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  Portentous Destiny Series Book Five

  By S.E. Rose

  Copyright © 2018 S. E. Rose

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  www.seroseauthor.com

  Cover design © Arijana Karčić, Cover It! Designs

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Each book in this series primarily takes place in real locations where the author has previously visited. However, aside from names of countries and cities, the places are described in a fictional manner. The author has drawn from her personal experiences to describe these locations, but also uses fictitious embellishments for the purposes of the story.

  This book contains descriptions of adult relationships and violence as well as derogatory language. If such things offend you, this book is not for you. The book is intended for mature readers.

  Author’s Note:

  Human trafficking is a serious global problem. According to a multitude of sources that this author has found through simple internet searches, there are over 20 million individuals enslaved in the world due to human trafficking. It is a serious problem that can happen anywhere, no matter how safe you think your community is. While the antagonists in this story are involved in a variety of crimes including human trafficking, the author wants to point out to readers that this is a fictionalized story and details relating to criminal activity or police investigations is purely fictitious.

  You never know when you might be able to stop human trafficking. Pay attention to your surroundings and if something doesn’t look right, speak up! Visit your local police department’s, national police’s or the United Nations’ webpages on human trafficking to learn more about this crime and how you can help to stop it.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Epilogue

  Nick’s Playlist

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  To my family and friends, some of whom I’ve made while on this writing journey. You are all my home.

  Prologue

  Nick’s Playlist: “Nightmares” by Easy Life

  Present Day

  It’s eerily quiet, too quiet. I don’t even hear the lapping of the water against the yacht. I sit up, momentarily disoriented and reach out to feel the cold sheets of the bed. Melissa?

  “Mel? Beautiful, where are you?” I whisper into the darkness. I flip on the side lamp and look around the cabin. I’m alone.

  I toss on some shorts and a t-shirt and find my boat shoes shoved under the bed. I walk out onto the deck of the boat past the small galley and sitting area. The moon is high in the sky and the water of the Bay is still.

  I can make out some storm clouds in the distance, but right now is the calm before the storm. There’s not even a breeze in the humid summer air. I look up at the house and outbuildings. There are no lights on in any of the windows. Everyone is still asleep.

  “Melissa!” I call out as I scan the yard for any trace of her. There’s no response. I groan and check for the johnboat on the slip next to us. It’s still there. I sigh internally thankful she didn’t decide to go out night fishing or some crazy biologist shit.

  I head up the path toward the house. I don’t see anyone or anything. The wind begins to pick up a bit, and I know the storm is imminent. I walk along the hedges near the back of the house. A noise to my left grabs my attention, and I scan the yard. Everything appears in shades of grays and blacks against the moonlight. I squint, trying to get a better look, but I can’t tell if it’s a person slinking along the ground or an animal creeping along the wooded edge of the property.

  I want to call out, but something stops me from doing so. It doesn’t feel quite right. My gut tells me something is wrong, and I don’t like it. I look down at my watch and see that it’s 2:30 a.m. Suddenly, a door opens on the front porch.

  I breathe a sigh of relief when I see Jesse’s figure walk through it.

  “Nick?” he asks quietly.

  I walk over to him.

  “Yeah, it’s just me,” I reply. “Hey, you haven’t seen Mel, have you?”

  “Nope,” he answers as he sips something out of a mug. He gazes up at the darkening night sky. “Storm’s coming.”

  “I know,” I say to him as I glance back over and don’t see the figure creeping along the tree line any longer.

  “What’s up?” he asks.

  “I woke up, and Mel was gone. I thought maybe she came up here or something,” I explain.

  His arm freezes mid-motion as he brings the mug up to his lips. “What do you mean she’s gone?” he says slowly as he lowers the mug.

  “I woke up, and she wasn’t in the bed with me. The johnboat’s still here. I figured she came up to the house,” I say, feeling a little more frantic.

  “Shit,” he mutters under his breath. He lifts his wristband to his mouth. “Baxter, we got a problem.”

  Baxter’s voice comes through the device. “Ten-four, heading your way,” he answers.

  About twenty seconds later, Baxter appears around the corner of the house. “What’s up?”

  “Mel’s MIA,” Jesse says to him.

  “Shit,” he says.

  “Yeah, exactly,” Jesse replies.

  “Rally the troops,” Baxter suggests more than asks.

  “Yep,” Jesse responds.

  “Maybe she’s just inside,” I tell them, not wanting to cause a ruckus over nothing.

  “Better safe than sorry,” Baxter says as he hits a buzzer. Within a minute, Jack, Lance, Cody, Dean, and Bryce are all standing on the back porch with us.

  “What’s up?” Bryce asks.

  “Mel’s missing,” Jesse says.

  “Can I just go check your house, before we get carried away here?” I ask. They all freeze and turn to me, as though registering I’m there for the first time.

  “Go ahead,” Jesse says, motioning me inside his home. “But, I just came from inside and no one was awake, except me.”

  I brush past him and look around the downstairs. He’s right, no one is there. I go to the top of the stairs and listen, but it’s quiet here too. So, I walk back down and join the men assembled on the back porch and shake my head.

  “I’m going to go check over by the woods. I thought I saw a shadow there a few minutes ago,” I tell them. Bryce puts his arm out and stops me from walking in that direction.

  “Nick, I think we should send Baxter and Dean over there,” he says. As he’s talking, Pierce rounds the corner of the house.

  “Did I miss the party invite?” he asks.

  “Not your shift,” Baxter points out.

  “Still,” he mutters.

  “Jesus, stop with the fucking territory dispute. Save it for later, asswipes,” Jesse growls.

  Pierce puts up his hands. “Fine, just tell me what’s going on then,” he presses.

  “Mel’s missing,” I say.

&nbs
p; Pierce’s face alters, and he looks serious. “What’s the game plan?”

  “I just checked the house, and she’s not there and not on the boat,” I explain. “I saw something along the woods. One of you needs to check that out.”

  Bryce sends Baxter and Dean toward the woods. “Pierce and Jesse, you stay here and maintain a perimeter. Lance and Cody, go check the guest house and garage and then maintain a perimeter around them. Nick, you and I are going to walk the water edge and the far side of the property. Dexter, Riley, and Silas are at the front gate, I’ll make sure they are on alert.”

  We all split up and go toward our respective posts. “What time did you last see her?” Bryce asks me as we walk back toward the boat.

  “Uh, I think we went to bed at about midnight.” I shrug.

  “Can you be any more specific?” he asks me.

  I roll my eyes. “Nope.”

  “Fine,” he mutters. He climbs on board the yacht and re-emerges a second or two later. “Not here,” he whispers.

  “Yeah, genius, I already figured that out,” I murmur as we walk back up the dock toward the small gazebo that’s down by the water’s edge.

  Jesse’s voice comes over the wristband on Bryce’s arm. “Mainlines into the house have been cut,” Jesse says. “I’m waking up everyone and sending them into the panic room.”

  I know Jesse had a panic room installed, but I can’t imagine it’s big enough for everyone that’s in the house at this moment. I don’t question anything but continue walking the shoreline. I turn back in time to see a figure far down the shore from us.

  “Bryce.” I touch his arm and point.

  “I’ll go, you stay here,” he says. I nod and tuck myself against a tree, watching him as he stealthily makes his way toward the figure.

  He’s about fifty yards from the house when a ball of fire erupts from the back windows. And then all hell breaks loose.

  Chapter 1

  Nick’s Playlist: “I Gotta Feeling” by The Black Eyed Peas

  Two months earlier…

  “You know you don’t have to sell me, Nick,” Cody says with a grin. “This is your third and final interview. We want to offer you the position.”

  “Seriously?” I ask him, genuinely surprised.

  “Yeah, man, seriously. You’ve been doing some awesome work and, frankly, I’m impressed with your people skills. I have an international project that I think would be a great fit for you, that is if you are interested in the position,” Cody says with a smirk.

  “Fuck yeah.” I clear my throat, looking sheepish, I’m sure. “I mean yes, absolutely.”

  “Well then, welcome aboard,” Cody laughs and shakes my hand. I shake hands with my new boss and his vice president of energy projects, Garrett Sable.

  “When can you start?” Garrett asks.

  “I’ll need to give my current company two weeks’ notice,” I tell them. They nod and rattle off some HR stuff that I’ll need to do in the meantime. My head is literally spinning. I’ve only been out of school for three years, and it’s been a freakin’ whirlwind. I moved up the ranks quickly. I guess my brain working “not like others’” came in handy as I tend to view things from a different perspective and that can be a great thing in the engineering world.

  “So, you don’t mind going out to the Azores with us your first week on the job?” Garrett asks.

  My mind stops spinning, and I realize I missed what he had just said.

  “Uh, no, yeah, that’s fine,” I say, trying to cover my tracks. Azores? Azores…that’s Portugal?

  “I assume your passport is up to date?” Cody asks.

  “Yep,” I say. Yes, that part I do know. I’m pretty sure my mom would crucify me if I had an outdated passport.

  “Great, well we’ll see you in two weeks. My assistant, Diana, will be in touch with travel details next week,” Garrett says. I shake hands with them again and walk out of Cunningham Technology Systems, Inc. I’m on cloud nine. I can’t believe I got the position. OK, that’s a lie. I feel a little like I got the job because my cousin just married Cody, but Cody’s been harping on me to join him way before that, so it is possible I got the job because I do good work. I fucking hope so.

  I walk out to my car. She’s been a good car. I call her Lucy, and I bought her after working my ass off mowing lawns, power-washing decks, and painting rooms for two years in high school. She’s a ten-year-old, certified-used Honda, but she has leather interior, and she’s got a great stereo system. Her Bluetooth technology is super old and not reliable, but she has seat warmers. I crank my playlist and cruise back to my office. I sort of dread telling my boss I’m quitting, but on the other hand, I was recently passed over for a promotion because some ass-kisser dweeb who happens to fuck the CEO’s daughter wanted it. So, I feel slightly vindicated. My phone rings, and I see my sister’s name come up on my phone that’s sitting in one of those hands-free devices on my dashboard.

  “So???” my sister asks before I can even answer. I can already tell from her voice that she already knows how it went.

  “I got it,” I say deadpan.

  “I knew you would, Nicky-poo! I’m sooooo proud of you!” she squeals. I roll my eyes.

  “Stop rolling your eyes, you little…just stop rolling your eyes,” she says, and I know one of my nieces or my nephew must be nearby.

  “When do you start?” she asks. And here comes the inquisition. Lily is my twin and my best friend. She’s also a royal pain in my ass.

  “Two weeks,” I answer.

  “Wow, that’s fast.”

  “Yeah, they want me working on some project in the Azores,” I say.

  “Oh?”

  “Yep.”

  “Well, that sounds cool,” she says. I can hear cupboards slamming and pots crashing. “Oh shit, Rosa just got into the cupboard, again. Ugh! I gotta go.”

  I laugh. “Later, Sis.”

  She hangs up, and I pull up to my apartment. I order Chinese food and settle myself on the couch to eat and decompress. I turn up the volume on the hockey game I’m watching. Colin walks out of his room. Colin’s been one of my best friends since freshman year of college. He’s starting his residency for med school and maintains crazy-ass hours. I see he’s dressed for work in scrubs and he’s munching on a bowl of cereal.

  “So, you got the job,” he says, rather than asks.

  “Yep,” I answer with my mouth full, so it sounds more like “yawb.”

  “Cool. Congrats. I’d love to stay and party it up, but I have a twelve-hour shift at the ER tonight,” he groans and grabs his car keys.

  “Have fun with that,” I say.

  “Yeah, right,” he moans as he slams the door shut, but pops it back open. “I’m off tomorrow night, which means we are going out and attempting to get laid while drinking copious amounts of beer.”

  “Of course,” I answer as he shuts the door once again.

  By the time we actually go for a beer the next night, I’m super pumped for my new job. My current boss while unhappy about my departure, took the news fairly well, and in fact, wasn’t shocked by my decision.

  “To new jobs!” Colin says as he clinks glasses with me.

  “To new jobs!” I echo.

  My cousin Zoe sits down across from us. “So, how pumped are you?” she asks as she slides over to let her friend Cami slide in next to her.

  “Where’s Lena?” I ask. The three of them are always inseparable.

  “She picked up an extra shift,” Cami says loudly over the hustle and bustle of the packed bar.

  “Where’s Cody?” Colin asks.

  “Work,” Zoe says rolling her eyes.

  I look up as Cody’s sister, Chelsea, plops down next to Colin. “Hey, glad you could make it,” Zoe says to her. I look down at Chelsea and say hi to her. We’ve hung out a few times since she’s been in Philly working. She just graduated from grad school and is a production assistant at a local news station. She’s cute and has a good sense of humor. She’s a
lso fun and has become part of our regular going-out crowd.

  “So, where’s Rob?” I ask Zoe.

  She rolls her eyes. “He claims to be late because, and I quote ‘he had something important to finish at work.’” She uses air quotes and laughs as she takes a sip of the mojito that the waitress has just set down in front of her.

  I nod. My cousin Rob is just a few years older than me, and we were pretty close growing up. Zoe’s a bit older than us, but we’ve hung out a ton over the past few years, since Zoe and my sister, Lily, married twin brothers, Cody and Lance. Our family seems so incestuous now. Especially since I’ll be working for Cody. I sigh and take another sip of my beer.

  Rob’s in sales for a pharmaceutical company. He’s working his way up the chain and wants to be a regional manager and eventually work at headquarters. I always tease him that he can do whatever he wants as long as I get my allergy meds for free.

  “So, Colin, Nick says you got some good job news?” Cami asks. I grin at Zoe. Cami and Colin definitely have some sort of flirting thing going on. I keep trying to ask him about it, but he doesn’t seem to want to fess up to me. Cami had been dating another doctor that works with them, but he transferred to another hospital and that fizzled. I wouldn’t mind if he dated Cami. I’ve known her for a while, and she’s a super sweet girl, albeit she’s about three years older than Colin, but I don’t think either of them cares about that.

  “Yep, I accepted the residency at our hospital this morning.” He grins. This isn’t a big shocker, since that’s where he interned, and they love him there, but nonetheless, I’m happy for the guy and it means he’ll stay local for now.

  Everyone yells congrats and there’s another round of cheers for him.

  “What’d I miss?” Rob asks as he takes a seat at the end of the table, conveniently near Chelsea. The two of them look like they should be in an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog spread. I roll my eyes as my cousin tries to be smooth and puts his elbow on the table, so it grazes Chelsea’s hand.

  Zoe catches it too, and we share a smirk.

  “Colin’s staying at the hospital, and Nick, as you know, starts working for Cody in less than two weeks,” Zoe says to him.