The pain doubled from the two pronged attack of him using the cane on her while gloating about her mother’s betrayal of her father. It hurt deeply, grinding the last visages of her happy childhood memories into the dust, hurting her more gravely than the cane flying at her skin.
Ginny refused to be defeated, not willing to give Allerton anymore satisfaction by deriding her father instead of filling in the gaps of her history.
“You actually think four agents disappearing won’t hold any ramifications from the FBI?”
Allerton stopped swinging the cane to point it at Agent Collins. “My dear, I hate to disillusion you, but your little jig with the FBI is up. I never put my eggs in one basket. I knew the real purpose for your return to Sherguevil Island was to get me to incriminate myself. Agent Collins was a double agent, pretending to be on my payroll while in reality he was gathering information to incriminate me. Fortunately, I have multiple sources in the FBI and the CIA; they warned me of the deception. Needless to say, the four agents will disappear without a trace, just like you and Gavin. Those on my payroll will bury the disappearance beneath miles and miles of red tape where it will never be found.” Giving a malicious chuckle, he brought the cane down on her shoulder with such force she fell to her side.
“Ginny raised her hand to push her hair from her face to look him in the eye. “Just tell me one thing … What was the artifact you think I stole?”
The cane stopped midswing, as if he was taken by surprise. “You really don’t remember?”
“No,” she said truthfully.
His chuckle melted into a frown.
“You took it. I saw it with my own eyes.”
“How?”
“On videotape. All the interiors of the ships coming into the island are set up with surveillance when visitors dock their boats for screening.”
“Why am I not surprised you lied?” Scornfully spat out at him. “You make that a habit, don’t you?”
The expected swing of the cane didn’t come because of her snide remark. Instead, it gave him the opportunity to gloat. “Sometimes my guests need motivation to come to an agreement with me.”
“Agreement? You mean kiss your ass?”
Ginny saw little black dots when he struck out at her.
“That day, with the owner being present, I couldn’t get access to the camera. The owner was there and found the artifact missing. He didn’t know who had taken it, only that it wasn’t where it was supposed to be. He searched for it before he called for my assistance. One of the crew had accidently left a deck door unlatched, which is how you must have gotten inside. By the time we got to the boat, all we had to go on was a vague description of Gyi’s son going to different boats at the marina and looking for something or someone. We only knew what the owner told us—the artifact was missing. Naturally we assumed it was Manny. Unfortunately back then, I didn’t have the state-of-the-art equipment to work with or the feed would have gone to my office. I had to wait until I got access to the equipment on board the owner’s boat to see what Manny had stolen. By then, my security had cornered Manny on Gyi’s boat. Manny denied being on the board, saying he didn’t know what had been taken. Needless to say, he was telling the truth. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that at the time, and sadly for Manny and Gyi it was one of the few times in my life I lost control. By the time I was able to retrieve the security tapes, clearly showing you were the one sneaking on the boat, you and Trudy had already been sent to your grandmother’s. I was eagerly waiting for your return when the plane went down. Your pretend death was a stroke of genius, by the way. I believed it, but I did cover my bases if you were alive, but somehow you managed to keep just out my range. I’d like to know how.”
Ginny didn’t flinch when Allerton used the tip of the cane to force her shoulder backward so she had to look up at him.
“You admit killing them was a mistake?”
“I’ve never been a man dwell on my mistakes. Especially”—clicking his tongue at her he walked around her prone body—“because those were your mistakes. You alone are responsible for the events that transpired. I was only trying to appease a guest who was quite angry.”
In spite of the excruciating pain of her injuries, Ginny pressed on with her questions, determined to find out the answers since that fateful day had changed the course of her future. “So, the owners of the boats don’t even know you’re watching them to this day?”
“Depends; it’s on a need-to-know basis.”
“In other words, you use the tapes to blackmail them to get what you want, when you want?”
“It’s a quid pro quo world. I merely take advantage of the fact.” He shrugged. “I’ll have to re-evaluate that night over again. Don’t fear, my dear, you will be reunited with your husband once I’m assured you no longer have any information I need, then my men will wear away the shine of you being their new toy.” As he spoke, he lifted the cane high above his head.
Ginny could see the salacious desire in his face to strike her one more time before he turned her over to his men. She curled tighter into a ball by bringing her thighs up and lowering her arms to cover her belly.
“Have you finally run out of things you want to say to me?”
Holding her head at a proud angle, Ginny refused to utter the pleas of mercy that Allerton was trying to beat out of her. Then a loud sound coming from the office doorway had everyone turning their heads in that direction.
Gavin stood there like a gladiator ready to do battle.
“Ginny might not, but I sure as fuck do.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ginny took one glance at Gavin and the men who came storming into the room with raised military guns and knew reflexively what to do. She was already ducking her head to the floor when shots rang out, shattering the stunned silence of Allerton and his guards.
Peeking through the hair that had fallen over her face, she saw Gavin lunge toward Allerton, jerking the cane out of his hands and beating him with it like a madman.
One of the guards closest to her fell like a tree, his head landing near hers with blank eyes and a hole between them. Ginny didn’t have to guess that he was no longer a threat.
“Find the keys to the handcuffs!”
Ginny recognized Viper’s voice as she lay still. Moving her gaze away from the dead guard’s face, she saw Gavin continue to beat Allerton with the cane. She could tell from his expression that he wasn’t going to stop until Allerton was dead.
“Reaper, stop! That’s enough!” Hammer yelled, grabbing the cane away from him.
Reaper just started kicking Allerton with his boot.
“Reaper!” Viper shouted out in the sudden silence as the sound of bullets stopped. “The FBI wants him.”
“They can have what’s left of him.” Gavin’s voice held no emotions, like the others who were yelling at him to stop, yet the blows he landed on Allerton were vicious.
“Stop him, or we’ll never find out what happened on Clindale.”
Recognizing Agent Collins’ ragged voice had her looking over to see two of the agents supporting Agent Collins as the third helped him rise, then her view was blocked when Shade’s stark face appeared before hers, as he reached out to touch her.