Chapter 23

Juniper couldn’t stop shivering. She knew she was in shock, but her body refused to lose the panic. Too much had happened and continued to happen, even two hours after the incident in the tunnels.

Magnus had carried her out of the maze, holding her so tightly against him that she’d struggled to breathe. Phoenix had offered to carry Sammi, but she’d insisted on walking on her own.

The two of them were now wrapped in blankets, huddled next to each other in the middle of the sectional in the basement. The other Littles kept bringing them drinks and snacks, but Juniper couldn’t swallow a thing.

Sammi kept crying. She’d been through a lot and was about to tell them all about it. They’d had to wait to hear her story until after Kestrel had caught up with Edmund and tackled him to the ground.

Apparently, once Caesar and Hawking had determined no one was at the blast site, they’d headed for the dock and taken the boat out to the cave entrance Caesar had investigated underwater earlier. They’d entered through there and met up with Edmund at the same time Kestrel took the man down.

The authorities had been called to arrive at the cave by boat, which was where they entered and found, first, the Danger Bluff Daddies with Edmund before heading in deeper and arresting a hogtied Eric. Both men had been taken into custody.

That was how much Juniper understood so far. Her mouth opened to ask her Daddy more questions as he joined her on the couch. He didn’t sit next to her, though. Nope. Not her Daddy. He scooped her up and settled her on his lap.

Sammi smiled and blushed. “I guess I don’t have to ask if you’ve met anyone.”

Juniper finally seemed to stop shivering as she snuggled into Magnus’s embrace. “I’ve definitely met someone.” She tipped her head back and smiled at Magnus.

Everyone gathered around to sit on the sectional and chairs so they could all hear as Magnus began, “It would seem the explosion at the cave entrance we initially investigated had been set as a diversion so that we would all go running to investigate it while Edmund snuck in from the cave entrance at the ocean to retrieve the money.”

“That makes more sense to me now,” Juniper murmured.

Magnus continued, “A team of local police collected the money and took it to the station.”

“That’s good.” Juniper frowned. “Do we know who put it there or how Edmund and Eric found it?”

“I do,” Sammi whispered. Her usually pale cheeks were bright red.

Juniper stared at her friend. It made no sense that Sammi would have had anything to do with the money. They’d only been thirteen when the bank robbery had occurred.

Sammi took a deep breath and began. “Until that last summer you were here, few people knew about the tunnels. You and I used to play in them undetected. Between that summer and the next, when my parents ended up selling the resort and moving us to the North Island, a lot changed.

“For one thing, my father started using the tunnels. He spent time down there with other men, including your father,” Sammi said, glancing at Juniper.

Juniper’s breath hitched. She wanted to ask Sammi a million questions, but she bit her lip and let her friend continue.

“Sometimes, I still liked to sneak down into the tunnels to be alone. I liked the fact that I had a secret place I could go and no one could discover me. But it wasn’t as appealing when men started coming and going.”

Rocco was sitting on the coffee table, rubbing his thighs. “Do you know why they were meeting down there?”

Sammi smiled. “Only because I was sneaky, and I eavesdropped on them.”

Juniper couldn’t help but return the grin. She wasn’t surprised. Sammi had always liked snooping around.

“My father and your father often met with two other men, Rick and Stoney. Mom never liked them. She thought they were up to no good. The four of them played poker, drank, and smoked cigars a lot. They met in a large room off the tunnels because she didn’t like the smell. It was gross, so I usually didn’t stick around when they brought out the cigars.” She waved a hand in front of her nose and scrunched up her face.

Juniper couldn’t blame her.

Magnus frowned. “How long had they been friends with your fathers?”

Sammi tapped her lips. “A few years, I think. Apparently, they were also friends of Eric and Edmund, but I didn’t know about that until today. After Edmund took me hostage from my parent’s home last night, he drugged me and brought me to the South Island. I don’t even know how we got here. Perhaps a private jet or boat? I have no idea.

“When I came to, I was in the back of a van. Two men were in front. One was Edmund, and I soon learned the other was his brother Eric. They were in the middle of a huge argument over why Edmund had never told Eric about the money before now. I pieced together a lot of what happened twenty years ago from listening to them. They’re idiots. When Edmund robbed that bank and then got caught, he left the money with Rick and Stoney. Rick and Stoney were in charge of finding a place to hide the stolen money, and since they frequented the tunnels, they thought that would be the perfect location.”

Juniper winced. “So my father and your father knew about the money?”

Sammi shook her head. “No. They didn’t. They knew that Rick and Stoney wanted to stash some ‘things’ in the tunnels for a while, and our fathers told them no. I heard your dad and my dad in a heated discussion yet again about whatever Rick and Stoney were up to. They were worried it was something illegal. They suspected drug smuggling and didn’t want Danger Bluff involved in a drug ring.”

“My dad hated drugs,” Juniper pointed out. Had he really not known about the money? Her shoulders were gradually relaxing at this possible revelation.

“So, let me get this straight,” Hawking interrupted, “Rick and Stoney asked your fathers if they could store some things in the tunnels. Your fathers told them no, and then the two men hid the money down there anyway? If that was the case, where did the two men go?”

“They drowned,” Sammi announced.

Juniper gasped. So did everyone else.

Sammi nodded. “I was in the tunnels early that morning, hiding from the world. I heard them come in through the tunnels that led to the ocean. They were whispering, so it was hard to hear them, but I hid in a dark corner and then followed them at a distance like I was Nancy Drew or something. In hindsight, it was a stupid idea. I could’ve gotten killed.”

Juniper reached out and grabbed her friend’s hand to give it a squeeze. She knew how impulsive Sammi could be. It didn’t surprise her that she’d followed the men.

Sammi gave a wry chuckle and groaned. “They each had a huge bag on their backs and kept talking about laundry. I watched them stash the bags in that little cove. And then they left the way they’d come.”

“Did you go look at it?” Magnus asked.

Sammi scrunched up her nose. “No. Gross. I thought it was dirty laundry. I thought they were homeless or something and keeping their belongings in the tunnels.”

A few of the Daddies chuckled.

Sammi shot them all a glare. “I was a kid,” she defended.

Magnus reached around Juniper to pat her shoulder. “We all understand, honey. I’m sorry. No one means to make fun of you. Your innocence probably saved your life.”

“Wait,” Juniper said. She was confused. “I don’t get it. Why are you all laughing?”

Magnus rubbed her thigh. “Rick and Stoney were discussing money laundering. Edmund probably told them to hide it and leave it for a while, perhaps even twenty years. By then, it would have been easier to move it offshore or even back into circulation, laundering it.”

“Oh, right.” Juniper turned her attention back to Sammi.

“I was stupid,” Sammi stated.

“No, you weren’t. It’s understandable,” Juniper said to support her friend. “There’s no way I would’ve known what money laundering was when I was thirteen.”

Sammi sighed. “Well, later that night, I heard sirens, and my parents were talking outside my bedroom door. I tiptoed closer to hear my dad telling my mother that Rick and Stoney had drowned at the entrance to the cave. It was quite a distance from the higher elevation where they stashed the money to the cave entrance and apparently, they didn’t make it back out before the tide came in, so they tried to swim out, but the riptide kept sweeping them back in, and they drowned.”

“My God,” Sadie said, putting her hand over her chest. “What a horrible way to die.”

Rocco wrapped his arm around her waist. “It is sad, but let’s keep in mind they were hiding a lot of money.”

“True,” Sadie agreed.

Juniper tried to sum it up. “So, Edmund went to prison for the robbery, but the money was never found. Wait, he didn’t even know where it was.”

“Exactly,” Sammi said. “He told his brother about the missing money, and the two of them have been on this wild goose chase since Edmund was released.”

Magnus gripped Juniper’s leg supportively. “I suppose Edmund hoped that both your fathers were aware of the money and its location.”

“Yes.” Sammi faced Juniper and winced. “My parents didn’t know Edmund had even been released until he showed up at their house last night. I happened to call them during dinner. When they didn’t answer, I finally went over to check on them. That’s when I walked in on Edmund interrogating my parents. He had duct-taped them to the dining room chairs and was demanding answers. I’m sorry to tell you this, but he confessed to killing your father. Apparently, he believed our fathers had the money and had either spent it or were still hiding it.”

Juniper couldn’t keep the tears from leaking down her face. This situation was horrible, but her tears were partially tears of joy at realizing her dad hadn’t done anything illegal and hadn’t known about anyone else doing so either. “I hope your parents are okay,” Juniper whispered. She knew the police had found and rescued them a few hours ago.

“Why did Edmund take you hostage?” Rocco asked.

“Because I pieced it all together while he was pacing around, ranting at my parents’ house. I hadn’t thought about that incident with the laundry ever again until that moment. It hit me. The laundry had actually been the money. And I knew where it was, so I told Edmund I did, mostly so he would leave my parents alone. I thought if I could get him away from them, he wouldn’t kill them.” Tears welled up in her eyes. “It worked,” she added.

Juniper gasped, covering her mouth. How horrible. But she was right; it had worked.

Sammi swiped at her tears. “I love them. I didn’t want him to hurt them, and I knew he would after he told them he’d killed your father. So, I told him if he would leave them alive, I would take him to the money. I had prayed I might be able to escape along the way. I was running out of all hope when your men found me.” She accepted a tissue from Celeste and wiped her eyes.

Magnus smiled at her. “You did good when you started screaming.”

“Yes,” Juniper agreed, though she shifted her weight on her Daddy’s lap because she knew as soon as they were alone, he was going to spank her hard for running toward danger.

A phone rang, and Hawking lifted his to look at it before quickly answering. “Hawking, here.”

They were all waiting to hear from Sammi’s parents. They knew the local police on the North Island had gone to the house and rescued them, but Sammi had yet to make contact with them.

After a few seconds, Hawking spoke again, “Yes, she’s right here. I’ll give her the phone.” He held it out. “It’s your parents.”

Sammi jumped up from the couch and reached for the phone. Hawking guided her away from the group so she could have some privacy.

Juniper leaned into her Daddy and hugged him. Her adrenaline was going to crash soon. She was exhausted and overwhelmed. Luckily, he understood and held her close, kissing the top of her head often.