Dead Man's Isle (Harlequin Crew #2)

by Caroline Peckham

  I led Rogue along through the wild party, and people gasped and dove out of our way as their eyes fell on my face. Mutt growled in Rogue’s arms, clearly not liking the place and when one girl tried to stroke him, he nearly took her finger off.

  I headed up to Jolene’s office and knocked firmly on the door.

  “Come in!” she called and I turned to Rogue.

  “Stay here,” I told her. “Basset and Eddie will watch you.”

  “Can’t I just head off for a drink?” she asked, gazing at the party a little wistfully.

  “No,” I growled then snapped my fingers at my men, pointing at her. They immediately closed in around her and she huffed, blowing a lock of pastel blue hair out of her eyes.

  I headed into the office with Chase and he pushed the door closed behind us.

  Chester was sitting behind the desk in a vibrant purple shirt that had several buttons undone, revealing his tanned, muscular chest. His blonde moustache looked freshly groomed and his blue eyes immediately whipped to Jolene in the chair beside him for instruction. Her fair hair was pulled up into a ponytail and she was in all black tonight with dark eyeliner to match.

  “Evening boys,” she said. “I’m afraid my man’s not back yet, but it won’t be too long.” She drummed her nails on the desk, her gaze flicking to the iPad beside her and her drumming fingers halting. “Who’s the girl?”

  I guessed she had CCTV on her screen, but I couldn’t see it from the angle I was at.

  “She’s mine,” I said fiercely and Jolene glanced quickly at Chester before smiling at me.

  “She’s pretty,” my aunt commented.

  “She’s a goddess,” Chase corrected and I shot him a glare as he cleared his throat. He seemed kind of confused as to why he’d said it himself and he just shrugged at me before I turned away.

  Jolene’s eyes moved from Chase to me as she thought on something. “Is she informed of what’s going on?”

  “No,” I growled. “She’s not part of the Crew.”

  “Ah yes,” Jolene clucked her tongue. “No women allowed.” She rolled her eyes. “My brother is such a fool.”

  “Now, now, darling,” Chester said, chortling uncomfortably as he patted her hand. “Let’s not bad mouth Luther. He has his reasons, doesn’t he Fox?” He turned to me with a simpering smile and I shrugged.

  “Yes he does, because the only weakness he’s ever had is a woman,” Jolene said with a light laugh. “Ironic, isn’t it? That the terrifying Luther Harlequin is afraid of the opposite sex. He’d do better to realise our power would only strengthen the Harlequins tenfold.”

  “True, my dear, but let’s not question Luther’s ways,” Chester implored with an undercurrent of especially not in front of his son.

  “Well I’ll be sure to file your complaint to the boss,” I said dryly just to make Chester shit his pants and he released a nervous fart that said I’d gotten close.

  “Jesus,” Chase muttered, wafting his hand in front of his nose and Jolene sighed disappointedly, getting up to crack a window.

  “You’re dressed very interestingly tonight, nephew,” Jolene commented, looking me up and down. My shirt was still hanging open to reveal the tattoos marking my chest and I shrugged, not really giving a shit. Except I wished I’d changed my shoes because if I headed out into a shoot up tonight, I did not wanna be running around in these.

  Note to self: take someone’s shoes before I leave here.

  The door suddenly flew open and a man with scraggly black hair jogged in, shoving the door shut behind him and throwing me a fearful look. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, apparently starstruck and I had the urge to punch him in the face until he got the words out.

  “Speak,” I commanded and he threw a look at Jolene who nodded firmly in encouragement.

  “Go ahead, Cyril,” she urged.

  “He’s staying out in a trailer in the woods behind Carnival Hill,” he blurted. “I seen him with my own two eyes.” He took a phone from his pocket, bringing up a photo and offering it to me.

  I gazed at the photograph of Shawn Mackenzie with his smug handsome face and his stupid stubbled jaw with his shitty dark hair and his fucking smarmy mouth that had gotten way too close to my girl, chatting with a couple of men around a fire outside a trailer in the woods.

  “Have you got a location?” I growled, excitement swirling through my blood.

  “Yes, sir,” he said, taking the phone back and showing it to me on the map. When I had it locked into my own phone, I turned to Chase.

  “We’ll head down there, bring an army and give him no chance of escape,” I said.

  “Go with him, Cyril,” Jolene commanded her man. “Make sure he finds it.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he answered.

  “You can ride with us,” I told him, walking to the door.

  “You can leave the girl here at the club if you like? I’ll have someone watch her,” Jolene called to me and I glanced back with a shake of my head.

  “I’ll have my men take her home,” I growled. “Thanks for the info, Aunt, I’ll make sure you’re compensated for it if it pays off.”

  “Be careful, Fox,” she called and I nodded, marching to the door with my heart thumping furiously in anticipation of the coming kill. I was going hunting. And tonight, Shawn Mackenzie was going to find out how high the price was for hurting my girl.

  T he door opened and Fox strode out with a face like thunder and Chase right beside him looking just as murderous.

  "Where's the fire?" I asked, hopping up from the floor where I’d been playing with Mutt and striding away from the two goons who had been left to watch me.

  "Something's come up," Fox growled, his gaze sliding over me before shifting to my watchdogs who had made their way right back to my sides already.

  "Basset, Eddie, take her home to Harlequin House and lock her inside. You don't take your fucking eyes off of her." Fox tossed them the keys to his truck and I snatched them out of the air before Basset could catch them.

  "Err, no thanks," I interjected. "I'm coming with you."

  "Not a chance in hell," Fox growled. "I need you where you're safe." He caught my wrist and forced me to release the key back into his possession before handing it to Basset. "Rogue, if you give even one shit about my authority, you won't make this difficult," he said firmly, tugging me close so that I was engulfed in his shadow. "Just do as you're told and don’t mess me about on this. I need to know you're safe tonight. I'm not letting anything happen to my girl."

  I pouted at him and he nodded like that was some kind of agreement before shoving me back into Eddie’s sweaty hands.

  "Be good, little one." Chase winked at me before slapping a hand to Fox's shoulder and turning away with him.

  I scowled at their backs as they headed off through the crowd and Eddie forced me to turn another way as he began to lead me towards Fox's truck. I whistled for Mutt and he bounded over, hopping up into my arms and giving me a relieved look. I was pretty sure clubbing wasn’t his scene.

  I let him push me along until we were out of sight then turned around abruptly, forcing his hands off of me and looking up at him sweetly.

  "I need to pee," I said in my most innocent voice. Honestly I was practically passing for a saint right about now. I probably had a halo glowing around my head and everything.

  "Hold it," he grunted.

  "Rude," I replied. "And no. I have low bladder control and I can't hold it. Fox won't want me to pee in his truck. And if I do, that'll all be on you, bucko."

  Eddie glowered at me then cut Basset a look which was met with a shrug.

  "Look, there's a sign for the little girl's room. I'll be in and out in a shake of a lamb's tail," I said, pointing across the dimly lit room beyond the gyrating hips of a man in a pink PVC catsuit. He was really working it too and I was kinda jealous of his moves.

  "You have two minutes," Eddie growled, nudging me towards the bathroom and earning himself a snarl from Mutt who was s
till nestled close in my arms.

  I skipped away from him and hurried through the room, pushing my way into the bathroom and sidestepping the line of women waiting to pee as the door swung shut between me and my bodyguards.

  "Don't mind me, I'm not cutting," I promised the other girls as I made my way around them, glancing at the toilet stalls which held no doors where substances were being snorted and one girl was getting eaten out by another, and one woman was just shamelessly shitting. When you gotta go, you gotta go I guessed.

  I slipped past them all, tossed a smile at the women who were reapplying lipstick in the tarnished mirror above the sinks and grinned as I found what I'd been hoping for - a window.

  See ya, suckers.

  I hopped up onto the sink beneath it and pushed the dark glass wide, my eyebrows arching in confusion as I found an empty corridor beyond it instead of a way outside. Still, it was in the opposite direction to the two assholes Fox had left babysitting me, so I was gonna take it.

  I tucked Mutt close under one arm then swung a leg out the window before managing to squeeze my ass through and drop down on the other side.

  Mutt wriggled in my grip, so I set him on his little feet and he yipped excitedly before turning left and scampering away. I'd been going to pick right, but I trusted him, so I followed.

  He led me along until we reached a staircase which disappeared down into a dark space where the heavy thump of a deep bass reached me.

  The sound of angry shouts came from behind me, so it was a no-brainer as I broke into a run and followed Mutt down into the dungeon - I mean basement, but it totally had a dungeon vibe.

  At the foot of the stairs, a set of double doors swung open and I sucked in a sharp breath as a woman in a gimp suit stepped through. She flinched as she spotted me then shook her head like I was irritating her.

  "Hurry up, the show is about to start." She pointed behind her and I quickly ran through the door with Mutt close at my heels, finding a corridor beyond it with a line of closed doors either side of it.

  "Come on," a dude called, giving me an impatient look as he held a door open for me halfway along the corridor and I jogged up to him as the sound of Basset and Eddie’s hunt drew closer to me from outside.

  I slipped into the dark room which was only lit by a few dark purple strobe lights and the guy pointed me towards the one empty chair left of the six, all of them circling a small stage where a man stood with his back to me. It was too dark for me to see much of him aside from the fact that he was wearing some kind of huge mask, but I focused on getting my ass in a chair because the men and women spread out in the other seats all seemed to be waiting for me.

  Mutt scampered under my seat and the dude who had been holding the door moved towards me, pushing a small cart.

  "The show is an even hundred," he said to me in a low voice. "Each splosh you partake in is an extra twenty if you toss it, and fifty if you apply it by hand. Got it?"

  I parted my lips to ask what a splosh was, but he was already hurrying away and I was left to inspect the contents of the cart he'd left parked up before me.

  Music started and the lights above the dancer waiting on the stage brightened as he began to flex and grind with his ass pointed at me, but my gaze was fixed on the selection of items before me.

  There was a tin of red paint and a tin of green. A tube of chocolate sauce and a can of squirty cream as well as a bowl of jelly, some custard and several other wet concoctions which I couldn't easily name.

  Before I had to call out to ask what all of that shit was for, something wet splashed against my cheek and I gasped as I looked up, finding the woman on the opposite side of the stage to me had just thrown a tin of blue paint at the dancer's crotch and I'd been caught in the crossfire.

  The large man to my right groaned loudly, filling his hand with squirty cream before sliding it inside his pants.

  My eyebrows arched all the way up to my rainbow hairline as I quickly looked away from that unsavoury show and looked back at the dancer.

  He'd dropped to his hands and knees before me, his ass flexing up and down in a pair of black latex boxer briefs and a giant, black crow's face mask on his head bobbing up and down.

  He crawled towards the woman who had thrown the paint and she tipped her bowl of chocolate sauce into her hand before running her palm down from his shoulder to his wrist with a sigh. "You like getting all dirty for us, don't you, big boy?"

  The dancer remained silent as he continued to bounce his ass to the music before dropping into a press-up which contained a hip roll against the floor and ended in him hopping back to his feet.

  More of the men and women threw the contents of their trays at him and he began to rub it over his bare flash as the dude who had let me in here took note of everything on a clipboard, no doubt to charge these fuckers for every drop spilled before they left.

  Good luck to him getting any money out of me though. I was fresh out. But I was fast so I wasn’t worried.

  The dancer turned to his left, rotating on the stage so that everyone could get a good look at his body from every angle and as he moved to face me, I sucked in a sharp breath which left my jaw hanging open.

  "No, fucking, way," I breathed, spotting the swallow tattoos that dove beneath his waistband just as JJ started rubbing the whipped cream down his chest with both hands.

  He froze solid, hips thrusted towards me, paint and food dripping down onto the stage and the eyes of the crow mask he wore to conceal his face seeming to bug out of its ghastly head.

  Mutt barked excitedly, choosing that moment to leap up onto the stage and lick some cream from the top of JJ's bare foot and the music just so happened to come to an end.

  Another track began to play, but the clipboard dude seemed to have noticed JJ's inanimate state, not to mention the dog on stage and he quickly shut it off, clapping loudly just as the cream pants dude came with a loud groan to my left.

  The other patrons all clapped a little belatedly, some pouting and others seeming to be pleased that they'd gotten what they came for.

  A big, fat, motherfucker of a grin pulled at my lips and I started clapping too, nice big claps, spaced out long enough to break the tension in JJ's pose as he quickly bowed for the others like the act had always meant to end there.

  "Gimme a minute with this one," JJ's muffled voice came from within the mask as I just kept grinning and the clipboard dude nodded while ushering the others out.

  "Hey, I thought you said he wasn't for sale?" one of the women complained as she was forced to leave too but the door swung shut before I could hear the guy's reply to her.

  "Rogue," JJ croaked out, reaching up to grasp the sides of his mask, but I held up a finger.

  "One sec," I commanded, snatching my sparkly pink cell phone out of my bra and quickly snapping a shot of him standing there all smothered in food and paint.

  "Delete that," JJ growled, yanking the crow mask off and tossing it aside. His raven hair was all tussled within it, a faint line of sweat coating his brow. "What are you doing here?"

  "Shit, Johnny James, I knew you were a kinky fucker, but is there even a name for what I just witnessed?" I asked him, snorting a laugh as he tried to swipe the worst of it from his skin.

  "Yes," he growled. "It's called sploshing. Now answer my question."

  "Fox told a couple of dickheads to take me home like a good girl while him and Chase went off to play gangster. So obviously I faked a need for a bathroom break, ditched them and then ran down a deserted corridor until I was led into a fetish room which is where I discovered this." I gestured a hand at his filthy body, but before he could answer, the sound of Basset and Eddie yelling my name came from the corridor outside.

  "Shit, they can't see me here," JJ growled, hopping down off of the stage and grabbing my wrist before hauling me out through a curtain I hadn't even noticed.

  I let him drag me along until we made it to a brightly lit dressing room where men and women were changing into all kinds o
f weird and wonderful costumes, and he didn't let go of me until we were stood outside a shower unit in the far corner.

  JJ set the water running and Mutt yelped in frustration as he leapt away from his whipped cream feast on JJ's foot.

  "Fox will lose his shit when he realises you're gone again," JJ growled.

  "So tell him I'm with you," I suggested.

  "He can't know I'm here. I didn’t even bring my phone," JJ replied, dropping his latex boxers so that his beautiful manscaped cock was on show for the world to see as he stepped beneath the flow of hot water to rinse the food and paint from his flesh.

  I licked my lips as I watched him scrub his skin clean and the water ran over each defined muscle on his body.

  "You like what you see?" he taunted and I shrugged one shoulder.

  "You make a living out of knowing how hot you are, Johnny James. I'm not going to blow more smoke up your ass. I'll leave that to your paying clients." My own words were a stinging reminder of the way Fox had accused JJ of claiming any hole that got near enough to him and I turned away, inspecting the dirty tiles on the wall to my right instead of the demigod washing beside me.

  "Do you have a problem with that?" JJ challenged.

  "I know that people do what they have to to make a living," I replied with a shrug. "It's not my preference, but you do you, JJ. I can't say I'm much of a one for fetishes, but whatever pays your way I guess."

  The water shut off and I refused to look as JJ towelled off and quickly got dressed into a pair of sweats and a tank top in my periphery. He moved up close behind me as he finished, murmuring in my ear. "Everyone has the odd fetish or fantasy, pretty girl. Even you."

  I shook my head as I turned to look at him but shouts came from the far end of the dressing room and I heard those assholes calling my name again.

  "Let's go," JJ hissed, taking my hand and tugging me down so that we were ducking as we scrambled across the room towards a door which was half hidden behind a rack of sparkling costumes.

  A woman was standing by the door and as we made it to her she smiled at us, not seeming to notice the fact that we were trying to hide as she passed JJ a fistful of cash and told him she looked forward to seeing him tomorrow.