Coastal Fury Boxset (1-3)

by Matt Lincoln

  Holm’s cheeks reddened, and I snorted. People usually thought he was younger than me because I was the one who did the Harrison Ford scruffy thing, and he was the Cary Elwes of our team.

  “The car was blue,” Holm said. There was no way he was going to tell that kid it’d been a used 1999. “It did fine in the street races I absolutely never participated in.”

  Zippy raised his brows and nodded as if rethinking his opinion of Holm.

  “You got good taste, man.” His toothy grin showed his approval. “Den you know dis baby will get you where you’re goin’” Zippy promised. “You two in back so nobody sees you.”

  I didn’t relish being driven by a teen street racer, but Holm couldn’t stop smiling. Zippy put the Lancer in gear and whipped down the street before we were even buckled. I prayed that we wouldn’t hit anyone or bottom out. Holm sat there and grinned like a damned fool.

  “Kid, getting us pulled over ain’t gonna help,” I told Zippy.

  “Dey know who I am,” he bragged. “If I go slow, dey know I’m up to somet’ing!”

  “Won’t they know who’s dropping us off at the hotel then?” I could not figure these folks out. “Your folks are all about secrecy, and yet, people know who you are.”

  “It’s complicated.” Zippy came to a hard stop at an intersection. When it was clear, he punched it. “Dey don’t know I help Mr. Wright. Most of the de neighborhood don’t know who’s protectin’ them. Dey know it’s better, and dey’s happy wit dat.”

  That answer worked for me, partly because it made sense, and partly because I didn’t want to take Zippy’s focus off his driving. I wasn’t used to being the passenger on wild rides. Holm was a great driver, but somehow, it became my thing to pull the fancy shit.

  The ride to the hotel took fifteen minutes. Fifteen eternal minutes. The portico had a tour tram and taxi out front, and Zippy, living up to his name, zipped through only to lay on the brakes in front of the tram.

  “Good luck wit whatever you’re doing,” he told us.

  Holm and I extracted ourselves from the rear seat. The doors barely shut before Zippy and his tangerine Lancer were gone.

  “Young men, that driver of yours almost hit me!”

  The voice came from behind, and I groaned. Surely not. I walked toward the lobby entrance and pretended that Anita did not exist. Holm followed my example, but that didn’t work for Anita, nor did it help with the other half of her tag team, Doris.

  “We should call the police,” Doris cried in her nasal voice. “That must have been a criminal and a drug operation.”

  Holm hesitated and looked back at the women.

  “Oh, God, Robbie. Don’t let them see my face,” I begged. “They’re the ones who got us into trouble in the first place.”

  “Oh.” Holm put on his charm and went to meet the ladies. “I am so sorry…”

  I could not stand the thought of running into those women at the hotel. While Holm worked his magic on the elderly pair, I called Cyber directly. We had a nice little chat, and I was done by the time Holm returned to my side.

  “I don’t know what your problem was.” He turned and waved. “They were quite lovely, especially when they learned we are international men of mystery.”

  I pulled my hat lower and observed good old Anita and Doris approach the desk. Holm wanted to move on, but I barred his path with my arm.

  “Watch.” I couldn’t help an evil grin. “Not even little old ladies should mess with me.”

  Holm sighed. “What did you do?”

  I pointed toward the reception desk. Anita drummed her fingers while the hapless employee attempted to find their names in the system. Doris stared at a display hanging from the cathedral ceiling, in which copper birds fluttered from thin wires. Natural shifts in air movement made it look like the flock circled and wove. I had to admit, it was pretty damned impressive.

  “What do you mean we don’t have a reservation?” Anita’s barking voice echoed throughout the lobby.

  I winced, but only a little. That woman was a busybody, and I didn’t want her anywhere nearby.

  “Ethan—” Holm began.

  I put up a hand. “Wait for it.” At his concerned expression, I shook my head a little. “You know me better than that. They’re a pain, but they are on vacation. I’m not horrible.”

  Doris’s pocket began to sing. The song was “Pink” by Aerosmith. She jumped a little and got her phone out. Holm’s eyes went wide, and he blinked. Well, Doris was wearing a lot of pink. I had to wonder if she ever looked up the lyrics.

  “Anita!” Doris ran over and spoke to her counterpart. She raised her voice a little and finished with, “And they’re sending a car for us right now.”

  “They may or may not have been brought to the wrong hotel,” I informed my partner.

  My phone pinged at that time. Forde was en route with the rest of our group and almost there. As much as I wanted to meet them in the lobby, there was no way we should do so while our cover was intact. We ran up to our room to get showers and into our own clothes.

  The second half of our day was just beginning.

  35

  Sealy and Muñoz called at the same time. As much as I wanted to check in on everyone, I punted Muñoz’s call to Holm. The mission came first, and anything Sealy had was the priority.

  “They’ll see you two mornings from now,” he informed me. “It’s a cash buy-in. Seventy-five thou, US dollars. We schedule a meeting time and place, and they pick you up in a panel van. Merchandise is delivered later, with full payment due.” Sealy’s rote tone caught, and he had the decency to act like he cared for more than a minute. “That’s how it works. I don’t make the rules.”

  I drummed my fingers on my thigh. A day and a half were more than I expected and more than I wanted. The sooner we closed the case, the better. Human trafficking cases were the hardest. Maybe not physically, but damn, they messed with a man’s soul.

  “We had a hell of a day,” I told Sealy. “We’re staying in tonight unless you know of a reason we shouldn’t.”

  “Nah, bro, you’re in. Don’t blow your stories an’ you’ll be alright.”

  When I was done with Sealy, Holm raised a brow. I updated him and asked about his call.

  “They’re in the rooms. We can head down at any time.”

  I didn’t wait. A minute and a half later, we were at the girls’ door. I knocked, okay, I pounded next to the fancy golden room number. Someone yelled from another room to ease off. Since the door unlocked at that blessed moment, I didn’t have to yell back.

  “First, glad you’re fine,” Emily began. “Second, pound on my door like that again, and you can go jump in a lake.”

  I cocked my head. “You know that’s not actually a threat, right?”

  She uttered an exasperated sound, spun around, and stalked away.

  “Nice move,” Holm said as he swooped in past me. He went straight to Luci. “Are you okay? I heard it was a tough go…” He paused, narrowed his eyes, and then burst out, “Luci, you got your hair cut!”

  I meandered in. Yep. It was short. A nearby trash can had long strands of straight black hair piled at the top, some of which hung over the edge. That was a good sign that the housekeepers respected the sign asking for no service. In general, that was a new green thing. In particular, it helped prevent strangers from entering our rooms. We also had ways to tell if the rooms had been breached, and they hadn’t.

  Forde entered from the adjoining room where Birn was being tended to by Muñoz. The inspector’s posture was straight and proud, but I read something sad in his eyes. It was subtle but there.

  “Everyone accounted for,” Forde announced. He whipped a hand towel at me. “They have the good linens here. It’s important to always have a good towel handy.”

  I grabbed it from mid-air when he tried to crack it at Holm.

  “Right. Thank you, Tomás, for helping us today.” Thanking the inspector was low on my list of enjoyable tasks, but it had
to be done, if only because I didn’t want to be stranded at some point after offending him. What came next was worse. “And Alvin Wright is one of the good guys, more or less. He helped us understand that today.”

  Forde beamed, but wow, that look lingered. Was that there the last time we came to the island? I wondered if something happened while we were back in Florida or since we’d arrived the second time.

  “Is there anything we can do to help you in return?” I asked him.

  “You are doing everything perfectly.” His smile revealed a chipped tooth I hadn’t noticed before. “We must capture these people and make them pay for what they’ve done to Luci and the others.” He spoke the last part with such vehemence that I took a step back.

  “That’s the plan,” I assured him. “Hey, I’ll walk you to the elevator.”

  “But I’m not ready—”

  “Everyone’s tired, and the next day and a half will be busy.” I forced a matching smile. “I’m sure you understand.”

  The others gave me a strange look, but even Emily and Luci by then knew to roll with it.

  “Bye, Tomás,” Emily said. She ran up and gave the man a little hug. “Thank you so much.”

  Forde nodded. “You are most welcome, my friend. Please, stay out of trouble, yes?”

  Emily nodded with the eagerness of a schoolgirl wanting to please her teacher. God, she was quick. She would’ve made a good investigator at the least. Well, forensics. History was a series of unending investigations, too.

  I took Forde to the hall, but I led him to the alcove with the ice and vending machines. He furrowed his brow.

  “What’s going on, Tomás?” I asked. “You’re not yourself tonight.”

  The corners of his lips trembled a little, and his gaze flicked away for less than a second before meeting mine.

  “My sister had an accident today,” he said with a sigh. “We are worried, but the doctor says she will be fine. There may be a surgery.”

  “Well hell, why didn’t you tell us?”

  He shrugged. “It was a tough day.”

  I smiled. “Text me her name and what hospital. We’ll have the department send flowers.”

  “I will do that.”

  That forced smile could’ve fooled anyone, but I knew him well enough by then to see it for what it was. Whether he was being brave or lying, though, I couldn’t tell.

  “You go see her.” I patted his shoulder, and he flinched. “Call if you hear anything.”

  “Yes, yes. Goodnight, Agent Marston.”

  The elevator was already on the floor, and Forde vanished inside.

  Back at the suite, I found everyone in one room waiting for me. Even Birn with his stitched wound and knee covered in ice packs.

  “What’s going on with him?” Muñoz asked for them all.

  “I do not know,” I answered slowly. “He told me his sister had an accident. Doctors say she’ll be fine, but he’s worried.” I met Holm’s eyes. “I have that feeling, partner.”

  “The Mama-didn’t-raise-no-fool feeling?”

  “Yeah, that feeling.” I rubbed my jaw. “Well, kids, something isn’t right with our dear inspector. We can’t verify because we don’t know her name or whether he even has a sister.”

  “I’ll message Bonnie,” Muñoz said. “She stays in later than Cyber and can look up that much.”

  I nodded at that then leaned back against a wall, the long day settling into my bones.

  “So, tell me about your day.”

  36

  Emily handed me a yellowish folder. She looked like she was trying not to smile.

  “Before all the excitement, we visited my Aunt Esme,” she said as I took the folder. “She wants you to have this.”

  I grew aware of several sets of expectant eyes on me. My heartbeat quickened as I opened the folder to find a plastic-encased, browned page. The faded handwriting was barely legible, but it was readable enough to get the message.

  “Holy shit,” I whispered. “I can’t believe this.”

  Holm looked at it from the side, and I turned the page so he could see. Even though parts were stained beyond help, the most important information was clear.

  “Captain Grendel tossed a traitor,” I summarized. “Thadeus Smithson stole from Mad Dog. It doesn’t say what, but it pissed the captain off. They chained the guy to a cannonball and made him walk the plank.” I blew out a breath. “Literally, this guy walked a plank.” I looked at Holm and could barely contain a whoop that would freak people out in other rooms. “Here, Robbie. Here, in Barbados!”

  “What?” Holm took a closer look. “Sandy Red’s Bay.” He frowned. “Do we know where that is?”

  “It has a different name now.” Emily tapped through a couple of apps on the burner phone we’d lent her for the trip. “I looked it up. After the ‘Golden Age’ of pirates, they changed the name. Sandy Red was a pirate based north of here. It’s Camdon Bay, now.”

  Emily held up the phone and handed it to me. The browser was on a page about Sandy Red and his reign of terror in the South Caribbean.

  “Sandy Red didn’t get his name for his red hair and beard,” I read aloud. “It was said that if his crew got a hold of your ship, the nearest sandy shore would turn red with your blood.” I skimmed a little and stopped at a paragraph near the bottom. “He crossed swords with other famous pirates, including Blackbeard and Mad Dog Grendel.”

  I lifted my brows and looked up. “Well, then. I wonder why Grendel decided to kill Smithson on Sandy Red’s doorstep.”

  “We may never know,” Emily informed me. “If there are more pages at Aunt Esme’s house, we might learn more, but there are years’ worth of boxes for her to sort through.” Emily beamed now that I had the precious gift. “But this is enough for a dive, isn’t it?”

  “Hell, yeah, it is!”

  I handed the phone back to Luci. She smiled and went back to browsing on the phone while sitting on the bed.

  “Since we have a day to kill, I suppose this means we’re going on the water tomorrow,” Sylvia said with an eye roll. “But not Birn. We don’t need sharks on his ass.”

  “I’ll drive the boat,” he volunteered as he looked at a nautical map on a tablet. “How do we know what part of the bay to search?” He showed me the bay’s layout. “It’s a big area.”

  I reread both sides of the diary page.

  “Ahem.” Emily pointed to a section I couldn’t decipher. “Getting old, Ethan? It’s there.”

  There, almost invisible against one of the darker stains, was the line I’d missed. I read it three times to be sure. Well, damn.

  “They put him overboard between the Witch’s Tit and Dragon’s Fang,” I told everyone. Going by their laughter, I suspected Emily hadn’t told them that little gem. When they settled, I added, “Sounds like karst formations. Find some photos, will ya?”

  “You know, this isn’t my job,” Birn grumbled. The sparkle in his eye belied the complaint as he searched Google Images. “Here we go.”

  Someone had framed a gorgeous photo of Camdon Bay from a resort. The bay was popular for its beautiful beaches and a reef between Witch’s Hat and Dragon’s Claw, two karst hills that rose like skyscrapers from the water.

  Holm took one look at my face and laughed.

  “Looks like we’re going for a dive in the morning.”

  37

  Before going back to our rooms, I got some time to talk with Emily alone in one of the adjoining rooms at the hotel. I shut the door so that I could give her the gift in privacy.

  “Is everything alright?” she asked with a hint of nervousness.

  “No worse than usual,” I said with a grin. “I found something I hope you might like.”

  The distillery’s gift bags were nothing spectacular, but I hadn’t had time to find anything better that day. I handed it over and hoped for the best.

  “A bit light for a fifth of rum,” she joked. Her voice cracked a hair on the last word, and it hit me that she might be m
ore nervous than I was.

  “You should’ve seen the gift shop.” I inwardly cringed at the bad line.

  Emily carefully opened the brown gift bag and removed the cream-colored tissue paper. The hibiscus seemed as if it were rising from a cloud. Her eyes widened and began to glisten as she cradled the carefully sewn petals. She sniffed and then chuckled.

  “My mom loved these flowers,” she explained. “She grew them in a bunch of colors, but her favorites were really close to this color.” She hugged it to her chest. “Thank you, Ethan.”

  “I, um… I thought maybe you could wear it,” I suggested. Her emotional response had me off balance. “That stem bends any way you want, and I figured it’d be really pretty.”

  Her hand went to the bare spot, and I nodded.

  “Will you help?” she asked.

  Oh hell, I hadn’t thought of that. I figured she’d get Luci or Muñoz to help if she needed it, but I wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity to be close.

  She handed me the flower, and I held the flower in place. We were in front of a mirror, and she used that to guide me on where to tuck and wrap the stem around the braids that surrounded the space where she’d lost one. In no time at all, the flower was in place and looked as perfect as everything else about her.

  “Thank you,” she whispered. “This… this means a lot.”

  She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed. I returned the hug and wished I didn’t have to let go. It felt right to have her head on my shoulder, tucked under my chin. She smelled of sunshine and all that was right in the world. Emily looked up at me and did not let go. Next thing I knew, we sank into each other’s lips. I pulled her tighter. Or she pulled me. It was hard to tell.

  Someone knocked at the door. “You two alive in there?” Holm shouted. I could’ve killed the guy.

  Emily and I broke apart. God, I wanted more, but we both knew it wasn’t the time or place.

  “Yeah, just talking,” I called out. “Come on in.”

  We rejoined the group and talked about the dive. No one mentioned the flower, but I saw that Emily would touch it and smile every few minutes. Damn, that felt good.