Chapter 10
Jordana hugged Goat closer. The second man wordlessly handed boxes over to Davi, who lifted a hidden panel in the floor and stored them along with the container the fishing boat people had given him.
“The woman and the goat come,” Forrest said to the man not loading boxes. “Or I’m giving Bex that baby photo of you, naked on the rug in front of the fireplace to display at the wedding.”
The man loading boxes left without saying a word.
“Damn, but you play dirty. Good to see you, brother!” The man leaned down and held out his hand to Jordana. “Wilder Townsend, this one’s better-looking older brother to the rescue.”
Relief flooded her body to the point she almost sagged against Goat. She reached up and took his hand. “Jordana Alves and this is Goat.”
Wilder shook his head. “Bex will never believe this. Come on, let me help you up.”
With one swift movement Wilder had her on the dock.
“Hurry, it will be light soon,” Davi told her. Together the three men struggled, but lifted the goat up onto the dock before Forrest lifted himself. “Goodbye interesting people!”
Davi picked up the paddle and began to paddle back out into deeper waters.
“Why are we at a drug lord’s house with a smuggler? Is this really the best Kane could do?” Wilder asked.
“You’re here, right?” Forrest smirked. “Davi didn’t complain about Goat.”
Wilder shook his head. “If you’re keeping him, then you need to name him. I can’t wait for Damon to meet him. That goat has creepy red eyes. Is it straight from Hell?”
Goat lowered his head and rammed Wilder in the balls.
Wilder, Forrest, Jordana, and Goat headed up the dock, around a giant mansion, and out the driveway. An SUV with two armed guards was waiting for them. Their eyes flickered to the goat, but they only went and opened the truck.
“How did you get assigned to rescue us?” Forrest asked once they were underway.
“I’m the one with a private plane and already in St. Barts for business.
It’s already on the books as a business trip and I looked at a property here for a nightclub with the island’s most well-known gossip of a realtor.
Not that I’m going to open one, but everything looks legit if people go snooping. ”
“What about Bex?” Forrest turned to Jordana and explained that Bex was Wilder’s fiancée who was away at the FBI Academy.
Wilder told her about his fiancée and their upcoming wedding. He was a nightclub owner—so famous that even Jordana had heard of his clubs. To be close to his fiancée while she went through training outside of Washington D.C., he had opened a club in the capital.
They had boarded the plane, she as Wilder’s marketing director and Forrest as his finance officer.
Wilder took one of the seats, but Jordana eyed the long, soft-looking couch.
A flight attendant suddenly appeared with a pillow and a blanket.
Jordana wanted to hear more from the brothers.
She had fun listening to the two of them rib each other.
However, she was so tired she couldn’t keep her eyes open.
Once she lay her head on the first pillow she’d seen in a month, she fell asleep fast.
“Jordana? I’m sorry I keep waking you and Goat.”
Jordana opened her eyes from where she’d curled up on the couch and had fallen fast asleep seconds after takeoff. Goat was lying in front of her with his head tossed onto the pillow next to hers and what looked like a tablecloth turned diaper on his rear end.
Wilder was on his phone and Forrest stood over her. “We’re getting ready to land.”
Jordana sat up and Goat screamed.
“What the hell!” Wilder jumped from his seat and banged his head. A flight attendant came running and Jordana thought the plane momentarily dipped.
“It’s just Goat,” she told them, placing her hand on his head. “He’s tired too and I woke him up when I moved.”
“Did Mommy wake you up, Goat?” Forrest asked with a grin. Jordana didn’t know why she loved the idea of her and Forrest being parents, but she did. Even if it was to a goat with creepy red eyes that had almost been butchered. His floppy ears were growing on her though. He was almost cute. Almost.
Wilder was muttering as the plane descended. “Pick a name for the poor creature already.”
Jordana laughed as Wilder and Forrest debated names. Devil, Demon, Satan Junior, and Sandy were all discussed.
“We’ll find the perfect name for you. Don’t worry,” Jordana cooed to the nervous Goat as the plane landed.
“Follow Mommy,” Forrest instructed Goat as Jordana went down the stairs first. “At least we don’t have to carry him down the stairs,” Wilder said as Forrest put the rope on Goat.
He might be bigger than your average Golden Retriever, but he was very comfortable leaping from tiny stair to tiny stair.
She reached the bottom only to run into a man who looked even more like Forrest than Wilder did. “Is my brother walking a goat down the stairs of my other brother’s jet or am I imagining things after a double shift?”
Goat screamed, the man blinked, and Wilder rolled his eyes.
“Nope, I don’t think I’m hallucinating.”
“Ro! What are you doing here?” Forrest asked, hurrying by Jordana and giving the man a hug.
“I’m your concierge doctor. There’s no way you two aren’t needing medical attention after a month in the jungle and both of you without any shoes.”
“Jordana, this is my twin, Rowan. Rowan, this is Jordana. And Goat.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Jordana. From everything Kane has told us about you, we were eager to get you safely to Shadows Landing.
” Rowan smiled at her kindly, but then looked down at Goat and shook his head.
“Get a better name. Jeez, Forrest. Let your goat have what little dignity he can when he looks like that.”
“I don’t know, I think he’s kind of cute,” Jordana said, cocking her head and looking down at him.
Goat belched.
“Adorable,” Rowan muttered before opening the door to the SUV. “You and I are in the backseat. Forrest, up front. Goat . . . in the back.”
Jordana climbed into the backseat as Rowan slid in next to her.
Seconds later a blood pressure cuff was on her.
Forrest and Wilder struggled to get Goat into the back as Rowan pulled out an IV kit.
“I’m going to draw blood and put in an IV.
There’s no way you don’t need fluids. It also has a whole slew of vitamins and minerals in it to help replenish electrolytes that I’m sure you’ve lost. I’ll run your blood under my sister’s name, so don’t worry about it flagging anyone’s attention. Now, let me see your feet.”
Rowan’s lips pursed as Wilder and Forrest got into the front of the SUV.
“This will take a while. Let me get Forrest hooked up, and then I’ll start to clean them.
You have several cuts that are clearly infected and what looks to be a nasty rash.
I’m guessing jungle rot. I’m not going to wait for the blood tests.
I’m going to start you on an antibiotic and I’ll get an antifungal added tonight. ”
Rowan worked quickly getting Forrest hooked up to an IV and doing a quick exam of him, even as Wilder drove. Then, too soon, he was cleaning her feet. It hurt like crazy and Goat bleated every time she flinched.
Her feet were throbbing by the time they arrived in Shadows Landing. Rowan had wrapped them in gauze after slathering antibiotic ointment all over them and giving her an IV treatment of antibiotics.
“Whatever you did to them helped contain the infection. I’ll have your results tonight and bring any medication you might need when I see you later. Sorry to have my first impression of you being me torturing you.” Rowan looked guiltily at her.
“It’s okay. I know you’re just trying to keep me healthy. And I’m sorry, I can’t imagine how much I smell right now.”
Rowan laughed and took out her IV before doing the same to Forrest. “I’m used to children with dirty diapers and who love throwing up on you, so you’re ahead of the game. Well, welcome to Shadows . . . what the hell?”
Wilder stopped driving and Jordana leaned around Forrest to look out the windshield. “Is your town being invaded by pirates?”
Pirates and wenches were walking down Main Street, along the sidewalks, blocking traffic. The road was shut down and Wilder couldn’t get any farther into town.
Goat shoved his head between her and Rowan, saw a whole townful of pirates, and screamed.