Chapter 4

“That was Juniper,” Magnus said, staring after her. “What happened before I got here?”

“She was just exploring,” Sadie said. “Juniper said something about a big dollhouse that used to sit in that corner.”

“She did play here as a child,” Magnus said, nodding.

“I think we startled her when everyone kept arriving,” Sadie added as she scanned the gathering of attractive men. “You guys are an interesting collection.”

“Eyes on one guy,” Rocco growled, tugging her close.

“Give your Daddy a kiss so he can calm down,” Phoenix suggested from his chair at the table. “Is Caesar coming?”

“I’m here,” the Danger Bluff scuba guide announced, walking in dressed in shorts and flip-flops with his official polo.

“Does anyone know why Kingsley wishes to speak to us?” Magnus asked.

“Not a clue. He just told me to gather you all together at this time, back in this room,” Sadie told them.

“Now, that isn’t ominous at all,” Hawking said from the doorway.

“Hey, big guy. Keep it moving,” Kestrel urged from behind him.

“Sorry, man.” Hawking stepped into the room. His large body moved more gracefully than anyone would ever suspect.

In a short while, they were all assembled around the table. Sadie waved and headed out. When the phone rang, Magnus was the closest. He pressed the button that would broadcast the call through the speaker.

“Kingsley, we’re all here. What’s up?”

“Good morning, Magnus, and to all of the team.”

As they responded to the greeting, the guys exchanged amazed glances. How did Kingsley recognize Magnus’s voice just as he had when they’d first talked on the day the team had met? Rocco made a signal, asking if a camera was in the room, and Magnus shook his head quickly. He had not detected any video feed connecting the conference room.

“When you see Sadie next, please tell her that I appreciate her finagling your schedules to have everyone here at the same time.”

“Will do,” Rocco answered. Magnus could tell by the look on his face that he thought the quick answer would stump Kingsley.

“Thank you, Rocco.”

Even Magnus felt his eyebrows rise in shock. Kingsley had each of them identified. Magnus focused the group back on the facts. “Juniper is here, Kingsley. We’re figuring out that her father must have been involved with the man jailed for the bank robbery.”

“Yes. Edmund Rivers gained his freedom and delayed a short period before heading for the last address he had for Kyle Hazen, Juniper’s father. Their meeting must not have gone well. Kyle was found the next day, dead of an apparent heart attack.”

“Are you suggesting it wasn’t a natural death…?” Magnus murmured.

“There was no official investigation. The authorities were unaware that Edmund Rivers had visited,” Kingsley explained. “The body was cremated.”

Magnus exploded from his chair to pace the floor. If the bank robber suspected Juniper knew anything about the robbery, she was next on his list to track down. “So, we don’t know if the stress of the visit brought on a heart attack or if something more nefarious happened.”

“We do not,” Kingsley agreed.

“We’ll need to circulate Rivers’ photo among the staff to keep an eye out for him,” Magnus said as his mind raced to create a plan to keep Juniper safe.

“There’s more, I’m afraid,” Kingsley announced. “The amount stolen was large—one of the largest bank thefts in New Zealand. The money was never recovered. Edmund swore throughout his incarceration that he was swindled by someone he trusted. He wouldn’t reveal who that person was, even when given additional time.”

“That’s crazy. And they’re not watching him closely to see if he goes after the money?” Phoenix asked, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table.

“After a month, the authorities quietly decided that he must not know where the money is,” Kingsley shared.

“That’s ridiculous. He’d already waited twenty years in jail. Edmund just had to wait a short period of time, and he was free to go after the money,” Rocco said, shaking his head.

“Do we know where Rivers is currently?” Hawking asked.

“No,” Kingsley said bluntly.

“Kingsley, what aren’t you telling us? Why did you call?” Magnus asked. Most of this information had already been communicated.

“Exactly four hours ago, Edmund Rivers contacted Juniper’s neighbors and collected her email and phone number,” Kingsley informed the group.

“Fuck! He’s going to come after her.” Magnus whirled in the far corner and slammed an open hand against the bookshelf, jolting the decorative items placed there.

“It appears so. He must believe that Juniper is his last possible link to finding the money.”

“I need to talk to her,” Magnus announced, heading for the door.

“Wait,” Kingsley said, stopping Magnus in his tracks.

“Is there more?” Magnus asked impatiently.

“There are a few details I intentionally left out of the report about Juniper Hazen. I have my reasons. There is no need for you to snoop into her past, Magnus. Trust me on this for now.”

Magnus’s jaw dropped as he stared at the speaker in the middle of the table. “Okaaay…” He didn’t know what to make of Kingsley’s request, but he didn’t have time to worry about it right now.

As Magnus turned once again to flee the room, Hawking stopped him. “Magnus, get me a picture of Edmund Rivers as fast as possible. It will take some time to make sure everyone around the resort is on alert.”

Magnus nodded. That needed to be his first step. He knew Juniper was safe for the moment, and they needed to know when Edmund Rivers neared Danger Bluff. He met the other men’s gazes and left when Rocco nodded. They would finish the conversation with Kingsley and update him. Right now, he needed to grab that picture and then find Juniper.

* * *

Still debating whether she’d actually felt the lever move, Juniper retreated to her room. She’d spend a bit of time there before heading out to the pool. Grabbing her tablet, she automatically checked her online mailbox. An email had come in from an address she didn’t recognize entitled, “Urgent, your father’s estate.”

Rolling her eyes, Juniper considered just trashing it. After her father’s death, she’d gotten all sorts of scam messages, but they’d been mixed with important things she’d needed to take care of. Taking a deep breath, she opened the email and read:

For twenty years, I’ve counted every day. You know where your father hid it. Turn everything over immediately, and I will leave you alone. Otherwise…

Juniper read and reread that message over and over. What was he talking about? Her conversation with Magnus about the man who’d just been released from jail popped into her mind. Magnus had promised to keep her safe.

Suddenly, the hotel room was too small. She needed to walk and think. Juniper stood and almost ran to the door. Heading to the elevator, she fidgeted as she waited before giving up and dashing to the stairs. Her footsteps resounded in the empty space as she hurried down.

Reaching the main floor in a short time, she hesitated. There was the door labeled Lobby. Something made her check under the stairwell where another door hid in the shadows, almost as if it had been concealed in the most inconspicuous spot.

She yanked on the door handle, and it didn’t move. It had to lead to the basement. What was down there now? Was it just storage?

After pounding on the door, she waited. Nothing.

Juniper turned to leave and spotted the camera. She walked to it and looked directly into the small lens. “Magnus? I need to talk to you.”

She jumped as her phone rang. Fumbling in her back pocket, Juniper pulled out the device and answered, “Magnus, I’m scared.”

The door beside her opened, and she saw Magnus framed in the doorway. Light streamed from behind him, obscuring her vision in the shadowed alcove of the stairwell. She walked forward into his arms and felt them wrap around her.

“Come in, Little girl. I was coming to find you.”

He gathered her inside and led her down a flight of stairs to a large, comfortable seating area. Sitting down, he pulled her onto his lap, not allowing her to shift off his hard thighs. “Stay.”

Unable to refuse that command, Juniper pushed her worry about crushing him away as he brushed the hair from her face with a gentle stroke of his hand. “Magnus, he sent me an email.”

“Who?” Magnus asked.

“I don’t know. Someone who thinks I know where something is, and he’s asked me to return it. I don’t know anything. I still can’t believe that my father was involved. Even if he was, it’s not like he would tell me. I was just a daughter who visited in the summer,” Juniper said, feeling the words tumble from her mouth.

“He must think you know something.”

“He can think anything he wants. I can’t help that. You believe me, don’t you? My father never told me anything about the robbery—if he was even really involved,” Juniper said, feeling defensive.

“I’m on your side, Little girl. Can I read the email?”

“Oh. Let me pull it up.” Quickly, Juniper scanned through her messages to find the spooky one.

“Here.” She handed her phone over to Magnus so he could read the message.

As he looked at the email, she scanned the room. This wasn’t a storage area. There was a huge table that would fit at least ten people and a workout section. She had a feeling the computer displays taking up a chunk of space were Magnus’s.

Distracted by his movements, she focused back on the phone and watched him forward the message to himself. “Do you think you can find more information from the email?”

“I don’t know, Juni. I don’t like this at all. I suspect that email is from a man named Edmund Rivers. He was involved in the bank robbery. Let’s try to think about this logically. He thinks you know something about the bank robbery. It has to be something to do with Danger Bluff because this is the only place you spent time with your father, correct?”

“Yes. We were here for my summer vacations, which was winter in New Zealand. It wasn’t a touristy time at Danger Bluff. I think Dad got a special price for staying here during the off-season.”

“You played with the owner’s daughter?”

“Yes. Sammi was my friend. We had so much fun together,” Juniper said.

“We have to figure out why this Rivers thinks you know something about the money.”

“But I don’t,” Juniper wailed, feeling overwhelmed by the looming threat of this man.

“Okay, Little one. Let’s leave that for a while. The first priority is to make sure you’re safe,” Magnus stated firmly as he pulled her against his torso.

Yielding to his control, Juniper sagged against him. It felt wonderful to rely on his strength. The last weeks had been crazy, getting things in order to settle her father’s estate. Between making funeral decisions and clearing out his apartment, Juniper had run herself ragged. Coming here had seemed like a chance to spend some time where she and her father had been happy.

“Should I go back to the States?” she whispered. “Maybe he’d leave me alone then.”

“Or maybe he’d decide you’d found the money and have taken it home,” Magnus pointed out. “You’re safer here with me.”

“Where is here?” she asked. “I thought this was a storage area.”

“It’s our command center,” Magnus said.

“Command center,” she echoed before adding, “like in spy stuff?”

“We’re not spies, Juni.”

“Who’s we?” she asked, suspicion rising.

The elevator door dinged, and Juniper’s spine straightened. Desperately, she attempted to move onto the couch, but Magnus held her firmly in place. “Stay here, Little girl. The others won’t mind if you’re on my lap.”

“Magnus!” she hissed, still resisting.

“Hi, Juniper. Nice to see you again,” the man wearing hiking gear said as he walked forward with Sadie at his side.

Sadie gave her a wave and a smile.

“Sit, Little girl,” Rocco said to Sadie as he pointed toward the couch.

“Little girl?” Juniper repeated, glancing between the two of them, confused. She knew she sounded like an idiot but couldn’t process the information he’d just handed her.

“Daddy, she’s new to everything,” Sadie said, making a face at the handsome man next to her. “She doesn’t understand.”

“You Littles will have to help her,” Rocco said as Sadie moved to sit on the couch with Magnus and Juniper.

“Littles?” Juniper echoed. “As in plural?”

Magnus stroked up and down her spine, reassuring her. “Littles don’t just exist in books. There are Little boys and girls everywhere.”

“Really?” Juniper said.

A movement in her peripheral vision made her turn around. To her astonishment, two other women walked out to take seats next to Sadie. Both were dressed in lab coats.

“Hi, I’m Celeste. I’m with Hawking.”

“I’m Zara. Kestrel is my Daddy.”

“Daddy?” Juniper repeated, feeling her head swim. What was going on here?

“It’s okay, Juni. I’m a member of a team brought together by a man named Baldwin Kingsley to save people in dangerous circumstances. It turns out that each man on the team is a Daddy. The woman he’s in charge of saving always seems to be his Little girl,” Magnus explained.

“The odds of that aren’t possible,” Juniper murmured, trying to sort everything.

“It’s baffled us, too. Each team member is repaying the man who brought us all together. He saved each of us from a bad situation. Now, it’s our turn to rescue someone else,” Magnus shared.

“So, I’m someone you’re obligated to save?” Juniper asked, sitting up straight in indignation. She noticed the women immediately shook their heads urgently.

“You are my assignment,” Magnus said. “How we feel about each other is completely separate from my role in keeping you safe.”

Sadie nodded her head. “It seems strange, but we think of Kingsley as a type of matchmaker. I would’ve fallen for Rocco no matter when I met him. The other team members also helped keep me safe. I would never have fallen for Kestrel, Hawking, or your Daddy. As wonderful as Magnus is, he’s not my Daddy,” she tried to explain.

Juniper studied Magnus’s face. Looking back at the time she’d spent with Magnus, she couldn’t pinpoint a moment when he’d treated her like a job. Her instant indignation evaporated as quickly as it had festered inside her. “Thanks for explaining, Sadie.”

“Yes, thank you, Sadie. This is all so strange to Juniper that it would be easy to panic and imagine bad things,” Magnus said, linking his fingers with hers to squeeze them reassuringly.

“Are you going to move in with us on the fifth floor?” Celeste asked.

Immediately, Juniper turned to stare at Magnus.

“Oops. Didn’t she know about our apartments?” Celeste backtracked quickly.

“She did not. I haven’t had time to talk to her about the fifth floor,” Magnus said, giving the other women a meaningful look.

“I think we should leave you to talk for a while. I’m at the desk all day today,” Sadie informed her. “Come see me if you have any questions.”

“We’ll mosey back to the lab. You’re welcome to come talk to us as well,” Zara offered.

“I’ve got some things to check on with the schedule,” Rocco added, following Sadie.

Within a minute, they were alone again. Juniper looked at Magnus and raised both eyebrows in disbelief. “I guess the restoration of the old resort is finished now on both the top and bottom floors.”

“It is. I’m sorry, Juniper. I chose not to tell you everything until I got to know you better.”

“I guess I can understand that,” she said, nodding her understanding.

“I’ll get you set up so you can press your thumb against the screen in the elevator, and it will take you to whatever floor you prefer. Photography is not allowed on either private floor. I would also ask that you do not photograph any of the Littles. They’ve already triumphed over evil. We don’t need to stir up any additional problems,” he stated firmly.

“Okay. I guess I can live with that,” she allowed. “Do I get to be part of the big group? It looks like you all are used to getting together.”

“You’ll join us for dinner here tonight.”

“In the basement?”

“Not quite as picturesque as the restaurants, but it’s as safe as a bank vault.”

“Can I enjoy the resort? You know, wander around?” she asked.

“Yes, Little girl, unless we detect Edmund Rivers. Then, you’ll need to stay in secured locations,” Magnus warned. “Come to my desk, and we’ll scan your thumbprint.”