DEAD MAN’S ISLE
The Harlequin Crew Book 2
By
Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Author Note
This book is dedicated to the starfishes who are forced to work for JJ and swallow down body parts they have no appetite for.
Sorry lil Starfish Pete and Starfish Jeff.
You didn’t wanna eat that man’s finger or that other guy’s toe.
But you did.
And now you’re back in the ocean with the horrors of gang life to scar you and your starfish family will never understand your dark past.
God speed, lil starfishes. You’re the true heroes of this story and we salute you.
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M averick was silent as the small boat we were on bounced across the choppy waves and thunder rumbled in the distance. It was pitch black out here, the stars and moon covered in a blanket of storm clouds so thick that it was a struggle to see anything beyond the deck of this little vessel. A freezing wind whipped my rainbow coloured hair around my face and sent a chill racing down to my bones. I was still wearing the fancy French designer outfit Chase had gotten me for our newlywed cover story for the job, but the harem pants and crop top were now marked with engine oil from Maverick's bike and general grime from the holding cell I'd spent the day rotting in.
Maverick was silent, a heavy, furious energy about him that warned me away even though I was stuck here in his company. He stood at the helm, powering across black waves beneath an ominous sky that promised the oncoming storm.
Lightning forked through the clouds overhead and I flinched as it lit up the tips of the dark waves which surrounded us a few seconds before thunder crashed. It was insanity to be out here when the weather was on the turn like this. No doubt my bad luck was only about to get worse and I'd end this shit fest of a day face down in the water while a shark took great pleasure in eating my dead ass. But this ass was too nice to end up as shark chow. I’d been doing my squats again…that one time…a few weeks ago. But still, the payoff was clear to see and required the slap of a rough palm or the grip of brutal fingers, not the sharp slice of shark teeth into my perfectly round flesh.
"How much further is it?" I demanded, wrapping my arms around myself and trying to rub my skin to banish the gooseflesh that was covering my body.
"You scared, beautiful?" Maverick asked, his low voice almost lost to the roar of the engine as he failed to so much as glance around at me where I sat in the back of the small vessel, my knees knocking against his motorbike which took up almost the entire deck. He’d been in that exact same position since he dumped me onboard and we’d sped out onto the water. I’d considered jumping and swimming for shore, but I got the feeling I couldn’t out-swim a boat, so it had seemed like a dumb idea.
"Dead girls don't fear death," I replied bitterly, looking away from him towards the ocean even though it was impossible to see anything out there besides the inky darkness. Maverick had a spotlight aimed at the waves ahead of us, but even that hardly showed a thing in the gloom beyond a reflection on the water.
"I know the feeling," Maverick replied, glancing over his shoulder and narrowing his dark eyes on me.
I held his gaze, chin high and defiant, begging him to do his worst because at this point, I couldn't get any lower anyway. Hell, maybe he hadn't brought me out here to return me to his hideaway on Dead Man's Isle. Maybe he'd just brought me out here to drown me and end this eternal loop of suffering I was caught in. Wouldn't that be fitting? For this whole thing to end in the water I'd once loved so much. The same water where we'd all come to try and dump a body all those years ago. I'd stood on a boat not much bigger than this one that night, surrounded by my boys as they rallied around me and helped me to try and cover up what I'd done. I'd been attacked, almost raped, had killed a man then had to dispose of his body. And yet when I'd been standing between the four of them, I hadn't even felt fear over any of it. I'd foolishly stood there with them, looking around at the four pieces of my heart and had believed it would all be okay because I had them and nothing could ever take that away from me. I’d believed that with all I had and all I was – little did I know they were less than a day away from ripping that reality away from me and proving how wrong I was.
Sometimes I wished I could go back in time and be that naive girl standing amongst her boys again, feel the love I'd believed they held for me and the solid thump of my own heart which had beat just for them. But then I remembered it had all been a pretty lie I'd clearly been tricked into believing. When it came down to it, I wasn't the choice they'd made. I was disposable just like that dead body we’d dumped. And today they'd only proven that fact more thoroughly by throwing me away all over again.
The boat hit a wave hard, the nose lurching up into the air and my heart leapt as I was forced to release my grip on myself and grab the metal bar which ringed the line of seats I was perched on.
Maverick returned his attention to steering us through the storm as thunder boomed across the sky once again, splitting the clouds apart so that rain crashed down over us.
I cursed as my fingers curled tighter around the slick metal bar and the boat continued to bounce more and more violently over the caps of the waves. I only hoped that meant we were closing in on the shore, because this storm would chew us up and spit us out if we didn't escape it soon.
I closed my eyes against the pounding rain and the view of nothing as my stomach swooped over and over and my memories cast me back to a time I worked so hard not to remember.
"Run, beautiful! I'll lead them away!" Rick cried, jerking to a halt and tossing me the paper bag we'd just stolen so that the heat of the contents smacked against my chest and I caught it automatically.
"No," I growled, reaching out and grabbing the back of his shirt in my fist to stop him from turning back the way we'd come. "We're in it together. All of us."
His dark eyes raked over me as a thousand arguments moved to his lips, but he clearly read my refusal in my eyes and his grin widened as he gave in.
"Come on then. We'll head for the boardwalk." He grabbed the bag back out of my arms, and snatched my hand before taking off again, the sounds of the mall security assholes yelling for us seeming way too close for comfort.
The others hadn't noticed us hesitating at first, but as we made it
to the end of the alley, the three of them appeared, running back our way.
"Shit," JJ breathed. "I thought you guys had been caught for a second then."
"We were gonna beat the fuck outa those security assholes to set you free," Chase agreed, sweeping his curly hair out of his eyes before jerking his chin to get us all moving and racing away again.
"Stop!" a man yelled behind us and I half squealed, half laughed, but mostly just pushed my legs as fast as they could go.
Fox caught my free hand and tugged on it like he thought we could move even faster if he just yanked on me, despite the fact I was the fastest of us all and he damn well knew it.
We spilled out of the alley into the sunshine, our feet hitting the wooden boardwalk which ran along The Mile and the sight of the cerulean sea brought a smile to my face. They held a little market down here a couple of times a month and as today was market day, the place was heaving.
There were people everywhere and more than a few of them tossed glances our way as we took off, racing between the crowd at full speed. I tugged my hands free of the boys' and ran flat out, racing to overtake JJ who was in the lead.
My long, brunette hair billowed out behind me and a laugh fell from my lips.
A woman stepped out of a store right ahead of me and I slammed into her before I could stop myself, the two of us hitting the wooden boards in a heap.
"Get off of me, you little gutter rat!" she squawked as I shoved myself upright.
"Shut your mouth you dried out old tampon," Fox spat at her as he grabbed my arm to heave me up and Maverick caught my other arm to help him.
"You speak about our girl like that again and I'll turn up at your house while you're sleeping and set your fake ass hair on fire," Rick agreed as the woman gasped in outrage.
I grinned big at her, shrugging the boys off and snatching her purse from the ground as we took off running again. Her howls of outrage merged with the yells from the mall assholes as we sprinted away between the crowd and the boys threw grins my way as they stayed either side of me.
We passed a dude who was selling all kinds of fruit and I caught sight of Chase and JJ half a second before they upended a box of oranges and it spilled everywhere behind us. People yelled and scrambled aside or tried to help and best of all, the assholes chasing us were most definitely going to have a hard time getting past that quickly.
The five of us whooped and cheered and I looked up, spotting the Ferris wheel at the end of the pier ahead of us as Sinners' Playground beckoned us home and the sun shone down so brightly it lit me up from the inside out.
As we reached the end of The Mile, we dove off of the boardwalk and onto the golden sand below. The five of us ran into the shadows beneath the pier, scrambling into the tightest, darkest space at the very end of it and cramming ourselves in together.
Rick was butted up against me on my left and Chase on my right and the five of us stifled our laughter as the sounds of the men who had been chasing us drew closer, their curses at having lost us making me crack up.
Maverick placed a hand over my mouth, grinning widely. "Stay quiet, beautiful," he whispered and my heart thrashed for a whole new reason as I looked into his dark eyes.
The men finally moved away and Rick pulled back, opening up the paper bag as the five of us spread out a little, taking seats on the cool sand.
"I'm so freaking hungry," I sighed, eyeing the bag of doughnuts and groaning at the scent wafting from them.
Rick and Fox easily could have afforded to buy their own with the money Daddy Harlequin gave them, but they knew the rest of us didn't like accepting their charity, so they preferred to join us in thieving. It was more fun anyway.
Maverick opened the bag and held it out between all of us and we dove forward to claim the spoils of war.
We pushed and shoved and I growled while JJ gnashed his teeth at me playfully and we finally emerged with a sugary donut each, still warm from the fryer and making my stomach rumble.
"I bet this beats the shit you got for breakfast in the group home this morning, huh?" Maverick teased me as I took a huge bite and I closed my eyes to savour the taste.
"I wasn't allowed any breakfast today," I said around a mouthful of deep-fried goodness. "I went over my time slot in the shower last night because I needed to wash my hair and you know what an asshole Mary Beth is about that kind of thing."
The boys all frowned at me as I admitted that and I suddenly found myself the subject of their stares, eyes flashing with outrage on my behalf and making my heart swell with love for them.
"It's okay." I shrugged. "The breakfast is the same shitty old oatmeal every day and it's not exactly filling anyway. There’s never enough to go around. Besides, all the other girls in our class keep telling me they wish they had my figure - so I guess the half-starved thing is working for me."
My joke fell flat and the four of them exchanged looks. It wasn't like this was really news to them and Chase arguably had it worse than me, his parents letting him go without food way too often thanks to his deadbeat dad having no job. JJ's mom was a bit of a shit show too, but at least she always made sure he was fed.
I finished the last bite of my food and my stomach growled loud enough for everyone to hear. Four half-eaten donuts were suddenly placed in my lap. My lips popped open on a protest, but they all spoke over me, demanding I eat and not argue. Chase even assured me that he'd already stolen himself some breakfast today as my gaze met his and I knew he wasn't bullshitting me.
I should have said no. But instead I just smiled, letting them do this for me and bathing in the feeling of their love for me as I demolished their leftovers and they all beamed like feeding me was one of their favourite pastimes.
"We've got you, beautiful," Maverick promised. "Always."
I opened my eyes again, taking in a deep breath as I looked at the stranger that boy had become while he battled the storm and drove us towards the shore. The rain continued to lash down on us and the coldness that had been clinging to my flesh had long since sunk into my bones to take root in my soul.
The ring of a bell drew my attention over the crash of the waves, and I looked beyond the strange new silhouette of the boy I'd once loved and noticed light piercing the pounding rain somewhere ahead of us. That had to be the island. We'd made it. Thank fuck for that.
Maverick guided the boat up to the dock and I gripped the slick bar I’d been clinging onto tighter just as the hull smacked against the jetty.
Men were shouting and Rick barked orders at them to secure the boat and get his bike unloaded and the next thing I knew, he was standing over me, holding a tattooed hand out and watching me with that penetrating gaze of his.
"Are you going to make this difficult?" he asked, seeming not to mind one way or another.
"You know me, Rick," I replied, ignoring his hand which almost looked like it was dripping ink as the rain ran over the black tattoos lining his flesh and pushing to my feet. "Difficult is my middle name."
His gaze slid over me as I shivered before him, unable to move away while he boxed me in with his bulk and the rain washed down over his dark hair and across his leather jacket.
I tried not to shiver but failed and before I knew what was happening, he'd stripped the jacket off and had thrown it around my shoulders. I was too cold to protest against it and as his fingers linked with mine, I let him take my hand and pull me towards the jetty.
I slipped as I tried to climb out of the boat but he yanked me close, keeping me on my feet and practically lifting me up beside him. Then we were walking. Marching really. And his grip on my hand was an iron hold, a means to ensure I couldn’t run, a fucking shackle.
Men and women shot curious looks my way as they hurried past us to secure the boat as he'd instructed, but Maverick ignored them completely, striding on with purposeful steps as the rain quickly drenched his black shirt and plastered it to his huge frame.
The moment we stepped through the enormous entrance to the hotel he'd
claimed for his own personal palace, I sighed in relief, the warmth and light enveloping us as we left the raging storm outside.
Maverick didn't release my hand and I didn't try to pull away. It wasn't like I could run in that storm, and though there was no tenderness to the way he held me, there was something familiar to it all the same. And while my battered, broken heart was hurting so deeply over what Fox and the others had done to me today, I was all in favour of taking some small comfort from their enemy. Even though I knew he was no more of a friend to me than they were.
Maverick didn't slow until he pushed through the doors into the spa on the bottom level of the hotel where he led me up to a bubbling hot tub before stopping abruptly and releasing his grip on me. The room was lavish, decked out with grey and white tiles and housing a sauna and steam room too, but there were no windows. No way out at all aside from the door we’d just entered through.
"Warm up in the water, or don't," Maverick said flatly, not looking at me or anything else here really. "I need to arrange your accommodation."
Maverick turned and strode away from me again and I frowned at the dismissal, chasing after him and catching his arm.
"That's it?" I asked in surprise as he turned to look down at me.
Maverick ran his gaze over me slowly, drinking in the sight of me like he was trying to align this new version of me with the girl he remembered from our past. "Oh no, beautiful, this isn't it. This doesn't even come close. You may have been kept as a pampered pet by those Harlequin assholes, but believe me when I say I'm a whole other breed of captor. You and me have a lot of unfinished business and I'm going to be making good on every promise I've made over the last ten years. So enjoy your spa time, sweetheart, because it's about to get a whole lot less pleasant from here on out."
He pulled his arm out of my grip and strode through the exit before I could say a word in reply to that. And as the sound of the lock turning in the door followed him, my heart sank like a stone in my chest.
"Here stands the corpse of Rogue Easton," I muttered to myself, looking around at the bubbling water as steam rose from it in a cloud. My fancy French outfit was now dripping wet as well as stained and I would have wanted it off of me even if it hadn’t been. It was a reminder of what I’d done today. A reminder of where I’d been and who I’d so foolishly trusted. Again. I mean, what the fuck was wrong with me?
Dead Man's Isle (Harlequin Crew #2) Page 1