Asking For Trouble by Becky McGraw Read Free Book Online

took a step back.
     
    "Anything that happens to her is my
business, because I love her! I will not let you or anyone
else take advantage of her, and that's exactly what you
did!"
     
    "How do you figure?" Beau asked her with a
twist of his lips. "We are both consenting adults, and I didn't
force her to do anything she didn't want to do, Jess. She's a grown
up, let her make her own decisions...and mistakes." Beau felt
certain that was the category Jazzie had relegated him to.
     
    Jess took a step toward him and her eyes
glittered angrily in the torchlight, with one more push of her
finger in his chest she told him, "You stay away from her, asshole.
She might be an adult, but she's also vulnerable, and you took
advantage of her."
     
    "Like I took advantage of you, Jess? Like I
used you?" Beau spat angrily, thinking back on the times Jess had
used him to make Wade jealous, without a second thought.
     
    Jess's face turned red and Beau was the one
to step forward this time, then he leaned down and said quietly,
"Leave us the hell alone, Jess. Worry about yourself, your baby and
husband. Jazzie can take care of herself. Yes, I was an asshole,
and I intend to apologize to her, but not because of
anything you've said, but because I owe it to her." Beau stiffened
his shoulders and walked past her and down the dock, then across
the beach to the hotel.
     
    When he got inside the brightly lit lobby,
he blinked a few times, until his eyes acclimated and then he
scanned the large open area. He didn't see Jazzy anywhere, so he
went to the concierge desk, where a Polynesian man sat at the
computer working. "Hi, have you seen Jazzie Ramos? Petite,
beautiful Latino woman?"
     
    By the way the man's face lit up, Beau knew
he'd seen her, any male who'd been around Jazzie usually had that
look on their face. "Yes, she just left in a taxi for the airport.
She had a family emergency, and I managed to get her on the last
flight out tonight." He looked at his watch then added, "It's going
to be close, but she'll probably make it."
     
    Panic surged through Beau, and he asked
frantically, "Are there any more seats left?"
     
    "No, she got the last one, she was very
lucky," he told Beau with a shake of his head. "It's high season,
and they're usually booked solid, so it's hard to change
flights."
     
    He slapped his hand down on the desk and the
concierge jumped. Beau felt his face flush then he asked, "Would
you see if you can get me on a flight tomorrow morning? I don't
care how much it costs..." Beau pulled out his wallet and threw his
credit card down on the desk.
     
    "Let me look..." the man said not very
hopefully, then tapped keys on his computer for a few minutes. "No,
I'm sorry, it looks like every seat is taken, until Thursday. There
is a big wedding here, and a lot of guests."
     
    Beau groaned and told him, "Yeah, I'm one of
those guests...we're checking out late Wednesday." It was just
Saturday night, so he had a long, miserable stay in paradise,
before he could leave it looked like. And all he was going to be
able to do was worry about Jazzie and what kind of trouble she was
getting herself into, before he got to Dallas. He picked up his
credit card and stuffed it back in his wallet, then thanked the man
and handed him a large tip.
     
    Walking back outside, Beau went to look for
Jess. He had to convince her to call Jazzie's family and tell them
not to let her pursue looking for her brother, until the
authorities were involved. He'd heard of that company she'd
mentioned, and they were bad news, under federal investigation
actually, but they were slick and the feds hadn't nailed them
yet.
     
    Beau was going to call Glen Baker, his
brother Gabe's FBI friend, the man who he'd worked with on the
Edith Preston case for Tommy Tucker. Maybe Glen could give him some
information on the status of the Al-Gonon case.
     
    He could only hope that Frankie Ramos was
missing because he wanted to be, and not because someone had done
something to