Shelter from the Storm (Finley Creek Book 2) Read online

  BRYNNA’S father made the call from Brynna’s hospital room twenty minutes after Chance’s contact in Mexico confirmed that a woman matching Mel’s description had been hurried into Houghton Barratt’s Mexican home and hadn’t been seen since.

  He had another contact verify via one of the Barratt’s servants that the woman was there in his home and was pissed as a rattlesnake at whatever Barratt had done to her.

  The servant hadn’t said what that was, just that it was significant.

  And that there had been a lot of yelling. From the woman.

  Well. He didn’t know if that was reassuring or not.

  Kevin put his oldest daughter and her husband on speaker phone and they introduced Davis Lucas, for Chance’s benefit.

  The guy agreed to the plan as soon as he learned it was Mel that was missing. Apparently Mel and the guy’s other sister were close.

  Lucas said it himself—Mel was like extended family. He was happy to help however he could. And if their plan failed, he’d offered up a team of security ‘experts’ willing to go back and carry her out physically.

  Now all they had to do was wait until the next day to see if Barratt showed up at the conference.

  If he did, he was the first step in retrieving the missing Beck daughter. Then they’d deal with Barratt, once they had Mel back where she belonged.

  CHAPTER SIXTY.

  * * *

  CHANCE had to give it to the guy—Lucas made things happen. Or rather, his sisters did. And Mel’s. Lucas arrived with Brynna’s oldest sister and another dark-haired woman later that evening. Elliot and Chance met them at the airport.

  The guy had his own private jet. Chance couldn’t fathom it.

  The dark-haired woman shook his brother’s hand. “Chief Marshall, fancy meeting you here.” She smiled and Chance blinked. She had one of those smiles that stayed with a man, didn’t she?

  She also wore a rock the size of Chance’s fist on her left ring finger. From the way her stomach was gently rounded, it was clear this woman had been claimed by some lucky man somewhere.

  “Agent Brockman, it’s good to see you. I wish it was under better circumstances,” Elliot said.

  “I know. We’ll get Mel back and get this figured out. So how can we help?”

  “Simple,” Chance said. This was Brynna’s plan, and he was in charge of executing it. He took that duty seriously. “Barratt is supposed to speak at a technology conference in Mexico City tomorrow. Rumors have it he may be bringing a female companion.” Unconfirmed, but it was a direction they could go in.

  “And how can we help with that?” Carrie asked.

  “I think I understand,” Lucas said. “Barratt and I have run up against each other before over the last fifteen years. Damned smug bastard knocked me off a bridge once. I’m also scheduled to speak, but was thinking of backing out. The wife, you know, she doesn’t like it when I’m gone more than a day or so.”

  “Brynna said you could probably get someone in.” She’d had faith in the guy, hadn’t she? And she had faith in him. Chance didn’t take that lightly, even if there weren’t any strings between them. Brynna was counting on him to get her sister back. Hell, the entire Beck clan was.

  “I have room for a guest. As a member of my personal security.” Lucas eyed Chance and Elliot. “One of you feel like heading to Mexico?”

  “I’ve already got my passport.” Chance looked at his brother. “I told Brynna I’d bring her sister home no matter what.”

  “Then let’s head back to your dad’s and figure out a strategy,” Agent Brockman said. “That doesn’t get one of you in serious trouble. Or a Mexican prison. Luc, you have bail money?”

  “Payton’s already prepared. She’ll get me out of trouble if needed.” He grinned and Chance half thought the guy was looking forward to it. Thrill-seeker, maybe?

  “I don’t care what we have to do. We just need to get Mel back.” Why hadn’t someone thought to keep security on the rest of Brynna’s family? It had been a stupid mistake, and one he wasn’t about to repeat. He turned to Brynna’s sister. “You make sure to watch your back, too, while you’re down here.”

  The eyes just like her sisters’ widened. “Why?”

  “For all we know, whoever is doing this could be after the rest of you Becks, too. Your father was TSP just as long as mine was. And now two of his daughters have gotten caught up in this. I don’t want to see another.”

  “Oh, don’t you worry. We’ll keep Carrie safe,” Lucas said. “If we don’t, I’m afraid her husband will pull my guts out through my nose. He’s cranky like that.”

  “Luc, behave,” his sister said. “This is serious. We need to focus on getting Mel back.”

  “Oh, I am, Paige. I am. Nothing pisses me off more than to see women I like and respect targeted by men who ought to know better. To be honest, though, I never thought Barratt would ever do something like this. He may be an arrogant asshole, but he’s never come across as a criminal. Or someone who would hurt an innocent woman. I just don’t get it.”

  “I hope you’re right, Luc. I really do,” the sister said. “Mel has been hurt far too much lately. Through no fault of her own.”

  Her brother patted her on the shoulder at the pain on her face. “I know. We’ll get her back. One way or another.”

  * * *

  DAVIS Lucas—just call me “Luc”—was extremely diabolical. But Chance liked him. His younger sister Ariella was one of the women who had been in and out of the Beck house at pretty much all hours of the night, and his other sister, the pregnant one with the killer smile, was some big-wig with a missing children’s division of PAVAD. She was a tie to the Becks, and from what he overheard was good friends with several of the sisters.

  By the time they’d finished the sandwiches the younger two Beck sisters had whipped up, they had a workable plan.

  It was clever in its simplicity.

  He and Lucas would go to the conference and isolate Barratt. Find out where Mel was. Then they’d force Barratt to have Mel brought to them. Then it was simply a matter of flying the woman home where she belonged. If that didn’t work, Luc’s men were waiting to storm his house and get her back.

  That was a more complicated plan than he wanted, but…Chance knew to work with what he had. Plan C involved a few of Chance’s contacts doing the same thing.

  Three plans. One was sure to work. If not, they’d come up with more and more plans until they had her back.

  They were leaving in the morning, and weren’t coming back without Melody Beck.

  No matter what they had to do.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE.

  * * *

  THE conference was held at—ironically enough—the Barratt International Hotel-Mexico City. Of course the bastard’s family owned the hotel. Why wouldn’t they?

  Luc strode right into the building like he was some type of god, bent on conquering the peons of this world. Chance stayed at his back a few paces, like a good bodyguard would. Behind the dark glasses he wore, he studied the crowd.

  They’d need to deliver Lucas’s speech, find Barratt, and get him alone.

  Somehow. In a crowd of more than seven hundred people.

  He kept his eye out for Barratt but didn’t see him. Not yet.

  It took them a few hours after Lucas’s speech was delivered to find where Barratt—the star of the damned show, apparently—was holed up. What kind of man abducted a woman and then gave a speech about technology?

  And then they waited.

  The man himself walked in surrounded by bodyguards and what passed as the press. Trade journalists would no doubt be covering any new inventions or projects, for certain. There had been a dozen present at Lucas’s speech, as well.

  Chance nearly swallowed his tongue when he saw who walked at Barratt’s side. It was simpler than he’d ever have expected.

  Right there, in the midst of Barratt’s entourage, was a stunning woman in a skimpy green dress, her strawberry blonde hair swept up in o
ne of those sophisticated twists that left a woman’s neck and shoulders sexily bare.

  Barratt held her close on the side not using her crutch. Chance half suspected his grip wasn’t just to keep her steady in the jostling crowd, but to keep her contained. Surely she wasn’t there by choice?

  He discarded that thought. Mel wouldn’t leave her family to worry like that. Not with the way she was so rabidly protective of them. Not her.

  “There,” Chance’s new best friend said. “Look right there. Who would have believed it? There’s our girl. What do you say we get a little closer?”

  “Oh yeah.” He took his first real look at Barratt in person. The guy looked like a younger version of his father, and was just as tall as Lucas. Just as dark. More muscled. Probably had about forty pounds on Chance, at least. Just as arrogant as Lucas, for that matter.

  He had to admit, Barratt and Mel made a damned beautiful pair.

  “Those Beck sisters sure do clean up nicely. Wow. Not as well as my Payton, of course, but...”

  Chance had to agree. He’d only seen Mel in casual clothes and she’d given the impression of practical, down-to-earth wholesomeness.

  The woman next to Barratt was the picture of icy sophistication. Anyone looking at her wouldn’t doubt for a moment that she belonged on the arm of a billionaire. Would want her.

  It was a bit disconcerting.

  And it brought up one question he didn’t like to consider—had the woman gone with Barratt willingly?

  Abandoned her family for Handley Barratt’s son?

  He didn’t think so. But there was something about the way the two of them were looking at each other. Something in the way Barratt held her close.

  They’d been lovers—he’d bet every penny he had on it. And he had quite a few pennies saved up. The two had a history together; it was just unclear how recent that history was.

  Chance and Lucas made their way closer, careful to use the crowd as a cover. Chance knew he’d blend into the background, though Lucas was only a few inches taller. It was the way the other man commanded attention—and the way Chance deliberately made himself less noticeable in a crowd.

  But someone saw him. Someone extremely observant.

  He was maybe fifteen feet from Brynna’s sister when Mel looked up. Glanced between the two bodyguards who walked at Barratt’s back.

  She saw Lucas and her eyes widened slightly. She covered her surprise by swaying slightly and grasping her crutch more tightly.

  Barratt leaned down to her and said something, blocking Chance’s line-of-sight. He shifted her closer, until she almost leaned against his chest. Barratt’s hand trailed up her back, left partially bare by the lower cut of the dress.

  They’d confirmed she was there, all right.

  Now all they had to do was get her away from Barratt. Barratt, who was acting every inch the possessive lover.

  * * *

  THE opportunity came a little earlier than they thought. Lucas hailed Barratt just after Mel had stepped into the elevator. The bodyguards turned to look.

  Lucas followed Barratt into the elevator with a hand on the other man’s shoulder.

  Chance slipped behind Barratt’s bodyguards and slammed the button to close the door before the guards could slip in. He used his body to block their entrance into the cart. “Sorry boys, the boss needs some time alone with Barratt. Trade secrets and all that shit.”

  He waved to the guards and shoved the bigger one back out of the elevator when the man tried to charge him. “Take the next one.”

  As soon as the doors closed on the guards Chance turned to Barratt.

  He had to give the guy points—the man had somehow herded Mel into the back corner of the elevator and was blocking her with his own body. To protect? Or to possess? “All right, Lucas, what are you up to now?”

  Lucas ignored the other billionaire.

  “Well, Melody, my dear. Seems you’ve gotten yourself into a tight spot there. Hope Barratt wears decent deodorant,” Lucas said.

  “Hey boys. Figured someone would show up to get me sooner or later. Didn’t expect you, Luc.”

  “Well, Mexico City was on my itinerary. And Payton wanted me to ask you for that biscuit recipe you make for Brynna. She’s in the mood for homemade biscuits. I told her the cook could make them, but she wants to do it herself. ”

  She stepped out from behind Barratt.

  “Chance, how is my sister?”

  “She’s a bit freaked out by what’s happened. Misses you. Worried. They all are.”

  Barratt was obviously not happy with Mel moving out from behind him. He grabbed for her.

  Chance did the only thing he could. He knocked his fist into Barratt’s face.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO.

  * * *

  HE had to admit, ramming his fist into the face so like the elder Barratt’s was immensely satisfying. If Mel hadn’t stopped him, he probably would have hit him again.

  But she did. “You keep that up and we’ll never get out of this damned hotel, Chance.”

  “She has a point. Mel has always been brilliant,” Lucas said. He reached down and hauled the other man to his feet. “Here’s the plan, Mel. We were going to take Barratt and force him to hand you over, but since we have you—looking stunning, by the way, green is so your color—we can skip that step.”

  “Let’s take him back with us. I have questions. And the guy did try to extort my brother. And the TSP.” Chance thought quickly. “There will be a host of charges, including kidnapping and trafficking.”

  “It’ll take him a decade or more to get out of jail. I have to admit, that sounds wonderful to me.”

  “No.”

  Chance looked at the woman next to him. “What?”

  “No charges. I won’t make a statement. I’ll talk to Elliot, too.” She stared at Barratt. “But…we could use him to flush out his father. I have no doubt about that.”

  “You don’t want him to go to jail?” Why? It shocked the hell out of him; he’d figured Mel would be the one squawking for the guy to be arrested from the very beginning. But she wasn’t. She was just looking at Barratt with a confused expression in her brown eyes.

  “No. I don’t. He didn’t have anything to do with what happened to your family. Or to Brynna. He was just trying to find his father. I don’t want him to go to jail for caring about his family, Chance. No matter what stupid things he’s done.”

  “Melody…” Barratt said, looking at her. “We need to talk. You know that.”

  “Not now. I’m going home, Houghton. I…need…to. It’s where I belong.”

  They’d been lovers. Chance had no doubt about it now. What that meant for the rest of the situation, he didn’t have a clue.

  * * *

  LUCAS paid off a Customs official to ignore the fact that Barratt’s hands were bound. It had been a simple matter of getting him out of the hotel to the limo Lucas had waiting. They’d forced Barratt to call his guards and send them back to his house to wait for him there.

  Chance wasn’t stupid. The guy was being far too cooperative. Barratt was up to something. But did it have to do with his father? Or with the woman riding in the limo next to him?

  Chance refrained from asking her any questions in front of Barratt. He sensed there was a fragility about her that hadn’t been there before. Had Barratt hurt her more than she’d let on? There didn’t seem to be a bruise on her that he could see. Still, she looked bruised somehow. Broken.

  Hurting. That’s what it was.

  He grabbed her a blanket from the back of Lucas’ private jet. “Here. You look like you can use the rest.”

  He kept his words low, not wanting the other men to hear. Barratt did anyway. The guy stared at Mel, with eyes that took in everything about her.

  Mel shivered.

  “Mel? Sit. Take a break. We’ll be back in Finley Creek soon.” Chance’s phone buzzed as he followed her to the couch. He read the text quickly.

  He cursed. Loudly. “That
little idiot!”

  “What is it?” Mel asked.

  “It’s from your father,” Chance said. “Your sister has checked herself out of the hospital against medical advice. Says she’s determined to be there when you get home.”

  “Brynna. Of course.” Mel sighed, then laughed. “She needs a keeper. I swear she does. It takes all of us to keep her in check sometimes.”

  Her laugh turned into a light sob and tears started to fall.

  Barratt’s eyes widened, almost in fear. Chance almost felt sorry for the guy.

  Not him. He was almost used to weepy-eyed Becks. Or he was getting there, at least.

  He handed Mel a tissue. “Here. Wipe your eyes. You’re mascara is going to run if you don’t. Completely ruin the effect of that dress. Or what passes as a dress.”

  She laughed. “Never knew you cared.”

  “Shut up, Beck. Of course I care. I’m here to rescue you, aren’t I? For the second time, I might add.”

  “You’re making a habit of rescuing Beck sisters, Chance.”

  “I know. Just can’t seem to help myself. When we’re back in Finley Creek, I’m so going to spank your sister’s ass for this.”

  Mel held up a hand. “Too much information, there. I don’t need to know about any proclivities the two of you have. But on a side note, I’ll hide all the Cheerios for you. Just in case.”

  He glared. But at least the distraction had worked.

  She no longer looked like she was going to break into a thousand pieces.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE.

  * * *

  BRYNNA yelled her sister’s name the instant Mel walked in the house. She struggled to stand, and moved too quickly. Her stitches protested, but she didn’t care.

  Mel looked just fine—she actually looked very nice.