“Damn.” Bryce clutched his chest. “Why’re you always sneakin’ up on me like that?”
Jaden quirked a smile. “I didn’t.”
Instinct had him surveying the area before getting too comfortable. The hotel was shaped in a horseshoe, wrapping around a private piece of white sand beach the size of a football field. He glimpsed metal twinkling in the sunlight from the top window of the building to his left. Another on the right. There were two shooters in the building and three on the ground.
Wasn’t exactly afternoon tea with the Queen, but he didn’t figure he’d break much of a sweat if anything went down.
Jaden was used to working alone in worse situations. His odds doubled having Bryce as backup.
And yet, a little voice in the back of his head fired off a warning.
“What’s wrong with my shirt?” Bryce glanced down at the parrots covering the cotton button down. “What do you have against birds?”
“Nothing. I just didn’t want to see every species crammed on one sleeve.” Jaden was more of a White V-neck Hanes t-shirt and faded blue jeans guy. His compromise on this trip? Flip-flops.
“I’m like the woodwork. Besides, this one here,” Bryce said, pointing in the center of his chest, “is an African gray parrot. Pretty, ain’t she?”
“She’s friggen Miss America. Too bad there’s no sunshine to go with a shirt like that,” Jaden said with a wry smile. What was it about sunny places that made grown men want to wear shirts they wouldn’t be caught dead using to wash their cars with back home?
Bryce glanced up at the skies. “Hurricane’s moving in. Supposed to be a bad one. Wouldn’t want to have to stick around here longer than I had to.”
“Maybe we’ll be outta here by lunch. We figure out what she’s doing in the mix and why she’s giving money to a cartel, and maybe we find Camilla.” Jaden was ready to slap handcuffs on her. Death would be the easy way out.
“I hope. I’m hungry,” Bryce said, patting his stomach and planting himself on a beach towel.
The small folder with intel about Lauren James’s life pointed toward her innocence. Floral shop owner that specialized in native plants and wildflowers. Successful entrepreneur. Tough childhood, yes, but she’d distanced herself and made good. On the surface, she was someone Jaden could even respect.
Was she a simple small business owner who just happened to be related to an international money launderer? Was she the unfortunate recipient of bad shared genes?
“So it’s two against five?” Jaden said, not minding those odds.
“Looks so. For now. More’s on the way. I can’t hang around for long.” Bryce looked glum as he checked his watch. “Our guys should’ve been here already.”
“What? You got a problem with the numbers?”
“Like it better when they’re flipped,” Bryce said truthfully. “Think this situation’s about to blow?”
Jaden rolled his shoulders. “Hard to say.” He paused, thinking how it would be nice to have at least one friend to watch a game with sometime. “You know, when this is over, we should grab a beer.”
“Sure thing.”
Jaden leaned forward until he located the asset. Not like he could miss that shock of long red hair against white sand anyway. In the sun, her hair shimmered like crystals.
She sat on the edge of a bright blue lounge chair in the middle of a hundred yards of oceanfront property. There was beach out in front of her, hotel around her, and a row of palm trees on either side. Her small overnight bag was tucked under the lounger. It was most likely stuffed with cash.
She was beautiful. He didn’t need to be any closer than five feet from her to tell that. Her pale green tank pressed against full breasts, a white cotton skirt fell to her calves. Her fiery hair framed an almond-shaped face and brown eyes with gold flecks in them. Her lips were full, pink and kissable…he stopped himself right there. Her lips were none of his damn business. He dismissed the thought as a side effect of going too long without female companionship. Another job casualty.
Besides, all the color had drained from her face, and she was blinking rapidly. Meant she was anxious. Nervous.
Her folded arms and squared shoulders told him she was ready to jump out of her skin if someone yelled, “Boo.” And yet, he had to give it to her, she was being brave enough to sit there anyway. Of course, he couldn’t tell if she feared the men watching her or the possibility of getting caught. His initial assessment of her gave him the impression she wasn’t a career criminal.
Jaden glimpsed someone moving from around the side of the hotel and heading toward a cluster of palm trees. The man moved stealthily along the row of palms, crouched low enough not to draw attention to himself.
Tension permeated the beach, powering the heat and humidity times ten. Jaden’s blood was finally pumping again. Adrenaline. He wouldn’t feel this alive sitting behind a desk nursing his shoulder.
The ominous storm clouds that had been threatening thickened as a light sprinkle began. The heavy clouds blocked the sun, making it dark as night. The rain shooed tourists back into the hotel, their fists full of rainbow-colored drinks with chunks of pineapple resting on the rims of the glasses.
Bryce took a step toward Jaden. His eyes bulged, and he made a sharp gasp to force air into his lungs.
Another rush of adrenaline hit Jaden, popping him to his feet long before his brain had time to register what had happened.
Bryce’s large frame stumbled forward, wobbled, and then abruptly sat down. He slumped down. The look of shock was fresh on his face as the African gray parrot on his chest turned blood red. The dark liquid infected
