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The door to the kitchen clicked open and Steve bolted from the bed. He grabbed his discarded Glock and jeans in one fluid motion and was out in the hall before the back door had closed. A quick look over his shoulder confirmed that Josie had not been awakened by his sudden movement. He closed the bedroom door behind him.
Sounds coming from the kitchen confirmed what he’d suspected but would have been stupid to assume. His heartrate dropped along with the arm holding his weapon. Unless their visitor was fishing for a beer in the refrigerator, Gib had arrived with dinner.
“Keep it down,” Steve hushed as he finished zipping his jeans. “Josie’s asleep.”
Gib popped his head over the top of the refrigerator door. “I’m guessing that’s not all she’s been doing.”
“What is it with you and my sex life?”
“I want nothing to do with your sex life.”
“You damn sure seem interested in it.”
“Sex is always interesting. Although, talking about it isn’t half as much fun as doing it. Tell me again why I’m spending my nights with you?”
Steve bit his tongue. Gib would love nothing more than for Steve to rise to that twisted bait. He’d seen this act before, though Rick was Gib’s favorite target.
“What’s for dinner?” Steve asked, pointedly changing the subject.
“Because you’ve already had dessert?”
“Gib, enough!”
“Okay. Okay. If you don’t plan on shooting me with that thing,” he said, indicating the gun in Steve’s hand, “you can put it away and help me unload the groceries.”
***
Steve watched Rick as he dropped into the single side chair left behind by the Copelands. He’d grabbed a Cuban sandwich and a beer on his way through the kitchen. His friend had phoned to tell them he was hung up at the station and to get started without him. It was now going on eight o’clock. Kevin was absent, having taken over Don’s watch after he’d finished his meal. Don and Gib flanked both ends of the couch, sitting in chairs that had been pulled from the dining area due to the shortage of seating in the main room. Sitting next to him on the couch, Steve could feel the tension return to Josie’s body as soon as Rick entered the room. She’d yet to completely relax around him. That wasn’t surprising. She’d been beaten by someone posing as a cop and had been tracked as a result of their information system. It would take a while for that fear to wear off. Steve placed her hand in his.
“What did you find out about DiSantis? Has he turned up?” Steve asked, giving her hand a squeeze.
“No sign of him,” Rick answered, before deliberately taking a long pull on his beer. “His home is locked up and his car is gone. On a positive note, he did ask a neighbor to take in his mail.”
“So, he just took off?” Gib asked. Hair that was normally tied off, hung loose tonight. He pushed it behind his ears.
“It looks that way,” Rick said around a mouth full of food.
“Is he running?” Josie’s voice was strained, her pitch abnormally high.
“Don’t know but the fact that he left without notifying his business would lead me to think so. The question is where.”
“I’ve dug up a couple of possibilities,” Don volunteered.
“Shoot,” Steve told the hacker.
“Not surprisingly, since he’s a realtor, he owns several properties. One of them happens to be a little bit south of here.”
“How far south?” Steve’s blood started to hum. They were getting close. He could sense it like he’d sensed the enemy in the mountains of Afghanistan. It was only a matter of time before the pieces started falling into place.
“He’s got a condo on Fort Myers Beach. A place just north of a state park called Lovers Key.”
Two birds in the same neighborhood. McClaren and DiSantis. The players were moving into place. “I assume you have the address?” Steve asked.
“Yes... And the unit number but it’s in a gated community, Steve. You don’t get in unless you live there or a guest of one of the residents. I also have the landline number for the residence. I tried it but its voice mailbox is full.”
“Text me the address,” Steve said. Turning to Rick, he asked “Can you do anything?”
“It’s one thing to do a welfare check at his home,” Rick replied, knowing where Steve was heading. “It’s another entirely to start knocking on the doors of every property he owns. He hasn’t committed a crime that we’re aware of so the authorities have no reason to be chasing him down. If we suspect he’s there and in danger or involved in something illegal, I’ll make the call. But right now, Steve, I just can’t do it.”
“I’ll take a drive down there tomorrow,” Steve said.
“I’ll go with you,” Josie cheerfully volunteered.
“No, you won’t,” Steve rebuked her.
Josie slowly, almost eerily, rose to her feet and turned to face Steve. Her hands fisted on her hips, she stared down at the man who had just held one of those hands. “Don’t you dare take that tone with me,” she hissed at him.
“Now, Josie, calm down.” Her fierce stance had him leaning back. He could feel the heat of her anger.
Gib let out a snort that had Steve snapping his head in that direction. “What the hell is so funny?”
“You are. The last thing you say to a woman you’ve just pissed off is ‘calm down.’”
Gib would know and a quick look at Josie confirmed that he was right. Josie’s eyes were spitting fire. If it were anatomically possible, they’d be shooting darts.
“Josie, listen.” He tried to reason with her. “You recently, and vigorously, pointed out that you were a target. You need to stay here where we can keep you safe.” Now he sounded condescending.
“And look how that’s worked out. I’ve been attacked by some jackass in the garden and shot at while trying to take a shower. Personally, I’d rather be a moving target than a sitting duck.”
“Steve, think about it,” Rick suggested. “Her leaving here could work to our advantage.”
“How?” Gib asked, casting a worried look toward Josie.
“If there’s anyone out there,” Steve explained, his training kicking in, “they’d follow her. We’d spot them if they did.” His initial response to her suggestion had been a knee-jerk reaction induced by fear. Instinctively, he wanted her hidden and safe. But she wasn’t hidden and, therefore, would not be completely safe.
“Moving her is a risk,” Rick added “but since they already know where she is, it’s a calculated risk.”
“But you’re taking her to another target’s location,” Gib argued.
“Possible location,” Steve pointed out. “We don’t know if DiSantis headed this way. He could have taken off for Timbuktu.” Steve remembered how angry Gib had gotten when it was suggested they use Cat as bait to catch the sniper last year. Always ready to defend a lady in distress.
“I wish you’d all stop talking about me like I’m not in the room,” Josie said.
“Alright, Josie, but you’re going to have to listen to me. Whatever I tell you to do, you do it, for your own protection. Do we have an agreement?”
***
Josie’s left hand gripped the arm rest of the Mustang until her knuckles turned white. Her left hand grasped the edge of the leather seat she was buckled into. Closing her eyes was out of the question. She might miss the accident. Steve drove the car like a professional stunt driver in a Jason Bourne movie—navigating the dense, seasonal traffic and highway construction deftly as they made their way south on Estero Boulevard. She’d forgotten Steve’s penchant for speed and his annoyance at sitting still in traffic.
Kevin was two cars behind them. At least, she assumed he was there. She’d been told that had been the plan but she’d been too terrified to take her eyes off the road to look behind them and confirm it. Don was staying on the island, watching for any unusual activity or anyone who might be a bit too curious about the residents that had just exited the Copeland home. Rick was at the station on standby, if needed. Josie had no idea what Gib was up to. She hadn’t asked and no one had elaborated on his duties for the day, if any. He’d been absent from the planning session this morning.
When Steve was forced to stop at a traffic signal, Josie loosened her grip and glanced over at him. His jaw was set, his fingers flexed as he gripped the steering wheel. His eyes darted from the rear-view mirror to the side mirror before shifting to the road again. No car went unnoticed. Guilt added torque to the already tightened muscles in Josie’s neck. His protective instincts had been in overdrive since they left the house an hour before.
It wasn’t until this morning as the men huddled around the dining room table over coffee that Josie discovered that what she’d assumed was a simple drive to the beach was anything but simple to these men. She sat on the couch searching for information about Lovers Key and the residences and businesses surrounding it but she’d found it difficult to concentrate as the men debated different scenarios and responses to them. They were concerned about the route due to road construction. Contingencies were planned. The longer the men plotted, the more the coffee in Josie’s stomach soured.
By mid-morning, satisfied with the plan the men had put in place, Steve told Josie it was time to leave. Her elation at escaping the confines of the building she’d been shackled to for the last week had turned to dread. Was she putting herself and the men at risk by her desire to go with Steve? She’d been briefly tempted to withdraw her suggestion. But they’d worked to pull this off and thought it might hasten an end to the nightmare. She wasn’t backing down. Hell, this drive was nothing compared to what she’d been through since she received the email. She’d been beaten, grabbed, and shot at. She could do this.
As Steve turned left into the condominium complex, three tall buildings came into view. The one furthest from the entrance was Lovers Key Resort. Her earlier search had revealed that the resort was not a hotel but condominium units that could be reserved for a day, a week or longer. The other two buildings consisted of private units. No doubt a number of owners rented them out on a seasonal basis. DiSantis’s condo was in the high rise closest to the resort. In addition to the resort and the two private condo buildings, the complex consisted of a parking garage and a single restaurant and bar, Flippers.
Steve slowed as he passed the building where DiSantis’s condo was located, then pulled into the parking lot of Flippers, an open-air restaurant situated between the two towers. The view through the window of the Mustang took Josie’s breath away. The northern part of Fort Myers Beach had been crowded with hotels, motels, and restaurants and the massive number of people that went with them. The construction project underway on the two-lane road leading south made it congested and noisy. The waters of the Gulf of Mexico had been hidden by the buildings that stretched along the single route south.
But once they’d turned into Lovers Key Resort, the hustle and bustle of Estero Boulevard gave way to the beauty of Florida’s estuaries. The resort sat adjacent to a state park. Looking past the pool, Estero Bay was dotted with mangroves of varying size. A variety of boats bobbed in the turquoise blue water. Some headed toward the Gulf of Mexico, others were stationary, having found their place to relax or fish for the day. Kayakers in colorful vessels glided along. This tiny morsel of land was perfectly situated between the busy, touristy world of Fort Myers Beach and the natural beauty of Lovers Key. The best of both worlds for those who lived here. Dinner and a show? Turn right. Solitude and nature? Turn left.
“Now, to figure out a way to get up there,” Steve said, interrupting Josie’s thoughts. “We could buzz his unit and hope that he answers...”
Steve’s comment brought Josie back to the reason for the trip and it wasn’t to enjoy the scenery. Steve was gazing up at the Grand Island Beach condominiums which sat on the other side of a parking garage next to Flippers. She knew the DiSantis condo was on the fifth floor. Josie looked up as well but then dropped her gaze to the entrance of the building. From where she was sitting, she could just make out a young woman standing near the entrance holding a clipboard. Next to her was a large potted plant. A real estate sign had been shoved into the pot in front of the plant. “How about we go shopping for a waterfront condo?”
“What?”
Josie pointed through the windshield. “Someone is having an ‘open house’. It should get us past security.” Steve leaned toward Josie so he could see clearer.
His eyes brightened. “Perfect,” he said, firmly planting a kiss on her lips. Steve sent a text to Kevin who had parked a little deeper into the complex.
“Okay. Let’s go find out what these babies are selling for,” he said as he opened the passenger door.