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

“Holm and I will pose as prospective Johns,” I reiterated. “Once we manage to convince them, we’ll try to get the girl alone and see what kind of information we can get.”

“What if you can’t convince them to talk?” Olivia countered. “I’ve worked these kinds of cases before. A lot of the time, these women have spent so long being abused and brainwashed that they won’t speak up against their captors even when the opportunity presents itself.”

“That’s a good point.” Holm frowned. “But what else can we do? It’ll be way more suspicious if you come in with us.”

“I know,” she sighed.

She hadn’t been pleased when I’d suggested she stay outside as backup. On the one hand, she had a lot of experience and expertise in working with special victims. She was also a woman, which might have made it easier for her to connect with the victims. However, a woman walking into a bar looking for a prostitute would have thrown up a truckload of red flags. It would be far less conspicuous for Holm and me to go in undercover. It was a messy situation all around.

“We’ll just have to play it by ear,” I declared. “Worst-case scenario, Holm and I will retreat and meet you back at the meet-up point.”

“One other thing, though.” Olivia pursed her lips. “What if you get recognized? I mean, I know we’ve only been here a few days, but we have caused quite a stir, what with the whole ‘shoot out in the middle of a crowded beach’ thing. And one of the suspects got away. What will you do if your cover gets blown?”

“Go down swinging?” I joked.

“Very funny.” She frowned at me as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Seriously, though. Shouldn’t we have a backup plan?”

“That is the backup plan.” I shrugged. “Obviously, I hope it doesn’t come to that, but if we get made and run out of options, what else can we do? We’ll try to locate one of the girls and get her alone for long enough to speak with her. If that fails, we’ll confront the men directly. That being said, we’ve already seen that their preferred method of conflict resolution is to shoot first and ask questions never, so if it does come to that, we’ll probably end up having to fight our way out.”

“And you’re just… okay with that?” Olivia stared at me in disbelief.

“I wouldn’t say ‘okay.’” Holm shrugged. “Can’t say we’re not used to it, though. Getting into and out of scrapes is pretty par for the course for us.”

“That sounds insanely stressful,” Olivia groaned. “And I thought I had it rough.”

“We’ll be fine,” I assured her, though it did feel nice that she was worrying over me. “Holm and I have faced down a lot worse.”

“Okay.” Olivia nodded, though I could tell she wasn’t convinced by my reassurances. “Let’s go, then.”

The three of us left the hotel room and headed down to the lobby. The sun was just starting to go down as we left the hotel.

As I drove us back to the Grace Bay Police Station, I noted that the streets were still as empty as they had been earlier in the day. Though it seemed like there were always locals and tourists milling about along the boardwalks and pedestrian walkways, the actual roads seemed perpetually void of cars. It was a pleasant change from the never-ending traffic of Miami and probably explained how the air was so fresh and the skies so clear and blue.

The drive back to the Grace Bay station took no time at all, and before I knew it, we were back in Morris’s office, getting ready to head to the bar with our new liaison, Officer Crowley.

Holm, Olivia, and I settled into the seats in front of Captain Morris’s desk, and as ridiculous as I felt in my getup, I was buzzing with energy and ready to head out. We quickly recapped our plan that we’d discussed in the hotel, and Morris nodded agreeably as we finished.

“I’ll wait outside with Agent Hastings,” Crowley declared from where he was standing by Morris’s side. “The island is not very big, and there’s a good chance that someone might recognize me. Our whole plan will fall apart if anyone realizes I am a cop.”

“So it’ll be Holm and me, then,” I concluded with a nod.

“Keep this in your pocket,” Morris instructed as he handed me and Holm each a small electronic device. “It’s a basic one-way transmitter. Officer Crowley and Agent Hastings will be able to listen, though unfortunately, they won’t be able to respond. But at least this way, they can provide aid if it seems like things are becoming dangerous.”

I would have preferred something like an earpiece since putting the thing in my pocket would probably muffle sound and make it difficult for them to hear us, but wearing something so obvious would be a dead giveaway when we were trying to be discreet.

“Thank you,” I replied regardless. “Let’s get moving.”

“Why don’t we all take one car,” I suggested as we left the building and stepped outside. “If we want to keep a low profile, it might make more sense to take our rental instead of a police cruiser.”

“Alright.” Crowley nodded after a moment of thoughtful silence.

Once the four of us were inside, I drove back to Kew, to the address Frank had given us. The place really was close to the dock, where we’d met with Kenneth a few days prior. It was a small, kind of kitschy-looking bar right on the boardwalk. As we parked out front, I could see locals and tourists alike meandering in and out. Being so close to the beach, it was probably a popular spot. I suddenly thought back to our first trip down this way and realized that we’d walked right by it. Something about the place had felt off at the time, and now I understood why.

I hadn’t even stopped