Chapter 14
CHAPTER 14
Bowie watched from on top of the Driftwood Tours building as Moana strolled down the street toward her rented garage apartment as she clutched her purse tight to her side. She stared at her feet as she shuffled up the road as fast as her sexy little legs would take her in a brisk walk.
“Still no movement in the house,” Kian called over the comms system.
“I’m not surprised. She hasn’t responded to his message yet,” Bowie said. “Let’s hope he takes the bait.”
“How are you holding up with this plan?” Flint asked.
“I’ll be fine until I see it working. Then I might lose my shit.” Bowie had been on numerous dangerous missions. He’d been shot more than once. Hell, he’d almost died even. He’d lost brothers-in-arms. Men he loved liked family.
That hurt.
Unfortunately, it came with the job.
Something he’d been prepared for his entire career. He’d lived it as a child. He’d seen the death of fallen sailors firsthand as the Navy chaplain came knocking on his friends’ front doors with the bad news of fathers, mothers, sisters, or brothers who had died in battle. It was their way of life. It didn’t make it any easier nor did the tears sting any less for the loss of life.
However, those men, women, and their families knew exactly what they had signed up for the moment they stepped foot on that Naval base.
Moana did not.
And Bowie had never been tasked with protecting and defending someone he—dared did he even think it—loved.
That changed everything.
“Just let me know when Rosco leaves that house,” Bowie said. “Moana is entering her apartment now and Parker is passing it on the street. I suspect he’ll go sit on that park bench where he can see her place and both exits clearly.” Bowie wished they had a little more manpower. He didn’t like having the teams split between the rental and Moana’s. While his entire team had his back, Waylen had to stay back at the ranch for more than one reason. The main one being his very pregnant wife.
The second being they needed someone running intelligence and Waylen was the best.
Kian, Lane, and Raider were also in the mix and Bowie was grateful to be working with those three again. They were good men and he trusted them with his life. The only one missing from Waylen’s team was Harlan. Another good, skilled man and Bowie could have used his brand of expertise right about now, but who was he to begrudge him a trip back to New Jersey to visit his sister.
Perhaps Bowie wouldn’t be needing any negotiations at all and if he did, Raider could step up to the plate.
Bowie pulled out his cell and tapped the listening app. He sighed and waited.
Patience needed to become his best friend.
It’s five o’clock somewhere…
Moana stared at the bottle of tequila.
Not a good idea.
Easing onto the corner of the bed, she held her phone in her shaking hand. Never in her life did she feel so utterly alone. It didn’t matter that somewhere in her apartment, one of Bowie’s buddies had planted a listening device. Or that he and his friends were staring at her place, most likely with weapons ready, waiting for something to happen.
It was that happening part that made her heart jump in her chest.
She blew out a puff of air and tapped Rosco’s number. This had to go down as the craziest thing ever. He was the last person she wanted to talk to, much less see. But if he had her sister, she would do anything to save her. It was the least she could do. Looking back on her life, Kalena had done one of the most selfless acts by giving birth and giving Moana up.
It must have been so hard for Kalena to look at Moana day in and day out, knowing that Moana was her little girl.
And not their parents.
Moana couldn’t imagine that kind of pain or how it must have fed the beast that lived inside her sister.
“Oh, my. Hello, Moana. I honestly wasn’t sure if you would call me,” Rosco said in his best sweet, soft voice.
But all it did was send a cold shiver up her spine.
“To be fair, I’m surprised I did. I’m not very happy with you.” Those words were true and she was grateful Rosco couldn’t see the disgust that must have been plastered on her face. “You’ve done and said some things that are highly inappropriate, and I’m not sure what to do with them.”
“I know. I’m sorry,” Rosco said even quieter. “It’s just that so many people have misconstrued my intentions, and I fear that others may have put things in your head. Is it possible for us to start over?”
“I don’t know, Rosco. You don’t make it easy to be your friend.”
Her phone buzzed.
Bowie: Babe, you’re doing great. Stick with the friend angle. As if you might want to try that. Maybe even grab coffee when you return to Nashville, only don’t say you’re moving back just yet.
“At least you’re saying we could be friends,” Rosco said. “And I believed we were at one time. Remember when we had drinks down on the main drag. We laughed so hard that night.”
That so wasn’t true. He laughed. She put on a fake smile and pretended to chuckle once or twice, but laugh? Not even close.
“You come on too strong.” She rubbed her temples. “But Lord knows I could use a friend right now,” she mumbled, nearly gagging on the lies tumbling out of her mouth.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“Yes. No. It’s complicated.” She swallowed the bile that rose from deep in her gut. “I don’t know. Coming back here might have been a mistake.”
“Is it about that guy you were with? Bowie?”
Her cell buzzed again.
Bowie: Play into that. But not too much. Don’t give him all the details. Keep him at arm’s length. He’s smart. He’ll know it’s a setup.
Jesus. How many times did she need to be told that?
“Not really,” she said. “It’s a lot of things and that has nothing to do with why I’m even having this conversation with you.”
“Why are you talking with me, then?”
“To be totally frank, I’m not entirely sure except I don’t like the way you were treated that night at the café. It wasn’t fair. It had been a while since we’d seen each other and I should have given you the benefit of doubt,” she said. “But Rosco, your texts are odd and sometimes they make me uncomfortable. If we are going to be friends, you have to stop that. Otherwise, I will end up cutting you from my life completely. Am I making myself clear?”
“Is this you talking or someone else? Because it doesn’t sound like my friend.”
“These are my words,” she said. “I’m tired of others speaking for me.”
“I’m glad to hear that because I’ve missed you.”
Well, she wasn’t going to say she missed him too. That was way too fucking much. “Maybe we could have a cup of coffee when I come back to Nashville.”
“I can do one better than that.”
This should be good.
“Let’s start with that and see how it goes. Like I said, you come on too strong and push too hard. If you can’t appreciate my boundaries, then?—”
“Moana, I can respect your boundaries,” Rosco said. “What I meant was that my company sent me to Hawaii for a conference. I’m on Big Island. I can meet you anytime today. The con doesn’t start until next week.”
She sucked in a deep breath. Her heart dropped to her toes.
Bowie: Don’t panic. Also, don’t agree. Tell him it feels like he’s overstepping again. Tell him you need to think about it and say goodbye.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she managed with a shaky breath. “That doesn’t feel like anything has changed with you. It’s as if you came here only for me and I don’t like that.”
“Oh, no, Moana. I would not do that. I have better things to do with my time. No offense,” Rosco said. “I only mentioned I was here because you called me. Had you not responded to my text or suggested we meet, I wouldn’t have told you. That’s the truth.”
“I don’t know. I need time to think about it. I’ll call you later.”
“Don’t hang up on me, Moana. That wouldn’t be wise.”
Bowie: This isn’t to scare you, but he’s heading in your direction, so just hang up.
“Sorry. If you want me to give you a second chance, this is how it has to be.” She hit the red dot and flopped back on the bed.
No sooner did her head hit the mattress than her phone rang.
Bowie.
“Hey,” she said. “Where is he? Do I need to be really fucking scared? And where is my sister? Is she okay?”
“Rosco is at the top of the street near the RV park, talking with Parker. At this moment, there’s no reason to be totally freaked out, but I’d be worried about you if you didn’t have a healthy dose of fear flowing through your veins right about now.”
“Not helping, Bowie.” She bolted upright. “Kalena? Was she in the house?”
“I said I wouldn’t lie to you, so I won’t.”
“I don’t like the sound of that,” she mumbled.
“The house is booby-trapped.”
“What does that mean exactly?”
“It means if we go in, the house blows up like the Fourth of July.”
She covered her mouth and gasped.
“It also means I need to keep Kian, Lane, and Raider on that house. Waylen is working on hacking into the Wi-Fi as we speak so he can get eyes inside and they can find a way in. That’s going to mean a hot minute. That also means I have to follow through with this absurd plan using you as bait, which for the record, I’m not happy about.”
“I thought we just did that.”
“Yeah, but now we have to let him come to your doorstep while we buy time to get your sister and Liko Akoni out.”
“Was he kidnapped, or is he part of the problem?” Why that mattered in her particular predicament, she had no idea, but she needed to know.
“Kian was able to see inside and he was most definitely kidnapped,” Bowie said. “Look, Rosco is on the move, which means we have maybe six minutes to set this fucking thing in motion. So, listen carefully, because I won’t be able to communicate with you, but know that I’ve got eyes on your place at all times.”
“I’m scared, Bowie.”
“I know, babe. I am too,” Bowie said. “Answer the door when he rings it. Try to keep him outside, but I need his back turned so he can’t see us take out Parker. However, if he wants inside, that’s fine. I can hear everything. But I can’t see inside. So, if he shows a weapon, you need to find a way to let me know he’s pulled one. He might assume this is a sting. Otherwise, why would he go to great lengths to booby-trap the house. I want you to do your best to keep him talking.”
“About what?”
“Why he’s really here. About your sister. About what he really knows about your life. Anything and everything. We need proof he did this. The cops are on their way, but we still need the pudding. Worst case, I’ll come knocking on the door. That should push him over the edge.”
“Or make him trigger-happy,” she muttered.
“Moana?”
“Yes.”
“Are we on speaker?”
“No,” she said.
“This is not how I wanted to say this for the first time, but I feel the need. Just remember, no matter what happens, I love you.”
Before she had a chance to respond, the phone went dead.
Well, shit.
That tequila was looking even better. She stood and eyed the tasty beverage, but a knock at the door sent her stomach contents on a massive roll.
Glancing over her shoulder, she stared at Rosco smiling like a kid in a candy store, waving at her through the slight opening of the door’s window.
The last thing she wanted to do was open it, but she knew she had to. She closed the gap, curled her fingers around the handle, and pulled back the door. “What are you doing here? More importantly, how did you know where I lived? This is the kind of behavior I was talking about.” She tried to step outside, like Bowie had instructed her to do, but Rosco placed his grubby hand on her shoulder and gave her a good shove. “Hey, what are you doing?”
He slammed the door shut. “You must think I’m stupid.” He lifted his arm and tapped a gun to his temple.
She gasped. “Why do you have a weapon?”
He cocked a brow and his upper lip curved into a smirk. “Where’s your boyfriend?”
“I don’t have one. Not anymore.” She did her best to slow her breathing and keep her pulse at a normal rate, although both things were not anything close to normal. If anything, they were on a rampage of their own. Her mouth went dry. She opened it, wanting to tell him to leave, but she couldn’t form a single word.
“You seriously expect me to believe that you and Bowie are over after you wrote such a heartfelt song about the man?”
As nonchalantly as she could, she waved her hand in front of her body. “He’s not who I thought he was. As a matter of fact, he turned out to be somewhat like you’re behaving right now.” She pointed to the gun. “Minus that thing. Why do you have it? I don’t like them and I don’t want it in my house. Right now, I don’t want you here. This is the kind of thing I was talking about. It’s not that I don’t want to be friends, because I did—do—but not when you do shit like this.” Gripping her cell tightly in her shaky hand, she folded her arms across her chest.
“You look utterly terrified of me.”
“Because you’re holding a weapon.” Tears welled in her eyes.
“I believe it’s because you and your stupid boyfriend think you know something about me, but you don’t know the half of it. He’s not that smart and sadly, neither are you. You’d both like to think you are, but if you were, I wouldn’t be standing here, pointing this thing at you.” He shoved it into her gut.
She groaned as the cold metal reached through the fabric of her shirt and clung to her skin like an ice cube. “Stop that. You’re scaring me.” Now that was an understatement.
“Let’s go for a walk,” Rosco said. “I’d like to show you something.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you. I never should have called you and now I’m going to call the police and invoke that restraining order I have. I was told the one in Nashville will hold up here.”
Rosco curled his fingers around her biceps and squeezed so tight she knew it bruised her flesh. “That wouldn’t be smart.” He released her, yanking the cell from her hand and stuffing it in his back pocket. “Now. We’re going to go for a walk. You’re not going to try to run. Or do anything stupid. Because if you do, your sister will die. It’s that simple. Now let’s go.” He pushed her toward the door.
“You have my sister?” she asked softly as she wrapped her hand over the doorknob. She lifted her gaze and gasped, staring at Bowie.