2 Dead & Buried (17 page)

“I won’t. I’ve seen gruff guys before.” Jolene winked at him.
 

Morgan realized there was a whole bunch she didn’t know about her little sister.

Luke crossed the room and leaned against the counter next to Morgan who focused on sipping her tea while trying not to notice how good he smelled … or looked.
 

“Okay, so here’s how we’re going to do this. We’ll set Morgan up with the camera and audio. I have several guys in strategic locations and we can monitor her on these.” He reached into his cargo pants and pulled out a small tablet.

“That looks like an iPad.” Jolene craned her neck to check out the device.

“It’s very similar but specialized for surveillance work.”

“Cool.”

“I’ll also be watching Morgan directly with high powered binoculars as will a couple of my associates. We should be able to see and hear everything and rush in as soon as the other guys try to grab her.”

Morgan took a deep breath, setting down her mug. “Well, it all sounds very simple and easy. When do we get started?”

Luke looked at his watch. “What time do you usually open the shop?”

“Around eight.”

“You should go there like normal. Open the shop and then walk around out back in the woods like you are looking for something. Maybe it would be a good idea to take a piece of paper, like you are following a map. Bring a shovel like you did the other day and start digging.” Luke shrugged. “Then just let things happen.”

“We better run.” Fiona got up from her chair and hugged Morgan. “Good luck.”

Morgan’s heart squeezed and her stomach felt heavy with dread. She shook off the brief thought that this could be the last time she talked to her sisters.

“Thanks. Say hi to Celeste for me.”

Cal and Jake hugged Morgan, then slapped Luke on the back and filed out.

Luke looked at Jolene. “You can come with me. But you need to change into all black so you’ll be less noticeable.”

Jolene’s eye lit up and she jumped off her chair.
 

“I have just the outfit.” She raced out of the room leaving Morgan and Luke alone.
 

Morgan feigned interest in her mug of tea, her heart racing like an overwound toy.

Luke moved closer to her, holding the earrings and barrette. “Let me help you get these on.”

“I can do it.” She grabbed the items, accidentally brushing his hand with hers, sending sparks running up her arm.

Her hands were shaking as she stabbed the earrings at the holes in her ears.

Luke leaned back, hands crossed over his chest with an amused look on his face as she rammed the barrette into her hair.

“It’s crooked,” he said, reaching over to straighten it. He let his hand linger, then ran his fingers down the length of her hair all the while moving closer and looking at her with those damn sea green eyes.

He leaned in. Was he going to kiss her?
 
Did she want him to?

Morgan’s heart jerked in her chest, either from the task ahead of her or the closeness of Luke. She didn’t know which. But either way, kissing him wasn’t on her agenda this morning.
 

She backed away, ignoring the look of disappointment and confusion in his eyes.
 

“Let’s get this over with.” She grabbed her purse and headed for the door.

###

Morgan’s pulse raced as she punched in the security code at
Sticks and Stones
. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. She knew Luke and his men were watching … but who else was?

Inside the shop seemed unusually quiet. Every creak and groan of the old floorboards set Morgan’s heart skittering. She wasn’t used to being alone in the shop and she felt a heavy weight in the pit of her stomach wishing Fiona was there with her.

She puffed her cheeks and blew out a long breath of air.
 

Better get to it.

Digging in her purse, she pulled out a piece of paper that would serve as her fake map and made her way to the back door. The trowel she used the day before was still leaning against the cottage and she grabbed it then headed off into the woods.

Morgan’s heart raced as she wound her way through the trees, pretending like she was following instructions on the map. She clutched at the pendant Fiona had given her the day before. It felt warm, pulsating with energy.
 

Holding the paper in front of her, she walked east a few paces, then turned and walked north. The woods that always seemed so friendly and inviting took on a dark and foreboding air. Every noise set her nerves on edge.

A movement to her left set her heart jerking wildly. She whipped her head around and sighed when she realized it was only a squirrel scurrying up a tree.

She stopped at a giant pine that looked like it had been there for centuries. Squatting down, she placed the map on the ground next to her and cleared away the leaves and pine needles before shoving the trowel into the dirt.
 

Her heart was beating so loudly she wondered if Luke could hear it in the audio. Surely he could hear her raspy breath and see her shaky hands as she dug.

She tried to push away the heavy feeling of doom that was growing in the pit of her stomach. The bad guys would come then Luke would rush in and capture them and it would all be over. At least that was what was supposed to happen. But why did she
feel
like there wasn’t going to be a happy ending?

A movement to her right caught her attention.
 

Another squirrel?

Then a movement behind her caused her to jerk her head in that direction. Her heart exploded in her chest when she saw them rushing at her from all directions. She bolted up and tried to run but strong, hairy arms grabbed her.
 

Morgan struggled, kicking out, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. Her eyes darted around frantically.
 

Where was Luke?

Her nose twitched as it was struck by a cloyingly sweet smell. She saw a red bandana rushing up to her face. She tried to jerk her head away, but the hairy paw held it in place as the bandana covered her nose and mouth.

Morgan’s eyes bulged, her lungs gasped for fresh air.
 

Her struggles grew weaker.
 

And then, everything went black.

###

Luke jabbed at the buttons on the tablet in frustration.
 

Why wasn’t this thing working?

He’d seen Morgan go into the shop, but once she was inside, the video feed had turned to static. He couldn’t hear the audio either, but that was probably because she wasn’t saying anything.

“Is something wrong?” Jolene peered over his shoulder.

“This feed isn’t working right.” Luke turned the display on the tablet toward her.

Jolene looked at it then glanced through the shrubs toward
Sticks and Stones
.

“Electromagnetic interference,” she said.

“What?” Luke wrinkled his brow at her.

“There’s something weird going on at Sticks and Stones. I’m not sure if it’s the building or the land but every time I go there I feel a surge of energy. My hair gets all staticy and stands on end.
 
It’s weird.” Jolene turned to face him. “If there was some strange energy field there, would that interfere with your device?”

Luke pursed his lips together. An electromagnetic energy field?
 
It seemed rather farfetched, but then some of the other things going on around the Blackmoore sisters were pretty farfetched so why should this be any different?

“I suppose it could.”
 

Luke tapped on his headset to communicate with the rest of the team. “Does anyone have a good display?”

He got five negative responses.

“So no one can see or hear what’s going on?”

More negative responses.

“Anyone have a visual with binocs?”
 

“I think she’s still inside. I’m looking at the back door,” a voice replied in his ear.
 

Luke grabbed his binoculars and trained them on the cottage. They were situated about one eighth mile away, on a ridge behind some shrubs facing the south end.
 

He didn’t see anyone.

He jabbed at his tablet again, his stomach clenching when neither the visual or sound worked. If he couldn’t see or hear Morgan, then she could be in real danger.

“There she is,” a voice in his ear announced and Luke picked up the binoculars again. This time, he could see Morgan come out the back door of the shop with a piece of paper in hand. He watched her grab a trowel and head off to the east.

Beside him, Jolene raised her binoculars, pointing them in the same direction as his.

He scanned the woods, looking for movement.
 

No one else was near.
 

He turned the binoculars back on Morgan just in time to see her turn and disappear behind a tree.
 

“Shit,” Jolene muttered beside him.

The thick tree trunk blocked their line of vision. Morgan must have been traveling straight north because Luke couldn’t see her at all.
 

He glanced down at the tablet, his heart thudding against his ribcage. It was mostly static, but he could see flashes of video now.
 

The woods looked clear.

Another flash of video and the angle changed, as if Morgan was bending down. In the next flash, he saw the trowel move toward the dirt.

Luke alternated between the binoculars and the tablet, his muscles tense, heart racing.

And then he saw an explosion of activity from several places in the woods. His heart lurched in his chest as he saw the men were dangerously close to Morgan. He dropped the tablet and binoculars and burst out of his hiding spot, heading straight for the woods as he gave the command on his headset.

“Go! Go! They’ve got her!”

As he ran toward the woods, his heart sank to his stomach. The static on the video had caused them to miss the bad guys’ arrival and had given them an advantage. He hadn’t planned on letting them get anywhere near Morgan, and now it looked like they’d gotten very close.

He burst into high gear, his legs pumping faster than they ever had.
 

He didn’t know if the GPS tracker on his devices would work with all the static interference and he had to get to Morgan before they took her anywhere, otherwise he might not be able to track her.
 

He just hoped he wasn’t already too late.

Morgan slowly drifted out of the darkness to consciousness. Her back pressed against something hard and damp. Her nostrils stung with the sharpness of the salty sea air. She opened her eyes for a second then had to squeeze them shut to fight a wave of nausea.
 

Where was she?

Through half opened eyes she saw that it was dark, wherever she was, but she could see a light a few feet away. Some sort of lantern. She opened her eyes all the way. Above her was solid black, no stars or moon.
 

She was inside somewhere … no, not inside—
underground
.
 

She rolled to a sitting position, thankful the nausea seemed to be disappearing. Her pulse quickened as she looked around. She was in some sort of cave. The walls were rock and the floor hard, compacted dirt. It was damp and smelled of the sea—was she below sea level?

The room, if you could call it that, was big with a few empty crates in the middle and a large iron door that was set into a stone opening on one end. She could see a tunnel and flickering light through the open bars. Her heart stuttered when she saw iron chains bolted unto large metal plaques in the stone wall in various places around the room.
 

Was she in an old pirates’ dungeon?

She heard voices coming from the direction of the iron door and her blood turned cold.
 

Was it the men who captured her?
 

What did they want with her?
 

She could hear them laughing and her nerves zinged with anxiety as the voices drew closer.
 

“Oh, I see you’re awake.” A large man with an unruly red beard unlocked the padlock on the door and came into the room along with another dark haired man.

Morgan backed up as they approached her. Red beard stopped about a foot from her. He smelled like he hadn’t bathed in a month and she could see crumbs in his beard. Her stomach turned over and she tried not to gag.

“What do you want?” She tried to make her voice sound strong and powerful, but it came out in more of a squeak.

The two men looked at each other and laughed.

“We want to know where the treasure is,” dark hair said stepping a little closer.

“I don’t know where it is.” Morgan touched her earrings, wondering if Luke could hear what was going on.
Do these things work in caves?
She tilted her head to the side so the barrette faced the two men, just in case.
 

“Sure you do. You found the map by now, didn’t you?
 
The real map I mean, not that fake one you had when we nabbed you.”

Morgan’s heart squeezed and she thought about the leather map. She hesitated too long before answering which set off more laughter. Then red beard got right in her face and his eyes weren’t laughing or smiling—they were hard and cold. Her blood froze in her veins.