Convincing Lina: A Bachelor of Shell Cove Novel (The Bachelors of Shell Cove Romance Book 2) (34 page)

Entering the condo, Lina found Janna parked in front of the television with the volume butting up against the noise ordinance.
 

“Look at this breaking news story happening in Shell Cove. A major drug bust, and the kingpin, a guy that calls himself Sky, has been wounded.”
 

“Sky… as in sky high?” Lina questioned.
 

“I don’t know.” Janna replied, not taking her eyes off the television screen. “Girl, they have Shell Cove locked down like Granny Lou holding onto her pocket book.” Janna was an adrenaline junkie. Bad boys and cops were right up her alley.

“That’s tight.” Lina said.

“Keep watching. I’m going to shower, this fishy smell is too much.” Janna stood, rounding the couch en route to the guest suite.
 

The doorbell rang. Lina moved to go answer without taking her eyes off the television.
 

Opening the door, Estrella stood with a tray of something sweet and gooey in petit dessert cups.

“Chica, you’ve been missing in action.”

“Yeah, that’s old news. What’s up?”
 

“I brought you my favorite dessert.”

“What is it?” Lina asked reaching for the plate.

“It’s a creamed custard.”

“Perfect, I just finished dinner.” Estrella handed her a petite dessert cup, but didn’t take a seat. With the spoon provided, Lina dug into the custard, swallowing two spoonfuls, before gesturing to Estrella. The scene on the television was a modern day Indiana Jones’ adventure, cops running, bursts of lights, gunshots rang out and Lina looked on as the news reporter took cover.
 

“Sit down. There’s still some fish left from dinner if you want to eat. I’m watching this police shake down on the news.”
 

“Really, what’s happening?”

“Some drug kingpin got raided. Evidently he was wounded in a shootout with the police.”

“Is he dead? Do they have his body?” Lina looked at Estrella then, the woman was stark white.
 

“Estrella, are you okay?” Lina went to stand, except she was dizzy and fell back to the sofa. Her legs were suddenly uncooperative, like taffy in the summer sun. Her mouth tingled and her fingers felt numb. “I don’t feel so well.”

“Lie down, Chica. Don’t try to move.”

“Call 9-1-1, Estr…” Lina’s words trailed off. It was hard to remember what she was trying to say and more difficult to speak it.
 

“I can’t, Lina. I’m so sorry.” She looked genuinely sorry unless it was the drugs coursing through her system. Drugs? Estrella drugged her?
 

“It was you?” Lina’s breath froze in her lungs. Betrayed.
 

“Sky wants to meet you. Listen to me carefully.” Lina felt Estrella’s hands cup her face. “Don’t upset him.” Estrella bent low, propping Lina’s limp body over her shoulders. Lina had the woman by fifty pounds and tried to use the added weight to her advantage. She leaned heavily onto Estrella, making it hard for the woman to move forward. The guest suite door opened and Janna stepped out in warm-up pants with a matching jacket.

“Hey, get away from her!” Lina watched as Estrella blocked the path leading to her.
 

“Janna she’s with the drug dealer.” Lina tried to say the words louder, but her voice was barely audible. She lay semi-conscious as Estrella charged Janna. Janna, delivered a round house kick that sent Estrella sprawling toward the floor.

“You let the small frame fool you.” Janna crossed the room to Estrella, delivering another swift kick to her lower back.
 

Janna rushed toward Lina, grabbing both her arms. Her body felt heavy. Rising to her feet, even with assistance was taxing.
 

“We have to get out of here.” They reached the front door, Lina tried to carry some of her weight, but the drug’s effect had spread.
 

Janna pulled the door open and the air stalled in Lina’s drunken lungs. “Moon.” The waiter from Ava’s engagement party stood blocking the only exit from her unit.

“Hello, my Lina.” That was all he said before he stabbed a syringe filled with clear liquid in Janna’s neck. She felt the free fall as Janna’s hold on her shoulder loosened and they both fell to the floor. Lina turned her head to see a lifeless Janna lying next to her. Her friend’s eyes were open but she wasn’t moving. Had Moon killed her? Oh God, she prayed that they both would live. Then she thought of Gideon and how much she loved him.
 

“Estrella,” Moon yelled, “Get up, we are running out of time.” Janna, with her smaller weight, was out cold. Lina thanked heaven she carried a few extra pounds. Her curves had interfered with the drug’s absorption. Thank you, big butt and hips. She lacked full control of her limbs, but she didn’t think she would lose consciousness.
 

Lina watched as Estrella stumbled to the door grabbing an unconsciousness Janna in a firefighter’s carry. Obviously, this was not new to Estrella. Lina felt herself being lifted. Moon carried her down the steps. He smelled worse than a farm animal. But her watering eyes and disgusted nose meant she was conscious and that the drug had not affected her sense of smell. It meant she could have an opportunity to escape.
 

Where were these two taking them? Would Gideon find her? She thought about her mother and all the terrible things she’d said. Her mother was right. Lina needed help. Who would help her now?
 
Would anyone think to look for her? She’d been helping the enemy this whole time. Where was the independent woman now? The one that had walked away from the very people trying to keep her safe. Instead she had invited Estrella inside, had dined with the enemy, and then Estrella had used her weakness against her.
 

“Stop.” Lina heard a man scream. “Stop, I said.” Lina’s head rolled off Moon’s shoulder to see Jace’s pale blue eyes.

“You put them down at once,” she heard Jace say. Thank heavens they were rescued. Estrella hadn’t moved, but Moon lowered her feet to the ground.
 

Jace reached for her and that’s when Moon pulled something from his pocket and Jace fell to the ground. His body twitched and spasmed, that’s when she realized Moon had tasered Jace. Her feet left the ground once more. Both she and Janna were loaded in the back of a van. Silently she called Gideon’s name. God please, help us.

Chapter 22

The second Gideon opened his front door to discover Troy Lawson decked out in tactical assault gear, anger shot through his veins. Gideon stood face to face with the man he considered the biggest stumbling block to his and Lina’s relationship. Wrong. Gideon and his need to segment his life had sabotaged what he wanted most in life. A life with Lina.

 
“What the hell are you doing here?”

“I came to get Lina.”

“Get away from our home.” That wasn’t true. His home was with Lina now. Gideon moved to close the door, but Troy’s foot blocked it.

“Lina is in danger. I have to find her.”

“What kind of danger?”
 

“The kind that people don’t live to talk about.”

A broken down camper was parked in his driveway. Gideon narrowed his eyes on Troy, rage coiling deep in his gut. He’d been stalking Lina. Gideon’s brain started organizing the facts he knew.
 

“It was you at Lina’s place the night it was vandalized.”

“I was there to take her away.”

“I saw that camper the day we drove back from Waverly Falls.” Gideon bared his teeth. “Whatever you’re involved with has endangered Lina.”

“I was going to talk to her after you left, but you stopped her on the stairwell. She left with you.”

“Oh, heck.” Gideon said.
 

“You’ve been in the way for weeks.” Troy spat. “I promised Bernadean I would keep Lina safe, but every time I came for her. You took her away. Now, where is she?”

“I’ll keep Lina safe. She’s mine.”

“Man, I don’t have time to play cowboys and Indians with you. A police bust is going down as we speak. I’ve been working this case undercover for six years. If anything goes wrong, Sky will hurt Lina. I’ve been compromised by someone on the inside of the department.” That got Gideon’s attention.

“Damn.”

“Yep, now where is she?” Troy repeated.

“I don’t know. We had a disagreement.”

“What kind of disagreement, will she be coming back?” Troy ran
a hand over his face.
 

“Not if I don’t physically bring her back.”

“Let’s start at the condo. If she’s not there I know her hiding place.” Gideon growled low in his throat.
 

“Look, we can work together to keep Lina safe, but you and Lina have nothing together. You feel me?”

“Oh, I feel you. Now you feel me,” Troy rumbled. “I will always be connected to Lina. We made a baby together.” His blood ran cold.
 

“Where is the child?” That pink bag with bows in her closet. It wasn’t for future babies, it was for her and Troy’s baby.
 

“We lost the baby,” Troy said on a whisper.
 

“I’m sorry.” Gideon said.

Troy nodded in acknowledgment. “Sounds like you and Lina don’t have as much as you think if she didn’t tell you.” That comment pissed him off. Lina hadn’t shared her pregnancy with him. He’d kept his marriage from Lina, true. But he loved her. And he knew she loved him, too.
 

“I am marrying Lina in four days. Nothing will stop me, not you, not Monica. I will conquer death itself to make Lina my bride.” Determination and grit in his voice.
 

“Who’s Monica?”

“She was my wife,” he ran his fingers through his hair. How had his life come to this?

“In all likelihood, if anything went wrong with the bust neither of us will make it out of this unscathed.” Okay that raised the stakes for Gideon.

“My brothers, Ian and Thane are close by. I’ll have them meet us at Lina’s.” Three men wouldn’t be enough if the stalker was any indication of the men they were dealing with. “I need to make a phone call.” Gideon dialed the number of the one man he knew he could always count on to be there for him.
 

“Hello,” the steady voice on the other end of the phone answered.

“Dad,” he heard himself say, “I need your help.”

Gideon and Troy approached Lina’s parking lot to find, Thane and Ian surrounding a man lying on the ground. Gideon hugged each of his brothers, grateful they had answered the call for assistance when he had explained the danger surrounding Lina. They rolled the man over and Gideon was surprised to see a blotchy, drooling Jace Harper.
 

“Jace what happened to you?”

“A man took Lina, and they have Janna, too.” They were too late. In a panic, Gideon turned to Thane.

“Go knock on the door next to Lina’s. The woman’s name is Estrella. Ask her if she saw anything.” Troy looked at him in stunned silence, and then he started shaking his head like he was warding off an invisible attack.
 

“I’m on it,” came Thane’s terse reply.
 

“The Estrella woman was helping the man take them,” Jace responded.

“I left Estrella safe in Peru.” Troy said, his tone one of disbelief. “How long has she lived next to Lina?” Troy’s voice was strained and filled with anguish.
 

“Two months, why?” Gideon asked.

“Damn it, he used her as the plant. Can you describe the van?” Troy’s face was raw with emotion. The question was directed at Jace.
 

“Troy, what are you talking about?”

“The dealer that took Lina, his street name is Sky. He calls his right hand woman Star. And his hit man goes by the name Moon.”

“So what?” Ian questioned.

“Estrella means star in Spanish.”
 

“It gets worse,” Gideon chimed in.
 

“How, so?”

“At Ava’s engagement party, the waiter that offered Lina a glass of champagne. His name was Moon. Means they’ve been trying to take her for weeks.” Gideon curled his fingers in fists at the revelation.