Caribbean Rescue (Coastal Fury Book 16) - Matt Lincoln (reading tree .TXT) 📗

feint at leaving. “Okay. But what’s in it for me if I talk?”

“A note will be made that you cooperated with the investigation,” Olivia replied as she turned around to look at him.

“What?” Frank balked. “That’s it? That’s not good enough!”

“It’s the best you’re going to get,” I retorted. “At least this way, you’ll control the narrative. There’s no telling what kind of information your buddies might spill. It’s up to you to decide whether you want to take that chance.”

“Not like I have a choice, I guess,” he muttered bitterly. “Fine. What do you want to know?”

“How about we start with that bar on the beach?” I replied. “You know, the one you failed to mention the last time we spoke.”

“Right, that,” he responded curtly. “Well, it’s just as Richard said. The girls usually start working at around eight, right when the sun starts to go down.”

“Give us the address,” I instructed him as I pulled my phone out of my pocket to jot it down.

As he begrudgingly rattled off the address, I made a mental note to check with Morris later to make sure this was an actual address and not another trap.

“Alright, so tell us about your boss,” I said after I’d finished making a note of the address and tucked my phone away.

“His name’s Samuel,” he mumbled. “He lives in a big house somewhere in Cockburn Town.”

“Do you have that address?” I asked.

“No.” He shrugged. “Why would I?”

“How do you know he lives in a big house, then?” Olivia asked.

“Because he never stops bragging about it,” Frank scoffed. “Show-off.”

“Do you know how to get in touch with him, then?” I asked. If he was around the guy enough to get annoyed by his boastfulness, maybe he would know how to find him.

“No,” he grunted, to my dismay. “Samuel comes and goes as he pleases. Makes us all do the dirty work and shows up once in a while to collect his money and point out all the ways he thinks we’re messing stuff up.”

“I see.” I did my best to hide my disappointment as I replied. “So, where do you usually meet with him then?”

“Down at the bar.” He shrugged. “I’ve seen him around town a few times, too, but he won’t talk to me then. Acts like he’s better than the rest of us.”

“So what do you know, then?” I asked sarcastically, irritated by the whole lot of nothing we were getting out of this guy.

“Just what I’ve told you,” he snapped. “I don’t know what else you want me to say. I go to work, I do my job, that’s it. I don’t have any top-secret information to give you.”

“Alright,” I replied calmly, despite the frustration I felt. In truth, I was a little disappointed that Frank didn’t seem to have very much helpful information for us. As far as I could gather, he was just a minor cog within the greater system of the group. Ultimately, though, we wouldn’t be able to squeeze blood from a stone.

“I think we’re about done here, then,” I said as I stood from the table. “Oh, and one last thing, Frank. These addresses had better not be another trick.”

I slipped my phone from my pocket and waved it at him for emphasis.

“Or I’m personally going to make sure you get the harshest sentence a judge can conjure up.”

Frank sneered at me but didn’t say anything as Holm, Olivia, and I stood up and filed out of the interrogation room.

“Well, that was anticlimactic,” Holm grumbled once we were all back out in the hallway. “After all the crap we went through with Brown and Turner, this seems like a big letdown.”

“Don’t be like that,” Olivia admonished him. “We got the address, right? And now we know that Samuel’s somewhere in Cockburn Town. Even if we don’t know where exactly, it’s a start.”

The door beside us suddenly opened, and Morris stepped out to join us in the hallway.

“Do you think he was being honest?” he asked. “About not knowing anything else?”

“Yeah, unfortunately, I do,” I replied with a frown. “He didn’t seem like he was lying. Then again, he’s already tricked us once, so I guess we can’t be entirely sure.”

“Could I see those addresses he gave you?” he asked.

“Oh, sure,” I answered as I handed him the phone I still had in my hand. “I was going to ask you about them, anyway.”

He took the phone from me and looked at the addresses for a moment before frowning.

“This is interesting,” Morris muttered. “Both of these addresses are on Grand Turk Island, in Cockburn Town. Cockburn is the capital of Turks & Caicos and the most densely populated town. It might prove difficult to track him there.”

“We’ll worry about that when the time comes,” I replied. “If we can track a pair of drug kingpins halfway across the planet, I’m sure we can find this guy. Meanwhile, we should focus our attention on the bar.”

“Why don’t we head back to my office to talk?” Morris suggested. “So we’re not discussing all of this in the middle of the hall.”

“Sounds good to us,” Holm agreed.

We followed Morris back to his office in silence.

“Right, where were we?” Morris muttered once we were all seated in his office again. “Oh, yes, I’ve been wondering. What will you do now about Turner’s liaison?”

“Well, working with him isn’t ideal,” I answered, “but our organization has extraterritorial jurisdiction in Turks & Caicos as part of our case. We prefer to have a member of local law enforcement with us--”

I faltered at the sour look Olivia tossed me.

“Well, MBLIS prefers to have a local liaison, though I can’t speak for the FBI, to ensure we don’t run into any international snags. Still, technically, we should be okay.”

“That will not do.” Morris shook his head disapprovingly. “I would hate for your investigation to fall apart as a result of a legal technicality. No, I will assign you one of my own officers.”

“Really?” Holm asked, surprise evident in