Page 29 of An Epic Voyage (The Epic Beauty Salon Files #1)

G riffin’s jaw throbbed from Gordon’s sucker punch. It took everything in him not to retaliate. If not for the gun pointed at Indigo, he might’ve taken his chances.

“This pistol is awesome, Dean,” Gordon declared. “Think I’ll keep this beauty for myself.”

Go right ahead, dumbass. It was another serious crime to add to his growing list, right along with assaulting a federal agent, and, oh yeah, treason.

Whit Zisk started the engine, and the boat purred to life. Griffin and Indigo were sitting on the deck with both Gordon and Garcia keeping an eye on them. Zisk kicked it into gear, and as they picked up speed, they bounced up and down from still-turbulent storm waters. His ass would be bruised.

They headed north from the tunnel. Gordon reached into a pocket and withdrew Griffin and Indigo’s cell phones. He promptly tossed them into the ocean. He really was a dumbass. If he thought Griffin was up to nefarious activity, he’d have culled information from it.

Griffin wondered if they would meet up with the yacht but nixed the thought. There were too many people on board. Van Houten wouldn’t want so many eyes around to witness his corruption. The nuke was out of the safe but not the laptop. His meeting with Jabari Abdullahi must still be happening.

Having Garcia, Gordon, and Zisk with him when he retrieved the nuclear weapon meant they were complicit in the crimes.

Plural. They obviously knew about the safe loaded with ill-gotten goods.

They would go down with their traitorous boss.

Griffin wasn’t surprised. If Van Houten were caught, he’d likely throw one of the others under the proverbial bus.

Griffin’s thoughts turned to Indigo. He knew she could take care of herself, but he had an overwhelming urge to protect her.

She was sniffling and crying in what he knew was an act.

She was undoubtedly plotting their escape.

He’d never met a woman who needed less protection, but it didn’t change his feelings.

If something happened to her, he wasn’t sure what he would do.

Killing the bastard who harmed her would be his priority.

He had a feeling it would be Van Houten.

The look on his face when he said he had plans for her had almost sent Griffin into a rage that would’ve gotten him shot, possibly killed.

Zisk throttled down, and the boat slowed.

Instead of Van Houten’s mega-yacht, they were pulling up to one of his lesser multi-million-dollar vessels.

Though it wasn’t as grand as the other one, it was still impressive and larger than most watercraft.

There was an empty helipad on the roof, so that must be how Abdullahi would arrive.

“Get up.”

Gordon grabbed Griffin under the arm and jerked him to his feet. When he did the same to Indigo, she cried out. Knowing it was for show didn’t make him feel any better.

Van Houten left the vessel first, with Zisk behind him carrying the nuke.

The two other bodyguards roughly hauled them out and pushed them onto the deck. Gordon prodded them forward. Garcia joined them. Griffin hadn’t been on this boat before, but it appeared they were being led to the cargo hold.

“Hold up,” Gordon ordered. He stopped at a cabinet and took out two pairs of handcuffs. What kind of person kept bondage on hand? That was easy—a criminal.

Gordon left the zip ties on as he slapped the cuffs on Griffin, securing them as tightly as possible. He gritted his teeth as the metal bit into his skin. Then Gordon secured shackles around his ankles. He did the same to Indigo.

Gordon urged them forward and stopped at a hatch.

After Garcia opened it, Gordon shoved them down the steps.

With the chains on his legs, Griffin couldn’t keep his balance.

He crashed hard onto the floor and grunted when Indigo landed on top of him.

The last thing he heard before Gordon slammed the hatch closed, sealing them inside, was his cruel, mocking laughter.

#

J ackson studied Evangeline as she disconnected her cell and dropped it on her desk.

“Indigo’s not answering her phone. It instantly kicks to voicemail.”

“Maybe she turned it off.”

“Why would she? Do you think something happened to her?”

“It hasn’t been that long,” Jackson reminded her.

They gave the women leeway when they were working on a case.

They didn’t have to check in every five minutes.

Jackson trusted them to do their job, and he knew Evangeline did too.

He didn’t understand why she was hounding Indigo, their best operative—though he’d deny that if asked.

All three women were capable. He didn’t pick favorites. “Let’s give her more time to search.”

“I have a bad feeling.”

Jackson dropped his feet from the edge of Evangeline’s desk and sat upright. He’d learned over the years never to discount Evie’s intuition. She was rarely wrong. If she felt something was off, it most likely was.

“I’ll call Decker’s boss and see if he’s heard from him.”

#

I ndigo hated playing the part of a simpering wimp, but the less they thought of her as a threat, the better. She’d be able to use their inattentiveness against them.

She expected to return to the yacht they’d arrived on, even though it was loaded with the staff from the island, but she was wrong. This was a different boat. Much smaller, but just as luxurious as the other one.

“Please, let us go,” she pleaded to deaf ears. Bruiser One pretended not to hear her. She almost kicked him in the balls when he chained their wrists and ankles. It would make getting out of them more challenging, but not impossible.

When he shoved them down a short set of steps into a dark, dank room, she stumbled over Griffin, and they landed in a heap on the floor.

“Sorry,” she told him as she maneuvered upright.

“Are you okay?”

“Pissed. I almost—”

“Indigo?”

She turned her head and blinked into the darkness. “Jordy? Is that you?”

“Over here.”

She and Griffin made their way toward the voice, their steps slowed by the chains around their feet. As they approached, she heard sobbing.

“Jordy, are you okay?” Faint light spilled inside from a round window high on the wall. She spotted him and dropped beside him. He was also constrained, his hair was mussed, and one of his eyes was swollen shut.

“I’ve been better, but thank God you’re alive. I was worried when you didn’t make it onto the boat.”

“What happened to you?”

“One of Benny’s goons.”

He looked in pain, but he wasn’t currently crying. She glanced to her right and spotted a frizzy bird’s nest of bleached-blonde hair. “Jinger?”

Jinger lifted her head to reveal her bloated, red face. Thick smudges of mascara around her eyes and down her cheeks made her look like a demented circus clown. “Indigo?” She pushed to a sitting position, her chains jangling. “Get over here and fix my makeup and hair.”

Seriously? Good grief, her audacity knew no bounds. Indy raised her hands. “Sorry, Jinger, I’m a little tied up at the moment.”

Jordy choked on a laugh.

“So?”

“What do you mean, so? My arms and feet are shackled like yours. In case you need it spelled out to you, I’m currently unable to cater to your every whim.”

“But if I look good enough, Benny will take me back.”

“What part of this don’t you understand?” She lifted her arms again.

“Your fingers work.”

She clenched her jaw. “No.”

Jinger’s head canted to the side. “What?”

It was apparent that the woman rarely heard the word. “I said no. Do you comprehend the situation we are in?”

“But, Benny loves me. I want to look good for him. That’s your job.”

“Right now, my job is getting us out of here. Either you don’t realize it, or you are in denial, but you are in grave danger, Jinger.”

Her eyes welled up, and she started sobbing again. Indigo ignored her and turned to Jordy.

“What happened? Why are you guys here?”

“Jinger was upset that Benny was avoiding her. She made me go with her as she stormed into his suite. We overheard him making plans to meet someone. When he said Jabari Abdullahi’s name, I gasped because I’ve heard of him.

He’s the head of the Black Serpent Syndicate.

I saw a documentary about the genocide he’s responsible for in his country.

Benny sicced his bodyguards on us.” Jordy narrowed his one good eye.

“You don’t seem surprised about Abdullahi. Who are you, Indigo Adair?”

“I’m a cosmetologist from Boston. Did you hear when the meeting is?”

“Not the exact time. Only that it’s tomorrow afternoon.”

They had a few hours to devise a plan to escape, halt the sale, and arrest Van Houten. Doable.

“What happened to you, Indigo? I was so worried when you didn’t make it to the boat.”

She stuck with her original explanation to Griffin. “Yeah, I was exploring the island and didn’t hear the warnings. Griffin found me, but by the time we got back to the dock, the yacht was gone.”

“As soon as the boat pulled away, I went to Benny and told him we had to go back, but he wouldn’t do it. Jerk.”

“No, it was my fault I didn’t make it. There was no need to put everyone else in danger.”

“We saw on the news that the hurricane hit the island. How did you survive?”

“There was a panic room. We were completely safe.”

“Was Benny upset you stayed on the island? Is that why you’re here?”

“Uh, sure.” That was as good a reason as any.

She couldn’t reveal her true purpose, whether or not she trusted Jordy, and she didn’t.

It was no offense to him. He’d never given her a reason to doubt him, but she trusted only Evangeline, Jackson, Piper, and Chelsea.

And now Griffin. Wow. That realization came as a shock.

He’d moved into a select group of her confidantes in a very short amount of time.

It wasn’t the spectacular sex—though that certainly didn’t hurt. It was his integrity and honor. Even when she had thought Griffin worked for Van Houten, she’d been drawn to him. She’d responded to his innate goodness—something he couldn’t hide behind a hard mask of indifference.

“Indigo, what do you think they’re going to do to us?”

Jordy’s question interrupted her thoughts. No sense in worrying him more than he currently was. “Nothing. He’s not a murderer.” That she knew of. “I’m sure they’ll let us go after his meeting with Abdullahi. They’ll probably drop us off in Miami.”

“Do you think so?”

Indigo swallowed. She hated lying to him. She and Griffin would do everything in their power to get them all out of this mess, but there was no guarantee they’d succeed.

“Uh, Indigo, can I speak to you over here? It’s urgent.”

“Sure.” Griffin’s request saved her from having to respond to Jordy’s question.

Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, so she spotted Griffin standing a few feet away. She stood and shuffled over to him. “What is it?”

“We have a problem.”

“Just one?”

“Look.”

She followed his gaze to see several large plastic barrels connected by coils of wire.

“Is that what I think it is?”

“If you’re thinking it’s a bomb, you would be correct.”