Page 72 of The Stone Family Warrior

Trent wagged a finger at him. “There’s an island out there that has been closed since Katrina. It’s off-limits, and for some reason there are security guards there.” Which was the truth. Trent just neglected to mention that he, Trey, Marshall, Brooks, and Hunter had slipped past security and already visited the island in the dark of night. He was hoping that Banks didn’t know about that little adventure.

Banks still glared at him. “You’re telling me that the Stone men couldn’t bypass the security and get out there?”

Trent threw his hands up. “I need help. I mean …” He gestured to himself with a self-deprecating motion. “I am amazing, but I am still only one man. You know all of my brothers are AWOL right now.” He tried to look annoyed. “Believe me, I’ve been telling my brothers and Kensi about this for a long time. But they’re not listening.”

Banks seemed to be evaluating the situation. “I’m not stupid, Mr. Stone, but I am intrigued. I am intrigued that you may be telling me the truth because you are genuinely frustrated and maybe this little side dish hasn’t meant anything to you,” he said, wagging his finger at him. “I haven’t ruled that out. Maybe you let yourself be distracted because you haven’t been able to get out to the island.”

Trent nodded, trying to make this believable. “Exactly. I’ve been waiting. I met up with an old friend and we’ve been passing time together, but you know my priority is that treasure. In fact, if you could figure out a way to get out there by tomorrow, I’d go with you. We could help each other.” He gave Banks the sincerest smile he could muster. It probably wasn’t much, but there was a lot banking on getting this man to let him go.

Banks burst out laughing. “Wow, you are feeling desperate to get away from me with your little missy. You’re offering to treasure hunt with me?”

Movement and sound came from Lucy’s boutique. There was loud laughter as someone shouted, “I saw them walk this way!” It was Lucy’s voice.

Trent really hoped they wouldn’t come this way. He didn’t want to start a firefight and risk lives.

Banks turned in that direction. “I’ll get you a message if I can get us in there. But you’d better show up, Mr. Stone, and you’d better not be playing me.” He pointed at Liberty. “Or else she’s dead.”

One of the guys with him grabbed his shirt. “We have to go. There’s more coming.” The men rushed away, but one of the security team kept a gun trained on them while they ran down the street.

Part of Trent wanted to pull his gun and get off some shots, chase them down, and do what he did as a SEAL: get the bad guy. But the other part of him wouldn’t leave Liberty’s side.

“Trent! Liberty! We have been wondering where you were.” Pastor Henry ran toward them with Lily at his side.

Lucy came into view with Matt and Tatum. “We were worried.”

Liberty leaned into Trent. He found himself wrapping his arms around her, feeling her shaking. “I hate this,” she said. “I can’t believe it. I’m so sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” He held her tighter, his mind working as he tried to think of how he would deal with Banks. A bullet to the head was looking better and better.

Trent told the others what had happened. It led to filing more reports with Phil, the deputy at the police station. They called Tim, since he was Trent’s brother-in-law and the sheriff, and other calls to Brooks, Trey, Kensi, and Marshall followed. They launched into a conference call, adding Matt, Lucy, and Pastor Henry and Lily. For an hour, they threw around ideas about how they would deal with it. Tim made sure to tell his deputy, Phil, not to breathe a word of this to anyone else at the police station.

Trent was already regretting getting any police involved, but his brother-in-law was important, and they could trust him. They needed records, too, to civilly protect Liberty.

An hour later, Trent drove Liberty toward the inn. “Do you need anything from your place?”

Liberty didn’t respond.

He took her hand and felt it trembling. “You okay?”

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