Chapter Eleven
“ Son of a bitch…”
Jackson was seething with jealousy and anger as he pulled up to the front entrance of the Palace Resort and Spa on his motorcycle. He was just in time to watch Trinity get into her sporty little convertible with none other than the resort’s owner himself, Maxwell King.
The last few days had been brutal.
After Trinity had left him standing in the alley, he had gone home to find that sleep had eluded him. He had no clue how things had gotten so screwed up after the mind-blowing sex they’d shared. Okay, so he could see how she had a point that he had gotten a little uptight after they had gotten caught, but still.
He hadn’t freaked out.
Exactly.
He’d finally fallen into a fitful sleep around five in the morning and woke back up a few hours later when his alarm had gone off. He’d spent the following day immersed in work, trying not to think about her, but it had been nearly impossible. He had finally given in and had planned to call her that night but had found himself involved in a clusterfuck of epic proportions instead.
A bunch of teenagers had taken advantage of the beautiful weather and arranged a party out on the beach. There had been the usual fare of underage drinking and smoking, but a recent flood of a new designer drug on the island had made this particular party a deadly one.
The drug was called Euphoria, a small blue pill with a stylized “4” stamped on it. The drug had appeared a few months ago in Miami and was quickly spreading throughout the rest of the state. Like ecstasy, Euphoria had a dreamlike effect that made it attractive for stupid teens to use.
A boy named Terry Clark had been the host of the party while his parents had been on the mainland for the night, and he had bought a large quantity of drugs from another kid, George Timmins. Terry had distributed the drugs around to the partygoers, with fatal consequences. Several teens had overdosed, and one poor girl, Amanda Murray, had died.
The island community was in an uproar about the death of the young girl, and there were still a few other teens in the hospital that they hoped would still see graduation in a few months.
He had spent the last few days dealing with the fallout of that party. There were meetings with the chief of police and the mayor, who happened to be husband and wife. Jackson would rather have a hot poker shoved into his eye than be stuck in a meeting when his chief and the mayor had a difference of opinions, so it had not been a fun way to spend his time.
The mayor wanted to give the community full disclosure about the drug because she felt more people were at risk. The Chief had demanded to keep key information private since their goal was to track down whoever was bringing the shit on the island and put an end to the whole business.
Ass still sore from the kicking he received from his chief, Jackson had gone back to the station after the meeting and had lit a fire under the detectives in charge of the case. He had two of his best detectives in charge of the case and knew that Carlos and Noah would track down the supplier.
He just hoped there were no more fatalities until they did.
Jackson was fucking tired which wasn’t surprising since he’d only gotten a few hours of sleep over the past few days. Besides the drug case, several others were active in their department. He helped his detectives and officers out whenever they needed it, but sometimes he felt overwhelmed by their inquiries and requests.
He’d just managed to clear enough work off his desk to leave the office when he’d overheard a few of his officers talking about the attempt on Trinity’s life last night. Before he knew what was happening, he’d had the officer up against a wall, demanding the details about what had happened to her.
Cursing, he’d rushed out of the station and jumped on his motorcycle, needing to see for himself that she was all right. What he didn’t expect was to find her going for a fucking joyride with the playboy millionaire hotel owner.
“Katrina!” Jackson called out as he pulled up behind her.
Her head turned, but a big pair of sunglasses hid her eyes from view. That didn’t stop him from getting her message when the little hellcat raised her hand and shot up her middle finger at him, wordlessly telling him to fuck off. He sat there in a momentary stupor as she put the car in gear and took off.
What the fuck?
He revved his engine and took off, following them all the way to the marina while he silently seethed. When he pulled into the parking lot, Trinity and Maxwell were already out of the car. For a brief moment, he had the desire to shoot Maxwell as he saw the man wrap his arm around her waist and kiss her before heading into the office, leaving her alone outside.
Trinity stood with her legs braced apart, holding her elongated black case in her hand while she waited for Jackson to stomp over. His eyes practically burned her alive with the fury in them. So, he was pissed. Good. Although a traitorous part of her was glad to see him again, she was furious that he had disappeared on her.
Speaking of…what the fuck did he have to be pissed about?
“Why the hell did you take off like that?”
She smiled sweetly. “I have plans today. Thanks for stopping by, but I have shit to do now.” She turned away and her smile slowly faded when he grabbed her arm. “Do you want to sing soprano, Jackson?”
“Stop that. I just found out someone tried to kill you last night. Again. Why the hell didn’t you call me?”
“Why would I?” she shot back. “You poofed, Jackson.”
“I did not poof!”
“You did, and because you did, I’m moving on. Now, I have things to—”
“The hell you are,” he growled. His narrowed eyes swung over to Maxwell as he exited the office with the manager.
The knowing smile on Maxwell’s face made Trinity sigh.
This was not going to go well.
“Him? You’re throwing me over for him?” Jackson asked incredulously.
Instead of answering, she walked away to join Maxwell and the slightly creepy manager, aware that Jackson was right on her heels.
“Ms. Cross? It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Simon Johnson. Welcome to Blue Horizon Marina.”
Trinity took Simon in at a glance as they shook hands. She deemed him to be in his early thirties with the tanned skin of a true man of the sea. He would be considered attractive to some, with his brown hair artfully swept back from his face and his smiling brown eyes, but something about him had her ick factor radar pinging. She had to pull her hand away from his grasp as he tried to hold on and hid a smirk as both Jackson and Maxwell glared at him, making Simon take a cautious step back.
He cleared his throat. “We have your boat all set up and ready for you.”
“Thanks. Just point me at her and give me the keys.”
“Ah, since Mr. King signed…”
Maxwell took the keys from Simon, and the man was smart enough to just point at the speedboat they had chartered for the day. He trotted away quickly, retreating back into the office and leaving them to their business.
“Mate, we have a schedule to keep, so if you would excuse us,” Maxwell said with a slight “fuck off” tone of voice.
“You aren’t going anywhere until you tell me what the fuck is going on,” Jackson snapped.
Trinity sighed. “We really do have a schedule, so if you want to know, then you can come with us.”
“Well, now, is that really necessary?” Maxwell asked.
“It’s easier.”
She walked down the pier toward their boat and climbed aboard. Setting her bag down, she took a seat and watched Maxwell start the boat up after Jackson undid the ropes tying them to the pier.
Turning to glance at her, Maxwell said, “Ready, love?”
“Let’s go, blue eyes.”
She pointedly ignored Jackson as Maxwell maneuvered the boat out of the marina. They headed down the coast toward the resort on the west side of the island at a leisurely pace. She leaned her head back, enjoying the sea air blowing across her face as they moved across the calm water, absently wishing for more waves. Then again, they weren’t going for speed at the moment. She could practically hear Jackson grinding his teeth from where he was seated next to her.
“Explain.”
Her moment of peace over, she turned to focus on the furious man glaring at her. She told him what happened the night before in a short, concise explanation. She watched as the fury in his green eyes burned brighter as she told him about the knife and what had been a sedative in the syringe that the intruder had been carrying.
“Son of a bitch! He tried to fucking kidnap you?”
“Yeah, but he failed. He was supposed to take me to some drop-off spot on the mainland, but he didn’t know who was actually paying him.”
“He could have been lying.”
“Nope. I got pissed off and shot him in the knee. If he lied, I would have capped the other one. He was telling the truth.”
“You…” Jackson shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“She did,” Maxwell called out over his shoulder. “Naked.”
“You could have left that part out,” she shouted back.
He laughed. “But how could I forget that part, love?”
Jackson looked so pissed, Trinity was surprised steam wasn’t coming out of his ears. She quickly finished telling the story, wanting to get it done before his head exploded. When she was done, he just sat there watching her silently.
After a long pause, he asked, “Where did you sleep last night, Katrina?”
“With me,” Maxwell answered loudly as he turned the boat off. He had stopped them out in the water overlooking the construction site of the new resort, exactly where they needed to be.
“Is that fucking so?” Jackson said softly.
“Yes, it is,” Trinity answered, her voice loud and clear, her gaze unabashed. “Maybe you’re waiting for me to say I was scared about someone trying to kill me, but I wasn’t. Not really. I’m attracted to Max. It was almost instantaneous, like it was with you. It’s never happened to me like that before, so this is all pretty strange for me. And to be honest, I probably wouldn’t have acted on it if you hadn’t bailed.”
“I did not bail!”
“You freaked out the night we were together, and I haven’t heard from you since” she snapped, out of patience. “So, you don’t get to judge me, Jackson. Now, I have work to do, so don’t fucking bother me.”
Lifting her black matte case from where she’d secured it, she set it down on the side row of seats next to her and opened it. As she began to expertly assemble her sniper’s rifle, she heard Jackson suck in his breath.
“You will not shoot anyone!”
She turned toward him and took her sunglasses off so he could see the full impact of her irritation. Pulling her hair back in a ponytail, she said, “Duh. I need it to see into the construction site. We stopped there before we came here and stirred shit up. Now, stop talking to me, asshole. I’m working.”