Page 10 of Beachcomber Enemy

She moved away from him with eyes glistening, but no tears on her face.

“You’re too hard on Vendi, you know.”

“I was kidding.”

“More like half kidding.”

“You shouldn’t be so sure he has Sassy. He could have gotten my phone number some other way.” Her voice betrayed her doubt.

“You said he likes young girls. They’re vulnerable. Of all our friends on the island, Sassy fits the bill.” There were a few other strategic reasons Dane could think of why Whitey would snatch Sassy besides intel. There was the leverage of holding a hostage. Dane didn’t know whether and that would be within the man’s wheelhouse. He’d need to do some homework on this bastard. He needed to know much more about Whitey Nash than Shana could tell him. Dane sighed.

He said, “We’ll check on Sassy as soon as we get where we’re going.” He lifted his wrist where his trusty waterproof Breitling still ticked away. “In twenty minutes.”

“I’ll call now.”

“It’s still early,” he said as he watched Shana pull out her phone.

“Put in the number. This is an emergency.”

“I’m glad you’re the one calling.” Dane dialed the governor’s well-guarded emergency number he kept in his head for all time. He’d used it before. Once to save Shana.

“Hello,” Shana said after Dane handed the phone back to her. She spoke in a discreet voice, but Dane was so close he could hear everything as if he were the one holding the phone.

“I’m here too.” He didn’t want his friend Peter jumping to the wrong conclusion, getting a call on his emergency line from Shana instead of him.

“Thank God. I heard from Cap about the explosion before it was on the wires. I was just about to have a drink. My way of praying for your safety.”

Dane took the phone from Shana. He put it to his ear and lowered his voice. Shana leaned close.

“Early for a drink. Wait for us. We’ll join you. In about fifteen.”

“You’re here?”

Dane didn’t often have the pleasure of surprising Peter. That’s why the governor was governor. But he was definitely surprised.

“Safe harbor. We need to keep a lid on our still being alive. You’ll need to make it convincing.”

“Can we let Cap in on it? I think we’ll need his help.”

Dane smiled to himself at the fact that Peter hadn’t questioned his plan. Rolled with it in fact.

“You ain’t just whistling Dixie. We’ll need all the help we can get,” Dane said.

Shana gave him a sideways glance, nodding her head in a prompt to find out about Sassy.

“Spill it.” The governor said.

“There may be a hostage situation.”

In spite of Shana’s anxiety, Dane didn’t want to say more while they sat on the bus. Had already said too much, albeit in a near whisper. “We’ll confirm the situation once we arrive.”

Dane disconnected the call. Shana scowled and snatched the phone from him then shoved it back into her bag. She turned to him.

“I can handle it,” she said.

He wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince.

Chapter 5