people.

  When her mother died, she left her a small inheritance and a letter. A letter so informed and detailed, it had shredded all of Kelly’s ideals and spun her little world on its axis. Her mother and father’s marriage had been the result of some bargaining chip. Arthur, her father, had used her mother to gain ground on the drug export business.

  The final words written in the letter...

  I know you’ll probably think a little less of me, but I thought I loved your father. I’ve since learnt differently. Everything that has happened is my fault. I should have realised I wouldn’t get away from this hell. But, baby, I can’t be ashamed of everything I got. I had you and you’ve been the best daughter a woman like me could ask for.

  All I ask of you, honey, is don’t become a pawn in this vicious game. Your father will use you to his advantage.

  Get out, get out and stay out.

  I’m sorry you’ll be alone but I offer you my love and pray I will be watching over you. Love,

  Mum xxx

  Reading the words her mother wrote made things a lot clearer to Kelly. She understood why her father had brought men into her life. He’d forced her to go on dates. He was shopping for a new son-in-law and a means to extend his already bulging empire.

  So, fear playing a vital part in her plan, she walked in on the special agent’s department and requested to see the man in charge of Arthur O’Donald’s case. Not one of her brightest moments but it fuelled her desire to seek out justice. From that day forth, she turned rat on her father and became an informant for the secret agents working his case. Every shred of information she could provide, she did. This was three years ago. They were supposed to have taken him down while she was transported to Italy .

  The plane accident and being trapped on a deserted island hadn’t been part of the plan.

  “I just want to get home,” she repeated. The need to see her father behind bars was strong. This was payback for her mother and all the other women who’d suffered at his hand.

  “You and me both, honey. I’ve got important stuff to be getting on with as well. I don’t have all day to be babysitting a spoilt little rich girl.”

  Erik was her father’s right-hand man and most trusted contact. She’d seen them together a few times. Always with a woman resting on his arm, or perched in his lap while her father talked business. About three months ago, Arthur had forced her to play hostess and keep Erik company. The man reeked of danger and even if her body stirred, the thought of the wire she wore and the calls she use to receive and make to the special agent in charge would always be a wake-up call and make her keep her distance.

  One of the deals she made was she would never know the name of the people involved working the case, which helped to protect her because other than answering the phone and wearing a wire she didn’t know anything. The other was to keep their specially designed, untraceable phone on her person at all times. In case she was ever in danger, she would phone and they’d get the signal. Other than pre-planned calls, the phone was rarely used.

  From the day she’d entered the department and sat down with a guy in his mid-forties, she hadn’t seen anyone since.

  It seemed ironic she was stuck on an island with one of the deadliest men in the world and she had nothing to protect herself with.

  “I’m sick and tired of your bitching. I’m not some spoilt rich girl, okay?” She threw a shell at him and growled in frustration as it went straight over his head. Kelly bent down to pick up another one but Erik was already on her. He took her down to the sand and rolled her onto her back. The fight she put up caused more of a struggle and Erik had to use some force to restrain her. His body came close and she detected his masculine scent underneath the salty sea air. Dirty and hard. She imagined rough sex and rock music. The sand gritty under her body where she wouldn’t have to see it. Since being in this fucking beautiful deserted island, she hated the sight of sand.

  “Okay, if you’re not some little rich girl. Tell me sweetness, what exactly are you?”

  His body was flush against hers. Since the crash and the battle to get their life to some form of normality, Erik had decided to get rid of his clothes. He wore the occasional pair of pants but he refused to wear anything when the sun was blaring in the sky. Kelly hadn’t been able to rid herself of her small amount of modesty. She was only thankful she’d decided to wear her push-up bra on the day of the plane crash that had padding in it rather than the sheer lace she often wore.

  As he lay on top of her, she became aware of two things; one, she liked the feel of lying beneath him, and the second, he was having just as much fun. His cock was hard and thick where it settled over her panties.

  She gasped and gazed into his eyes. Without thinking, she admitted the truth. “I’m a rat.”

  He paused above her. “What?”

  Licking her lips as he trapped her hands above her head she tried to think about what she was doing. Part of the deal was not talking about it with anyone. Kelly needed to get it off her chest and the best way of doing that was to tell one of the men she was stitching up. Maybe he would kill her quickly.

  “I ratted out my father to the authorities. I told them everything and got them inside information about him and his deals,” she whispered. Her chest rose and fell as she took deep breaths. Heart pounding, like it was ready to beat out of her chest. “Everything is documented and taped. They have it all.”

  Erik stayed above her and Kelly waited for the explosion. “Say it again.” She saw the anger simmering beneath the surface and she gulped down some oxygen. The air burnt her lungs.

  “I told the authorities everything. I gave them locations of drug busts and when you were all sleeping, I snuck out the secured disks. All of it for the past three years. They’ve built their case and Arthur O’Donald and all the rest of them are going to rot for the rest of their lives in some secured prison.” Kelly applied some pressure on the hands binding her wrists over her head and they wouldn’t move. Erik stayed perfectly still above her.

  His eyes flashing the darkest green she ever saw.

  “Do you have any idea what you’ve fucking done?” he shouted. He came off her body and pulled her to her feet. Kelly flinched away from him but he took her elbow and led her across the sand back to where he’d made camp when they first washed up on shore.

  “Let me go. It’s over,” she yelled, yanking her arm trying to dislodge any hold he had on her.

  He thrust her up against the nearest tree and held her in place. “Stay fucking still.”

  Erik moved away, kicking up the sand. He bent and put on some pants and then cursed and shouted at nothing. Kelly waited patiently wondering what to do with a half-crazed man.

  “They should never have come for you,” he growled as he stood next to her. His fist connected with the trunk of a tree off to her side and she cried out.

  “What are you doing?” she asked covering her head.

  “I told them, I’d get them what they needed but they had to leave you out of it. I did all of this for you,” he shouted and Kelly was confused.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “No. You wouldn’t. When your mother died, I promised myself you wouldn’t suffer the same fate as her. I saw and knew what your father had planned. For the past ten years I’ve watched and waited until I found the perfect situation to become close to your father.”

  Everything he said didn’t make any sense. Erik Coldwell was one of the worst killers in the world. She’d seen the evidence for herself.

  “What are you talking about?” She made to move away from the tree he’d pinned her to. />
  “I told you to stay fucking still. I’ve got to get myself under control.” Kelly nodded and stood, nervous and shaking but waiting to see what was going to happen.

  After a few minutes he stopped and walked over to her. Kelly braced herself and waited to see if he would strike her or leave her alone.

  “Your mother first came to us over six years ago. This case with your father has been open for over twenty years. It started with his father as I’m sure you’re aware. Cathy came to us for protection of herself and her only daughter, you.” He ran his fingers through her hair.

  “Are you trying to tell me you’re not some crook working for my father but are in fact part of the agency working to bring him down?” It was too surreal to even think about.

  Erik Coldwell was a mass murderer. Wasn’t he?

  “Don’t interrupt. Seeing as you’ve decided to butt in on something that has been going on longer than you’ve been living, I suggest you keep quiet for a while.”

  “How old are you?” she asked. Kelly was twenty-four.

  “I’m thirty-seven and way too old to be dealing with young girls,” he said.

  “I’m not a young girl,” she argued.

  “Look. Do you want me to tell you or not?”

  Kelly stood and wondered if she wanted to know what was really going on. She thought it would be a simple and straightforward process to get rid of Arthur but every step had been met with obstacles she wasn’t prepared to deal with.

  “Yes, I need to know what my mother was doing.”

  Dangerous Men, Dangerous Places

  Chapter Three

  Erik glanced down at Kelly. She was so smart and beautiful it took his breath away. He cursed and turned away from the temptation she’d become.

  “Cathy O’Donald made first contact when a young girl by the name of Christine Thompson went missing. A young, fresh eighteen-year-old. She told us her husband Arthur O’Donald had brought a woman that matched her description to the house and fucked her in front of her. She said it appeared as if the girl had been drugged and wasn’t in her right mind. Through investigation and with her help, we found Christine alive, drugged and being forced to whore out her body for payment.”