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

The man in question groaned as he began to regain consciousness.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” I snarled as I quickly moved to restrain his arms behind his back.

“Ah!” he cried out as I forced his wrists roughly together. “You’re hurting me!”

“Good,” I sneered, unable to keep the venom out of my voice as I pulled a set of handcuffs from my belt. “After everything you’ve done, it’s the least you deserve, Samuel.”

I’d heard the man with the scar yell that name as the old man went down. Finally, we’d managed to track down the man we’d been looking for all this time. Finally, we’d be able to get justice for Allison Newark and her son, Eddy.

30

Ethan

I breathed a sigh of relief as we finally made it back to Cockburn Town. A line of police cars was parked along the beach, as well as a few ambulances. Their flashing lights were a welcome beacon after the storm we’d just endured. The sky had even started clearing up, and the heavy downpour from earlier was now a light drizzle.

I looked down at the three men we had handcuffed to the railing at the front of the boat. Holm and I had decided to move Samuel, the man with the scar, and the man who’d hit me with the wrench up here, both so we could keep an eye on them and so that the girls wouldn’t have to be stuck down there with them.

“Not much longer now,” I muttered smugly to myself as I turned back to the beach. I waited anxiously as Holm brought the massive vessel into the dock. No sooner had he stopped than several police officers began to climb on board to collect the men we’d apprehended. Several pairs of paramedics carrying stretchers climbed on board as well to retrieve the bodies of the men we’d shot.

“One of the victims was injured,” I informed them as they began to board. “She’s below in the main cabin. One of the suspects cut her throat with a knife.”

“We’ll see to it,” one of them responded before heading downstairs. I was glad. It only made sense, in my opinion, to focus first on the injured victim rather than the dead criminals.

“Ethan!”

A welcome and familiar voice called my name. I turned around and found Olivia climbing onto the boat. I barely had time to react before she was throwing her uninjured arm around my neck in a one-armed hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Of course I am.” I smiled at her. “You didn’t have to come all this way, though. How’s your arm?”

“It’s fine.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Besides, I’ve been up and about since you left, so it’s not a big deal. I had just finished getting everything with the women’s living accommodations handled when I heard that something had gone wrong and Raymond had been shot. I called Crowley, and he said that you and Holm had run off by yourselves to chase down Samuel. I got a flight down here as soon as I heard that.”

She swatted me on the arm admonishingly.

“Well, we couldn’t just let him get away,” I countered. “They were taking the rest of the women who-knows-where. We needed to take the risk.”

“I know, I know,” she sighed as she fiddled with one of the buttons on my shirt. “Just… don’t make doing reckless things a habit, alright?”

“Too late for that,” Holm suddenly scoffed from somewhere behind me. “Ethan can’t even go on vacation without getting into trouble.”

“That was one time,” I grumbled as I turned around to glare at him.

“Okay, I want to hear that story,” Olivia snickered.

“Later.” I turned around to look back at her. “First, let’s get back to dry land and maybe into some dry clothes. Holm and I are soaked.”

“Fine,” she replied as she stepped away from me. I felt colder immediately, especially with how cold and wet my shirt was. “But I’m holding you to it.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I grinned as the three of us got off the boat and onto the dock. A nice hot shower sounded amazing right about then, but I’d have to settle for a quick change of clothes. Though my body felt fatigued, my mind was still racing, and I didn’t want to put off Samuel’s interrogation any longer than I had to. As soon as everything was ready, I would finish this case, once and for all.

Three hours, a fresh change of clothes, and a strong cup of coffee later, Holm, Olivia, and I were standing outside of the Grace Bay Police Station interrogation room. A medical examination had confirmed that, though he might have a mild concussion, he didn’t need any further medical treatment and could be interrogated right away.

It was nearly midnight by that point, and though I’d felt a little tired earlier, I was now buzzing with energy.

“Are you ready to go in?” Captain Morris asked us. He’d accompanied us down to the interrogation room personally, eager to see the man who had committed unspeakable crimes in his town get his comeuppance.

“Yeah, we’re ready,” I replied.

He opened the door to let us in, and Holm, Olivia, and I stepped inside.

Samuel was sitting in front of the large table in the room, his shoulders slumped forward and an angry scowl on his face.

“Hello Samuel,” I greeted him acerbically as I sat down across from him. Holm and Olivia both sat down on either side of me.

“What do you want?” he grumbled.

“We need to have a talk,” I answered him curtly.

“What?” he scoffed. “You caught me red-handed. You won, agents. What the hell else do you want from me?”

“You’re right.” Olivia glared at him. “We did catch you, and you’re going to rot in a prison cell for the rest of your life, but before you do, I need you to tell me about them.”

He pulled two photos out of her bag. One was of Eddy, and the other was a picture