Chapter 16 #2
After checking over his shoulder to see if anyone was paying them any attention, Ty furtively handed Cordell a piece of paper. Cordell turned his back on the small crowd of deputies, employees, and friends and glanced at the note in his hand, written in crude lettering.
If you want your whore back, keep your phone on. No cops or she’s dead.
“It was on your bed,” Ty explained over Cordell’s shoulder.
“I didn’t notice it until after I called 9-1-1 and Dante and Troy came running in to help with Jared.
After I read it, I thought maybe you wanted to handle this without the police knowing about it.
It’s up to you if you want to show it to them. ”
Ty must have been hanging out a lot with the TS teams, since this is something they would’ve done too.
The man had taken a chance by tampering with evidence, but Cordell didn’t give a fuck.
In fact, he was grateful. Whoever had taken Tiffany was a dead man—something that may not happen if the cops were involved.
Cordell had never gone afoul of the law before, but this was different.
This was the woman he was in love with, and she was in danger because of him.
The note made it perfectly clear, he had to be the ultimate target, not the resort as they’d believed before this afternoon.
Or was Tiffany the real target? Had her asshole ex-boyfriend, a wannabe Dom, tracked them down?
He glanced at the note again, before crumpling it up in his fist. No, he doubted Bruce Whitfield was involved.
First, the bastard didn’t have the guts to go head to head with Cordell.
He’d backed down very quickly when Mitch had told him to stay away from Tiffany when he’d escorted her to a wedding that they’d all attended in Vegas.
That was how Cordell had eventually come to meet Tiffany.
So, if it wasn’t Whitfield, who the hell was it, and what was their end game?
He tucked the wadded-up note into his front pocket, then turned back to Ty.
“Thanks. Let’s keep this between us right now.
” Cordell glanced around at the others milling about.
Boomer was there, and so was Dante who was talking to a few deputies he was friends with.
The retired SEAL and Australian SASR were a good start for backup, but he needed more.
“Did anyone call Jake and Nick? I’m gonna need them to haul ass back here.
” It was about an hour from Key West to Master Key.
“I called them right after I saw the note. Figured you’d need them. They’re already on their way.” Ty checked his watch. “Should be about another thirty minutes. Jake said they’d floor it and pray no cops pulled them over.”
Good. That added two more retired SEALs to the team Cordell was quickly putting together in his head. Too bad everyone else from Trident Security had returned to Tampa.
An approaching vehicle caught his attention. A huge, box-type van, with “Crime Scene Unit” on the front and side, pulled up. Meanwhile, there were numerous guests standing near the valet, watching the controlled chaos taking place on the other end of the parking lot. Wonderful.
Cordell grabbed one of the two women on his security team, Margo Hoffman, and pointed back toward the hotel. “Put a lid on the lookie-loos. Tell them something, I don’t care what, but don’t fucking tell them we had someone shot and someone else kidnapped for Christ’s sake.”
“You got it, boss.” The retired Army lieutenant hurried to do his bidding.
Good, one less thing to worry about.
Milo, Tori, Ty, and Mitch drew near, but it was the latter who spoke.
“The detectives are done with the interviews, so we’ll get out of everyone’s way.
Not sure how much help Ty and I can be if you go after Tiffany, but we’ve both been hitting the shooting range at the TS compound lately.
Just tell us what you need us to do, and we’re there. ”
“I’m in too if you need me,” Milo added.
It was clear Ty had filled them in about the note. While he could use the extra hands, or guns in this case, he didn’t want to risk the three men getting shot if everything went south, which was a big possibility. They didn’t have the military or law enforcement experience the others did.
“Thanks, guys. I appreciate it. But for now, I think you’re better off handling the resort. I’ll let you know if things change.”
Tori stepped forward and threw her arms around Cordell’s neck. “Bring my cousin home.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “I will, Tori.”
What he didn’t say was Tiffany would come home even at the expense of his own life. He loved her so much, he was willing to die for her.
As they left, Dante stepped over. “Hey, Adam said they located the boat about a mile east of here, but Tiffany and the suspect weren’t there.
The area he docked at has no cameras either.
They’re trying to track down the owner of the boat, but I’d bet anything that it’s stolen and the owner doesn’t even know it’s gone. ”
That was Cordell’s thinking too. While the suspect had once again kept his head down and his ball cap shading his face, they’d gotten him and Tiffany on the surveillance cameras located on the east shore.
Dante had brought it up on a tablet for everyone to see.
While Cordell had watched in terror as his sub was dragged out of the woods toward the water, Dante had focused on the boat which was different than the one they’d seen on the video recording after the break-in.
They’d been able to get a description of it and its name—the Aquaholic—out to the patrol units and Coast Guard.
Detective Adam Tate approached them. “We’ve got everyone out looking for them, Cordell. You know the drill—the best thing for you to do is wait up at the resort. As soon as I hear anything, I’ll let you know.”
Under any other circumstances, Cordell would’ve said no fucking way was he sitting this one out, but he knew something the deputies didn’t know, so he gave Tate a curt nod and the man walked away.
“They’ll find her, mate,” Dante tried to assure him.
“If we don’t first,” he murmured. “C’mon up to my office and bring Boomer and Cooper with you.”
The head of security narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice. “You know something they don’t?” He gestured with his thumb in the direction of the deputies.
Cordell didn’t respond. Instead, he turned on his heel and stormed toward the resort. Pulling his phone out, he located Nick’s number in his contacts and hit the call button.
“Cordell! You’re on speaker. We’re about fifteen minutes out,” the younger man said. “Any news?”
“Nothing good yet. She’s still missing.” Somehow he managed to keep the gut-clenching fear he felt out of his voice.
“Jared was rushed to the hospital. Troy’s with him.
No word yet on his condition. Come straight to my office when you get here.
The bastard left a note that the cops didn’t see.
I’m throwing together a team to go rescue my woman as soon as we find out where. ”
There was no hesitation from Jake when he said, “Anything you need from us, you’ve got it. See you in a few.”
“Hey, Cordell!”
Disconnecting the call, he stopped in his tracks and spun around. Dante was jogging toward him with Boomer and Cooper on his heels. Cordell waited for them impatiently—although it wasn’t like he had anything else to do but wait for the cocksucker to call.
“Instead of going to the office, let’s head over to my place. We’re going to need some toys for when this asshole calls you.”
Thank goodness someone was thinking straight.
Cordell was a step away from sheer panic.
He’d planned on just strangling the bastard when he got his bare hands on him, but stocking up on weapons and ammo was a good plan.
While he had his 9mm concealed at his lower back or within reach ever since the break-in, they didn’t know if the suspect had anyone else working with him.
They needed to be prepared for anything.
Hopefully, they could rescue Tiffany without any of them being arrested for murder when it was all over.