Page 65 of What Doesn't Kill You…

As Gravel made excuses, Abasi spoke up from the kitchen where he was fixing himself a snack. "If I were you, I'd make an appearance on the streets soon. Otherwise, he's gonna start checking on rental houses to see if anything suspicious comes up. That's what I would do. I'd be thinking you maybe had a team here, backing you up while you were out in the open in the resort."

"Which is exactly what we're doing," Max said, running a hand through his hair. It looked wild when he finished, and Violet made a note to tell him it didn't need cutting. It looked fine the way it was.

"All of this is making me think Damien has a whole lot of incriminating evidence hanging around on Wedding Island," Abasi said. "Otherwise, why get so wound up about one journalist."

Violet watched Max as he practically salivated at the thought of hitting the mother lode.

"Who's on the warehouse?" Damien demanded, pulling their attention back to their target.

"Got two on the dock and we doubled the guard inside," Gravel said.

"Lock it down. No more fucking tours for the guests, is that clear?"

"Yeah, boss."

"And get rid of the florist. She knows better. I won't have some stupid bitch screwing things up for me because she can't follow orders. She knew the warehouse was off limits."

Katrina sucked in a breath.

Max paled and turned to Violet. "We don't have anyone left on the island who can help her. He's going to get to her before we return."

Violet didn't have the heart to tell him that even if they had been on the island, there wasn't a whole helluva lot they could have done to save the florist. Not without blowing the op wide open.

Abasi had his phone out. "Tina," he said, shocking everyone as they realized he'd called the florist. "You don't know me, but Damien's put a hit on you for the screw up at the warehouse. Get the hell off the island." He paused. "Believe me or not, I don't give a shit. But if you have any sense, you'll run." He hung up.

When he realized everyone was staring at him, he shrugged. "I downloaded the staff phone list. Thought calling her was worth a shot."

"You realize," Rochelle said tersely. "If they get her, she can tell them she's been warned, and they'll know we have ears in the estate."

"She won't get a chance to tell them anything if they get their hands on her," Abasi said. "They aren't interested in what she knows, they just want her gone."

Violet had to agree.

"Wouldn't mind a look in that warehouse," Rodrigo said absently. "Damien's reaction makes you wonder what they've got locked up in there."

Violet had been thinking the exact same thing. There might be a whole lot more evidence on the island than even Max had anticipated.

"There's got to be another player," Damien was saying. "Somebody we haven't noticed. Get Arlo to go through the guest list for the resort. Check on everybody." He paused. "While you're at it, get somebody to check the staff out too. Whoever took out Merz has to be a big guy. You don't give a beating like that unless you have some power behind it, and some training."

"That's gonna take a while," Gravel said, sounding unconvinced. "There're a lot of guys here who look like they work out, and that's just the guests."

"What do you suggest we do instead?" Damien's voice was ice. "We've got an unknown threat on the island and the meeting's set for tonight."

Max sat up, his eyes going straight to Violet as they burned with vindication. The sight made her want to pat his head.

"We won't get through the list before tonight," Gravel said. "Maybe I can free up another couple guys to work it, but it'll still take hours to check out the backgrounds of everybody here."

There was another crash. It appeared Damien liked to throw things when he was pissed. And people said Violet had anger management issues.

"Fuck!" he roared. "I don't have a choice. I need to postpone tonight's meeting."

Max shot to his feet as though he was about to argue with someone who couldn't hear him. The tension in the room became thick and dark.

"He ain't gonna be pleased, boss," Gravel said hesitantly. "We could double up on security."

"And where will we get this extra manpower?" Damien mocked. "We've already called in everybody we trust. Go," he ordered. "Deal with the florist and check out everybody who's on the island. I'm calling the resort manager. We're cancelling bookings for the rest of the weekend. I'm not letting any new guests arrive until my business is done."

"That's gonna make people suspicious, boss," Gravel warned.