Miss Ruby moved out of the way and Dare leaned into the backseat to find a gigantic monogrammed basket with a zippered top and metal handles. Across the backseat, he observed Miss Winnie pulling out a large crocheted blanket. The majority of the blanket was white and it was trimmed with red. However, in the middle of the blanket was a large red gamecock. Dare smiled for the first time in what felt like years.
South Carolina fans still had nothing on Texas fans.
Dare grabbed the basket and grunted. “This weighs a ton. What’s in it?”
“I told you, it’s our emergency kit.” Miss Ruby didn’t bother explaining more as she walked off toward the marina.
“It has a chicken, broccoli, and cheese casserole, apple pie, brownies, a pitcher of sweet tea, a thermos with local hot peach tea, and if you don’t tell anyone, there’s even a tumbler of whiskey hidden on the bottom,” Miss Winnie explained to him, grabbing his arm for support as they walked after Miss Ruby.
Dare and the two ladies finally made it to the end of the floating dock and waited. He knew he was being impatient. It was killing him not to have Harper in his arms.
“You’re a good young man,” Miss Ruby said out of nowhere. “You and Harper are well matched.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Miss Winnie bobbed her head and it appeared even her wrinkles agreed as they bobbed up and down too. “She didn’t make it easy on you, did she?”
“Make what easy?”
“Earning her heart and trust, of course,” Miss Ruby said with a couple of tongue clucks as if he’d been a naughty boy for not knowing.
“It just makes earning it that more special.” Dare didn’t know why he told them that, but the smiles and sighs told him they approved. “There they are!”
Dare almost leapt into the water as the small flat-bottomed boat puttered toward them. Harper’s eyes were closed and she was bundled up in a massive jean jacket as she lay curled up in a ball on the bottom of the boat.
“Ahoy!” Gator called out and Dare saw Harper’s eyes flutter open.
Dare was watching her so closely he saw the moment her eyes focused and she saw them. He saw relief, gratitude, longing, and fear all at once. She was dangerously close to falling apart, and he knew she wouldn’t want anyone to see that happen.
Dare glanced behind him to see Gavin racing toward them and shook his head. “I’ll bring her to you!”
Gavin wasn’t going to stop, but then he got a look at Harper and immediately spun around and started crowd control. No one was going to interrupt them now. In the distance, the sound of a helicopter could be heard and Dare knew her ride was approaching.
“Where will the helicopter land?” Dare asked Miss Winnie and Miss Ruby.
“Right there at the intersection unless it’s going to Ryker’s house. That boy has a helicopter pad,” Miss Ruby told him.
“Catch the rope!” Gator called out when he got closer. He tossed it and Dare caught it. In a flash, he had the boat tied to the dock and was leaning in to reach her.
“Come here, sweetheart.” Dare bent down as Harper held up her arms. He scooped her into his embrace, finally drawing his first breath of relief. He had the woman he loved in his arms. He felt her trembling and knew the tears were coming. “You could have just told me if you didn’t want to go out on our date tonight.”
Harper let loose a bark of laughter a second before the tears burst free. She buried her face into his neck and cried great big body-wracking sobs as Miss Winnie covered her with the blanket. Dare adjusted her in his arms so she was swaddled and her face was mostly covered.
“Here you go. It’s from our emergency kit. We didn’t think the tea would be strong enough,” Miss Ruby said gently as she rubbed Harper’s shoulder.
“What is it?” Harper asked. His girl was strong. She was already trying to stop the tears from falling.
“Whiskey.”
“Miss Ruby!” Harper tried to chide, but was then too busy gulping it down to tease anymore. “That was just what I needed. Thank you.”
Harper wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. Suddenly her hand shot out as she grabbed Gator by the arm when he began to walk by. “I owe you my life. Thank you, Gator. I can’t ever repay . . .” Harper took a deep breath and blinked quickly as she tried to prevent herself from crying again.
“You’d have done it for me. I’m right proud of that hold you had on Abe. He’s a mean sumbitch and you wrestled him like a pro.”
Dare didn’t know what that meant, but he liked the smile on Harper’s face that it caused. “Come on. Your ride is here.”
Dare walked up the hill to the helicopter with Harper in his arms. Harper’s entire family, along with practically the whole town, was waiting for her. “Take a deep breath, love. When I stop walking I want you to wave and say thank you to all the volunteers who looked for you. Then I’ll get you all tucked in the helicopter in under ten seconds.”
Dare felt Harper sit up a little straighter in his arms. “They all looked for me?”
“Since one-thirty this morning.”
“Put me down, Dare.”
“Harper, you’re—”
Harper smacked his chest. “Put me down.”
“We’ll compromise. Isn’t that what couples do? I’ll put you down at the top of the hill.”
“Okay,” Harper agreed though she wasn’t happy about it. She was already mad at herself for the little crying fit. The second she was safe in Dare’s arms, all the feelings, fears, and relief slammed into her, and the only outlet was through her tears. She’d be damned if she only called out a simple thank-you as she was bundled up into Ryker’s helicopter.
Gavin was the first to reach her as Dare set her down. She reached back with her left hand and clasped it tightly over Dare’s hand as her brother flashed a pen light into her eyes.
“Knock that off,” Harper snapped. “You can poke and prod me in the helicopter. Let me say thank you first.”
Harper pulled her brother in for a hug. She didn’t let go of Dare’s hand as she used her right arm to wrap around Gavin and then each member of her family.
“I can’t begin to thank all y’all enough for searching for me. When I get back, I’ll stand a round of drinks for the best search and rescue crew going.”
Everyone clapped and called out to her, but Dare pulled his hand from hers and moved it to the small of her back. He used it to gently push her away from the crowd as she waved all the way into the helicopter. Gavin attached a blood pressure cuff the second she was seated. Harper then realized the helicopter was full of her family. There was no room for Dare.
“Dare!” she called out over the sound of the blades that were being turned on. Dare leaned forward and kissed her so softly on her lips it felt as if she’s dreamt it. When he pulled back, she knew he wasn’t coming with her. “Stay.”
“Not until you’re safe. I’ll find them. I swear.”
Dare didn’t just make a promise. He swore her an oath. It was the hardest thing she’d ever done, but as she held her hands up to his cheeks and brushed her thumb over his bottom lip, she nodded. “I understand.”
Dare kissed her thumb and then looked at her. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Stay with your family until I do.” Harper dropped her hands and gave him the brightest smile she could muster at this moment.
Dare leaned forward again, bringing his lips to hers. His kiss was full of longing, worry, and resolution. He pulled back just enough that Harper was looking into his eyes. “I love you, Harper.”
And then he was gone and the helicopter lifted up.
24
Dare filled in his boss as he walked to his motorcycle. He was about to call in sick to Manny when his phone rang. Speak of the devil.
“Manny, I was just about to call.”
“Whatever it is, it can wait. I just got a panicked call from Miss Crowne. One of the hot shots from this big summit she’s hosting won’t be here for another hour. The other guests thought that was a great excuse
to party first. They finished off half of the special order drinks I stayed up all night at the shipping yard for. The person they’re waiting for is known to be very particular. They drank it. They drank it!” Dare had never heard him freaked out like this before. He was rambling a mile a minute and not all of it was making sense to Dare.
“Look, Manny—” Dare began to say, but Manny was in a full meltdown mode.
“There’s one bottle left in all of Charleston. The next retail bottle is in Atlanta. I’ll text it to you. Just get it here in the next eighty-seven minutes.”
“Who cares if they drank the alcohol? Isn’t that what it’s there for?”
“Not this bottle and not for this person. Miss Crowne is freaking out. She’s threatening to drop us as their distributor unless we get this bottle for this hot shot who’s late to the meeting.”
Dare’s phone buzzed with the name and address of a specialty liquor store and then the name of the bottle he needed to get. “Remy Martin Louis XIII Black Pearl Cognac. Damn, Manny. That’s like a ten thousand dollar bottle. How am I supposed to pay for that?” After all, Dare was supposed to be a lowly distributor worker. And even if he was himself, ATF agents didn’t make enough to blow several grand on a bottle of cognac.
“Try sixteen thousand dollars at retail. I’ve called the store and bought it with the company card. All you have to do is sign and then get it here very carefully and very quickly. Hurry—you have eighty-six minutes!”
Manny hung up before Dare could protest. However, this would definitely get Dare on Isabella and Manny’s good side. Today was all about ferreting out who hurt Harper. There was no way this was just a random act of violence. As far as Dare could figure out, the only danger Harper would be in was because of his investigation.
“You have a minute?”
Dare rolled his eyes. “Not really. What do you need, Sheriff?” Was he ever going to get out of Shadows Landing?
“The volunteers have been talking. It’s not just Skeeter mentioning ghosts. Reverend Winston mentioned them too, and another lady said she thought she saw her dead husband’s spirit the other evening when she laid flowers on his grave.”
Dare didn’t have time for ghost stories. “I don’t believe in ghosts, and I don’t have time for ghost stories right now.”
The wind suddenly whipped up. Granger’s uniform Stetson almost flew off and he had to hold it to his head. Leaves were thrown around and the old church ladies were trying to protect their hair as the sudden wind wreaked havoc.
“You want to say that again?” Granger shouted.
No, it couldn’t be. “It’s just wind. I need to get to Charleston.”
“Do you think your investigation is putting Harper in danger?” Granger yelled over the howling wind.
“I’m going to find out and I’m going to take care of it.” That was a promise.
“Let me know if you need help. No one comes into my town and hurts my friends.” Dare nodded and turned the key to his motorcycle “I mean it. Backup is just a call away should you ever need it.”
Wind made the bike teeter when Dare tried to ride away. “Okay. I’ll concede that there may be the small chance of something like a ghost,” Dare muttered to himself as he tried to control his bike in the wind. Suddenly, the wind stopped and the sun came out. A shiver ran down his spine, but he’d contemplate the afterlife after he took care of business.
Gavin was more protective than a mother hen. Hell, more protective than a mother bear. He snarled, growled, and swiped at anyone he deemed not up to par to take care of his little sister. That was how Harper was getting a CT done by the head of radiology. It’s also why the head of neurology was waiting to review the scan and examine her.
However, all Harper could think about were three words. I love you. And then the oaf had run off. She was so mad she could spit nails. How dare he run off into danger after dropping that bombshell? Well, she’d show that numbskull. You don’t run out after telling a woman you love her.
Dare had a sixteen thousand dollar bottle of cognac in his backpack as he sped off the ferry and onto the resort property. He had learned that the secondary market price for this bottle cost more than his car. Some people paid between thirty and forty thousand dollars on the secondary market for it. He hadn’t slept, his emotions had run the gamut over the past ten hours, and now he had to deal with a frantic Manny and Isabella. Not just deal with them, but also get them talking. Hopefully, they’d be a little more loose-lipped with their nerves frayed.
Manny was pacing outside the back door of the storage room. As soon as he saw Dare, he started waving his arms as if he needed to be rescued from the ocean. Yeah, Dare saw him. He was the only guy out there.
Dare parked right next to Manny who was bouncing from foot to foot with nervous energy. “What took you so long? He just got here and we have nothing to serve him!”
Dare shrugged off his backpack and carried it inside. “There wasn’t anyone on the ferry with me.”
It didn’t matter that he was walking behind Manny. Dare could still see him roll his eyes. “Helicopter, hello? None of these guys drove here on a ferry. These guys are power players behind billion dollar companies from all over the world. They don’t do ferries.”
Whatever.
Dare walked into the storage room and Rudy looked so relieved he about wept. “Did you get it?”
Dare pulled out the hand-blown glass bottle layered with titanium, carbon, and gold that gave it a shiny black metal appearance and held it out. Rudy took a step back so Dare held it out to Manny who shook his head no. “You take it up.”
“Me? I don’t work for the resort.”
“Miss Crowne is upstairs waiting for it. She’ll serve it personally. We just need to stay away from her until she calms down,” Manny explained. “You’ll be the savior and right now, you are the only hope for saving our contract.”
“You owe me.”
“Anything. Literally, anything is yours if we keep this contract.”
Dare took a deep breath and walked from the room. He was going to collect on that promise. As he walked through the lobby to the elevators, he noticed that every staff member looked jumpy. Isabella must have been on quite the rampage looking for this liquor.
The elevator rose smoothly to the business center. Dare was met with private security guards when the doors slid open. The slight bulges under their suit coats weren’t lost on him. These men were not with the resort and were all well armed.
“I’m sorry, this floor is closed,” a suited security officer said with a thick German accent.
“Wait!” Isabella called out as she hurried forward. “He’s with me.”
“We need to see identification.” Dare handed the German his fake driver’s license as Darrell Young. As the German ran his name through some kind of database, a Japanese security guard stepped forward.
“Spread arms and legs.” Dare did so as another guard took the bottle to look it over. Isabella hovered over the cognac as Dare was patted down and a metal detector ran over him.
“He’s clear,” the German said as he handed Dare back his identification and the other guard handed him back the cognac.
“Thank goodness you arrived when you did. I could strangle them all. Instead of getting down to business and catching the late arrival up, they went full spring break in there,” Isabella whispered as they walked through a large lobby and toward a glass wall that had curtains drawn so that no one could see through. There were two guards standing by the double entry door as well.
“I assume Manny’s contract with the hotel is secure?” Dare didn’t want to throw Manny and his undercover job under the bus so he went to bat for Manny. “He did find what I’m learning is a very hard to find bottle of this stuff.”
“Yes, but he’s safe only because of you. You, I like.” Isabella’s eyes traveled down his body and then back to his hands holding the curved black metallic bottle that looked almost dangerous. “Wait here.”
&
nbsp; Isabella took the bottle and nodded to the guards. Each man reached for the door on his side and together they opened the double doors. Dare glanced inside as Isabella strode in with a smile on her face and the expensive cognac in hand. Dare took in a sea of expensive suits and men from all over the world. He recognized one as a Japanese businessman and another as an African inventor. They were laughing and drinking together. He’d seen them both on the news many times over the past decade. Then Dare saw two people chatting in German before tossing back a shot of something.
Dare’s eyes traveled the room quickly and took in two men who stood out to him the most. Why? Because they were sitting side by side at the head of the large conference table across the room from the door. Both had an ankle on their knee and were leaning back whispering to each other. They were both dressed in understated wealth, but the power they radiated was undeniable. One was Drake Charles out of Atlanta. He and his wife, Elle Simpson-Charles, were one of America’s most powerful couples. Charles for his tech company and Simpson for her family conglomerate. And the other man . . .
“Mr. Faulkner, I have your cognac,” Isabella said smoothly as she stopped in front of Ryker Faulkner. “Would you like a glass now or later?”
“Later. I never drink when I’m working,” came the low, deep, serious tone Dare knew to be Harper’s cousin’s voice. Dare’s esteem for Ryker just rose exponentially. Ryker had been one of the first people to help search for Harper. No one had known he had a massively important summit that morning. He never mentioned it as he searched tirelessly for his cousin. Not everyone would put a cousin above what looked to be a very lucrative meeting.
Ryker’s gaze met Dare’s as Isabella put the expensive bottle on the credenza behind Ryker. Drake Charles was still talking as Dare and Ryker were locked in a stare. Dare hoped to hell that Ryker wouldn’t give him away. With one discreet shake of his head, it was clear Ryker wasn’t going to acknowledge him in any way.
“Is there anything else I can get for you gentlemen?” Isabella asked the room. He was pretty sure someone said something derogatory based on the way Isabella’s jaws were now clenched, but Dare couldn’t hear it.
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