Page 59 of Fighting for Brielle
“My girlfriend Brielle McAdams is Mrs. Gage and Shawna’s self-defense teacher. They invited her to this lovefest, and I’m her date.”
“I might have known you’d hook up with her.” Linda rolled her eyes. “Now what the hell were you doing in my cabin?”
* * *
Brielle spotted the Gages’ personal security detail dressed alike in dark suits and placed strategically throughout the decks. She slipped by a couple of them and entered the massive lower deck. Guests loitered, talking and laughing and drinking. No one noticed her as she pushed open the door to the gym. In this area of the superyacht, the side jutted out into the water where guests could enjoy the view on comfortable lounge chairs. Brielle surmised how easy it would be to transfer arms this way and glanced around the gym. Rectangular compartments with leather lids lined the walls. Typically, they should contain life jackets. Brielle lifted the lids and discovered they didn’t. Instead, snuggled inside, she found wooden crates that could easily hold the arms. She took pictures with her cell phone. Looking down, she saw a piece of packing material and picked it up. She dropped it, along with her cell phone, into her evening purse and hurried from the gym.
* * *
Linda glared at Justice as she waited for a response.
“Actually, I, um…” Justice floundered for an answer.
“Oh, there you are!” Brielle hailed him. “Did you find a bathroom, baby?”
“Yeah, I did.” He grinned. “In Linda’s VIP cabin.”
Brielle placed her hand on his chest and kissed him fully on the mouth. Turning to Linda, she smiled. “Nice to see you again.”
Linda frowned at them, suspicion shining in her eyes. “So, Brielle, now that you’re dating the chief are you planning to transfer to the LBPD?”
Brielle shook her head. “No. On Monday I’ll find out if I made SWAT or not. Even if I don’t, I’m staying with the LAPD. It’s not a good idea for either one of us to be in a position of power over the other. Besides, there’s no place for me in the LBPD.” She reached for Justice’s hand and started to pull him toward the stairs. “Come on, Chief. They’re serving birthday cake in the lounge.”
“Can’t refuse cake.” He flashed a helpless grin at Linda.
“McQuaid, take my advice. Don’t go looking for trouble, or it just may find you instead.”
He held up his free hand. “I swear I’m not looking for it, Linda. Thanks for the warning, though.”
* * *
Justice and Brielle couldn’t wait to disembark from the yacht. The rowdy, drunken behavior of the guests made them uncomfortable, especially when they saw how it affected Shawna. Her face burned with embarrassment. And the dirty looks Vivian kept shooting at Brielle indicated she didn’t approve of her bringing Justice as a guest given Elliott’s attitude toward him. It didn’t bother Brielle, but it upset Shawna when she figured out what was going on. Brielle assured her it didn’t change their relationship.
Both remained silent during the short drive to Brielle’s house. She kicked off her stilettos while Justice tossed his jacket onto the multi-sectional sofa and removed his tie and partially unbuttoned his shirt. He followed Brielle into the kitchen where she brewed a pot of coffee and handed him a cup.
“So, you go first. Did you find anything?”
“No. The cabins were clean, well, except the one where I interrupted a couple having sex. And honestly, Bri, the way you look in that dress I was tempted to lure you into one of those cabins, rip it off your body, and make love to you.” He grinned and took a sip of coffee.
She laughed lightly. “Later, baby. What else?”
“I noticed the Gages employed heavy muscle. Far more than necessary, if you ask me. No way I was getting near the upper deck to search their private cabin. I get Gage is the mayor, and maybe he’s worried about his family’s safety, but those guys weren’t your run-of-the-mill security guards,” Justice commented.
“No, they weren’t,” she agreed, lifting the mug to her lips.
“What about you? Any luck?”
Her eyes glowed with triumph as she smiled. “Yes. Look at these.” She removed the piece of packing material from her evening purse and pulled up the photos she took on her cell phone.
Justice studied the pictures and whistled. “So, we were right. Somebody is using Gage’s yacht to move arms. Who would suspect it, right?”
“Not justsomebody,” she added. “Axel Anderson. I’m sure of it.” Brielle paused. “The only place around here where the rich can dock their superyachts is Del Rey Landing. Security is tight. There’s no way the arms are being loaded onto the Spectrum at that location. We don’t even know where the arms are coming from.”
“We need to find out where the Spectrum’s been lately. I’ll have Hutch look into it.” He drained his coffee mug and set it in the kitchen sink.
Brielle presented her back to him as she placed her own mug in the sink, and the sight of her bare skin enflamed him, turning his thoughts from their investigation to making love with her.
His eyes began to burn with an intense fire.
