Page 16 of Criminology of a Character

“You would pull his arms off for me?” Bel smiled at him.

“In a second.”

She laughed softly as she stood from her chair and slid onto his lap, and her conversation with her father came flooding back as she ran her fingers through his hair. Eamon Stone was the last man she’d date because no one would ever love her like he did.

“I don’t know what I need from you,” she said honestly. “Just keep me grounded, I guess. What I want is Kinley not to escape justice again.”

“Barry won’t let that happen,” Eamon said. “He can’t be bought. This time, Kinley doesn’t walk.”

Five hours later,the FBI landed on the island without warning or ceremony. Their tactical helicopters descended on the jungle like locusts, a single chopper lowering her flight to gather Bel and Eamon where they hid among the trees before the swarm aimed for the mountains. Agent Barry had alerted Bel to their arrival, and Eamon delivered her unseen to the rendezvous point before he guided the raid to the hidden building’s location.

“Stay here.” Barry shoved two FBI jackets at the couple as the helicopter landed. “You aren’t officially part of this investigation,” he said when Bel opened her mouth to protest. “The last thing we need is Alex Kinley—or anyone else we find inside—to know you uncovered this operation. You shouldn’t even be here except I believe you deserve to see this through, so stay put until I clear you to exit.”

“We will,” Eamon promised for her, earning him a glare. Unfazed by Bel’s annoyance, he met her stare with a glare of his own, and after seconds of unspoken conversation, she practically growled.

“We’ll wait for your signal,” she said, and seeing the towering millionaire had no intentions of letting the detective out of his sight, Agent Jameson Barry jumped out of the helicopter and raced for his team.

“He’ll get Kinley.” Eamon grabbed her hands and pulled them into his lap. “The island only has one runway. There’s nowhere for him to run.”

“This man escaped the impossible before,” she said.

“And your presence won’t stop him from doing it again,” he said. “It’ll only show him your face. A villain with his tastes set his sights on you once before. I’m not letting that happen again.”

“It’s annoying when you’re right,” she mumbled.

“I don’t mind being annoying as long as you’re safe.” He trailed his knuckles over her cheek before pressing a quick kiss to her tanned skin, and as irritated as she was at being left out, she wouldn’t trade his love for the world.

Chaos destroyed the jungle’s peace as Barry led the charge, the beautiful tropical island forever stained ugly by this sin, and Bel leaned against Eamon’s shoulder to wait. They sat hand in hand as the violence raged. The sun fell through the sky, and, too nervous to speak for fear she’d miss something of importance, Bel lost track of time.

“Isobel?” Eamon’s voice broke through her daze.

“What happened?” She flinched at his sudden nearness. How long had he been calling her name?

“It’s over.” He nodded at the FBI agents jogging for them.

“Detective,” Agent Barry said as the couple jumped down from the helicopter, a bewildered expression plastered on his features. “You have no idea what you uncovered here. There’s some bad news, but it’s nothing compared to this success. It’s incredible.”

“Bad news?” Bel fixated on those two small words, and Eamon’s hand slipped under the FBI jacket to press supportively against her spine. “What happened?”

“We didn’t find Alex Kinley,” he said.

“No.” She stepped forward, her movements jerky and sudden. “No, that’s not possible. He’s here. He has to be here. I saw him with my own eyes.”

“He’s not the only person missing,” Barry said, and Bel’s stomach clenched. “I sent a team to the resort, but they couldn’t locate Dr. Jake L. Hyde. It seems he and Kinley fled when they got wind of our arrival.”

“How could they have escaped? No planes have left the island,” she said, glancing back at Eamon. His hearing would’ve detected a takeoff, and he nodded his confirmation. No aircraft had departed from the runway.

“They might still be in the jungle. There are acres of undeveloped land, so who’s to say there isn’t a safe house somewhere,” Barry said. “Hyde probably has radar protecting his property. When our helicopters entered his airspace, it must have triggered an alarm. This is a private island. There’s no way this clinic was erected without his knowledge. Hyde knew what this jungle was hiding, and he fled when he realized we’d uncovered his sins.”

“We should’ve stayed and watched the building until you got here,” Bel said.

“And done what? You were unarmed and alone,” Barry said. “You were smart not to confront Kinley by yourself. I understand your disappointment, and we won’t rest until we find him. No planes have departed, so he’s either hiding on this island with Hyde, or they escaped by boat. They can’t have gone far, but don’t concentrate on his escape. This building is the single greatest law enforcement discovery of the decade, and it’s all because of you. Come on, let me show you what you found.” Hepaused and glanced between the couple before his gaze settled on Eamon. “Keep that FBI jacket on, and if anyone asks, you’re a consultant. I shouldn’t allow a civilian near this case, but I’m smart enough not to stand in your way.”

Eamon nodded his agreement, and Barry led them into a small lobby with an elevator that descended deep into the mountainside. The trio remained silent as they fell through the earth, and even though Bel expected the sight waiting for them on the opposite side of its door, it still stole her breath.

“When you suspected that Alessandro Gianni had undergone plastic surgery to escape FBI custody, you had no idea the magnitude of your prediction,” Barry said with a flourish of his arm, and Bel stepped out into the underground clinic with embarrassingly wide eyes. The facility was enormous, boasting some of the most expensive and high-tech medical equipment available, but the narrow hallways, cramped rooms, and dark walls made her feel claustrophobic. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but this dim, subterranean maze fit every nightmare the title Black Market invoked.

“This is an international surgical operation,” Barry said, as if he didn’t believe his own words. “It’ll take time to uncover the scope of what happened here, but it seems this clinic specializes in restructuring criminal’s faces.” He glanced at Bel, but she wasn’t glad she’d been right, not when the magnitude of this operation meant hundreds of heinous individuals had escaped the consequences of their sins.

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