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

have been intruding on what was, up until that point, a pretty romantic evening.”

“No need to brag,” Holm sighed before draining the rest of his coffee. “I had quite a lovely evening to myself here in the hotel, for your information. It’s not often I get to enjoy a seaside hotel view on someone else’s dime. That variety show was pretty good, too.”

We talked for a little while longer as we waited for Olivia to come down from her room.

“Sorry I’m late,” Olivia apologized sheepishly as she suddenly appeared at the base of the stairs. I turned at the sound of her voice.

She was wearing a loose, sleeveless button-down top, and her hair was down and a bit tousled, as though she hadn’t had time to style it. Honestly, it didn’t look bad. It was definitely different from the usual ponytail she’d been wearing it in, but I thought it framed her face nicely.

“I think the power outlet in my room is broken.” She frowned as he ran a hand through her hair a few times in an attempt to smooth it out. “I put my phone on the charger, but it was dead when I woke up this morning. I never heard my alarm go off.”

“It’s alright.” I smiled at her. “We ready to go then?”

“Let’s go,” Holm replied as he got up.

“Ready,” Olivia replied as she started to pull her hair up into a loose ponytail. I tried not to feel disappointed at that.

I handed her the coffee I’d saved for her, and the three of us headed out of the hotel to find a cab. We had more luck this time than he had at the hospital, probably because hotels surrounded us this time.

The taxi ride from Kew to Grace Bay took about twenty minutes. I took a moment to admire the scenery as we passed. The ocean was visible from literally everywhere, and it seemed to stretch on endlessly, a clear and shining blue.

“I can’t get over how pretty it is here,” Olivia hummed wistfully. “I wonder what it would cost to come here again for vacation, without having a case to worry about.”

“Yeah,” I replied as I finished off my coffee. “It would be a nice place to get some R and R.”

Everything seemed to move at an almost glacial pace here. No one seemed to be in a hurry, so it seemed like the perfect place to really slow down and relax.

Just a few minutes later, our taxi driver announced our stop, and the three of us climbed out of the car. By now, everyone had finished their coffees, so I grabbed all three cups and disposed of them in a metal trash can that was set on the corner of the street.

Even though it was still fairly early in the morning, Grace Bay was already bustling with people. The antique shop was tucked into the middle of a narrow street. It was nondescript enough that if we hadn’t been looking for it, we wouldn’t have even noticed it.

“I wonder who his target clientele is,” I mused out loud. “Probably isn’t getting a lot of tourists wandering in, and the population of the town is so small that I can’t imagine they have a large pool of repeat customers.”

“Unless the antiques stuff is a front.” Holm shrugged. “If the guy running the place is associated with human traffickers, then it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that he’s dealing in something more nefarious than antiques.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Olivia remarked. “Let’s go.”

We stepped toward the entrance and through the door. The inside of the store looked just as small as it did on the outside. The walls were covered floor-to-ceiling with shelves full of various odds and ends, old books and figurines, and other things I couldn’t identify at a glance.

“Hello!” a deep voice boomed from the back of the small shop. “Welcome! Please come in.”

I exchanged a glance with Holm and Olivia before stepping forward.

The man was short and had a head full of gray hair. He stood with a slight hunch, and his hands shook and looked frail, but his voice was loud and commanding. He was standing behind a counter, the surface of which was completely covered in random odds and ends, aside from a small space right in the middle for the cash register.

“How can I help you lovely people today?” he smiled.

There was an odd edge to his voice, not unlike what I’d heard from Captain Turner. As though he was only putting on an act of being friendly.

“We were told that you might have some information for us,” I began cautiously. “Simon sent us.”

For just an instant, the man’s mask fell. His smile flickered, and I saw something flash across his eyes. It was gone too fast for me to gauge what it was, though.

“Ah, of course,” he replied, the smile firmly back in place, though obviously more strained now. “Simon. Well, if that’s the case…”

He reached slowly toward something beneath the counter, and my hand flew to the gun at my hip.

“Stop!” I warned. “Don’t move!”

It was too late, though. He was already pulling a small handgun from behind the counter. I drew my own weapon just as he pulled the trigger.

I heard Olivia cry out behind me and immediately saw red. I jumped to the side and shot at the man’s hand. He yelled in pain and dropped his gun as my bullet struck flesh. Holm leapt over the counter an instant later and shoved the man to the ground.

“I’ve got him!” he yelled over his shoulder at me. “Check on Olivia!”

I turned around and found Olivia on the ground, clutching her right arm with her left hand.

“Don’t move,” I cautioned her, my heart pounding anxiously as I watched the growing amount of blood streaming down her arm.

“I’m fine,” she hissed through gritted teeth. “I think it was just a graze. Hurts like hell, though.”

“I’ll call for backup,” I assured her as