This situation?
He could make a difference here and there was no way he was going to let this man stand in the way of Ashlyn being found. No matter her condition, he was bringing her home.
The drumbeat in Daniel’s head was nothing more than an echo now. Distant. He couldn’t bring his daughter back. Tears threatened but he held them in. He couldn’t save Naomi. He let anger and frustration circulate through his veins until he white knuckled the KA-BAR and made a fist with his free hand.
“You don’t have to talk. Whether you live or die is up to you. I’m going to stick around and keep digging in your life until I hit pay dirt. Along the way if I find out a worker at Royale is in any way connected to stealing pretty blond American girls I will personally ensure that the government brings an army of federal agents to your doorstep and this place, hell, this entire island will be out of work following the amount of media attention that will rain down on your doorstep. There’ll be no more tourists. Not one family will ever bring their child here again and I’ll make damn sure of it. There’ll be more media coverage than when the girl disappeared in Aruba years ago. This island won’t survive the barrage of reporters hungry for a front-page story and eager to warn travelers of the dangers of this country.”
Isiah squinted like he was in physical pain hearing Daniel’s threat. The man cared about his country and he had a conscious. Daniel could work with both.
“So yeah, you may think your life is a good trade for keeping the girl’s whereabouts hidden but here’s the thing, I kill you and I stick around. No one will search for you. No one will care. Your people will believe you talked to me. I’ll make sure of that. They’ll spit on your grave,” Daniel continued. His patience ran thin—thin enough to break.
Isiah was already shaking his head, shutting his eyes like he could block out the reality that was Daniel.
The man couldn’t. Daniel was there. He was close to finding Ashlyn. He would be relentless.
“She’s thirteen-years-old. Still a child. She probably made a mistake and trusted the wrong person. I know she met someone that night. And I know the person she talked to was on this island using the computer in the lobby. You know what that tells me?”
Isiah shook his head. His face scrunched up in pain like it physically hurt to hear about the girl.
Good.
There was no end to which Daniel wouldn’t go in order to bring peace to the girl’s family.
It was about time this man realized it. Daniel was a problem that wasn’t going away until he got the answers Clara deserved.
“You know where she is. You can help a child. Is money worth more than that to you?”
Isiah’s breath was coming out in rasps and tears leaked from his eyes.
“I don’t know what you believe but there has to be a special place in Hell for a man who takes away a child’s innocence,” Daniel continued, feeling relentless. He squeezed his thighs together until he was close to crushing Isiah’s ribs.
Isiah shook his head violently.
“You want that on your head? You want to rip away a child’s innocence?” Daniel pressed on.
Isiah blew out a couple of breaths and squinted.
“Okay. I’ll tell you what I know. But it isn’t much. I fear it isn’t enough,” he finally confessed.
Daniel leaned back on his heels, giving Isiah enough room to breathe.
“What happened to Ashlyn?”
“You want to talk to Rhashan Gray’s family.” Isiah’s face was awash with guilt. His dark eyes looked tired.
“What will they tell me?” Daniel asked.
“It’s their story to tell. Not mine.” On that note, Isiah seemed ready to hold his ground.
“Where can I find him?” Daniel wasn’t amused. The last thing he wanted to do was go on a wild goose chase or start this conversation all over again with someone else and lose all the progress he’d made so far.
“He works here at Royale.” Isiah’s eyes were steadfast now, determined. “I will take you to meet his wife. She will talk to you because she’s my sister.”
Daniel could be getting himself walked into a trap.
There was nothing about Isiah’s demeanor that lead Daniel to believe the man had a dark bone in his body. He did not walk with the assured confidence of a man in charge, of a warrior.
And yet Daniel had learned things weren’t always as they seemed when it came to deviant minds or desperate people.
There’d been more times than he could count that he’d encountered a woman strapped with explosives walking toward the military compound where he’d been stationed. Children were sometimes used to lure soldiers close enough to blow everyone up.
Daniel had a decision to make. Trust Isiah and take the risk of walking into a trap. Or walk away and start with someone else. Now it was Daniel’s turn to issue a sharp breath.
“Where can we find her?”
Chapter 15
Daniel wanted to bring Clara with him to meet Rhashan Gray’s wife, but he couldn’t risk her life if this didn’t pan out. She could also become a liability that could be used against him at a critical moment.
It was still early enough for most tourists to be sleeping off their Pina Colada indulgences from last night, so there was little activity on the resort. No one would notice Daniel coming and going.
In one hop, Daniel was on his feet and offering a hand-up to Isiah. He sleeved his KA-BAR. “Let’s go.”
Isiah led the way, winding through the pathways. Daniel noticed there was a subsystem of pedestrian highways at the resort not nearly as glamorous as the ones guests traversed. He hoped Clara was still sleeping. She hadn’t gone more than three or four hour stretches since he met her days ago. Days? He felt like
