She definitely was a crusader for victims. She may be offering a false promise. Julian was evil, all right. But he was also dangerous.
* * *
Arizona watched Charlene leave the restaurant. She wasn’t staying here. She had a room in Road Town and was flying out in the morning. She passed the hotel manager. Only then did Arizona notice him. He’d been watching them.
She glanced at Braden and saw he’d noticed, too.
He stood and she stood with him, trailing him out of the restaurant. The manager saw them, his face going deliberately blank, faked nonchalance and then he strode toward the reception desk. The clerk wasn’t there.
“Do you think he’s working for Julian?” she asked Braden when they emerged outside.
Charlene had gotten into an unmarked cab.
“I don’t know. Let’s not take any chances.” He flagged a taxi, this one marked.
“Follow that car,” he told the driver when they climbed into the backseat.
“This isn’t the way to her hotel,” Arizona said as they passed the turn.
In the backseat of the car ahead, Charlene began talking to the driver. She then tried the door handle, or searched for one, her hands going over the doorframe and lower. She twisted in the backseat, looking through the rearview mirror with stark eyes and an open mouth to accommodate for what must be frightened breaths.
“What’s he doing?” Arizona whispered, eyeing their own driver. He didn’t appear to notice anything unusual, or if he had, he kept it to himself.
The car ahead approached Julian’s driveway and turned.
Their driver didn’t slow.
“Turn!” Arizona shouted.
The driver glanced back at her. “This is Julian Blake’s home. We do not go there.”
“Turn, damn it!” Braden shouted.
Flustered, the man turned onto Julian’s driveway. “We are not to go to this home. I take you to gate and that is all.”
“Fine.” Why was everyone so afraid of Julian?
Maybe that was a stupid question. Tatum had disappeared and the last time anyone saw her, she was on her way to see him.
“Look.”
She followed Braden’s point. At Julian’s gate, several men stood. One of them was Julian Blake. The unmarked taxi had stopped just before the gate.
Julian noticed the second car approach and didn’t seem surprised. In fact, he seemed to have expected this, for Arizona and Braden to follow.
The driver stopped the taxi behind the unmarked one containing Charlene.
None of the men at the gate were armed, or so it appeared. They wore stylish dark suits, contrasting with Julian’s pristine white. The man had a thing for white. Did he enjoy how it made him seem pure? A cloak to his inner darkness.
One of the men moved forward to open the rear door of the other car and reached inside. He dragged a struggling Charlene from the backseat.
Arizona climbed out of the cab with Braden. And stood beside him, watching Charlene being manhandled while Julian moved closer.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Charlene shrieked at Julian. “What have you done with my sister?”
“Let her go,” Braden said.
With a wicked grin, Julian took hold of Charlene and shoved. Braden caught her.
“You’re an animal!” Charlene choked out as she regained her balance and stood beside Braden.
Julian kept his gaze on Braden. “Maybe I didn’t make myself clear before. I don’t like trespassers.”
“You forced me here!” Charlene retorted.
“According to whom?” He glanced behind him.
The driver of the unmarked car had gotten out and was now leaning against the closed driver’s door, taking cash from one of Julian’s henchmen.
Julian leaned to look through the windshield of the taxi she and Braden had ridden in. That driver put up his hands and said through his open window.
“I want no trouble.”
In other words, he’d lie if he had to. He’d lie to protect himself and his family. Everyone feared Julian that much. It was appalling.
“We just want our sisters,” Charlene said. She’d likely done this before, pleaded with Julian for her sister.
“I don’t have your sister. How many times do I have to say it?”
“Liar!” Charlene yelled. “What have you done with her?”
Julian moved his look back to Braden. “Leave this island, or next time I won’t be this generous. Next time—” he stepped closer “—I won’t let her go.”
While Arizona’s stomach churned in disgust, Charlene slapped him. Two of the suited men reached into the folds of their jackets and stepped forward.
Julian raised his hand and they stopped, just like in one of her father’s movies. Except this was real.
Seeing Braden’s fists clenched at his sides, Arizona decided it was time to go. She slid her arm on the inside of his.
“Let’s go.”
“The voice of reason,” Julian taunted.
“We’ll be back,” Braden said, unafraid. “If you have Tatum and Courtney, I’ll find out.”
“You won’t find her here. If you were smart, you’d look closer to home.”
What did he mean by that? The man in the white BMW flashed in Arizona’s mind. Did Julian know him? Was Tatum being held somewhere in the States? Were they wasting their time looking here? That couldn’t be. Why drag Tatum all the way back to the States?
Julian walked to the driver’s window of their taxi and leaned down. “Take them to the airport. If they don’t leave, let me know.”
“Yes, sir,” the driver answered as though he worked for the man.
“We’ll be sure and tell the police all about this,” Arizona said. Did he think he could get away with anything?
“Go right ahead,” he said with confidence. “I will simply tell them you were trespassing.” He spread his arms to indicate the people around him. “I have witnesses.”
This was ridiculous. The taxi driver would lie for him? Lie to police?
“If you value those
