Naive in Paradise

Luck – and a few well-placed IOUs – can take you a long way in the Florida Keys. In the case of a young woman that stumbles onto a remote beach road, practically in front of Madison Weston and her bestie, Fabiana Merceau, it saves her life.

Fab and their guys, Creole and Didier, know Madison’s do-gooder heart can get her in trouble faster than a margarita blender.

But when she encounters yet another young girl, this one just trying to survive the mean streets of Tarpon Cove, Madison’s determination to help could solve a crime… but draw the wrong kind of attention.

Because when you mess with the wrong people, you could wind up as alligator kibble.

Chapter One

It was a deceptively beautiful day—barely a cloud in the sky and the humidity off the charts. The trek from the house to the Hummer engulfed my body and refused to let go. After barreling down the two-lane highway, my irritability lessened when my best friend, Fabiana Merceau, finally eased her foot off the gas and slowed somewhat from driving like a maniac.
I turned in my seat and stared out the back window, then threw my hand out, slapping Fab on the shoulder. “Turn around.”
“You could ask a little nicer.” A pout in Fab’s tone.
Just as I was about to make a threat that I wouldn’t follow through on, she jerked the wheel and hung a U-turn, barely touching the brake, and somehow managed to keep us from swerving into a ditch along Mangrove Road, which wasn’t its name but would be a fitting one. I was loath to be out here in what felt like the middle of nowhere, as I believed nothing good happened in this wilderness area. Fab would disagree. The hot French woman had been unable to resist another hottie in a sportscar, who’d rolled up alongside her soon after we left the compound, varooming the engine—race time. The man behind the wheel of the Ferrari had gunned his engine, the Hummer accepted the challenge, and the race was on as they sped along neck and neck… for a few miles anyway. Before turning, Fab had hung her hand out the window and waved to the other driver, who’d slowed when she did. He’d reciprocated, then blew up the road and disappeared in a blink. I wanted to clap but kept my relief in check.
I jabbed my finger at the windshield. “I saw a female, and it looked like she tumbled into the ravine. There’s not a lot of water down there, but enough that she could drown.” I rolled down the window and hung my head out. “There she is.” I waved at the woman hauling herself out of the grassy muck. “You need help?” I yelled.
Fear filled the woman’s face, a definite “deer in the headlights” look as she stumbled backwards out of sight.
Fab jammed on the brakes and came to a stop just past where we’d last seen the woman.
I threw open the door and jumped out, Fab right behind me.
The woman peeked out from between the tangled limbs hanging from several tall trees, making eye contact. The blood draining from her face, she squeezed her eyes shut and curled into herself.
I trudged down the side of the ravine, slogged through the ankle-deep muck, thankful to have on a skirt, and barely managed to stay upright. “We’re here to help.” I extended my hand. “We’ll give you a ride wherever you need to go.”
“Go. Just go. Before he finds me,” she croaked.
“It’s a long walk back to civilization,” Fab told her, peering down from the roadside, where she’d remained.
“Whoever you’re running from, we’ll help you get away, take you wherever you want to go,” I told her in a reassuring tone as I stumbled the few steps to her side, fighting to keep from falling. After an up-close inspection, I guessed the woman to be twentyish, and it was evident that someone had used her as a punching bag. “How about we take you to the hospital? Get you checked out.” I shuddered at the bruises, new and old, on her face and the ones on her arms and legs that could be seen where the baggy men’s t-shirt she wore ended.
“He’ll find me for sure,” she whispered.
“I can promise you that whoever he is, he won’t find you.” I held out my hand. After some hesitation, she slipped her hand in mine, and I helped her up the slight incline. With every step, she winced in pain. It didn’t help that she was barefoot; if she’d had shoes before she fell into the ravine, they were nowhere in sight.
“He found me last time,” she whimpered as we reached the roadside. “Said if I ran again, he’d kill me.”
“All the more reason to get you out of here.” I coaxed her toward the SUV.
“You promise not to take me to the hospital? Or call the police?”
“Promise.” I opened the car door.
“Take me away from here.” She batted a tear from her cheek. “Anywhere is fine. Then let me out, and I’ll figure out where to go next.”
Fab had spread a beach towel over the back seat. It took the two of us to help her inside, every move eliciting a groan of pain. Once seated, she slumped over, rested her head against the window and closed her eyes, taking deep breaths.
“I’m Madison. That’s Fab.” I pointed.
She hesitated for so long; I didn’t think she was going to give her name. “Susan?” she said tentatively. I knew it was a lie.
“Do you have family or friends in the area?” I asked.
Fear flooded her face, and after several seconds, she mumbled, “No one.”
I grabbed another towel from the back and handed it to her. “Feel free to stretch out on the seat. If you fall asleep, I’ll wake you when we get back to Tarpon Cove.” The girl was exhausted. Her eyes fluttered closed, and she didn’t open them again as she stretched out.
Fab had looked her over from head to toe more than once before closing the door and sliding behind the wheel. She glanced over at me and whispered, “She needs a doctor.”
“I promised no hospital.”
Fab scanned the highway in both directions—not a car or person in sight. “What are we going to do with her?”
“She’s terrified of someone.” I flipped the visor down to look in the mirror, and she hadn’t moved.
“She’s been pretty battered and isn’t in any shape to have gotten very far. That means whoever she’s running from might not be far behind.”
“Let’s get the heck out of here.” Fab pulled onto the road heading back to Tarpon Cove, the first town at the top of the Florida Keys, and didn’t speed off in her usual fashion.

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