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The boat show drew in potential buyers, boat enthusiasts, and lookers from every state, plus Mexico and Canada. Thousands of people descended on the area, trying to find just the right boat. Scantily clad women danced on top of mega-yachts or stood in the aisles waving overweight, middle-aged men into their booth for a chance at spinning a wheel for a prize.

Of course, no one told those gullible men that it was a plastic cup or koozie, or worse, a pen. They were grateful to take the hand of the girl and take a shot at something. Even if it wasn’t the girl.

“Geez, who knew there were so many different types of boats,” whispered Deanna.

“You haven’t seen the Belle Fleur fleet yet,” grinned Pax. She smiled at him, nodding as they walked down the aisles.

The groups had split up, with Benji and Annie taking one end of the hall, Bogey and Alice the other, and Pax and Deanna starting in the middle. The guys were scattered around the massive 2.6 million square feet of convention space.

“What exactly are we looking for?” asked Deanna.

“Sometimes, we don’t know exactly what we’re looking for either until we see it. We know we’re looking for the three men who were at the bar. I’ve got the key and medallion. We’ll see how they react to that when I pull it out.”

Walking hand-in-hand down the aisles, Deanna was happy just to be out and about with Pax. She did notice that the men were definitely noticing her in her little white shorts. Self-conscious, she kept pulling on the hem, hoping to make them longer.

“Stop fidgeting,” he grinned. “If you’re going to be a sex-kitten, own it.”

“I’m not trying to be a sex-kitten,” she frowned. “I mean, maybe for you, but not for all these people.”

“Babe, when you wear something like that everyone is going to look, even women. They’re jealous of how fucking hot you are,” he smiled.

“No, the women are jealous that I’m walking with you,” she said. “Do I have permission to throw a punch if one comes for you?” Pax laughed, shaking his head.

“Why don’t we try to keep this outing violence-free.”

“Anyone see anything?” asked Bogey through comms.

“Negative,” said Pax. He heard the same reply in his ear from the rest of the men.

“Who are you talking to?” she whispered.

“We all have communication devices implanted behind our ears. It connects to the auditory system, allowing us to hear the others and to speak without any visible wires.”

“That’s amazing,” said Deanna. “Did you invent that?”

“Not me,” smirked Pax, “but our genius people at G.R.I.P. All of our comms systems are more advanced than others. Speaking of, we also use trackers in case someone is taken. Sometimes it’s jewelry, always in our phones, tablets, and laptops.”

“So, are you tracking me right now through my ring?” she asked.

“No.” He smiled at her, stopping to give her a kiss. “No, the ring is just sapphire, diamond, and gold. It’s also too easy for someone to steal. We’ll be talking to you when we get back about tracking you in other ways.”

“Is my phone being tracked?” she asked. He smiled at her.

“Are you going to hit me if I say yes?” Deanna laughed, shaking her head.

“No. In fact, I just might have to kiss you. No one has ever loved me enough to want to ensure my safety the way you do.”

“That makes me sad for you,” he said. “You’re so perfect, Dee. So absolutely beautiful and wonderful and smart. I was panicked when you left Belle Fleur.”

“I could tell when you showed up on my doorstep with groceries,” she grinned. “It was the sweetest, most generous thing anyone has ever done for me. Including my parents.”

Pax stared at her a moment as they walked, shaking his head. Sooner or later, she was going to need to forgive her parents for trying so desperately to protect her that they inadvertently put her at risk. They didn’t know what could happen. But he worried about Deanna carrying that much frustration and disappointment.

“Pax?” she whispered. “That man up there ahead of us. Those are the shoes I saw in the grocery store.”

“Where?”

“Him. He’s wearing dark blue dress pants and the leather loafers with a gold horse bit on them. He’s wearing a blue and white striped polo shirt.”

“You’re sure?” he asked her.

“Positive. I know that brand. They’re about five grand per pair. I had an account once that wanted to use them as a tax deduction, saying they were part of his work uniform.”

“Everyone hear that? Five-eleven, brown hair, blue slacks, blue and white polo, and loafers, scanning them now.” He heard a chorus of ‘roger that’ and continued following the man. He still couldn’t see his face, but once he stopped, Pax would get a good view of him.

They followed him up and down the aisles until he finally stepped into a large booth displaying several boats.

“That’s the dude from the bar,” said Christopher, sidling up to the pair.

“It is,” whispered Deanna.

They walked around the boats, touching them, looking at the sales materials provided, then listened to the conversation the man was having with a potential customer.

“You won’t find anything faster, sturdier, or more capable,” said the man.

“What are these for?” he asked, tugging on metal loops attached to the top deck.

“Sometimes you have to tie things down when it gets windy, or you need to make sure something doesn’t go overboard,” he grinned. “I mean, you don’t want a hot babe on your arm to get away.”

The man gave an awkward laugh and turned, leaving the booth. As the salesperson tossed the selling catalog on a table, Pax walked toward him and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hey, there! How can I…” Turning, he froze, seeing the man standing in front of him with the Jordan twins behind him. “Listen, I’m working. I don’t know what you want.”

“We just wanted to return this to you,” said Pax, dangling the medal and key. The man looked surprised, almost pleased at first, then shook his head.

“Sorry, that’s not mine,” he said.

“Bullshit,” said Christopher. “You were tossing that thing back and forth in your hand while sitting at the bar. It belongs to you.”

He took it from Pax, examining it like he’d never seen it before, and then nodded.

“Oh. Right. Yeah, I remember now. I was holding this for my niece.”

“Your niece? Your niece drives a boat?” asked Pax.

“Hey, who the fuck are you, the cops or something?” he snapped. “I’m busy here working, if you can’t tell.”

“I can’t tell, and would it matter if I were the cops? I mean, you’re holding a boat key, and you’re a boat dealer, but what I find really odd is the Saint medal that protects children. You don’t appear to be a child. I mean, you’re definitely small, like a child.”

The man was seething with anger, wanting to lash out, but knew that customers and his bosses were watching.

“Look, I don’t know what your deal is, but you’re at my place of work harassing me.”

“Oh, man,” laughed Pax. “We haven’t even begun to harass you yet. That will come later. Right now, you’re going to take a little walk with us and tell us where you got the medal.”

“Fuck you,” he said in a low, hushed voice. “You try to touch me, and I’ll scream for security.”

“You really are stupid, aren’t you?” smirked Patrick. He turned, waving his arm toward the group of men behind him. “It’s not just us. We’ve got our own security team. You’re going to do this nicely, or I’m going to let your boss know what a little piss-ant you really are.”

They could tell he was rethinking the entire thing, trying to figure out how he could make his escape work.

“Marvin? Everything okay?” asked an older man.

“Oh, yeah,” he nodded, seeing the man.

“Marvin was just going to take us somewhere private to talk about payment options,” said Pax.

“Wonderful! Well, go ahead. I’ll cover for you.” Christopher smiled at him.

“Yeah, Marvin. Let’s go.”