Her Daring SEAL (Midnight Delta Book 5) (21 page)

There was a little part of her, okay a large part of her, that worried about going.  Hell, her throat still hurt from where a guy had tried to kill her! 

“Are you nuts?” she exclaimed.  “Every three hours is overkill.”

“I want to know what in the hell is going on.  I don’t want to have to just rely on that fucking tracker if I don’t have to.  Remember Aiden is flying in early, so he’ll be on Vancouver Island if you need him.  He’s going to find you if you don’t call in.”

“I hate that part of the plan, if Jiang or Albert get wind of him being there, all bets are off.  The whole mission goes up in smoke.”

“They won’t.  You have to trust us.  Believe in us.”  She saw his utter confidence, and she couldn’t
not
believe.

“I have to go.”  He gripped her shoulders and dove in for a kiss.  She opened to him, needing everything he had to give.  When he was done, he had to steady her.  He handed her purse and laptop bag.  She pulled out her lipstick and re-applied it.  Then he picked up her suitcase and they walked out to the foyer.

––––––––

“Y
ou’re on time.  I like a woman who is prompt.”  Jiang smiled.

“As do I, Uncle Jiang.”  Rylie smiled.

“I will be going with you to Vancouver Island,” Jiang said.  Darius gripped her hand tighter. 

“I am honored.”  Rylie gave the old man a fake smile while Albert gave her a desperate look.  He had obviously not been aware of his uncle’s plans.  The front door opened, and the female servant came in loaded down with luggage.  Darius went to help her with it.

“Do not, Mr. Lawrence, it is her place to take care of such tasks.”

“A man does not stand idle while a woman is burdened,” Darius said as he assisted her with the four suitcases.  She looked scared and grateful at the same time.

The sound of the seaplane was unmistakable. 

“We should go now.”  Jiang motioned to the woman who went to pick up the luggage again.  Darius stilled her hand. 

“I’ll get it.”  This forced Jiang and Albert to each pick up a piece of luggage while Darius carried two.  Now the woman looked really frightened.  Rylie stood back, and as the men went first, she put her hand on the woman’s arm.

“It will be all right.”

“No, it won’t.  I will be in trouble.”

“Please trust me.”  The servant shook her head.  Again Rylie thought about the fact Jiang would soon be in prison, with any luck a Chinese prison.

Once everything was loaded on the plane, Darius tried to kiss her, but Rylie turned her head at the last moment so he kissed her cheek instead.  “Call me when you arrive,” he growled.

“I will, Darling Dare.”  She got into the seaplane and watched him continue to wave to her until she could no longer see him.

“Your man seems quite devoted to you.”

“I prefer men like that,” she replied to Jiang.

“He seems foolishly chivalrous.  He needs to take command he is the man.”  Rylie didn’t reply.

“We have not had a chance to discuss business, you and I.  Everything my nephew has told me has impressed me.  It seems he has only been successful since he has decided to utilize your talents.”  Rylie looked at Jiang for a long time.

“Have you nothing to say?” he asked sharply.

“I didn’t hear a question,” she replied.

“My nephew lacks a certain business acumen.  I wanted to hear your assessment.”

“If you think he is successful because of me, and he had the intelligence to go into business with me, then I would say he has a keen sense of business management.”  She smiled at the old man.  He looked like he had sucked a lemon.

“He also hired Kenneth Klein.  That was almost a fatal mistake.”

“I took care of it.”

“Aren’t you upset?”

“Again, I took care of it.”  She brushed a piece of imaginary lent off of her suit.

“We are set to make twice as much money because of you wooing this new buyer, Terrance Jarlson.”

“We?  I was unaware you were part of Albert’s business venture.  As a matter of fact, I know nothing at all about your holdings.  I was surprised when you decided to come with me.”

“I fund all of Albert’s little endeavors.  As for what I do, you would be surprised.  I have come here to evaluate you, and see if you would be capable of taking on more product.  Right now girls in China are a very hot commodity in our native land, so there is no point in shipping them abroad.  But, Vietnam, Thailand, and other Asian countries produce nice crops I could easily export.”  Rylie almost gagged.

“Of course, I could assist you.”

“That is excellent news.”  He patted her knee.  “I am very interested in seeing up close and personal, how you turn these ducklings into swans.  I also can’t wait to see how this silent auction is run.  It sounds fascinating.”

“First, I have to find a venue and fast. I have arranged to look at two properties as soon as we land.  Both are private residences where the owners are on long holidays.  They routinely rent them out for parties.”

“Why do you have to view them?  Just look at the pictures on-line and rent one.”

“The ambiance for our soiree is critical.”  Plus, she needed to give the team a little more time to check them out to determine which one was better to take down the bad guys and protect the women.  According to Darius, they should know by tonight.

When the plane landed, her first call was to Darius and her second call was to Huan.

“Huan, I’m going to need a room made up for a special visitor.”

“Is it Albert?” he asked.

“It’s his uncle, Jiang Liu.  He has four pieces of luggage for an overnight stay,” she knew it would clue him in on the level of accommodation the man would be expecting at the farmhouse.

“Got it.”

“Thanks.  How are the girls?”

“Not bad.  I think they’ll be ready for things next week.”

“There’s been a change of plans, it’s going to be the day after tomorrow.”  She was met by dead silence.

“I don’t think that will work.”

“We’ll make it work.  I’ll see you tonight.”  She hung up the phone.

“Problems?” Jiang asked.

“Not at all.” She looked around for the car Albert was supposed to have arranged.  It was supposed to have been here at the harbor waiting for them.  This was not an auspicious beginning.  She saw a large limousine pull up, and an even larger uniform driver step out of the driver’s seat.  He popped the trunk and headed towards them.  She recognized him. 
How in the hell had Drake Avery managed to become their driver?

“I recognize you, Ms. Hessman, I didn’t know you were going to have a guest with you,” the man said deferentially.

“This is Mr. Jiang Liu.  Our bags are waiting back near the seaplane.”  She gestured.

“I’ll get them right now.”  He was back carrying all five bags in moments.  The man was huge. 

“Please follow me.”  He had them safely ensconced in the limousine and then asked where they would like to go.

“I’m going to check out two properties here on the island for a party.  Here are the addresses, please take me to the one closest.”  Rylie handed him a paper printout.  Drake pulled out into traffic.

Jiang rolled up the privacy partition.

“Instead of going to the farmhouse tonight, if one of the properties meets with our approval we shall stay there.”  Rylie gulped.

“I can arrange that for you, of course.  For me, I will need to begin work with the girls immediately.  I have forty-eight hours to get them transformed into swans.”

“Have them moved to the property we select.”

Fuck. It would screw up the logistics. 

“I have them in an isolated spot where I can keep an eye on them.  They are easily contained.”

“I want to stay at one of the properties.  I want to see you work with the women.  Make this work.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, Uncle Jiang,” she bit out.

***

A
nd here she had thought Little Liu’s house was the most beautiful she had ever been in, this surpassed all of her dreams.  It was a castle. 

“The main structure of this home was taken stone by stone from a castle in Scotland back in 1885.  Twenty years ago, the renowned architect Felix Sykes built this gorgeous home around the structure, and we have what you’re standing in today.  Isn’t it breathtaking?  It has twenty-two bedrooms, thirty bathrooms, and three kitchens.  This is the perfect home for entertaining.  The cost to rent this for one day is three hundred thousand USD.  It’s a steal.  And of course, we haven’t even discussed the waterfront property and the acres of gardens.”

Drake ghosted up behind her while Jiang looked out the main window.

“This is the right property, it’s isolated and easy to take,” he whispered.

Rylie smiled at the real estate agent.  “Six hundred thousand for three nights, and you have a deal.”  She watched the woman’s smile falter, and Jiang nod his approval.

“I’m sorry, but–”

“A check would be made out to cash.”

The woman held out her hand, her smile bright.  “I’ll leave the keys with you today.”

“I would like you or your staff to e-mail me tonight with caterers, party rental places, and other things I will need to host a party on Saturday.”

“You don’t have it all in place?”  Her shocked expression was priceless.

“Of course, we will be paying expedite fees, in cash.  I was hoping you might have some recommendations for businesses in this area that would be accommodating.  There would be a finder’s fee.”  Again the woman’s eyes filled with avarice.

“I will personally send you an e-mail within three hours.  Again, I can’t thank you enough for your business.”  She shook Rylie’s hand, and went over to Jiang and shook his hand, and gave a little bow.  She looked at Drake in an appreciative manner and then left.  “I’ll walk out with you,” she said to the agent.  She needed to make a quick call to Darius.

As the woman got into her car, she called his number.

“About time.”

“Did you know Drake was going to be my driver?”

“Nope, not until an hour ago.”

“So now I don’t have to call every three hours.  Good, I was hoping to sleep through the night.”

“I hope you get to.  Tell me what’s going on.”  She gave him a brief update about the house.

“Sounds perfect.”

“Now I need to call the seamstress.”

“I love you, Rylie, take care of yourself.”

“I–I”

“I know, baby.”

“Dammit, I can say it.  I love you too!”  He chuckled.  She ended the call with his laughter ringing in her ear.  She called the seamstress shop and got voicemail, and then tried her cell phone and got voicemail as well.  She told her that it was imperative she arrive tomorrow morning for fittings.  She left the address.

She went back into the house. 

“What’s your name?” she demanded imperiously.

“I beg your pardon?”

“I asked what your name is.”

“Drake, ma’am.”

“Drake.  I know you were hired for your discretion.  I will need you to arrange for a bus to transfer twenty-one people from a farmhouse to this location tonight.  Are you capable of completing this task?” Rylie asked in her most condescending Sylvia tone.

Drake pulled out his phone, scrolled through it, and then looked at her and nodded.  “It shouldn’t be a problem, Ms. Hessman.”

“Fine, you will take Mr. Liu and me to the farmhouse, and then you will acquire the bus.  It is eight o’clock now.  We all need to be back here by midnight.  I am depending on you to make this happen.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

***

D
rake called him, at three o’clock that morning.  Apparently it was a zoo at the estate where Rylie had all of the girls.  Some of them were treating it like the biggest slumber party known to mankind and others were inconsolable. 

“That sick old fuck was in the middle of all of it, watching with a half-smile.  You could tell he was trying to figure out who he was going to be selecting.  Rylie knew what was going on.  She worked to keep the girls away from him.”

“Between the two of you, they should be safe.”

“I put a little something extra in his brandy, he fell asleep in his chair.  For a moment I worried I put too much in, because man, who could sleep with all the chaos.  It’s like a six-year-old girl’s birthday party on crack.”

“How’s Rylie holding up?”

“She’s a trooper.  All of them are coming to
Mrs. Hess
.  They might fear her, but they also treat her like a big sister.  I swear she gives off this mothering aura when she is around them, even when she’s trying to be the big bad Sylvia.”

“Did Jiang pick up on it?”

“Nah, he’s too busy salivating over the girls.  Hell, he’s salivating over Rylie too, come to think of it.”

“I noticed that as well.”

“So the property is perfect.  It’s surrounded on three sides by a forest.  You get to it by one long twisty driveway, it’s at least a half mile.  Then there is the beach on the fourth side.  We can easily take it.  Nobody will get away,” Drake said eagerly.

“So you’ll have Finn, Rylie, and Aiden to lead the operation there at the estate.”

“And now instead of me, it’ll be you and Mason taking care of the baby operation on Little Liu’s island.”  Drake sighed.

“What?” Darius demanded.  “What haven’t you told me?”

“One of the girls tried to escape.  Mike made an example out of her.  He knew he couldn’t do anything that would show bruises or broken bones.  He was going to rape her, but Finn stopped it.  Finally, Howard stepped in and made her drink down a bottle of Hot Sauce.  Finn watched.  All of the girls were horrified.  They know they have to stay in line, or they could really end up hurt.”

“Ahhh shit.”  Darius knew hot sauce could result in second degree burns.  “How is she doing?”

“I don’t know.  She’s staying out of sight,” Drake said.  “The girls descended on Rylie like a swarm of locusts.  They’re desperate to believe their new lives with their owners will be better than their current captivity.”  Darius imagined Rylie trying to cope with that much hope and anguish.

“Who’s on watch tonight, you or Finn?”