Stingray Billionaire: The Complete Series (An Alpha Billionaire Romance) (49 page)

"What are you
talking about, Beck?" I asked. "You're high as a kite, buddy."

"Didn't do
it," he repeated. "Didn't do it. She said it would help, but I didn't
want to."

"Who
said?" I asked as I petted his head and kept rocking. The rocking motion
seemed to help soothe him, so I kept moving as I continued questioning him.
"Who told you it would help?"

"She
did," he said. Something about this agitated Beck and he began rocking
himself harder and faster. I tried to hang on to him, but he soon worked
himself into a violent rocking motion and I had to let go. I tried to hold him
down on the cot, but whatever he'd taken was working its way through his system
and had increased his strength to a level that made me let go for fear of
hurting him.

"Beck, what
happened to you?" I asked over and over. "Why did you leave
rehab?"

"I didn't
leave!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. "I didn't leave!"

"What the
hell? Yeah, dude, you did. You're not there right now," I said, mystified
by his protests.

"I didn't
leave!" he yelled as he stood up and started striking out at me. He had a
wild look in his eyes, and I wasn't sure he even knew who I was. "I didn't
leave!"

"Then tell me
what happened, dammit!" I shouted as I grabbed his arms and held them down
against his sides. As quickly as the outburst had begun, it was over, and Beck
melted back onto the cot without a fight. I covered him with a blanket and
stuck my head out of the back room calling, "Kesh, what's Javi's
ETA?"

Javi walked
through the door just as Kesha had returned to tell me he was on his way. He
took one look at Beck and nodded, then pulled out a series of vials and loaded
a syringe. He prepped Beck's left arm and told me to hold it steady as he
pushed a cocktail of drugs into Beck's arm.

"What did you
give him?" I asked.

"It's a
special mix that I created to work off the effects of a couple of drugs,"
he explained. "I'm not sure the medical community would approve, but it's
worked more times than I can count and no one's died from it."

"How long
will it take?"

"Shouldn't be
more than a few minutes before he starts to come around," Javi said as he
carefully monitored Beck's pulse and respiration. "I've watched too many
of these club kids mix more drugs than I can count, and I knew that we needed
something to counter their stupidity. Haven't seen one of them die since I
started using it."

"Why aren't
you in a chemistry lab?" I asked.

"With my
felonies?" he grinned. "What school or lab would have me? Nah, man,
I'm doing just fine right here. Maybe better than I would be in that
world."

I nodded as we
watched Beck start to regain consciousness. He coughed a little and then
sneezed in rapid succession before he opened his eyes and looked back and forth
between Javi and me.

"What the
fuck?" he muttered. "Dax, where the fuck am I?"

"Dude, you're
at the club," I said. "You wandered in off the street and Kesha found
you."

"Wasn't I
supposed to be ass up in rehab?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's
what I thought," I laughed. "You squirreled your way out, as
usual."

"I didn't
leave, Dax," he said with a serious look on his face. "I was pissed
at you for putting me there, but then I realized that I didn't have any control
over the drugs anymore. I needed help, but I didn't want to give up the
feeling."

"Isn't that
always the case?" I asked as I looked at Javi and nodded. He did one more
survey of Beck and then got up and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Beck, what
the hell happened?" I asked as I sat down next to him and searched his
face for answers.

"You're not
gonna like it, Dax," he said shaking his head. "And, I'm not entirely
sure you're gonna believe me, and I don't know that I'd blame you."

"Just tell
me. You're my brother, we'll figure it out," I said.

"She hates
us, Dax," he said in a very small voice. "She always has."

"Who hates
us?" I was genuinely confused.

"Riza,"
Beck whispered. "She fucking hates us."

"Beck, what
are you talking about?" I demanded.

"See, I told
you that you wouldn't believe me," he said sadly.

"No, I'm
listening, I just want to know what evidence you have that one of my best friends
hates me," I said defensively.

"She pulled
me out of rehab," he said. "She came and got me and pulled me out,
even though I said I wanted to be there. She said it was a pussy move and that
she couldn't have a bunch of pussy boys running her father's business. She told
me I needed to man up and learn to do drugs the way men do them, like you and
her father."

"What the
fuck?" I was stunned. "I don't do that shit, I never have, and Papi
didn't do it, either. Not ever! I was pissed as hell when you started doing it,
but aside from not letting my guys sell junk to you, there wasn't anything I
could do."

"They didn't
sell it to me, Dax. She gave it to me for free," he said as he looked up
at me. "She's super pissed at you for taking Papi's business away from her.
She wants it back and she wants you out of the way so she can have it."

"I didn't
take her damn business!" I shouted. "Papi told me that she didn't
want to run it, so the burden fell on me to take care of things so that she'd
have what she needed. That's what he told me before he died! Dammit!"

"I think
something's really wrong with her, Dax," Beck said. "It's like she
wants you for herself, but she wants you so she can punish you."

"Why do you
say that?"

"She said she
had taken care of the lawyer and that she'd take care of this one, too,"
he said. "She took me out to the boat at the marina and locked me in the
galley while she got it ready to sail. She was going to get rid of the second
lawyer, but the lawyer's friend, Roger, came snooping around. He found me
locked on the boat and got me to the dock manager's office before Riza realized
I was gone. Then, he went back to get the evidence, but I didn't see him
again."

"How the hell
did you get here, then?"

"The dock
manager put me in a cab and told the driver to take me home, I must have given
him this address," he shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know."

"Wait, she's
got the lawyer tied up on the boat?" I asked. All of this sounded too
crazy to be true.

"I think so,
but I don't know. Maybe he got away and went home," Beck said. "I
think he would have come back and gotten me if he had been ready to leave,
though."

"This is
insane," I said shaking my head. "Let me call Brooke and see if she's
heard from Roger."

I grabbed my phone
and dialed Brooke. It went to voicemail before she answered, so I tapped the
screen and dialed the office. I waited as the phone rang and rang and rang,
just before I hung up someone answered.

"Lewis, Lee,
and Raines at Law, how can I assist you?"

"Is Brooke
Raines in?" I asked.

"I'm sorry,
she's away from her office," the man replied.

"Is this
Jordie?"

"It is,"
he said.

"Jordie, this
is Dax Malone. Do you know where Brooke went?" I asked, knowing that he
had every right not to tell me anything about his friend and colleague.

"She said she
was headed over to the marina to try and find Roger," he said. "We
haven't been able to get him on the phone and she had some questions for him,
aside from wanting to check out the dock."

"Have you
heard from her since she left?" I asked as the panic began to rise.

"Nope, not
yet," he replied.

"How long ago
did she leave?"

"A couple of
hours ago, she should be at the dock by now," he said.

"Jordie,
listen, I need you to call the police and tell them to haul ass down to that
dock," I said thinking ahead and trying to figure out how I could get help
to Brooke as quickly as possible. I wanted to warn her, but if she wasn't
picking up her phone, then it was entirely possible that Riza had already
gotten to her. "Don't ask any questions, just tell them to get out there
and find the Isabella and find Brooke."

"What the
hell are you talking about?" he asked.

"Don't
fucking argue with me, man," I shouted into the phone, "Her life may
be in danger right now! Do it!"

I hung up and just
trusted that Jordie would do what I had asked. I looked down at Beck who had
curled up on the cot and was now fast asleep. He'd be safer here than with me,
so I left him sleeping and went to find Kesha.

"What's up,
boss?" she asked as she stocked the bar for tonight's reopening.

"Kesha, we
have a problem," I said. "I can't tell you what it is right now, but
I need you to keep an eye on Beck and not let anyone near him. Not anyone but
you and me and Javi are to go anywhere near him, got it?"

"Yeah, boss,
but..."

"No buts, no
nothing," I said holding up a hand. "Just don't let anyone near him.
I don't care what they tell you or how convincing they sound, no one but you,
me, and Javi."

"Uh, okay,
got it," she said giving me a strange look. "What about..."

"NO
ONE!" I bellowed. She saluted before I turned and marched out the front
door and got in my car.

CHAPTER
SIXTY-TWO

Brooke

I
pulled up to the marina, parked Jordie's car, and checked my phone before
getting out. There was a message from my father telling me that he was still
waiting to hear from the city desk about the questions he'd posed to the report
about Lydia's law firm dealings, and there was a call from Dax with no message.
I assumed he must have butt-dialed me, so I deleted it and got out of the car.

Roger's car was
parked over in the far corner of the lot, and it was locked. I knocked on the
trunk, feeling foolish for my detective show suspicions, but thought that it
was better to be safe than sorry. "Roger?" I called a couple of
times, and when no one answered, I moved on.

It was a cool
evening and the sun had just begun to set. The water glowed with pinky-orange
light that reflected on the sails of the boats in the harbor. I walked down the
path to the manager's office and knocked on the door. When no one answered, I
peered through the window to see if there was any movement. I saw nothing, so I
decided to explore on my own.

As soon as I set
foot on the dock, I cursed myself for not having gone home and changed clothes.
The heels of my stilettos, while great for indoor surfaces in an office, stuck
between the weathered boards of the dock and made it difficult to move quickly.
I had the urge to take them off, but it didn't seem like a good idea to walk
barefoot on the rough wood. I settled for walking a little slower than I wanted
to.

Surprisingly,
there didn't appear to be much activity on the dock. I would have guessed that
on a day as nice as this, there would have been a lot of people out using their
boats. Since I'd never owned or even sailed a boat, I assumed that my knowledge
was lacking. It was peaceful in the harbor as I walked around, looking for a
sign of Roger.

"Roger?"
I called as I walked down the dock. I wasn't sure if he was still around or if
he'd gone off with some woman he'd met. For all I knew, he had hitched a ride
down the coast with some hippie surfer and was catching a wave in Malibu after
marrying her at a little chapel. I silently cursed him if he was doing those
things because it would prove once and for all that he was an irresponsible
jerk who couldn't be trusted to run a business – and it would make me feel like
an old fuddy-duddy who was boring and predictable.

I checked out a
few boats and quickly saw the difference between ones that were actually being
used and the ones that sat in the harbor for show. I walked down the second
offshoot on the dock and saw a boat with its sails still up and its deck wet
from what looked like someone scrubbing it. The name on the side read Isabella
and when I called out, "Roger? You in there?" I heard some kind of
noise coming from the boat. I waited a few seconds and then called again,
"Roger?" Again, I heard a noise coming from what sounded like the
interior of the boat.

I looked around to
see if anyone was watching and then stepped up onto the deck. It took a moment
for me to get my footing, as the water made the boat rock back and forth and
the heels I was wearing didn't help matters. I quickly reached down and pulled
them off, pushing them off to the side where no one would trip over them if
there were others on this boat.

"Roger?"
I called. "You on this boat?"

This time, I heard
a distinct pounding coming from someplace under the deck. I looked around and
saw a door that most likely led down to the cabin below. I knocked and then
pulled it open and descended down into the belly of the boat.

"Roger?"
I called quietly. I heard a pounding sound on the other side of the door at the
opposite end of the cabin. I tiptoed over and listened to the door before
turning the knob and pulling it open. Out fell Roger, wearing nothing but his
boxers, bound and tied with orange rope and gagged with a bikini top that was
tied behind his head. I burst out laughing because he looked like part of a
porn flick gone horribly wrong.

"What the
hell happened, Rog?" I laughed as I reached around and untied the bikini
so he could talk.

"Brooke! Look
out!" he yelled, just before everything went dark.