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

us into a small sitting area separated from the rest of the bar by a large, thick curtain. It looked like some kind of VIP section. The moment we were out of sight from the rest of the people in the bar, she spun around to look at us.

“You said that Jenny was with you. Is that true?” she demanded to know.

“Yes,” I replied. “She’s at the police station now.”

“Police?” the woman exclaimed. “Why? She’s been arrested?”

“No,” Holm interjected. “She got caught up in a scuffle we had with one of the men at a bar in Kew Town. We brought her with us for her own safety.”

“I see,” the woman replied, the earlier tension easing out of her shoulders. “I’m glad to hear that.”

She laced her fingers together and bit her lip nervously. I could tell she was thinking deeply about something, though I couldn’t be sure what.

“You reacted pretty strongly when I mentioned we were investigating Cat’s death,” I muttered. “Why is that?”

A look of pain flashed across her face for just a moment. It was gone soon after, her face smoothed into a look of restrained calm, but it was there for long enough for me to take notice. This woman was obviously used to controlling her emotions.

“So she is dead,” she sighed, her eyes downcast. “I had hoped…”

She trailed off, the careful mask slipping once more as she frowned.

“Are you Danny?” I asked on a hunch as I recalled what Jenny and Eddy had told us.

“You can call me Daniela.” She frowned at me. “But yes, that’s generally what the girls call me.”

“Eddy mentioned you,” I informed her. “He said that you taught him about dinosaurs.”

“He’s alive?” she gasped. “But, how?”

“They managed to make it to the United States,” I explained. “Unfortunately, only Eddy survived the trip. From what we could gather, they were out on the water for several days with very little to eat or drink. Eddy had bad sunburns all over his body by the time they finally made it to shore.”

“Thank goodness,” she breathed, her clasped hands trembling. “The day that she suddenly took off like that, I didn’t know what to think. I had no idea if she even had a plan. It breaks my heart to hear that she’s… that she’s dead. But at least little Eddy is okay.”

“He is.” I nodded. “And we want to get justice for his mother. That’s why we’re here.”

All at once, she stopped shaking and looked up at me with a hard gaze.

“Are you serious about that?” she asked me coldly. “Do you really know what it is you’re up against?”

“Honestly? No,” I answered. “That’s the reason we came here, to see what we could find out. If you have information that could help us, you need to share it.”

She bit her lip again and looked away from me. I wanted to groan in frustration. We didn’t have time for this. We needed to act as quickly as possible to get ahead of the traffickers. I remembered what Jenny had said, though, about panicking because she didn’t know if she could really trust us. Daniela was probably thinking the same thing.

“Okay.” She finally nodded after what felt like an eternity of silence. “I’ll speak with you. But not here, and not until I’m sure my girls are safe. We’ve already spent too long talking. We need to hurry, or the men will realize what’s going on.”

“Okay, then when?” I asked, my heart racing with urgency.

“Tomorrow,” she replied. “Around midday. The men will still be asleep then, except for one guard. Normally, the girls would be too, but I’ll speak to them tonight and make sure they’re ready.”

“Ready for what?” Holm interrupted, his voice laced with concern.

“Ready to leave, of course,” she replied as though the answer were obvious. “I told you, I won’t speak with you unless I’m certain my girls are safe. Get us out, and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know. There will be five men in total. They have guns, but with you on our side, we’ll be able to overpower them.”

There were so many things that could go wrong with this plan, but with the clock ticking on our time to speak, I couldn’t find many other options.

“Okay,” I agreed. “I’ll speak to the police captain and figure out a plan. But I--”

“You need to go,” she suddenly interrupted me, her eyes going wide as she looked at something over my shoulder. “Now. We’re out of time.”

She didn’t offer any further explanation before striding confidently out of the small sectioned-off area and back onto the main floor.

“Let’s go,” I murmured to Holm as I walked casually back toward the bar where we’d left Crowley. He wasn’t there anymore, and it took me a moment to spot him standing by the entrance, scanning over the crowd with an annoyed look on his face.

“There you are!” He scowled as I approached him. “Where did you go? I turned around, and you were both gone!”

“Not here,” I muttered out of the corner of my mouth, barely slowing down as I walked past him and toward the door. “We need to go.”

His expression instantly became more serious, but he didn’t question me as he trailed Holm and me out of the bar. I didn’t stop until we had made it back to the car.

“What happened?” he asked me seriously.

“We met with Danny,” I replied. “Come on, I’ll explain everything back at the station.”

“What?” He balked. “We’re just leaving?”

“For now, yeah.” I nodded. “Look, just trust me, okay? We might have a solid plan of attack here, but it’s all going to come crumbling down if we get caught right now. I’ll take the blame if Captain Morris gets upset.”

He shot me a look of clear displeasure.

“Fine,” he sighed after a moment of hesitation. “Let’s get back, then.”

I watched him climb into his patrol car before getting into the driver’s seat of the Impala. Once Holm was inside, I started the ignition and