Chapter 10 #2
As soon as he heard the SUV door open and shut, he, Knox, and Leland started giving orders to the men in the car. Eventually, all three men surrendered their weapons, sloshed through the sand to a spot of Jason’s choosing, and were bound with zip ties.
“Leland, go check on Tayla. We’ve got these guys.”
Leland retreated to the SUV.
Jason kept his eyes on their captives while he stepped closer to Knox. He spoke at a volume only Knox could hear. “We need to call the authorities. Again. But . . .”
“But,” the corner of Knox’s mouth quirked up, “it will take them a while to get here. And if we’re going to talk to these gentlemen, this might be our only chance.”
Jason nodded. “The way the police force operates around here, they could be in another country tomorrow. If they have the right connections.”
“I’ll make the call. You probably have at least thirty or forty-five minutes to chat before we see flashing lights.”
Knox slipped his phone from his pants and stepped a few feet away to make his call.
Jason turned to the men. Their facial expressions alone told him that the man Tayla recognized was the leader. And he was smiling.
“You look confident,” Jason said.
“You are overreacting. The lady wanted to go for a ride with us. If she changed her mind, that’s her problem. No need for the guns. And there wasn’t need to run us off the road. Let’s all stay calm, shall we?”
A few things were obvious. Tonight wasn’t this guy’s first brush with trouble. He wasn’t nervous. And Jason needed to get these three separated before the leader dictated the fabrication he wanted them to recite to the police.
Knox walked back over. “Morghana Police are on their way.”
“Good,” Jason said. “Let’s get these guys away from each other before they can collaborate on their version of the story.”
“No problem,” Knox said. He hoisted up the driver and started walking to the SUV. “I’ll tie this one to our bumper.”
“That’ll work.”
Leland exited the SUV, made his way through the uneven sand, and joined Jason.
“How’s Tayla?”
“Physically, okay.” He glared at the two men sitting in the sand. “What did you say to her?”
“Hang on,” Jason said. “We need to separate these two. Knox is handling the third guy. I don’t want them planning a story for the cops.”
Leland didn’t hesitate. He walked straight to the sedan driver’s door, opened it, and pulled a lever. The trunk popped open. “I’ll stick one of them in the trunk.” He wasn’t asking. The anger simmering in his words would have terrified the men if they knew Leland better.
Jason decided to let Leland deposit the second guy in the trunk of the sedan. He wouldn’t suffocate. There’d be plenty of air. And it would protect the guy from Leland.
Leland slammed the now-occupied trunk closed and walked back to stand next to Jason. “Now,” he addressed the leader, “you can answer my question. What did you say to her?”
The leader plastered an unconvincing innocent expression on his face.
“The lady thought she recognized me. She was mistaken, but we got to talking and I invited her to my home. I have a cottage on Henrietta Island, just a ten-minute boat ride from here. On our way to the marina, she changed her mind, so we were about to turn around and bring her back to the party when you ran us off the road.” He smiled.
“You see? All a terrible misunderstanding. But if you’ll remove these zip ties, I won’t press charges.
” He smiled again. One of those disgusting kind of smiles criminals have when they think they’re getting away with everything.
Jason stepped within an inch of the leader’s out-stretched legs and squatted in front of him. “I know you’re lying. And you know I know. So, are you just rehearsing your story for the police? You seem convinced they’ll buy it. Why are they going to believe you over Tayla and us?”
The man shrugged. “We will see who gets lucky this evening.” He smirked.
Leland fisted his hands.
Jason needed to reign in the senior agent before he exploded all over the snarky leader. “Leland, go sit with Tayla. I’ll wait with him.”
“Why don’t you sit with Tayla and I stay here with him?”
Jason stood. “Because he’s less likely to get shot if I’m watching him.”
Leland grunted, glared at the man for a few beats, and returned to the SUV.
Jason faced his prisoner again. “Don’t get me wrong. I’ll shoot you if I have to. But Leland might shoot you even if he doesn’t have to.”
The man let out a humorless laugh. “Is that supposed to scare me?”
“If I wanted to scare you, I wouldn’t have sent him back to the car.”
Knox walked over from behind the SUV. “Bad guy number three is all tied up.” He looked around. “Where’s the other guy?”
Jason pointed. “Leland put him in the trunk.”
Knox looked at the back of the sedan, rocked back on his heels, and nodded. “Cool.”
“Go stand by the road and flag down the police. Hopefully, someone will be here soon.”
Knox unwrapped a piece of gum and popped it in his mouth. “You don’t need to worry about that guy. There’s plenty of air in the trunk.”
“I’m not worried about him. I want to get Tayla out of here as soon as possible.”
Knox gave a thumbs up. “Gotcha. I’ll go stand in the road.”
When he was gone, the man spoke up again. “Would you like some free advice?”
The guy’s cocky attitude was grating on Jason’s nerves. “No.”
The man laughed. “I’ll offer it anyway. You need to steer clear of that particular woman,” he said, nodding toward the SUV.
“What do you mean by that?”
The man cocked his head, looking very pleased with himself.
“I’ve watched you. Listened to you, especially tonight.
You think you care about her.” He looked toward the SUV even though he couldn’t see Tayla from his position in the sand.
“Ah, I can’t blame you. I can see what could attract a man.
She’s beautiful. And sweet. But I’ll warn you, she’s bad luck.
Very bad luck, that one. And not too bright either. ”
This guy was probably just trying to rile him. But maybe if he kept him talking, Jason could learn something.
“Care to explain?”
The man stared at him for a long moment. “You know, I had no intention of meeting you tonight. But I know what you want. And I believe it would benefit us both if I shared something with you.”
“More advice?”
The man dropped the innocent act. And the smile. “Not about Tayla. She’s a separate matter completely. You’re looking for who killed your associate, Gus Branch. Correct?”
Jason tensed. “You said you wanted to share something.”
The man nodded. “You are wasting your time looking at me for that. Frederick Kost, the focus of so much of your attention tonight, did, in fact, hire someone to protect his interests in the basement of that orphanage. Only a bunch of fools, though. I heard you shot at them yesterday.” He looked genuinely amused by that fact.
“Anyway, those poor fellows didn’t kill Gus Branch.
I’ve heard it was a mercenary hired from somewhere in South America. ”
“Hired by whom? And why are you telling me this?” Not that Jason would necessarily believe anything he said, but the man intrigued him.
“By whom? That, I don’t know. But I make it my business to know what goes on here on the Morghana islands, and I’ve heard that piece of information from more than one source.”
“And why tell me?”
“Frankly, to get you off my back. After our misunderstanding tonight, I’m afraid I will jump to the top of your suspect list. That would be a mistake.”
“Since you’re being so forthcoming all of a sudden, explain to me again what really happened tonight. Or you will definitely stay at the top of my list.”
“Very well. I thought Tayla remembered me tonight. From a completely unrelated situation. Turns out, she didn’t remember a thing.
I shouldn’t have worried.” He made a show of leaning forward like he was going to share a secret and lowered his voice.
“Some of my business ventures operate outside of the law. No specifics.” He sat up again, straightening himself the best he could in the sloping sand.
“But I know now that I don’t need to worry about Tayla, and it would be best for everyone if you forgot all about me.
Focus on this character from South America.
I heard he went to a little bar on the west shore a couple of times this week. Um, The Sand Bar, I believe.”
“The Sand Bar? Seriously?”
“I didn’t say it was a creative name. I just said he was seen there. Very tall man, dark hair. South American accent.”
Very tall with dark hair fit the description of the sniper at the cottage. He may have already met Gus’s killer. And the police let him go.