More Than Forever (Providence Series Book 2) (16 page)

By the time the shower shut off, I had most of our shit in the bags and clothes laid out for us to wear. I wasn’t sure what the plan was, but I knew that Baz and Guntur would have it sorted out by the time we left the island. Not waiting for Isla to come out, I went into the bathroom and jumped into the shower as she brushed her teeth. This wasn’t ideal because it meant the water stayed cold and that I got hit by that cold water; at the same time, Isla standing fresh faced in front of the mirror with only a towel on meant that the cold shower was a necessity if we were going to get out of here anytime this morning. I had it bad if we were potentially in danger and I was still getting hard for her. The cold water made my leg and the other areas of me that had been injured ache, though, so I made it a brief shower. 

Within thirty minutes we were ready and our bags were being carried down to the boat waiting for us.  

“What’s the plan?” I asked Guntur once we’d started the journey to Lombok. 

“Baz has flown in a friend’s jet to Lombok. From there you fly to Jakarta to pick up half of Baz’s team and then to Manilla where he and the rest of the team will meet you and then you will return to America. The suspect in Nusa Dua has been delayed by a well-meaning taxi driver,” he said that bit with a grin on his face. “Who has, unfortunately, taken him to a village forty miles away from Ngurah Rai Airport. Even more unfortunate, was the fact that the well-meaning taxi driver didn’t speak any English, so he didn’t understand him when the suspect requested that he wait for him while he asked some questions in the local hotel. The local hotel is nine small rooms with no air conditioning, outside toilets and woven palm walls.” I grinned at the evil genius of this team and its simplicity, too. “Even more unfortunate, no one speaks English and the phone lines were taken down during a storm the other night, and they won’t be repaired until tomorrow afternoon.” The grin left his face as he got to the next point. “We don’t know if he was acting alone though, Luke, this is why we have to move both of you, now. There have been four travelers who have arrived in Bali over the last two days who have acquired our attention, so to be safe we have to go.” 

I held Isla’s hand as we motored toward land and thought through all of this. I had to keep them safe no matter what, failure wasn’t an option. 

Ten Hours Later
… 

We had left Ninoy Aquino Airport
in Manila an hour ago and we’re now en route back to Piersville. Thankfully, as the jet we were on was a private class jet, we could land at the small airfield just outside of town. 

“What’s the plan when we get back?” This had been weighing on my mind the whole time. I didn’t have a house anymore as what was left of mine most likely looked like the remains of the world’s biggest bonfire and I didn’t think that Isla’s house was secure enough at the moment. The car blast had caused damage to the front of the house, too, and we also needed to carry out some security upgrades on it before it was livable. I’d also had an idea and had started on some drawings and was going to talk to Dad about them when I saw him. 

“Layla Townsend’s house is free and has been offered up by her family for you to stay in until further notice,” Baz started. “There had been a security upgrade already carried out to the house and also to the property surrounding it, and there are constant patrols by both uniform and undercover security.” 

I sat back and looked down at Isla’s head on my shoulder where she’d fallen asleep before we’d even taken off. Her left hand was curled on my thigh and her wedding rings glinting at me caught my attention. 

“Is this the safest option?” I couldn’t take my eyes off them. They were proof that she was
mine
, that the babies inside her were
mine
, and they needed to be kept as safe as possible. If this meant going to Japan, hell even Azerbaijan, so long as she was safe, I’d do it.  

“At this moment in time, Luke, yes,” Baz replied. “I spoke with Coleman, Mace, and 

Brett and we have a vague description of someone, but we have no proof that this is the person responsible.” He cleared his throat and I saw his fists clench. “We also think that there may be more than one player, perhaps even four or five involved.” 

“
What the fuck?
” I hadn’t meant to shout, but I hadn’t been expecting this shit. Isla jumped in her sleep, but fortunately, didn’t wake up. 

“We also think that they may be working independently, but that the different attacks are also being orchestrated by one party.” 

“What the fuck does that mean?” He was talking in riddles. Four or five parties acting alone but being directed by one main one?  

Sighing, he sat back in his seat and glared at the table in front of him. “If there were two parties who had issues with your families independently, and they hired people to get their hands dirty, but someone was aware of their grudges and was nudging them to get their hired guns to do shit - then that’s your five. If you have one with a huge grudge who works with another one with a grudge and they both have hired guns, then there’s your four and one of the huge grudge holders could be controlling the other one. At this moment, we don’t know which it is Luke, I’m so sorry.” 

The lack of information was fucking me off. “What the fuck
do
you know?” I know it wasn’t their fault, but fuck me! 

“We have my team, Mace’s team, Coleman’s team, and now their buddy from Seal Security in Kansas City’s team looking into it, too. We’ll find something Luke, that I can guarantee you. No one…” he leaned forward in his seat keeping his eyes locked with mine, “No one, can stay clean for that long; they always fuck up. And when they do…” he sat back and looked out the window at the dark sky. “They’ll pay.” 

Landing on the ground in Piersville,
I saw Brett, Coleman, and some of his guys waiting for us at the side of the runway. 

I’d decided not to wake Isla up, seeing as, she’d slept continuously from Manila to here and hadn’t even woken up when we stopped to refuel, so I carried her off the plane and into the SUV waiting for us. I kept her on my lap as Brett climbed into the back with me while Baz and Coleman took the front with Coleman driving. 

“Not that I don’t appreciate the welcoming committee, but what’s happened?” I’d expected there to be some of Coleman’s guys waiting, but the fact that he and Brett were there waiting was like a flashing beacon. 

“There were four possible suspects in Bali,” Coleman began. “Guntur and his guys got three of them.”  

“What happened to the fourth?” 

“Dead when they found him.” 

None of this fucking made sense to me. Killing one of your own guys? Or was there yet someone else out there?  

“And the three?”  

Brett turned from the tinted window that he was looking out of with a menacing grin on his face. I had grown up with him and he’d always been a deep guy who kept a lot to himself, but this all seemed to have made that worse. “They were dealt with!” 

I was
tired
from traveling for hours, I was
tired
with the time difference, I was
tired
of the shit…I was just plain fucking
tired
. “Brett man, I’m fucking done with this shit. I don’t have the patience to play guessing games or to even think deeply just now, so I need you to just fucking spit it out. What does
dealt with
mean?” 

“It means,” he turned in his seat so that he was facing me, “Guntur and his guys caught them. They questioned them. They got as far as they could. There were two American and one British national in Bali on unknown business. Guntur dropped four kilos of H on each of them and called it into the police. H and drug trafficking is illegal and punishable by firing squad in Bali, as you’ll remember from when you flew in. The warnings are fucking everywhere.” He sat back and took a deep breath. “They get lucky; they’ll spend twenty-five years in prison. They get unlucky…” 

I never would have thought Guntur and his men had it in them. They’d all seemed like nice guys, who granted were really good at their jobs, but to do that? It was almost evil genius. And that’s when it hit me. “This was your idea, wasn’t it?” I asked Brett getting a noncommittal shrug in return as Coleman and Baz snorted from the front.  

“What else did they find out from them before they did this?” 

It was Coleman who answered this time. “This is something we’re best to discuss when we get to the Townsend’s ranch, Luke. We only found this information out just before we came to the strip to get you and we need to discuss it with Jack, Hurst, and Ren too.” 

“I think Cole’s there, too,” Brett added and was again met with a snort from Coleman. 

“Ain’t no good ever comes from discussing shit with that ass!” 

I had to admit, Coleman had a fair point and Brett’s chin lift was the best acknowledgment that we were going to get out of him since it was his brother. Brett may be closed off, but there’s one thing that he was very open on - loyalty. That’s not to say that he didn’t agree with what Coleman said, though. Heck, no one could ever argue otherwise. 

We passed the Townsend’s main house and pulled up in front of Layla’s so that I could drop Isla off. Maya was going to be there with her sister and friend, who were visiting I’d found out. I made sure to be quick about it as we really needed to discuss all of this and get a plan of action together as soon as fucking possible. 

Making sure that there was enough security around them, we walked down to the main house and got comfortable while we discussed it all. The living room was almost overflowing with people ready for the debrief. 

“Today, our Indonesian counterparts apprehended three of the four suspects in Bali; the fourth one was already deceased when our men closed in,” Coleman started, and then scanned all of us slowly. “Cause of death unknown at this time, no witnesses. The remaining three were then questioned. During that questioning, it was ascertained that there were no face to face meetings and all contact and transactions were carried out via text messages and the internet. We have an email address and two IP addresses that are being traced at this precise moment, however, they have been rerouted so we’re being bounced all over the fucking world. At this precise moment, they are sitting in a Balinese cell having been arrested with four kilos of gheroine on each of them. As I’m sure you’re aware, the penalty for possession with intent to sell or to smuggle is death by firing squad. They’d better hope that they get a nice judge!” The entire room chuckled at that.  

“They were hired to…” Coleman stopped and looked at me and I felt people move closer and a hand on my arm, but I was too busy listening to what he was saying. 

“They were hired to catch and rape Isla and to torture Luke whilst taking video footage of both to be sent back to a further anonymous player.” 

I saw red and lunged forward wanting to run to Isla to make sure she was okay. We’d been that close to people who were hired to rape her; to
rape
her.  

“Mr. Montgomery calm down, Ms. Banks is fine.” A voice I didn’t recognize rumbled in my ear, but I was trying to twist out of his arms.  

“For fucks sake, Luke, calm the fuck down will you, before this guy does some sort of Vulcan shit on your neck!” I recognized Cole’s voice as what he was saying sank in. I would be no good to Isla injured or unconscious.  

Then it hit me, “It’s Mrs. Montgomery. We got married.” 

I didn't expect the roaring laughter that my news got. “Okay assholes, pay up!” Cole yelled as people brought out wads of money…wait was that my Dad collecting? 

I
sla