Risky Romance (Wolf Security #4)

4. Whisper

CHAPTER 4

Whisper

I frantically sent text messages to Dane:

Please answer me!

Who has your phone?

What do they want?

My heart raced as each message was met with silence.

I had to save him, but driving up there would take too long. I needed a faster way.

Tory!

I skimmed through my phone to her number and dialed.

“Hi, this is Tory.”

Forcing cheerfulness into my tone, I said, “Hey, Tory! It’s Whisper! Have you left yet?”

“Not yet. I was just about to though. Hey, Jeff told me about your suspension. That’s crappy.”

“Yeah, but that’s why I’m calling. I’ve got four days off, so I was thinking about checking out Port Douglas. Nothing like a forced vacation to drown my sorrows. Any chance I can hitch a ride with you?”

“Of course. You’re lucky you caught me now. Get your ass down here.”

I chuckled with relief. “Perfect. I’ll leave home in a sec and can be there in twenty minutes.”

“Yay. See you soon.”

An equal mix of adrenaline and dread surged through me as I dumped everything I’d grabbed from my locker out of my backpack, then shoved in my phone, a change of clothes, hat, and sunglasses. I tugged on socks and my sneakers and on the way up the hallway, I grabbed toiletries from the bathroom and scowled at my messy hair that I hadn’t had time to tame.

I strode into the kitchen area, and everyone was still in the same spots. “I’m going back to work to get some help from the guys.”

“But I’ve just made you a ham and cheese sandwich.” Mom shoved a plate toward me.

I put my backpack on my shoulders properly and grabbed one-half of the sandwich. “Thanks, Mom.”

“I’ll come with you.” Clint pushed back on his stool.

“Hell no, you’ll get in my way. Stay here with Mom in case you get any news.” I kissed Mom’s cheek. “I’ll ring you as soon as I know anything.”

“Yes. Please.” Mom’s eyes brimmed with tears.

Backing up, I said, “Don’t worry, Mom, he’ll be fine.”

I turned and sprinted up the hall to the front door, praying I was right.

Eating the last of the sandwich, I slipped out the door and raced to my car. As I drove along the main street, the ocean in the distance twinkled like a million stars floating on the dark blue surface. I’d rather be out there any day than in the sky.

The closer I came to my work parking lot, the more my heart pounded in my ears.

I turned into the Border Force parking lot, and by the time I saw the seaplane in the dock, I could barely think.

As I strode along the pontoons, I checked my phone for messages. Not one. I slotted my phone into my back pocket and gripped the shoulder strap of my pack like it was a lifeline. Ahead, Tory was climbing out of Ladybeetle , and I made my way toward her.

“Hey, Tory. Thanks for this.”

“No worries.” She held the door open. “Toss your pack on the seat in the back.”

Sucking in a shaky breath, I climbed aboard.

“Put your seat belt on.” She indicated to the straps over my shoulders.

My fingers trembled so much that the clip rattled in the buckle.

She frowned. “You okay?”

“Yeah. I should have told you that I hate heights.”

“Oh. Okay. Just close your eyes and try to relax.”

“Right.” I rubbed my clammy hands along my thighs.

Tory guided the plane away from the pontoon and as we taxied past the Border Force boat, I pulled my phone from my back pocket.

“Can I make a call? Need to chat with Jeff for a sec.”

“Go for it.” Tory increased Ladybeetle’s speed.

Jeff answered on the third ring. “Jeez, you’re impatient. I don’t have any news.”

“Well, I do,” I said, forcing sassiness into my voice. “If you look out the starboard side windows, you’ll see I’m in Ladybeetle.”

“Really?”

“I’m taking your advice and heading up to Port Douglas for some time out.”

Jeff stepped out of Stingray’s bridge onto the side deck and waved. “Good on you.”

“Can you still text me if you get any info?”

“No way. Forget about work, Whisper. It’s just four days. I’ll fill you in when you get back.”

“You’re mean.”

“No, actually, I’m looking out for you. You need this break. Go enjoy yourself. That’s an order.”

“All right, ya cranky bastard.”

He chuckled. “I’ll see you Monday morning and I want proof that you relaxed, like pics of you on the beach.”

I shook my head. “Whatever. Catch you later.” I ended the call.

“All good?” Tory asked.

“Yeah, he wants proof that I got some R&R.” I rolled my eyes.

“Good idea. Send them to me too. Speaking of relaxing . . . close your eyes.” She pushed the control stick forward and the plane shuddered.

I squeezed my eyes shut, but not seeing what was happening was way worse. Holding my breath, I gripped the edges of my seat and snapped my eyes open. We skimmed across the water. Thankfully, the ocean ahead of us was calm.

“Here we go.” Tory smiled at me as she pulled back on the stick.

The engines roared as we gained speed. Ocean spray rushed beneath us and as we lifted off, weightlessness swooped through me making my stomach lurch. My heart pounded in my chest until the plane’s shuddering ceased and was replaced by a high-pitched whistle that pierced through the drone. “So, what are your plans in Port Douglas?” Tory asked, possibly trying to distract me.

I swallowed, trying to produce moisture on my tongue. “I have no idea,” I lied.

“That’s the best kind of vacation. Just go wherever the wind takes you.”

“Yep. That’s the plan.”

The plane climbed higher, and we flew over Kangaroo Island. Gripping the seat, I forced myself to look out my side window. I’d never seen that abandoned island resort from this view. Every building was nearly covered in plants. “That resort looks much prettier from up here.”

“Everything looks beautiful up here. That’s why I love it.” She pressed a pedal and as she pushed the stick left, the plane tilted over.

“Oh shit.” My stomach lurched, and I squeezed the sides of the seat so hard my knuckles hurt.

“Sorry. Don’t worry, not many turns up here, fortunately.”

I sucked air through my teeth until the wings leveled out.

“There we go,” she said. “So, the beaches look amazing at Port Douglas. Unfortunately, I haven’t put my feet on that sand though. Do you surf?”

“I can surf.” Just speaking took an effort. I focused on the control panel, trying not to see out the windows that were wrapped right around us. “How high are we?”

“Just a few thousand feet.”

“Oh God.” I tried to swallow but it was impossible.

“You okay?”

Clamping my jaw, I nodded.

“Oh, there’s a restaurant I hear good things about at Port Douglas. I can’t remember the name, but I’ll text it to you.”

“Okay. Thanks.” I hated that I was deceiving her, but Dane’s warning echoed through my mind. Don’t tell anyone or they’ll kill our family.

What the hell had he done?

Until I knew, I was on my own. Dane was seven years younger than me, yet we got on so well the age gap didn’t matter. He’d struggled at school and hated all the academic stuff like math and English. Sports were his thing. After he graduated, he got the first job he applied for. He was honest and a hard worker, and I thought he was happy.

I couldn’t even picture him getting into trouble, let alone something that came with threats to our lives.

Tory clicked her fingers. “Pacific Blue. That’s the name of that restaurant. You should check it out.”

“I am checking it out.” I nodded at the endless canvas of blue that stretched to the horizon.

Tory laughed. “See, you’re getting the hang of it.”

“I don’t know about that. The sooner we touchdown, the better.”

As we made small talk, I checked my phone a couple of times.

“No signal up here,” she said. “You expecting a call?”

“Just trying to distract myself.” I shoved the phone between my thighs. “So, you been on any dates lately?”

She huffed. “Hell no. I think my dating days are over. No decent men left in Cairns. What about you?”

“I haven’t been on a date in years. Rosebud has no decent men either.”

“Maybe we should move?” she said, glancing at me with a smirk.

“Nah,” we both said in unison and laughed.

I loved my hometown, and I loved my job even more. I couldn’t picture living anywhere else. Except Rosebud still had the cloud that Chui created hovering over it.

Oh God. I hope Dane hasn’t got messed up in any of that bullshit.

The flight was agonizingly long and when I wasn’t distracted by Tory or my swooping stomach, my thoughts centered on Dane. He said he’d done something wrong. Was that with Scorpion Industries?

I would kill my stupid brother myself if it was. He’d heard enough of my stories about running into those evil bastards to stay well clear of that criminal network. Even with Chui dead, there were still some assholes we hadn’t caught.

Two of them we knew of . . . Chui’s accountant, who used the name Grant Hughes, and a woman that we knew only as B. We had no idea who she was but had enough information to know that she was a major player in the crimes behind Scorpion Industries.

The coastline on our left alternated between long stretches of nothing, just like the mangrove region where we’d found those poor people, to regional coastal towns, to the massive portside cities of Townsville then Cairns.

As we started our final descent into Port Douglas, the sun was on its way toward the western horizon. It would be nearly dark by the time I reached Baxter Creek Plantation.

I hope I’m not too late.

My heart was in my throat as the ocean rushed up to meet us. I braced for impact, but the plane skimmed across the water so smoothly that if it wasn’t for the burst of sea spray across the windshield, I wouldn’t have believed we’d touched down.

I released my grip on the seat and heaved a sigh. “This is much better.”

“Welcome to Port Douglas.” Tory aimed the plane toward the marina.

“Thanks for doing this.”

“Any time. Do you have a hotel for tonight?” she asked as she flicked a few switches.

“Yes,” I lied again. “Nothing fancy.”

When we finally stopped at a pontoon with a row of fuel bowsers, the lights of the marina all twinkled to life. We both climbed out and hugged each other.

“Have fun,” she said, easing back. “Send me some pics. I want to see that beach from ground level.”

I laughed. “Sure.” Hating myself for making promises I couldn’t keep, I said, “See you soon.”

“Oh, hey . . . how are you getting back to Rosebud?”

I shrugged. “Don’t know yet. Maybe I’ll take the whole week off.”

“Ha. I’m jealous.” Tory’s grin lit up her whole face. “Call me anyway. You never know, maybe I’ll be up this way.”

“Will do.” I hooked my backpack onto my shoulders and strolled away. It took everything I had not to break into a sprint. At the end of the pontoon, I picked up my pace and checked my phone again. Still nothing from Dane.

I dialed my oldest brother. “Hey, Clint, any news?”

“Nothing. How did you go?”

“I don’t have any news, but I have a couple of the guys helping me, so I’m going to spend the night at work.” I often took the night shift because I was one of the few who didn’t have kids to deal with, so it wasn’t unusual for me to be out all night. “I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”

“We’re going out to look for him again soon, but if we don’t hear anything by the morning, we’ll go to the police station.”

“Okay. If Detective Kingsley isn’t there, ask for Lacey. She’ll look after you.” Detective Lacey and I hung out whenever we could. She was a great cop and an even better friend, but with our demanding jobs, catching up was tough.

“Got it.”

“Look after Mom, okay?”

Mom pretended to be strong, but I often had the feeling she was only just hanging on by a thread.

“Of course, but Dane’s gonna be in deep shit when Mom gets hold of him.”

“Mom? He’ll have to deal with me first.”

Clint whistled. “Poor bastard.”

“I gotta go. I’ll phone again soon.” Ending the call, I jogged toward a taxi waiting at the curb and jumped in. “Hi, I need to go to Baxter Creek Plantation.”

Frowning, the wrinkled driver with a bulbous nose covered in spider veins tapped the destination into his GPS and whistled. “That’s a bit of a hike.”

“I know.”

“It’s going to cost?—”

“I know,” I barked. “Sorry. I know it’s a long way. Thank you for taking me.”

He eyeballed me in the mirror and then shrugged. “Right you are then.”

He put the meter on and pulled away.

Clutching my phone, I stared at the stupid screen hoping Dane would reply. With each mile we crossed, my frustration grew as much as my dread. The trip to Baxter Creek skirted around the top end of the Daintree National Park and I wished I could relax enough to enjoy the spectacular scenery. Instead, when I wasn’t watching our trip on Google Maps on my phone, I was checking for messages from Dane and messaging my mom and brothers.

By the time we were ten minutes away from the plantation, I had just ten percent left on my phone battery. The taxi seemed to take forever to climb up a steep hill. At the top, the stunning view overlooked a sea of green that was flanked by a golden sunset worthy of painting.

I checked my bearings on my phone. The sea of green was, in fact, corn crops. “Can you pull over here please?”

The driver peered at me in the mirror. “Here?”

“Yes, I, um, I can walk from here?”

He frowned. “Are you sure?”

I smiled. “Yeah. I do it all the time and I want to make the most of that sunset.” I waggled my phone. “Take a few pictures.”

“Okay. If you say so.” He pulled into the curb. “That’s a hundred and thirty-seven dollars.”

I handed over my credit card. “Ha. Cheaper than last time.” I couldn’t believe how easily my lies came to me.

After the taxi drove away, I stepped into the scrub beside the road and raised my phone to zoom in on the sprawling farm. A man drove a tractor between two large paddocks teeming with corn, its headlights casting flickering beams as it bounced along the track. I squinted, trying to catch a glimpse of the driver, but all I could make out was a man wearing jeans, a blue shirt, and a wide-brimmed cowboy hat.

Shifting my focus, I scanned the distant buildings. A large, low-set home with wraparound verandas was the farthest building from me. The closest was an old barn with a rusted roof that made the building look like it was a hundred years old.

Between the two buildings stood a massive shed that gave no indication of what the warehouse was for. The large front doors were wide open, but from my angle, I couldn’t see inside. Two powerful floodlights on the front of the shed illuminated a vast gravel area that connected to the main driveway leading to the road.

I snapped a few photos, but nothing looked out of the ordinary. Except for the dude on the tractor working at night. Was that normal for a corn farm?

I had no idea.

A figure burst out of the massive shed, and I swung my phone in that direction, zooming in.

I gasped. “Dane!”

Another man chased him. The brute was a mountain of muscle compared to Dane.

Dane stumbled and my stomach dropped as his arms flailed, desperately trying to stay upright. The brute shoved Dane in the back, and my brother pitched forward, face-planting on the gravel.

“Shit!” My hands trembled as I snapped photos.

The asshole kicked Dane’s side.

“No!” I screamed.

Dane rolled over, scrambling backward, then he raised his hands, begging for his life.

The bastard kicked Dane again.

“Jesus!”

My brother curled into a ball.

“Oh God! No!” My voice cracked, raw with rage.

The brute grabbed Dane’s arm, dragging him to his feet, and with a cruel grip on the back of Dane’s neck, he forced Dane into the shed.

Panic surged through me. To hell with Dane’s request. I was calling the cops.

My finger trembled as I dialed 000.

“Damn it.” No signal.

Desperation clawed at my throat as I raised my phone, angling it for reception.

The battery indicator flashed red. Only five percent left.

“Shit!” I sprinted higher up the hill, praying for a signal.

But there was nothing.

“Fuck.”

I couldn’t leave Dane now. He needed me.

I took a deep breath and charged down the hill, determined to save him myself.