Tempest - Kris Michaels Page 0,34

he'd have picked her up and carried her to the boat.

Which was exactly what Smoke did. Motherfucker. Pilar scrambled to grab ahold of Smoke's shoulders. He threw back his head and laughed as he strode down the planking toward the boat. The only thing saving the son of a bitch from a major ass kicking was the talk they had last night and the fact Pilar looked about as willing to be in his arms as a feral cat. Bet that's a blow to your self-esteem, hey bud?

He could hear Sage down below and finally Pilar's voice. He moved to the rear of the bridge and watched as Smoke put her down on the lounger. Sage brought her what looked like a glass of wine before he grabbed another pillow and propped her foot up.

Smoke joined him on the bridge. "She's on board. Sage is bringing in the mooring lines. We'll go north and head into the Atlantic using the Lake Worth Inlet. The next closest inlet is to the south, the Boynton Inlet, but it has a fixed bridge and the tide is in. We wouldn't get under it. Too tall." Tempest stared toward the back window as Smoke talked, and the motors grumbled to life under them. "Her luggage is in the lounge. You won't be seen."

"On it." He grabbed two handheld devices, each the size of a deck of playing cards, and headed down the stairs. He flipped a switch and passed the electronic box past her small bag, careful to ensure he had complete coverage by lifting the bag and passing the box under it. He put the bag down and moved to the larger one. Two lights lit and then a third. Damn it. Her bag had a GPS tracker and an RF tracker, plus a hidden microphone. Fuck. They couldn't disable them without causing alarm. He laid the suitcase on its side—a prearranged signal indicating the case was bugged.

Browning walked in and stopped by the door. The man signed, “What do we have?”

Tempest answered, “GPS, RF and a recording device.”

Sage looked at him and moved his hands. “Is she working with them?”

Tempest shook his head, definitively. There was no way in hell. He'd be in a cell again if she were. Browning nodded and exited through the lounge area toward the bridge. Undoubtedly, Sage would inform Smoke of the fun and games he'd found. He carried the luggage to Pilar's room, the one adjoining his, and settled them on the luggage rack at the foot of the bed. The recording device wasn't concerning. Whoever was on the other end could listen to Pilar change clothes and sleep all day every day. The problem was the RF tracker and GPS. Regina Grantham was tracking her own daughter. Well, if she wanted to track a ship, no problem, he'd oblige. Carefully, he opened the suitcase and searched through... damn. Bikinis. Okay. A lot of bikinis. Damn. He picked one of the pieces up. A sky-blue scrap of fabric and strings. Hell no. She'd be wearing these suits around Smoke and Browning. Fuck... he needed to get a grip on this jealousy issue he'd been bumping up against. Really, he did. The fabric fluttered to the suitcase, landing among the cornucopia of colors. Out of habit, he glanced at the door and moved her day planner using his hand-held device to locate the trackers. Smart. They'd placed the GPS tracker in her pen. He removed the cap and slid the tracker onto the bed's duvet before he reassembled the pen and then located the RF tracker. This would be harder. He'd have to find the RF chip and then the locator. He swept the bikini-filled half of her case before he switched sides. The tracker was attached to the inside of the suitcase. It looked like a silver stud placed at the seam of the lining. It took the work of a moment to remove the transmitter. The RF chip he found was lodged in the metal casement which wrapped the seam of the suitcase when the case was closed. He used the tip of her pen to remove the tiny chip and placed it beside the tracker on the bedspread.

The microphone and recorder were clunky and installed by a moron. They dangled off the back of the suitcase's dividing webbing. He attached it more firmly and wound it through the webbing so it wouldn't fall out. Idiots.

Taking the GPS and the RF components, he knocked on