The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros.: Box Set (130 page)

She laughed. Last night had been amazing. The lovemaking had gone on far into the night, and they had little sleep when Johnny awaken them. “Actually, I’d like to do my yoga, if you don’t mind?”

The look on her face was apologetic, but he understood. Their night had been long, and they had an eternity together.

He nodded that it was okay. “If that is what you want, I guess, I can get in a quick run. All this food!”

He patted his lean torso drawing her eyes to his perfectly chiseled form and the v that hinted at what was beneath his pajama bottoms. She knew what he was trying to do. She was sorely tempted to change her mind in that moment. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.” She licked her bottom lip enticingly. She could tease too, she thought and laughed when she heard his growl. But she backed away before he could grab her. “I, on the other hand, can’t keep up with all the food you eat.”

He relented. “Okay, so no fun now, but a quick work out, and then we can shower together.” His eyebrows raised and lowered mischievously. “We haven’t done that yet.”

Cat laughed. “Hm, that sounds like it could be fun. I’m going to go change, and I’ll meet you out by the pool in a half an hour. I want to be outside today. The weather is beautiful.”

“Perfect,” he winked as she passed by him. Turning on his heel, he slapped her rear when she turned to go change. “I’ll see you later.” Grabbing his running shorts and sneakers, he quickly stripped as she went to the bathroom to change. He left before she returned knowing that if he lingered any longer, neither one of them would be getting in any real workout.

*     *     *

Cat did a
quick version of her routine. She chose to do her stretching by the dock today. Soon this perfect view of the bay would have another boat, she mused as she perfected her breathing. That would be fun, she thought. She loved the water and missed being out on it. Her great grandfather had owned a boat. When she was a young girl, he had taken her out in his small boat in Marken and Volendam, two nearby fishing villages. But this boat would be something much grander than she had ever been on. She finished her stretching and knew Andreas would be back soon, so she sat on the edge of the dock to meditate and think about her great grandparents. How happy they would be to see her now. Her world, her life, was just beginning, and each day it was looking more beautiful than the last.

The Worst of Times

H
e had her.
He fucking had her. He couldn’t believe it. His patience this time had paid off. The boat lurched in the surf. And then hit the beach hard as he pulled her right up on to the shore. He didn’t give a shit. It was a rental. He had used up most of his savings renting the boat each day since Andreas had taken Catarina from the hotel. Yes, he had been watching the bridge, waiting for his car. Waiting to go get Catarina back. He knew the man would break and bring her back. Catarina was a woman you could not get over.

He rented the boat every day for the last seven days, taking it out each morning. Something told him to go in the morning. He would blend in well with the other tourists enjoying an early morning boat ride or the fishing. The waters along Ann Maria Island were calmer and many came out in their water craft, even over the holidays.

He glanced back at the lovely creature lying on the bottom of the boat. She was out cold; the jostling of the waves, and his quick escape had not even made her stir. His car was just twenty feet away. He parked it on this stretch of beach because it was allowed here, and there were not a lot of people in the early mornings. Today was no exception. Especially considering it was Christmas Day.

He noticed just one couple walking and one other couple with a child further up on the beach. They noticed him, and turned his way when the saw the boat come aground. “My girlfriend got sea sick,” he waved them off. The man nodded and turning to his wife, they kept walking in the opposite direction. It was a quiet inlet used by only locals and their guests, but it had been the perfect spot to make his getaway. The second couple, a bit closer, called over. “Do you need any help?”

“Nah, I’m good. I’m just going to get her to our bungalow we rented.” He pointed in the direction of the small buildings across from his car. “Then I’ll go return the rental.”

The couple resumed playing with the toddler, and he swept Catarina into his arms. His cock stirred just holding her. “Sleep, my beauty,” he whispered as her head rolled onto his chest. “Soon, the world will never interfere with us again.”

He climbed out of the back of the boat, one leg at a time, and sat on the edge. Sliding down he carried his love gently to his car. When he reached to open the passenger side door, he heard the man from the beach once more. “Are you sure she is okay?” he asked.

Spiro risked a look back, and the man had gotten up out of the sand. He hastily pushed Catarina into the car. “She took Dramamine, but it made her drowsy.” He closed the car door just as the man reached the car. “We are fine. Really.”

The man tried to peer around Spiro, but Spiro stepped into his view. The man gave him a startled look, and then his eyes widened slightly before he took a step back. “Um, okay, yes, I’ll be off then.”

Spiro felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. The man recognized him despite his disguise; he was hustling off to his wife and child very quickly.

He would have killed them, but he just didn’t have the time. Plus the noise would bring out other people. If he didn’t leave this instant his plans would be ruined. That man was a lucky bastard, he thought, as he hustled around to his side of the car. He got in and the rental started right up. And then he left. His prize, his beauty, asleep by his side. It was where she was meant to be.

*     *     *

Andreas ran.

He cut his 10K by a third and picked up his pace, getting his run done in record time. He was happy, truly happy even though Salvatore was still out there. He knew he would get him, or someone would with all the media attention the case was getting lately. He couldn’t hide forever. Not anymore. He’d make sure every Police Department in the country was looking for him, but today he would put him out of his mind. He would focus on Cat and his family.

She was his family now too. Heart swelling, he jogged the last few steps to the driveway and immediately rounded the house to head for the dock. She’d told him she would be there. But he didn’t see her as he approached, and for a moment it startled him. She’d said she would wait.

He slowed his steps and was about to turn and head back to the house when a flash of red caught his eye. It looked like a package. He smiled. A gift from Cat. He began to walk down the pier when he caught a glimpse of Marcus, one of his security men walking the perimeter. They had just two on duty today. Being home for the day, they had let the other men spend it with their families. He waved as he continued the trek, the gift appearing larger as he went. It was a small red box, about the size of a watch, he guessed.
What had she gotten him?

“Tell Cat, I’ll be in momentarily,” he called out to Marcus over his shoulder as the man went through the sliding back doors. Marcus stopped dead in his tracks.

“Sir, Miss Stone is not inside. We saw her leave with you.”

A moment of dread permeated his heart, and his head cut to the package. In a heartbeat, he began to run and his actions startled Marcus who pulled out his radio and began to talk furiously as he, too, came running towards the pier.

Andreas retrieved the package and began to tear at the wrapping. It was a watch box!

“Sir, don’t open that,” Marcus warned fearing the worst.

Andreas wasn’t listening. He popped the box open and his blood turned to ice. He’d been right. It was a watch. His father’s! The one he was given when he retired from the police force. The sight of the watch undid him. It brought it all back, seeing his parents dead, his father resting in his recliner, a single shot to his brain. His mother, face down on the floor. Sal had come for him again, and took Cat right from under his nose. It was too damn fucking much.

Andreas crumbled to his knees, broken, and screamed out his anguish. Gulls flew, took to the air in droves, as his cry pierced the air. Just as Marcus reached him, others came pouring out of the house, Gio, and Blaze. Nikko and Lucas too! All were running towards the dock.

The watch tumbled out of his hand and clattered onto the dock. Etched in a childish scrawl, one Andreas would have recognized had he not been blinded by his own tears, were the words that haunted his nightmares, “Beautiful No More,” emblazoned upon the surface.

*     *     *

Spiro drove all
day.

When Catarina began to stir the first time, he placed a dropper in her mouth that contained a powerful muscle relaxer and sleep aid. They were his own prescriptions, and he knew they helped him and would work on her. She was just waking when night began to fall. Darkness came early as he entered North Carolina. He had a few hours to go before he reached his destination, and so he gave her another smaller dose of the concoction, and kept driving. Soon, he thought. Soon, he and Catarina would be going home. Finally. His dream would be a reality.

*     *     *

In that first
twenty minutes after Cat’s disappearance, Andreas was a raving lunatic. When his brothers finally calmed him down enough to get him inside, Gio took over the situation while Blaze interrogated the security team, and Nikko reviewed the surveillance tapes.

Gio placed a call to the police, who promised to be there as soon as they could. Blaze’s interrogation of the team revealed that Marcus, who had been on perimeter, heard a commotion to the right of the house and had gone to investigate. A pit bull apparently wandered into the neighbor’s yard and got into their garbage cans. Lucas, who was watching the cameras, had been watching the feed on the right side of the house, and was in communication with Marcus, giving him as much Intel as he could about the commotion.

Nikko was looking back at the other tapes while Gio came up behind him. “What the fuck? That sure as hell isn’t the neighbor!” He saw a man dressed in a tourist type Hawaiian shirt drop something in the garbage can. Then he wandered out of view.