Chapter 14
“Well, there you have it, Marti. Now you know everything about my family, my company, and me.”
Marti sat there staring at him. Yes, he had told her everything, but she couldn’t quite wrap her head around it.
Part of her wanted to believe he’d made it all up, but inside, she knew he’d told her the truth.
She had seen, firsthand, the way he’d taken care of the guy who’d tried to kill her.
At the time, she’d figured he had acquired his fighting skills the same way she had acquired her dancing skills.
Girls took dancing, and boys usually took karate lessons.
What he’d shared about his Italian family’s ties to the Mafia was also believable.
Had she been paying more attention to things other than his gorgeous body, she would have noticed his high level of competence in almost everything he did.
Even his regulated morning swim was an indication of what kind of man he was—a total badass.
She thought back to the way he’d looked when he’d arrived at her place for beach date night, with his hair in a ponytail and his clothing impeccable.
He was a very likable guy, yet he always seemed cool, calm, and emotionally controlled.
The only place she’d seen him let himself go was in the bedroom.
And she’d definitely enjoyed every moment of that.
But when he told her about his role as Director of Security for Skylar Kingston and all his companies, she was blown away.
When he had first mentioned Skylar to her, she hadn’t made the connection.
But the name Skylar Kingston was synonymous with wealth and power.
He was one of the richest men on the West Coast, possibly even in the United States.
And it was that same Skylar who was Dante’s godbrother. The one he’d grown up protecting.
“In my experience, Marti, there’s usually a more effective way of eliminating a threat than going to the police.
Because I’ve been an FBI agent, I know how much red tape is involved.
Too often, the perpetrator ends up walking.
Personally, I believe there are times and situations that warrant my own form of justice.
I handle things in my own way, without involving law enforcement…
As a fixer and enforcer. Do you understand what I’m saying? ”
Marti figured that was one benefit of having read all those thriller adventure novels. Granted, they’d been for entertainment purposes only, and what she and Dante were dealing with now was a real-life scenario. Still, desperate times called for desperate measures.
And now she knew that men very much like the heroes she read about actually existed.
Men who often worked outside the strict boundaries of the law to achieve justice.
Men who kicked asses and took no prisoners.
Men who followed a personal code of ethics rather than institutional law.
In thriller novels, the hero was not always the good guy, but he was the type of man who got things done. A man like Dante.
She nodded. “Yes, I do, Dante.”
“And are you willing to let me handle this? In a way that those men will pay for what they did? And so you will never have to worry about this again?”
She knew what he was asking of her. Could she trust him explicitly? But then, wasn’t he trusting her that way as well? She would know what he was doing, and he trusted her to take that knowledge to her grave. And she would.
“Yes.”
He nodded and then pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
It was a long kiss, the kind she needed.
He stood, scooped her into his arms, and headed toward the stairs.
“I need to make love to you, to assure myself both mentally and physically that you are okay. Then we’ll get dressed and go grab something to eat. ”
“What about that guy who tried to kill me?”
“He’s not going anywhere. Besides, I have to get answers from him.”
“You think he’ll talk?” she asked.
“Baby, he won’t have a choice.”
***
Dante heard the man’s loud groan and glanced over in his direction.
When he had gone to the shed after he and Marti had returned from dinner, the man had shot him daggered looks.
When he had removed the cloth gag and the bastard tried spitting on him, Dante had knocked him unconscious again.
Luckily, he had remained unconscious hours later while Dante had done what he needed to do.
The asshole would not have been able to bear the pain of all that movement with a dislocated shoulder.
However, now that he was conscious, it was obvious he was in a lot of pain.
Dante didn’t give a damn about that. All he wanted were answers, and he intended to get them.
Earlier, he had done some digging. He had called his team and provided information he’d taken from the man’s driver’s license.
It had turned out to be fake. However, the man’s cell phone provided another lead.
His team had worked through several aliases before they confirmed the man’s true identity.
Now Dante knew everything he needed to know about the man from the time he was born.
The man groaned louder, as if trying to get his attention. Dante moved toward him and snatched the tape from the man’s mouth, not caring that the action caused the man more pain. Too bad. He should have appreciated the cloth gag the last time.
“Ouch! You bastard!” the man shouted. “That shit hurt. I need medical treatment. I’m in pain.”
“You should be glad to be alive,” was Dante’s quick comeback.
“Look man, you made a mistake. I took a wrong turn off the road. I wasn’t trying to hurt anybody.”
“You want me to believe that when you had a gun with a silencer attached?”
“Believe whatever the fuck you want,” the man snapped. “Just call the police and have me arrested so I can contact my attorney. It’s my right.”
“You lost that right when you came into Lasco Cove. I am the law here, and I don’t intend to call anybody. Oh, and spare me the ‘I made a wrong turn’ BS. I already know who you are. Although you have a good six aliases, your name is Christopher Pearlman.”
The surprised look in the man’s eyes, although brief, was all Dante needed to confirm he was right. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Dante ignored his outburst. “I want to know who put the hit out on Marti Goshay?”
“I don’t know a Marti Goshay.”
“I suggest you not insult my intelligence.”
“And I suggest you go to hell!”
Dante nodded. “So, that’s how you want this to go down? No problem. However, I suggest you take a look around, Pearlman.”
The man glanced around as if noticing his surroundings for the first time. He then looked back at Dante. “Where the hell am I?”
Dante couldn’t wait to tell him. “Out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Nice night, don’t you think?”
“Damn you! I’m in pain.”
“Like I care. As you can see, I have you tied up on your motorcycle. Nice Harley, by the way.”
“Not mine.”
“I know. You got it from that motorcycle shop in town as a rental.”
“Yeah, and if I don’t return it by the designated time, the shop will report it stolen,” the man said with a smirk. “That means the cops will be looking all over town for me.”
“Probably. And there is a chance they might find both you and the bike. Of course, that could be years from now. They don’t often look for people at the bottom of the ocean. And even then, they’ll likely only find the bike. Sharks don’t like the taste of metal but love human flesh.”
Realizing what Dante was insinuating, the man snapped, “You can’t be serious. You’re not that crazy.”
“And you’re crazy to think that I’m not that serious,” Dante snapped back. “So I’m going to ask you one more time. Who put the hit out on Marti Goshay?”
“I told you before, I don’t know a Marti Goshay.”
Moving across to the stern of the boat, Dante opened the hatch used when loading or unloading items. He then looked over at the man. “One push and that bike--with you tied to it--will slide overboard and sink. I would not suggest you try my patience any longer.”
Dante saw sweat appear on the man’s bruised and swollen face. When the guy still didn’t say anything, Dante reached for the motorcycle.
“Wait!” the man yelled.
“Why do you want me to wait? Do you have something to tell me?” Dante asked.
“A man named Wendel Langley paid me. I don’t know Langley personally. It was just a job.”
Dante nodded. “Tell me what else you know.”
“I don’t know anything else.”
Dante turned the key to the motorcycle’s ignition, and it roared to life.
Then he said, “One would think that after a motorcycle wipes out the way this one did, it wouldn’t be worth a damn.
But that’s not the case with this Harley.
Other than a few dents, it’s still in good shape.
Nice piece of machinery. Pity it’s going to end up at the bottom of the ocean. ”
He then stared at the man. “I’m going to ask you for the last time. What else do you know?”
After a deep breath, the man said, “I understand Langley is a friend of the person who wants her dead.”
“Are you the one who has been harassing Marti?”
“Harassing her? I never harassed her. I was paid to get rid of her.”
“And how did you find her in Oregon?”
“Langley told me where she was. He was able to trace her location from credit card purchases.”
“Anything else you want to tell me?” Dante asked. “And I suggest you tell me the truth.”
The man paused for a minute and then said, “It was a package deal. Marti Goshay was to be my third hit for Langley.”
Dante frowned. “Who were the first and second?”
“The first was a man named Titus Blinken. The second was Titus’s best friend, Lonzell Miller. I was able to take out Blinken, but Miller disappeared. I never did find him.”
“Why were hits put out on them?”
“I don’t know. I was just following Langley’s orders.”
“Anything else I should know?”
“No. I don’t know anything else. I swear.”
Dante pulled out his phone and pressed a number.
When the call was answered, he asked, “Is a man by the name of Wendel Langley already on your list? What about Titus Blinken and Lonzell Miller?” Moments later, he said, “Good work, Kendall. I knew you were on top of things already. Let me know when Miller is found.”
After Dante ended the call, he glanced at Pearlman.
“Before you regained consciousness, I was sitting over there, sipping a beer, thinking what would have happened if I hadn’t suspected something when I passed you on the road.
I would have returned a half hour later and discovered that the woman who has come to mean everything to me was dead. ”
“But she isn’t dead,” Pearlman reasoned, quickly.
“No, she isn’t dead, but that can’t erase what I actually saw with my own eyes… Marti fleeing for her life while you tried running her down with this bike. You intended to kill her… with this bike or a gun.”
“I won’t be killing anyone again. I swear I won’t. Just take me back to shore and call the police. I need medical attention. My shoulder and knee are hurting like hell. My shoulder is dislocated, and I’m in a lot of pain.”
“You won’t be in pain for long, asshole.”
With a quick shove, Dante sent the motorcycle and the rider rolling off the boat and into the choppy waters of the Pacific Ocean.