Caribbean Rescue (Coastal Fury Book 16), Matt Lincoln [best book recommendations .txt] 📗

‘brothers’ always turn on each other in the end,” I replied. “You know it too, don’t you? Eventually, someone’s going to panic to spill the information we want. And once those floodgates open, that’s it for the rest of you.”

I was bluffing since we didn’t even have anyone else in custody, but Frank here didn’t need to know that. It seemed like the bluff was working, too, as he suddenly swallowed heavily and looked down at the table.

“What was the total casualty count?” Olivia asked me casually. She tossed me a look out of the corner of her eye, and I knew she’d caught on to what I was doing. “Was it three dead and seven injured?”

“Four dead, if you count Frank’s buddy,” I replied as I turned to look Frank directly in the eye.

“Yikes.” Olivia grimaced. “That’s a lot of victims. A lot of damage for one single person to be saddled with.”

“W-what do you mean by that?” Frank stammered, his jaw going slack.

“Exactly what it sounds like.” I shrugged. “We’ve got a beach full of dead and injured people and only one perp in custody. One of your friends is dead, and the other hightailed it out of there as soon as the going got tough. Do you really think he won’t turn on you if he gets the chance? I mean, he left you behind to deal with the consequences all by yourself. I’d sure hate to be the one to go down for all those crimes on my own.”

“I wonder what kind of prison time we’re looking at,” Olivia mused out loud. “Ten years per victim, at least, don’t you think?”

“Definitely,” I agreed, though I actually had no idea. “Not to mention a harsher sentence once the judge finds out how uncooperative he was during the investigation.”

“Alright.”

“Yep, can’t forget about that.” Olivia nodded. “I wonder how soon we could get the extradition process started.”

“I said alright.”

“I can call my director right now and ask,” I said as I pointedly ignored Frank to pull my phone out of my pocket.

“Listen to me!” the man roared as he slammed his fist down onto the table.

“Okay.” I smirked as I slipped my phone back into place. “We’re listening, now talk.”

“I don’t know where Thomas is,” he grumbled. “That’s the other man who was with us. We’re not exactly friends, you know? We go where we’re told and do what the boss tells us to do.”

“And who is this ‘boss’ of yours?” Olivia raised an eyebrow at him.

“I don’t know his name,” Frank replied.

“Convenient,” Olivia deadpanned.

“I’m telling the truth!” Frank hissed. “He’s paranoid about anyone finding out his identity. It’s not a good idea to call attention to ourselves in our line of work.”

“That line of work being prostitution,” I countered.

“That’s right,” he replied. “Anyway, I don’t know his name, but I know how you can get in contact with him. There’s an old guy that runs an antique store over in Grace Bay. He knows how to get in touch with the boss.”

“And you know this how?” Olivia asked.

“He’s the one who gives us our assignments,” Frank explained. “He’s an old geezer who sits on his store’s porch all day, so he’s the perfect cover.”

“You’re a real charmer, you know that?” Olivia snarled at him.

He flashed her a malicious, yellow-toothed grin before continuing.

“Go there and tell him that ‘Simon’ sent you,” he told us.

“Simon?” I repeated. “Why would I say that, Frank?”

“You think we use our real names?” he snapped at me angrily. “I just got finished telling you that I don’t even know my boss’s name. Use your head! I thought you feds were supposed to be smart.”

“Settle down,” Olivia warned him before pulling her phone out of her bag. She glanced at me sideways, a look of suspicion on her face. I could tell she wasn’t entirely buying what Frank was telling us, and I couldn’t blame her. Something about it seemed off to me, too.

“Alright,” he muttered as she pulled up a GPS app on her phone. “Tell us the address.”

14

Ethan

Holm met up with Olivia and me outside the interrogation room just moments after we wrapped everything up.

“Well, that guy was definitely hiding something,” he scoffed right away.

“Why do you say that?” I asked.

Before Holm could answer, Captain Turner’s grating, fake-nice voice came booming down the hallway.

“Agents!” he bellowed cheerfully, all of his earlier hostility gone. Or, at least, well hidden beneath a thick veneer of false friendliness. “I’m glad I caught you. I have good news. I’ve found someone to replace Walter as your escort.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake,” Olivia muttered as the captain stepped confidently toward us, a lanky, nervous-looking officer hot on his heels.

“This is Officer Jackson,” the captain introduced the new officer with a strong clap on the back. “He’ll be accompanying you for the rest of your time here on the island.”

“Yeah, no. I don’t think so,” Olivia retorted immediately before I could reply. I was about to indicate the same, though maybe not quite as bluntly.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to insist,” the captain pressed on, his frightening smile cracking just a bit. “It’s only proper that you be accompanied by a member of the local authority while you are here in our country.”

“It is.” She shrugged. “But you kind of forced our hand earlier with that little tantrum you threw, so we went ahead and got permission to continue the investigation on our own. Amazing what the FBI can do, huh? Turns out the greater government of Turks & Caicos isn’t fond of the idea of American children being kidnapped while visiting their islands. So thank you, but no thank you.”

Turner had been getting redder and redder as Olivia spoke, and by the time she was finished, he looked about ready to blow. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes looked like they were about to bug out of his head.

“Well, we’ll just get going then,” I said as I did my best to stifle the laughter that was