Fierce Shadows: Shadows Landing #4

by Kathleen Brooks

  Harper thanked the guys for delivering more of the specialty craft beer just before they were distracted by Stephen Adkins and Skeeter.

  “No, I know more about the tunnels and history of Shadows Landing than you ever could learn in that fancy-dancy school of yours,” Skeeter spat out. “While you were prancing around in high cotton, I was here learning the oral history of this town and reading the journals and accounts from the pirates themselves. Records someone can’t get in to see even though he manages the historical society.”

  “Whoa, really?” One of BGM’s crew asked. Harper thought his name was Austin.

  “Really,” Stephen said, glaring at Skeeter. “He won’t give me the code to get into the restricted area with the old original files on the town.” No one liked Stephen, bless his heart. What Skeeter said was true. Stephen was too busy trashing the town and its residents to bother learning the real history of Shadows Landing through the people whose families had been here for hundreds of years.

  “No, not that,” Austin said, stopping another round of bickering. “I meant about the tunnels still being here. You could really still hide stuff there? I thought they’d have collapsed after all these years and with the river surely changing course over the time, I figured they’d be flooded.”

  “Nope. We don’t go in them often. Maybe once or twice a year. I did a check on them last month and they were still in good shape,” Skeeter told him.

  “If you’d just give me the keys, then I could see what historical value they hold.” Stephen’s face was red and he looked ready to explode.

  Skeeter just shrugged. “Only those worthy of the town’s history have keys. You have to earn that right.”

  “Who knew this was going to be our most interesting delivery ever?” the one BGM guy named Roy Lee said to Austin.

  “Are the tunnels haunted?” Roy Lee asked. Unlike the first one, he was skinny to a fault and the sparse mustache he had grown to make himself look older did just the opposite. The kid couldn’t be more than twenty-two. Harper rolled her eyes at herself. She wasn’t thirty yet and she’d just called someone in his twenties a kid.

  “Sure are,” Skeeter said before suddenly turning to his right and nodding.

  Roy Lee looked at the air where Skeeter was looking.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “A warning from Bonny. She warns that anyone who enters the tunnels without permission will be killed,” Skeeter said so seriously the kid paled.

  Harper looked at the air next to Skeeter and poured a shot of the new rum she’d gotten and saluted the air. “For Anne.”

  Harper took the shot and set it down. The two deliverymen were staring at her with wide eyes. She didn’t believe in ghosts, but sometimes Skeeter’s talks with the dead were too close to plausibility to ignore. Basically, as far as she was concerned, it was better to be safe than sorry. The last thing she needed was three-hundred-year-old ghosts haunting her.

  “She thanks ye kindly,” Skeeter said, his voice slipping into old time pirate slang.

  “You talk to ghosts?” Austin, who was tall, muscled, and around Harper’s age, asked.

  “Sure do,” Skeeter said with a nod. “I respect them and they respect me. Been that way since I was a kid.”

  “Um, okay,” Austin turned to his younger colleague. “Let’s get out of here. I can’t wait to tell Manny about this.”

  “Darn right. This gave me the heebie-jeebies. Do we burn incense or something on the way home to cleanse ourselves of the spirits?”

  Skeeter’s brow wrinkled as he looked at them as if they were the stupidest people he’d ever met. “Incense? You’ve been watching too many movies. Anne and the others won’t follow you. They’ll chase you out, but they won’t follow you.” Skeeter paused and looked back at the air and nodded. “Well, unless you really piss her off. Then she’ll get her revenge.”

  The two deliverymen’s eyes went wide as they ran from the bar.

  Harper couldn’t help but laugh as Stephen went out to reassure them the town was not haunted. “Thanks, Skeeter. Now I’ll never get them to delivery my order again.”

  Skeeter looked away from her and onto an empty bar stool. “Anne says she likes ye tavern. Ye don’t grog down the rum. It’s why she’d been around ye tavern for so long. She, Black Law, and some others hang out here as they watch over their mateys. But she has a warning for ye.”

  “What’s that?” Harper asked, leaning forward and looking at where a person would be sitting if they were on that stool. She’d humor Skeeter. It was the least she could do for all the help he gave her.

  “The wench needs to batten down the hatches, raise the Jolly Roger, and gather ye mateys or ye’ll have a dance with Jack Ketch.”

  Harper blinked as she tried to figure out the message. Skeeter shook his head as if clearing it and then smiled at the air. “That was right nice of ye for the warning. We’ll protect the town. I promise.”

  Harper slowly poured another shot of rum and pushed it toward the empty bar stool out of respect for what she was beginning to think really might be the ghost of Anne Bonny. “What exactly was the warning? I got some of it.” She knew she was the wench and she knew “batten down the hatches” meant to get ready for a storm. She also knew that raising the pirate flag of the skull and crossbones meant they were ready to attack another ship, but then she was lost.

  “In today’s words, she says you need to prepare to fight for your life and the only way you will win is to surround yourself with your friends to fight back or you’ll end up dead.”

  “Is that what dancing with Jack Ketch means?” Harper asked, swallowing hard. Anne was making it harder and harder not to take her seriously.

  Skeeter nodded. “It means dancing with the hangman.” Skeeter looked back to the stool. “Anne has never given me such a dire warning. We need to prepare. I’m talking to Reverend Winston.”

  Skeeter ran out the door. Harper took a deep, steadying breath and tried to decide if she should warn Dare. She looked back at the stool. “Anne, is Dare in danger?”

  The stool didn’t answer back. Harper rolled her eyes and shook her head. What was she doing? She walked into the kitchen and grabbed the bucket and mop. She was going to swab the deck before it got busy. When she reentered the bar, she froze. The shot of rum she’d jokingly set in front of the empty barstool was empty.

  Dare was almost done with a new tasting for Rudy when his phone vibrated. He looked down at the screen and saw that it was from Harper. She hadn’t texted him in days. She had told him to do his job and come back to her. Otherwise, it was up to him to text when he had time so that she wouldn’t interrupt him. A shiver ran down his spine. Something was wrong.

  “Taste these and let me know what you think. I’m going to run to the restroom.”

  Rudy smiled kindly at him and sipped the first of the last several drinks. Dare forced himself to walk at a normal pace to the bathroom. He entered a stall and locked it before he even pulled out his phone.

  Danger is coming. I don’t know what, but it’ll affect you, my town, and me. Be safe and call when you can.

  What the hell? Was she hurt? Was someone there? Dare sent a quick text asking if she were hurt. No. Was someone after her? Not right now, but they will be. They’ll be after us all.

  Dare let out a long breath just as the bathroom door opened. He shot off a text telling her he’d talk to her as soon as he could slip away. He flushed the toilet, pretended to wash his hands, and walked back out to see Rudy making notes.

  “Do you have your order?”

  Rudy nodded and slipped him the paper. There was a wedding in two weeks that had requested certain drinks along with their regular rotation of top-shelf liquors Dare needed to order for them.

  “Rudy,” a smooth sexy voice said from behind him. “Who is the new guy?”

  Dare looked over his shoulder and found Isabella Crowne, in a skintight, pinstriped black sheath dress, smiling at him. The dress hugged all her curves fr
om her breasts to her flat stomach and down to her slightly flared hips. Her red stiletto heels even matched her red lipstick. Everything—from her designer clothes to her professionally blown-out, long, wavy dark brown hair—screamed money and power. She was the complete opposite of Harper and looking at her made Dare miss Harper all the more.

  “This is Darrell Young. He’s been working with Manny at BGM Distributors for the past two weeks. He’s handling our account now,” Rudy explained. “Darrell, this is Isabella Crowne. She’s the manager of the resort.”

  Dare held out his hand and shook the perfectly manicured hand that Isabella offered him. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

  Isabella’s red lips split open into a flirty grin. “A Southern man with manners. I just love working here. My, you are strong.”

  Dare didn’t flinch like he wanted to when Isabella ran her free hand down his arm, pausing to feel his biceps.

  Dare smiled as he gave her body a quick glance with his eyes. Short enough to be respectful, but long enough for her to know he was checking her out. “Grew up ranchin’ and we sure didn’t have any fillies as pretty as you. It’s an honor to work with you.”

  Isabella licked her lower lip slowly as Dare heard the back door behind the bar open. “Ms. Crowne,” Dare heard some of the hotel staff say respectfully.

  Isabella didn’t take her deep brown eyes from his. “I’ll let you get back to work. Please stop by my office when you have time. It’s above the front desk on the second floor. I need to work closely with a man in your position to make sure we fit well together. For the resort, of course.”

  “Of course,” Dare replied.

  Isabella slowly pulled her hand from his and walked over to the three staffers standing by the door waiting for her. She paused to talk to them, and while she didn’t turn around, the three men all turned to look at him and then back to her. Dare watched them in the mirror as they nodded before they all left together.

  “Looks like Darrell’s about to be initiated into the club,” Austin said with a laugh as he thumped Dare’s back. The man was a little younger than Dare, with large muscles that made the playful hit sting more than Roy Lee’s would. Roy Lee reminded him of a teenage boy trying to dress up like an adult. He was stick thin and the mustache that wasn’t thick enough to be a mustache just made him look like a cross between a sleazebag and a redneck.

  “What club?” Dare asked his colleagues who had walked by the staffers to join him at the bar.

  Rudy looked uncomfortable as they began to tell Dare that Isabella liked to get real friendly with new guys at the hotel. The men attending bachelor parties, the ones on spring break, the new staffers who happened to be good-looking, and any of the BGM employees who caught her eye.

  “I had two good weeks with her,” Austin said with a smirk. “She’s wild in the best possible way. Not that you’d know, Roy Lee.”

  “Maybe she doesn’t know I’m old enough? I turn twenty-two in a couple of weeks. Maybe she still thinks I’m underage? My Meemaw always said I have a baby face. That’s why I grew the mustache.”

  “I don’t think it helps,” Dare told Roy Lee as he tried not to laugh. The kid was beyond innocent.

  “You think I should shave it?” Roy Lee asked with surprise.

  “Yes,” all three men answered.

  Roy Lee pouted for a second but then grinned. “Maybe that hot woman we delivered to this afternoon would like me without it. Talk about wild in bed. I bet she’d be amazing. The tits—” Austin was wide-eyed and making hand gestures for Roy Lee to shut it. “What? Don’t tell me you don’t think the same. You told me on the ride back here that you didn’t care if she believed in ghosts because you’d make her believe in God with the things you’d do to her.”

  “Sounds like an impressive woman,” Dare said with a good ol’ boy-type laugh to help them bond.

  “Yeah, she has a bar in Shadows—” Roy Lee didn’t get the rest out because Austin slapped his back so hard Roy Lee fell off the stool he was sitting on.

  Dare didn’t need to hear more. He felt his blood pressure shoot through the roof.

  “What was that for?” Roy Lee whined.

  “For talking about his girlfriend.” Austin swallowed hard as he took a step back from Dare.

  “Girlfriend?” Roy Lee asked with surprise as he looked to Austin for the answers. Austin was clearly in the know since he refused to look anywhere near Dare and he’d known they were together.

  “Sorry,” Austin finally said. “Manny told me before we made our first delivery.”

  Dare wanted to punch them both, but now Roy Lee looked ready to faint and he had to keep his undercover persona intact. It was the absolute worst thing about being undercover. He knew if Isabella Crowne wanted him that there was very little he could do to tell her no. Not if he wanted answers. But he sure as hell would try his hardest to keep her at arm’s length while still getting the answers he needed. That also meant these idiots needed to keep their mouths shut.

  “It’s not a big deal. We’re not serious,” Dare said with a shrug. Austin and Roy Lee looked relieved as they took a tentative seat at the bar. “But what’s this about ghosts?”

  Austin and Roy Lee let out a nervous laugh and soon they were regaling Dare and Rudy with Skeeter’s antics and his supposed conversation with Anne Bonny as Manny and two of the staffers who had been with Isabella joined them. They all laughed at the story and were soon telling their own ghost stories.

  “Maybe it’s because I’m not from here, but I’ve never believed in ghosts,” Dare said, shaking his head at the other guys who swore up and down they’d lived with a ghost at some point.

  “It’s a Charleston thing,” the male staffer named Hoyt said with a laugh. Even old Rudy swore he felt the presence of a ghost before.

  “What about you?” Dare asked Manny.

  “I’m from Arizona, but I’ve spent enough time in Charleston to say I’ve seen and heard things I can’t explain.”

  “Well, I’d better keep my eyes and ears open,” Dare said as he stood up. It was almost six and he was ready to have one early night. “Do you need anything else tonight?” Dare asked Manny.

  “I don’t think so.” Before he could leave, Dare got more than his fair share of ribbing from the guys teasing him about Isabella. Manny had looked thoughtfully at him and then nodded when Roy Lee quickly clarified Dare and Harper had an open relationship. Apparently this was a thing for some people. He could never be in one. Once Dare gave his heart, it was gone. No matter how beautiful and seductive Isabella was, only Harper held his heart.

  20

  Dare waited until he was on the ferry to call Harper. The sound of her voice made his whole body relax and a smile spread across his face.

  “I miss you,” he said as soon as she answered.

  “I miss you too. What are you doing?” Dare could heard the sounds of the busy bar behind Harper as they talked.

  “I’m on the ferry. I’m done for the day and there’s nothing I’d like more than to spend the night with you.” Dare waited for Harper to reply and it felt as if the entire world slowed. He hadn’t meant for it to sound as if he meant to sleep with her overnight at her place, but he was all for that if that’s what she wanted.

  “You did make a promise about the next time you took off my panties, and I believe I’ll hold you to it. Meet me at the bar. I’ll see if Skeeter will fill in for me tonight.”

  Dare was hard in a split second. His body and heart filled with excitement and even a bit of nervousness. He was going to say something sexy to get her as wound up as he was, but Harper had already hung up on him.

  He got off his bike and walked to the railing of the ferry. This was the first time in a long while that his heart was as involved in the activity as his body. He had to make tonight special for them both.

  Harper heard a motorcycle drive down Main Street, but it never stopped. Her shoulders slumped and she couldn’t help but feel let down. Where was Dare? He should h
ave been there already. Tonight wasn’t about just tonight. She cared for him and it scared the crap out of her. What if she fell in love?

  She’d been nervous so she’d hung up on him without giving herself a chance to back out of the situation. Harper had then jumped the bar top and shouted at Skeeter to take over for all the free beer he could drink for the week. Then Harper had run out the back door, through the parking lot, opened the gate leading to her backyard and into her house. She’d shaved, brushed her hair, and put on some lip gloss and a sexy, stretchy black dress with her leather jacket over it before jogging back to the bar.

  Skeeter had let out a low whistle. “Looking good, boss. You want me to close up tonight?”

  “Please. I owe you. I have a stack of job applicants to go through tomorrow and I’ll find someone to help me fill in when I’m busy,” she had told him.

  “No problem,” Skeeter had said with a smile as he poured himself a free beer and went to talk to Gator.

  That had been ten minutes earlier. Harper’s heart was pounded with every car door slam and every motorcycle engine she heard. She didn’t know which Dare was driving or what their plans were. She’d lobbed the sex ball into his court and now she had to wait and see how he played it. Relinquishing control was something she hadn’t done since college and that hadn’t turned out well for her. However, it felt completely different from then. In college, she’d deferred to her ex because she wanted to be perfect for him and would do anything he asked to please him, regardless of her own pleasure. Not this time, though. Harper deferred to Dare because she trusted him to give her pleasure. That trust, along with his words about him wanting her . . . well, they drove away all her fears and left nothing but anticipation.