Convincing Lina: A Bachelor of Shell Cove Novel (The Bachelors of Shell Cove Romance Book 2) (35 page)

“Maybe you coming into the picture kept them from getting to her, Gideon. They didn’t know you were a factor and then you took her away to Waverly Falls.”

“But how do we find her?” Gideon questioned. Fear and need to destroy pumping through his blood in equal measure.
 

“Follow the smell. Yuck.” Jace said with a grimace. “The guy smelled like rotten seafood.”

Troy inhaled a deep breath and smiled. “I have an idea of where they are holding them, but I can’t assemble a team large enough to take the Princessa before they have time to move her. We have to move fast to get our women back.”

“Point us in the right direction. My brothers and I will get my woman back.”

Chapter 23

Moon stood on the helicopter landing deck of Sky’s mega yacht. Rotating in each direction, he did a visual survey of the one hundred and eighty foot luxury liner and the lush tree line surrounding the private pier.
 

“Where are you, Troy?”
 

He knew Troy would come for Lina. Moon would be ready to bury his blade deep into the man, feeling the life drain from his body. Gutting Troy for his betrayal would be his gift to Sky. Now that he had Lina in his possession he understood the man’s desire to keep her to himself.
 

A smile curled his lips recalling how her soft curves filled his arms. Flames of lust licked at his skin in anticipation. The look of surprise and fear on her face when he’d taken her had his erection pushing against his zipper. He yearned for them to be alone, but he hadn’t been prepared for the other woman. Janna. Lovely name, he could have her, too. His pulse leaped with excitement. No, not this time. He understood how jealous women could be. He would not disrespect his bond with Lina by delighting in her friend.
 

Before their life together began, Lina had to be punished for her infidelity. She didn’t have the decency to wait for him, after all he’d given to her. He clenched his fists at his side as rage surged through him. Slicing Gideon Rice’s neck would be a gift to himself.

Jarring pain ricocheted through Lina’s head when she hit a hard surface rousing her to consciousness. Terror spiked through her when she realized she’d been moved from the van. The air smelled of dead fish, the ocean, and gasoline fuel. Her skin felt clammy and slick with humidity.
 

Moon had left her exposed to the elements. Would he return? She cast her eyes left then right. No Janna. Mind working, she realized she had to find Janna and get them both off this boat. She tried to sit up, but her hands didn’t work. Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks, but she kept them at bay. Stay calm. Panic and fear would only help Estrella and Moon. Inhaling deep in and out, she curled her hands up to view a thin, white nylon rope bound her hands in front of her body. Rope was better than plastic zip ties, not that she knew how to escape either one. But she felt hopeful.
 

Sounds of the water hummed beneath the call of the night owls. A boat. She was lying on the deck, taken, because she had to do things her way. God, would she ever see Gideon again? He wanted to keep her safe. Love her. Regret, like she had never felt before, had her head curling to her knees. A sharp pain in her abdomen drew her up short. Had she been injured when she lost her hold on consciousness? Where was Janna? Shifting, Lina surveyed her surroundings.
 

Straining to see her surroundings in the low lighting, another female sized body lay still not more than twenty feet away from her position.
 

“Janna?” Lina listened for a response, but no sound came from the other person.
 

“Janna, please.” A soft moan reached Lina’s ear and she sighed in relief. “I’m coming to you.” Assessing the distance to the hull of the boat, Lina rolled until her back made contact with metal. Using the wall at her back, she pushed herself upright. Sweat beaded her forehead and her abdominals ached. Breathing in heavy pants, she scooted herself to a vertical support, grasped it with her bound hands and pulled herself upright. Sucking in a hungry breath, she listened for voices or anything to tell her where she was being held. They were at a pier, privately owned most likely. Taking in the expansive deck and flooring she surmised she was on a yacht. On bare feet, she padded over to the unmoving figure at the far end of the deck.
 

She reached for her friend’s shoulder. After several attempts she rolled the limp body onto her back. Slowly the other woman’s features came into view. A scream that never came reverberated in her head. No. Lina snatched her hand away as if fire had seared her skin.

“Estrella?” Panic rose and threatened to spill out of her in a bellow of fear, anger, and desperation. Where was Janna?

Determined that Janna would not pay the price for her folly. Lina gripped the lapels of Estrella’s shirt and shook hard. Estrella’s head flopped backward like a broken bobble head figurine, before her eyes blinked open. She watched as Estrella struggled to focus, her eye movements jerky and uncoordinated. Drugged. Why was Estrella left on the deck, drugged alongside her? She needed Estrella to make sense of this living nightmare. Her friend turned enemy was her only option to finding Janna and getting the freak out of here.
 

Estella’s dry lips parted to answer Lina’s unasked question.
 

“So sorry,” she croaked.
 

Dismissing the woman’s feeble apology, Lina cut to the chase.
 

“Where have they taken, Janna? Whose boat is this?” Estrella’s eyes drifted closed and Lina let go of the lapels she’d been holding. Her head hit the deck flooring with a thud and Estrella’s eyes shot open, regarding Lina in disbelief.
 

Lina shrugged. “Desperate times, require desperate measures. Now, where is Janna?”

Lina gave her five seconds before she grabbed both shirt lapels again, lurched Estrella up, only to let her compliant body fall back to the flooring.
 

This time Estrella swung a hand at Lina’s face–with all the force of a cotton ball.
 

“Stop doing that, Lina.”
 

Ignoring her protests, Lina batted the offending arm out of striking distance and pulled Estrella as high off the ground as she could manage with bound hands.

“Not sure a fall from this height will give you a concussion, but I’m willing to take the risk.”
 

Estrella began to struggle in earnest.
 

“Talk,” Lina jostled the semi-conscious woman.
 

“Sky has her,” came the soft reply.

“Who is Sky?” Lina demanded.
 

“He controls the drugs, the women.”

“What does he want with us?”

“Not us, just you.” Estrella’s tone spoke volumes. Now that they had her, was Janna of no consequence to their captor?
 

“Why? What do they want from me?”
 

“Troy,” Estrella muttered, before she started to cough violently. Even in the shroud of fear, Lina recognized the voice of sorrow.
 

“What does Sky have to do with Troy or me?”

“Troy moves the money for Sky’s organization.” Lina’s heart stilled in her throat.
 

“Troy is not a criminal.” Estrella was mistaken. Terribly, terribly mistaken. Had to be.

“He’ll wish he was when Sky finds him. He’s an undercover cop, Lina.” The anguish in Estrella’s voice pulled at Lina’s heart strings.

“No.” How long had Troy been undercover? Had he hidden this from her when they were together?

“Almost five years Troy played the part.” He’d told her the truth. Estrella coughed again, a protective hand over her ribs. “Sky trusted him until two Galaxy shipments got seized by the cops within four months. So, Sky knew there was a leak within his network.”

“Why signal out Troy?” Lina questioned.
 

“Sky had Moon review everyone’s background, again. This time they researched back to childhood. A money trail from Troy to Bernadean James, a widow to a corrupt cop led us to you.”
 

“If you’re one of them, why were you drugged and left here?”

“I’m not one of them. I tried to save you from Moon.” Estrella stared at Lina with haunted eyes.
 

“But they have my little sister.” A gasp escaped Lina’s lips. “Sky turns girls into whores. I had no choice, but I have displeased him.”

“You tricked me into thinking we were friends, then you drugged me and handed me over.”

“I am your friend, Lina. I tried to stop Moon from destroying your house, from taking you. Moon has repaid my disloyalty.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He broke my ribs, then he drugged me.” Oh God, if this was how they treated their spies, what did they have planned for her?
 

“Tell me how we can get off this yacht and I’ll get help.”
 

“I’m afraid my darling niece can’t help you, Princess.” A man’s voice sounded behind her.
 

Lina had heard that voice before. She pivoted on her heel and she came face to face with five large men. Four of them were dressed in black tee-shirts with dark cargo pants. She stumbled backward, before her eyes met with the bluest eyes she’d ever seen on a man. Even in the semi-darkness, his blonde hair was visible. With a wicked facial scar she recognized. Her mouth fell open. A heavy feeling settled in her stomach.
 

“Bluton Faraday.” Bluton Faraday was Sky. The international business man that brought jobs to third world countries? He was a white collar thug and a drug pusher? Disgusting.
 

“No witty come back for me tonight, Princess?”

“I don’t waste my energy dealing with the garbage.”

“Explain to our guest, my darling niece, that I do not suffer rudeness well.” Lina hung her head on a make believe swivel from Sky to Estrella. Unreal.
 

 
“Star is related to me by marriage. Unfortunately, both her parents met with an untimely death, leaving her nine-year-old sister in the custody of her aunt, my wife. Drug addiction does terrible things to a marriage, does it not, Star.”

“My aunt never used drugs,” Estrella screamed. “You forced drugs into her arm. You are a monster.”

“Don’t listen to her, Lina. It is wonderful to have you all to myself, Princess. We will have fun together, but business comes first.”

“Boss, we are running out of time.” Moon stepped out of the shadows taking the spot next to Sky. Six men including Moon, the likelihood of a successful escape dwindled against those odds.
 

“Moon, have the captain ready the engines. The rest of you keep a look out for the cop.” Lina watched as the four men turned away without a word, each moving in a different direction. Rising panic churned in her stomach. She had to find Janna and get off this boat before they left the pier.
 

“Tell me where I can find your former lover?” Bluton pulled the tail of his jacket open as he spoke. Sky casually stuck his hands in his pants, revealing the butt of a gun. It glinted in the faint light coming from the cabin’s door he’d left ajar. The shirt visible behind the gun was covered in blood. As she watched the stain grow larger, so did the knot in her gut. She thought of Gideon. Would she ever see him again?