Page 33 of An Epic Voyage (The Epic Beauty Salon Files #1)

G riffin needed to stash Jordy somewhere so he could search. The safest place would be the speedboat. It was the one thing almost guaranteed not to explode when the bomb went off. Either he and Indigo would be aboard, or Van Houten and his underlings would. He was praying for the former.

Griffin was getting ahead of himself. They needed to get out of the cargo hold first.

The only windows were small and round. No way was he fitting his big body through them. He’d have to go out the hatch.

He recalled from the schematics that there was only one egress point, and it was made of marine-grade stainless steel with a waterproof gasket.

Maybe they’d left it unlocked. He climbed the steps and pushed.

It didn’t budge. Of course, it couldn’t be easy.

He needed to find something to pry it open.

He glanced at Jordy, who was standing in the same spot he’d left him.

The man was in serious shock, but that was another thing Griffin didn’t have time to deal with right now.

Once they escaped and returned to the United States, he’d suggest that Jordy seek counseling.

What he’d witnessed and been through would haunt him for a long time.

Griffin found a light and snapped it on, wincing as the brightness from the fluorescent bulb stung his eyes. There had to be something down here he could use. He opened a door, found another switch, and flicked it on. Tools. Jackpot.

The first thing he spotted was a flashlight.

That would come in handy. He was about to grab a crowbar when he heard a faint moan.

It couldn’t have been Jordy, since it had come from inside the room.

Rounding a table, he came to a halt. Franklin Shephard, Van Houten’s assistant, was lying in a bloody heap, his arms and legs bound.

Griffin crouched down. “Franklin?”

“Help me.”

Aw, damn, he’d been beaten to within an inch of his life. His battered face was almost unrecognizable. There was no way he could walk.

“Franklin, it’s Griffin. Who did this to you?”

He coughed and spat out blood, most likely from internal injuries. “G-Gordon. Zisk.”

“I have to leave you right now—”

Franklin’s eyes popped open, and he reached out with his bound hands. “Please, don’t leave me. I don’t want to die.”

“I need to so I can find a way out, but I’ll come back for you.”

Franklin’s arms dropped, and his body slumped. Griffin felt for a pulse, finding a faint one. He needed immediate medical care, or he most likely wouldn’t make it. Griffin stood and went to find Jordy. He was still in the same spot.

“Jordy?”

He jumped.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Did you know Franklin was here?”

Jordy’s brow wrinkled. “No.”

“He’s in awful shape. I need you to keep him company while I search the boat.”

Panicked eyes shot to the hatch. “You’re leaving me here? Alone?”

“I don’t want to, but I need to find Indigo. Then we will come back for you.”

“You promise?”

“Yes.”

Jordy nodded. “Okay. I’ll wait with him.”

“Great.” Griffin guided him to Franklin.

Jordy ground to a halt. “Oh, God, is he dead?”

“No, he’s hanging on. The sooner we get him help, the better. Are you afraid of the dark?”

“I wasn’t before. I don’t know about now,” Jordy admitted.

“It would be safer for you if I turned off the lights.”

He took a deep breath and nodded. “Do what you must.”

After ensuring Jordy wouldn’t fall apart and that he was comfortable, Griffin turned off the lights, flicked on the flashlight, grabbed the crowbar, and went to work on the hatch.

He shoved the straight claw beneath the edge and jerked.

It gave a satisfying pop, and he eased the top open.

It was nighttime, but a floodlight illuminated the area.

He didn’t see anybody hanging around. Griffin slipped out, keeping the bar as a weapon.

The hatch was located at the back of the yacht, near where the speedboat was docked.

Griffin climbed up on a storage bench and twisted the bulb, instantly bathing the area in darkness.

Then he jumped onto the deck of the boat, using the moonlight to navigate.

There were padded benches along the sides that lifted for storage.

He could put Franklin in one, Jordy in the other, and they would be safe.

Someone was taking the boat away from here. Hopefully, it would be Indigo and him.

He stepped out and was about to go back and get the two men when he heard a noise. Plastering his back against the wall, he gripped the crowbar and waited. When a shape came into view, he lifted the weapon and prepared to strike.

#

T he helicopter landed on Van Houten Island. Evangeline climbed out first, followed by Jackson. They both stuttered to a stop and stared at the devastation.

“It’s worse than I thought,” Jackson murmured.

It was. What had once been a show-stopping resort had been reduced to rubble. There was basically nothing left.

“It would be too hard to search through the wreckage to find the safe room. Indigo didn’t give us detailed instructions.”

Evangeline nodded. “Agreed. She said there was a cave at the north end. Let’s head to the boathouse and see if there’s a boat in there we can use to look for it.”

They jogged to where the building had once stood. The destruction was just as bad. The walls and roof were gone. Boats, wave runners, kayaks, canoes, and other assorted watercraft were crashed on top of each other in a twisted heap.

“Hey, I’ve got a jet ski that’s functional,” Jackson called out.

Evangeline started to tell him she would drive, but she didn’t want his arms around her. She climbed on, and they motored out into the water. Jackson had to drive slowly to avoid the debris that was floating everywhere.

When they reached the cave, he pulled up to a small pier and killed the engine. Evangeline climbed off and looked around. Rock walls surrounded them. There wasn’t an obvious door. After an hour of searching, Jackson hit something that triggered the wall to slide open, revealing an elevator.

Evangeline looked at the panel. Besides a button to open the door and another to close it, there were two additional buttons. One was in a prominent place, while the other was recessed with a partially open cover.

“This is interesting.”

Jackson was standing close—too close. Before she could choose which one to push, he decided for her. They spun around when the back wall opened. It revealed a slab of rock.

“We need to go up a level,” Jackson guessed.

No kidding, Sherlock. She bit back the words, unsure why she was feeling so out of sorts. It had been a long time since she and Jackson had worked together outside of the office. They used to be in perfect sync. Not anymore.

They both watched the opening as the elevator ascended.

When it stopped, they were staring at a safe.

Jackson pried open the keypad and tapped in Van Houten’s birthdate.

When it clicked, Evangeline opened the door to reveal a room full of probably stolen or ill-gotten goods. And nothing else. Her heart sank.

“I was hoping Indigo was here.”

Jackson turned toward her. “Me too. Let’s see if we can find the nuke, and then we’ll call this in and have a crew here to catalog the contents.”

The FBI agent with Indigo was searching for a computer. Evangeline picked up a laptop. “This must be the missing military device Griffin Decker was after.”

“Evie?”

“What?”

“Look.”

She glanced at where Jackson was standing to see him holding a gun. “It’s Indigo’s.”

Evangeline’s stomach dropped to her feet. “They got caught,” she whispered.

Neither voiced what worried them most—that Indigo and Griffin might’ve been shot and tossed in the churning Atlantic waters where their bodies would never be found.

#

V an Houten’s bodyguards finished inspecting the nuke and closed the case. Garcia picked it up, and they headed out of the office. Indigo eased the door closed and listened.

“Do you have the DMS?” Garcia asked Zisk.

“Boss has it.”

Their voices grew fainter as they walked down the corridor.

DMS? What could that mean? Then it came to her: dead man’s switch. Van Houten possessed a device that would set off the bomb if something happened to him. Worst case scenario.

She needed to free Griffin and Jordy. They could take the speedboat and get away.

Then she would have to go back to Van Houten and meet with Abdullahi.

Somehow, she’d have to stop the sale. Maybe she could tell Abdullahi that Van Houten planned to kill him.

Of course, Van Houten would no doubt shoot her like he had Jinger.

Obviously, he knew how to handle a weapon since it had been an expert shot.

Then there was the switch she had to worry about.

Indy peeked outside to find the hallway empty in both directions. She crept to the stern, the urge to get to Griffin strong.

The back of the yacht was dark, and she had a hard time seeing the hatch. She bumped into a broom and grabbed it before it hit the deck. A noise sounded on her left. She bent down and grabbed the gun from around her ankle as a light snapped on, blinding her.

She pointed the weapon and barely avoided squeezing the trigger.

“Indigo!”

“Griffin?”

Suddenly, she was engulfed in muscular arms and being kissed within an inch of her life. Griffin maneuvered her into a dark corner. She broke away long enough to put the gun down, and he did the same with the pry bar he was carrying. Then they were back in each other’s embrace.

Griffin yanked down her pants, freed himself, and then he was buried deep inside her. Indigo came instantly, the force stealing the breath from her lungs. Griffin didn’t stop, pounding into her until she came again and he joined her.

“Sorry about the lack of finesse,” he panted against her neck.

“It was perfection.”

Griffin stiffened. “I forgot a condom. All I could think about was getting inside you as fast as possible.”

“I’m on the pill, and I’m clean.”

“Me too.”