Page 22 of Saul

“Yeah,” I said. “What got you into this life?” I’d wanted to ask him that for two days.

“You mean the clubs, and Ricky and me?” I nodded. “My dad was my mom’s sub.”

My eyebrows might have hit the roof even though I tried not to react, and he grinned. “But wasn’t your dad—” Then I shut up, remembering the article I’d read about the heart surgeon.

Chris shrugged, but he smiled. “They hid it for a long time, as it was only something they did at their club, but I came home on leave suddenly when my first deployment got moved up and Mom had left her suitcase open on the bed. They were going away for the weekend. Mom heard me calling for her and came out of her bathroom just as I saw the things she had in it. Asked me if I had any questions, and I did.” He grinned. “As you can imagine I asked her if she wanted me to ask my dad, and she just said that if I was interested, then I needed to hear it from both of them.”

And this time, instead of being shocked, I was jealous. I never had the chance to be close with Mom, and Dad certainly never cared to give me any advice.

“Let me know if you have any questions or want to visit a club,” Chris said, then took his drink and returned to the table. I decided to follow, just as the server came in with another covered cart and Joshua looked up.

“What’s he doing?” Joshua mumbled. “All the food’s out. He’d better not have the pies I made for breakfast,” and he stood.

Then all hell broke loose.

The man yanked the other server back into him and drew a gun from the covered tray, fired once into the air, then held it to her head. “Everyone freeze or I shoot her.”

I reacted immediately and had Calvin under my body before I catalogued what was happening. He was panting in panic, and I eased off him a little, then kissed his head, silently begging him not to move. “Everyone freeze!” the gunman repeated and we all stilled.

The man who I assumed was the third hire, as he was in uniform, ran in through the patio doors holding a gun.

“Everyone is going to lie face down,” the third one said. “We lucked out with so many being in one place. Plenty of targets,” he added silkily. “Now, which one of you is Grayson Anderson? If you don’t volunteer the information, I’ll start shooting until you do.”

My breath caught in my throat. Grayson had left with his party, but what was going to happen when they found out?

Chapter twelve

Saul

Ieased off Calvin but kept him covered, my hand on his head to keep it down. “I said everyone face down,” the gunman yelled.

Too shocked to obey initially, everyone moved quickly. With one exception and my heart sank as May-belle didn’t move from her chair. “You’ll have to excuse me,” she drawled, completely unfazed, “but I can’t get down there.”

The guy all but snarled at her, and the second man grabbed her purse and looked inside. “No weapons.” He grinned and pocketed some bills then threw her purse on the floor.

I felt Calvin shaking under me and squeezed his shoulder a tiny bit to try to offer reassurance. I didn’t speak because the last thing I wanted was to have him singled out. I looked over at Chris and he met my gaze.

Yep.It was up to us. I glanced around and met the gaze of Chris’s other two men. They both inclined their heads slightly, ready for orders.

The gunman didn’t seem to take May-belle as a threat. "I want Grayson Anderson,” he yelled. Well, shit. They’d clearly targeted him. Maybe the pirates had given them ideas.

Daniel spoke, as difficult as it was when lying on the floor. “They’re not here. Their whole party was taken off the island this afternoon.” The other gunman swore and strode over to Daniel, aiming the point of his gun at Daniel’s head.

“Don’t you fuck with us.”

“I’m not,” Daniel said, still calm. “The Coast Guard came this afternoon and told us there had been pirates targeting smaller islands near the keys. I gave the guests the opportunity to relocate, and they chose to do so.”

The one holding the other server scoffed. “So you’re the big man, huh!” And I saw Joshua close his eyes in horror. “How about we start with what you have?” He turned and spat. “I want you to crawl over to me on your knees. Show me how much you don’t want me to put a bullet in any of your guests.” The whole room seemed to hold still. I knew the old revolver the gunman was holding only held six bullets, but the other guy had a Glock that probably held ten. And while he might take the gun away from her head, he still had the other server by the neck.Too risky.

Daniel moved without hesitation and came up on his hands and knees. I glanced at Chris, and he was staring intently at the first guy, and I glanced over.

And then I saw it.

The female he was holding hostage was watching Daniel and her lip tipped up almost in a smile, but then was quickly hidden. I looked at Chris and he nodded almost imperceptibly. She wasn’t being held hostage;she was one of them. And it had worked. It had made us all compliant because of the threat to her.

Daniel started crawling. Everyone held their breath when the second guy seemed to run out of patience and pointed the gun. “Get up.”

“Everyone on their feet and in that corner,” the first one said, confident we were suitably cowed. He eyed us. “I want phones, jewelry, cash, and cards.”

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