“While you continue to look that over, let me set up this tasting.”
Harper glanced up from where she was making notes to see him setting out a flight of beers, vodkas, bourbons, and whiskeys.
“Then, just for you,” Manny said to her as he set out three more shot glasses. “Rum. I thought it would be fun with the Shadows Landing’s pirate history.”
“Locals don’t drink it as much, but the tourists will love it,” Harper said as she put down her pen and got ready to taste a lot of new products.
By the end of the tasting, Harper had found so many new beverages that she wanted to cheer. She mentally checked off beverages that she’d retire in order to make room for the newer bottles Manny said they could get to her that week.
“Okay, I think this is everything,” Harper said, handing over her order sheet.
Manny looked it over and nodded. “I’m assuming this is a test run order to see what your patrons prefer?”
“Yup. I want to test these out while I make a dent in my inventory this week. Then I can really narrow down the order and up the quantities.”
Manny pulled out some binders and a notepad. “I’ll give you two numbers: one for this order and one for when you order in bulk. That way you can better compare it to your current standing order and really see what I can do for you. This is going to take me thirty minutes or so. Why don’t you walk around a bit or grab some lunch while I put this all together for you?”
Harper stood and stretched. “Sounds good. I’ll be back in thirty minutes.”
If BGM’s alcohol wasn’t tainted, Harper had found a new distributor.
Harper took her time walking around the resort. She was beginning to get the lay of the land when she ended up at the pool bar. The pool and hot tubs were open, but no one was in them. The bar had been somewhat winterized with seasonal side walls and elongated covering added to make the bar mostly closed in. There was an opening in the seasonal paneling facing the pool and hot tubs that allowed people to freely walk to and from the bar. Inside heaters were set up for when there was a chill in the air.
Brody was leaning on the bar watching some sports talk show when Harper popped her head inside. “Hey!” he called out slowly as if he were picking her up instead of saying hi. “What can I do you for?”
Ah, the innuendo. Harper bet college girls loved it. She rolled her eyes. “Half lemonade, half sweet tea, please.” The traditional Arnold Palmer would hit the spot after her tasting. She wasn’t drunk, but she wasn’t cold stone sober either. Right now was all about hydration.
Brody handed it to her as he gave her the once-over with a slow smile turning his lips up in appreciation. When Dare gave her that look, it made her body temp rise, her heart beat faster, and dirty thoughts instantly spring to mind. When Brody did it, Harper had the strong desire to take a rolled-up newspaper and swat him while telling him he was a bad boy.
Dare was a man. Brody was a boy. What did that make her? Well, she certainly wasn’t the girl she’d been in college. She didn’t feel so far removed from college girls, but over the past couple of years, she had matured. She hadn’t realized it until she saw a boy and a man side by side and realized she had no desire to go backward. She wanted to move forward. When she thought about the future, she thought about Dare.
Harper set her empty glass on the bar, thanked Brody, and headed for the beach. She stopped at the edge of the deck and looked out at the water. It was overcast with a steady wind causing rough waves. She loved the sound of them crashing on the shore and the smell of the salt water in the air.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” a waiter said from behind her. “Thought you’d want another drink. I had Brody put it in a Styrofoam cup so you could take it on the beach if you’d like.”
Harper took it and looked down at it. “What is it?”
“An Arnold Palmer. That is what you were drinking, right?” he asked. He looked like he was ready to take it back when Harper finally nodded.
“Yes, it was. Thank you.”
Harper smiled as he walked away and took the steps down into the sand. She took a hesitant sip of the drink. She tasted the sugar that had yet to dissolve all the way from the sweet tea and relaxed. It was nice and sweet, but it didn’t smell funny or taste strange.
Harper headed toward the hard sand closer to the water as she sipped her drink. She pulled her phone out and held it up to take a picture. The picture was blurry as she tapped her phone to get it in focus. Her body swayed and she dropped her drink as a line of curse words went through her mind. Frantic, she pulled up the text she sent to Dare.
Harper dropped to her knees in the sand. The keyboard floated in front of her as she gave up trying to type. “Send a message to Dare Reigns,” she told her phone.
“What do you want to say to Dare Reigns?” her phone asked back.
“Drugged. Send.”
“Message sent.”
“Share my location with Dare Reigns,” Harper ordered her phone.
“Location shared with Dare Reigns,” was the last thing Harper heard. The sound of the waves seemed to drown out everything else, but as Harper shoved the phone into her bra, she realized it wasn’t the ocean. It was her blood rushing through her body.
Harper pulled all her strength together as she tried to crawl into the dunes to hide. With her vision so blurred and fading fast, she didn’t see the people walking toward her.
14
Dare was driving at breakneck speed off the ferry when his phone pinged with a message. He pressed a button on his steering wheel and his car read out, “Message from Harper Faulkner. Drugged.”
Dare almost crashed. He was approaching the main entrance of the resort and was forced to slow down. He still couldn’t blow his cover and that meant he couldn’t rush in with guns blazing. Instead, he parked out back, pulled his gun from the glove box, and slipped it into his waistband. He pulled his shirt over the gun as his phone pinged again.
Harper Faulkner shared her location with you. And there was a map. His brilliant woman had sent him a map even as she was drugged. He looked at it and began to run. The fastest way to her was to skip the resort all together and take a maintenance path straight to the beach. The path was used for pushcarts filled with chairs and umbrellas for guests and would be empty on a day like today.
“Fight, Harper. I’m coming.”
Harper could only see shadows as this point. She had almost made it to the dunes when she felt the hands grabbing her upper arms. Harper fought with everything she had. She was too tired to punch, but she clawed her fingers and swiped in the direction of their faces.
She felt her fingers connect with skin and raked them as hard as she could. She heard a grunt and knew a small victory. Unfortunately, it was short-lived. She felt a blow to her cheek that sent her head snapping back. Even as she fought it, the darkness slowly crept in around her. She felt herself being moved and her feet dragging in the sand. The last thing she did before she lost her battle with the darkness was to call out Dare’s name. It sounded like a shout, but like her mind, her words slipped away into nothingness.
Dare stopped himself from bursting out onto the beach. Instead, he bent and pretended to tie his shoe as he looked both directions. Not a soul on the beach as the waves crashed angrily on the shore. The clouds darkened and, as if feeling his anger, a rumble of thunder sounded offshore.
Dare stood, and as casually as he could manage, walked to Harper’s last location. A drop of rain fell as he reached the site. He could see imprints in the sand and as the rain began to slowly fall, he followed the trail in the sand. Thank goodness she’d dragged herself or he wouldn’t have been able to see where she had gone.
Dare walked through the thick sand until it hardened again near the dunes that separated the pool from the beachfront villas.
Dare’s eyes shot up as he saw the additional footprints and the drag marks in the sand leading off into the distance. He’d almost missed them, but he saw Harper’s feet as they disa
ppeared behind a villa.
Dare took off toward the boardwalk over the dunes and raced around the side of the villa before slowing down. He plastered himself against the wood-planked villa and glanced around the side. Anger unlike anything he’d ever felt before rushed to the surface as he saw two men dragging Harper toward a villa. Dare pulled his hat low and reached behind him while also pulling out his gun. He kept it hidden behind the villa as he called out, “Hey! What’s going on?”
The two men glanced back at him.
“She’s had too much to drink. We’re taking her back to her room,” one of them called out as Dare hid the gun in his hand behind his back and began to walk closer to them. A whole parking lot separated them as he tried to take in each feature of the two men who were clearly wearing Palm Meadows Resort staff attire. Unfortunately, they were too far away for a detailed description.
“She’s my girlfriend,” Dare said, some of the anger creeping into his voice. “Thanks for helping her,” he said with more friendliness than he felt.
The guys looked at each other and suddenly dropped her before running off. Dare sprinted to where Harper was lying on the pavement. It felt as if it took forever to reach her. With shaking fingers, he pressed them against her throat. His whole body shook with relief when he felt her pulse. Hating to do it, he stood up and ran in the direction the men had gone, leaving Harper alone.
He ran in between two condo buildings and came out in another parking lot that was empty except for a few cars and not a single staff worker in sight. “Dammit,” he cursed before turning back and running to Harper’s side.
Dare bent down and pulled her into his lap. Her hair was damp from the rain as he pushed it away from her face. He saw an angry red mark on her cheekbone and gently ran his finger over it. He was going to kill whoever did this to her.
“Harper? You’re safe. Can you hear me?”
Dare held his breath so he wouldn’t miss it if she made a sound, but none was forthcoming. His right arm was already under her shoulders and he slid his left arm under her knees before lifting her into his arms as he stood.
Not wanting to draw attention to himself, he began to make his way across the parking lot, away from the ocean and toward the golf course. He found a maintenance path for the golf course hidden from the condos by trees and bushes and took it toward the parking lot.
The entire way he talked to Harper as he carried her. He told her she was safe. That he had her and he’d never let anyone hurt her. Finally, he shoved his way through a bush and popped out near his car. He was fumbling with the door when he heard a ringing noise. He opened the door, set Harper in the front seat, and looked for the noise. He found that it came from within her bra. “Sorry, Harper,” he muttered as he pulled the phone free and answered it.
“Harper, I have that estimate ready for you.”
“Manny?” Dare guessed. He thought it was him and he knew that Harper was there meeting the distributor.
“Yes. Did I call the wrong number?”
“No, this is Darrell Young. I’m Harper’s boyfriend. We met at her bar. She got really sick to her stomach so I’m actually driving her home right now. Can I have her call you tomorrow? Or we can stop by when we come back for her car as soon as she’s feeling better.”
Dare pulled out of the resort, and as soon as he was clear from their security, he floored it. He looked at the clock and saw that the ferry was leaving in five minutes.
“Oh, that’s too bad,” Manny said with concern right as Harper vomited all over the inside of the car. “Just have her call me. I have the pricing for her next order. I believe she’ll be very happy.”
Dare rolled down her window as he drove. Her head rolled down to rest on the door, looking back toward the resort. She groaned and then vomited again.
“Poor thing,” Manny said, having heard her over the phone. “No rush. Call me anytime and tell her not to worry. I’ll put the small order aside so if she wants it, we can get it to her in just a couple hours.”
“That’s nice of you, Manny. I’ll have her call you.”
Dare hung up and drove. Every groan of discomfort and every heave of her stomach broke his heart a little more.
Dare honked as he saw the ferry in sight. They were about to pull down the gate when they saw him and saw Harper’s head out the window. They took pity on her as she vomited again and let Dare drive on.
Dare parked the car and opened all the windows. He pulled Harper from the car and over to the railing.
“Is she okay?” a ferry worker asked.
“Food poisoning. Can you get me some paper towels and some trash bags?” Dare asked.
“Sure thing.”
As the man hurried off, Dare pulled his own phone from his pocket and called his boss. “Alec Horn.” Dare was so relieved to hear his voice.
“It’s Dare. Two men poisoned Harper at the resort. I have her on the ferry now. She’s unconscious and vomiting. A lot.”
“I thought her role was over in this,” Horn said as Dare heard his boss start yelling into the background for the number to the local hospital.
“It was. She was there on business. I don’t know what happened and I did all I could to get her away from the two guys dragging her toward a villa.”
“Did they make you?”
Dare thought about it. “No. I have a ball cap on really low and was over a hundred yards away when I yelled at them. They dropped her and ran. I’ll make sure to never wear the hat again.”
His boss said something to his assistant and then put the phone back up to his mouth. “Well, Harper’s evidence now. We need to run a full panel, ASAP. I’ll call the local hospital to tell them you’re on the way.”
“Okay,” Dare said and then suddenly yelled, “Stop!”
“What is it?” Horn asked.
“The doctor at the resort. Both Harper and I got a weird vibe from him. See if he has privileges there. I don’t want her anywhere near him or her samples. You never know who he knows.”
“Hold on.”
Dare heard yelling in the background and then he was on hold. About five minutes later, Horn was back on the line. The ferry worker had given Dare a roll of paper towels, two garbage bags, and a bottle of water. Dare had gotten the vomit cleaned up from her face and carried her back to his car. He was lining a duffle bag in his truck when Horn came back on the phone.
“We’re screwed. He has connections at every hospital. We need a doctor we can trust.”
Dare settled Harper on her side in the backseat with her head leaning toward the plastic-lined duffle bag. “I know who to call. Harper’s brother is a doctor in Shadows Landing.”
“If you can trust him, call him. I’ll meet you at your place with an non-disclosure agreement and payment.”
“Be there in fifteen minutes.”
Dare hung up and opened the front door of his car. He pulled out Harper’s cell, used her finger to unlock it, and tried to remember what her brother’s first name was. He was looking at all the Faulkners listed and knew it wasn’t Ryker. Trent was the nice one. Wade the Coastie. That left Ridge and Gavin. He pressed Gavin’s name and looked over her past text messages with him. Yup, he was the doctor.
“Hey, Harp.”
“Dr. Faulkner, this is Dare Reigns.”
“What happened?”
“I need you to get to Charleston immediately.”
“Which hospital?” Gavin asked. The man was cool in an emergency, that was for sure.
“We’re not. We can’t go to a hospital. That’s why I need you here immediately. Everything I’m about to tell you is strictly confidential. Harper was at the resort I’m investigating and she was given tainted alcohol.”
“Is she vomiting?” Gavin asked as Dare heard him order someone named Sadie to get a list of things ready—stat.
“Yes. But she’s unconscious.”
“Where are you?”
“On the ferry back to Charleston. I’ll text you my address. That’s wh
ere I’m taking her.”
“I’m on my way.”
“Wait,” Dare told him. “She’s carrying evidence. I need a series of tests done to determine what she was drugged with.”
“You asshole. I’ll never forgive you for putting her in danger. I’ll be there soon.” Gavin hung up on him and Dare sent him his address. Shit. Shit. Shit. He liked Harper. A lot. He didn’t want to create a problem with her family. Maybe he was an asshole because he wasn’t going to give her up either.
Dare spent the last couple of minutes of the ferry ride gently holding Harper and rubbing her back as she somehow managed to throw up even more. The second the gate was up, Dare sped toward his home, praying Gavin was a fast driver.
15
Dare refused to let Harper go as Gavin glared at him. Blood, vomit, saliva, hair, and scrapings from under her fingernails were all taken with Harper being held in his lap. Gavin’s anger ratcheted up when Horn had tried to get him to sign a non-disclosure agreement. “I’m not signing a thing. I won’t put my sister in harm’s way, which is more than I can say for you.”
“I know.” Dare felt guilty enough for involving her so he took the verbal lashing Gavin gave him.
The rant was only interrupted when there was a knock at the door. Horn and Dare had guns drawn, but Gavin just rolled his eyes. He grabbed the samples, and with Horn hot on his heels, hissing at him to stand back, Gavin opened the door.
A man who looked to be twenty and wearing a bike helmet was standing there with a smile. “What’s up, Doctor F?”
“Thanks for taking this to the lab for me, Jaden. Do you know where it is?” Gavin said so calmly that Dare realized he knew this kid and instantly put his gun away.
“Yup. I’ll deliver it there first and then drop off Mr. F’s package. Who do I give it to?”
“Karen at the front desk. Tell her I asked for it to be moved to the front of the line and to say thank you. I’ll send her a pie from the next Shadows Landing bake sale,” Gavin instructed.
Fierce Shadows: Shadows Landing #4 Page 11