Midnight Of No Return (Midnight Blue Beach Book 2) Read online

  Midnight of No Return

  Midnight Blue Beach

  Book Two

  By

  Olivia Jaymes

  www.OliviaJaymes.com

  MIDNIGHT OF NO RETURN

  Copyright © 2017 by Olivia Jaymes

  Kindle Edition

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  Midnight of No Return

  More secrets…

  Willow Vaughn returns home to find out the truth about her hard drinking, womanizing late husband Alex and the secret society that he was a member of. Despite the danger hanging over her head, she needs to know the facts about his not-so-accidental death so she can move on.

  More desire…

  Josh Coleman will do anything to protect Willow’s life, even give up his own. His feelings for the prickly widow aren’t making the job any easier though. She keeps pushing him away when all he wants to do is pull her closer.

  More discoveries…

  With no one to depend on but each other, Willow and Josh must insinuate themselves into the mysterious Evandria, an organization shrouded in secrecy and rumors. What they find is a glittering and glamorous club for the rich and powerful but these beautiful people aren’t there for the play. Evandria is deadly serious.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  About the Book

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  About the Author

  Other Books by Olivia Jaymes

  Chapter One

  Five years earlier…

  The door of the bar opened again and the hot, sticky air of Florida in July invaded the overly air-conditioned room. Music blared from hidden speakers, and the floor and walls vibrated in time as the customers gyrated on the dance floor. The patrons ran the gamut from sober to heavily intoxicated, most on the latter end, which made this job that much easier. Their attentions were solely on their next drink and maybe the most attractive person of the opposite sex in their orbit. Everyone was looking to have a good time.

  Certainly Alex Vaughn was.

  The handsome billionaire had been pounding whiskey shots for the last hour and a half and the only reason he was standing upright was the alcohol tolerance he’d built up over the last several hard drinking years. He had the stamina of an elephant and could drink and snort most anyone under the table. Alex didn’t discriminate among intoxicants. Pharmaceuticals were just as good as booze as far as he was concerned. Maybe even better when he needed to dull the pain. Not that he’d told friends or family, but surely a person who abused chemicals in this manner had to be in a world of pain and agony, emotional or physical.

  Alex’s inebriated state and the distractions of the other people made this job almost too simple. A drink on the bar left unattended for only a moment as the bartender’s attention was pulled elsewhere allowed plenty of time to drop in the small tablet.

  Already beyond drunk, Alex wouldn’t notice or taste it. Only later, when he was driving home – like he always did – well over the legal limit for a DUI, would he feel the effects. Would it be enough? Hopefully so. It was July twenty-first, the designated day. The date had been emphasized. Important. Failure not an option.

  Watching closely as Alex tossed back the shot, it was now a waiting game as the drunken reveler danced and flirted with every pretty girl he came into contact with. Sadly, he had a lovely wife at home who by all accounts was in love with him. Finally about an hour later, flushed and sweating, Alex staggered to the door where a few of the patrons tried to convince him not to drive. Stubbornly, Alex shook his head and palmed his car keys. This was the usual dance at the end of an evening. His friends begged him to call a cab and he pretended to consider it before refusing.

  Tonight was no different.

  Except that it was.

  The local news had the headline the next morning.

  Local wealthy businessman killed in accident. Alcohol and drugs suspected.

  Chapter Two

  Present day…

  Josh Coleman flicked on the coffee pot in Willow Vaughn’s gourmet kitchen, a room he was sure she rarely visited unless it was for a popsicle or a bag of chips. A giant stack of takeout menus were strategically placed by the phone and they looked well-worn.

  Yawning, he stretched his arms over his head and scratched his belly, trying to shake off a restless night. He hadn’t slept well. Not because he wasn’t tired but because Willow couldn’t sleep. With everything she’d been through in the last few weeks it wasn’t surprising. Secrets, revelations, a friend’s near fatal injury, and then finally the news her own life might be in danger. She’d contemplated taking something to help her slumber but had ultimately decided against it, knowing she’d be groggy in the morning when she needed to be alert.

  Currently she was sitting on the back patio next to the pool, a cell phone pressed to her ear, receiving an update on her friend Peyton’s condition. The other woman was in a coma in a hospital in Williamsburg but the doctors were saying she should make a full recovery.

  He stuck his head out of the French doors and she looked up from her call, brows raised.

  “Is everything okay?” she asked.

  “Just wondered if you wanted me to start breakfast?”

  She had a housekeeper but Josh had proposed she give the woman some time off. If Willow was in danger then anyone close to her might also be. With that suggestion, she’d given her entire household staff including the gardeners who only came intermittently three weeks off with pay. She didn’t tell them why, simply saying she wanted her staff to enjoy themselves and relax a little.

  “Whatever you cook, I’ll eat.”

  She wasn’t a picky eater, which was a good thing considering she couldn’t boil water. She’d tried to help him in the kitchen last night and it had gone downhill from there. He had new strict rules – no knives, no hot stoves or ovens, no kidding.

  Following him back into the kitchen, she settled at the large granite island still chatting to her friend Bailey Scott while Josh cut up veggies and ham for an omelet. Her tone sounded upbeat so things must be looking positive for a change.

  “If she wakes up, you’ll tell her I’m thinking about her, right?” A pause. “I’m trying to get the president of Evandria to meet with us but all they ever say is that he’ll return my call, which of course he never does. We’re considering a more drastic approach.” Another pause. “No
thing illegal. I’m going to try and get invited to somewhere he will be, that’s all. Nothing nefarious. We need to know what he knows about our husbands. He might be a really nice guy and will just hand over any information they have about them. Stranger things have happened to us quite recently. Yes, I know, I sound like Peyton now. An optimist. Is there any news about Stephen Baxter’s condition?” Willow listened for a few minutes. Whatever was going on with Baxter wasn’t straightforward. “I hope he wakes up. He might have more information than he let on.”

  Briefly, she pulled the phone away from her ear. “Bailey, hold on. Someone is beeping in.” She pressed a button. “Hello? Yes, this is Willow Vaughn.”

  Her eyes went wide and she hopped up from the barstool, practically jumping up and down in bare feet. She swung around the island and grabbed Josh’s arm that was currently wielding a sharp knife. With a sigh, he set it out of her reach and turned to see what had her peeing her pants with excitement.

  “Yes, tomorrow morning at ten sounds wonderful. We’ll be there. Thank you so much.”

  She was waving her arms around now, a huge smile on her face. She was always beautiful, but when she was jubilant like this, it put her into a league all her own.

  “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” he asked now that she had hung up. “I have never seen you this happy and I must say it’s an interesting turn of events.”

  She held up her hand. “Let me tell Bailey and then you and I can talk about it. This is so exciting.” She switched ears and reached out with her other hand, snagging a cube of ham that had been destined for the omelets. “Bailey, yes, guess who that was. Archer Caldwell, the president of Evandria. He’s agreed to meet with us tomorrow morning. Yes, we should have a call this afternoon and discuss what questions I should ask. Yes, yes, we’ll be here. Okay, bye.”

  Tossing her phone down on the island, she launched herself into Josh’s arms. This was nice. He could easily get used to it. “So I guess we have something to celebrate? What did he say?”

  She stepped back, her cheeks pink with excitement. “First he apologized for taking so long to return my call. He said he was out of the country, which I think is pure bullshit. But anyway, he said he had a spot in his schedule for tomorrow at ten.” Her smile fell. “Only one bad thing about it. We meet at his home, not the headquarters.”

  “I’m sure that’s by design.” Josh poured the eggs into the hot skillet. “We’re getting to talk to him and that’s the important thing. I’m assuming he knows you’re Alex’s widow.”

  Willow waggled her eyebrows. “If what Guy Eckley says is true, they know everything.”

  Sprinkling in the ham and veggies, Josh played along. “I don’t know what you’re going to ask him but I want to know if Oswald acted alone and if the moon landing was real. My uncle swears it was fake but then he believes his neighbors are secretly taping his phone conversations so he often speaks in code which no one but him knows so we can’t understand a damn thing he’s talking about. As a family, we’ve decided to find it charming and quirky.”

  Giggling, she reached into the cabinet and pulled down two coffee cups. “He sounds like a real character. I’d like to meet him sometime.”

  “He’d love to meet you. Fancies himself something of a ladies man. He is on his fifth wife. Nice women too. Not sure what they see in him but sadly the relationships never last long. Surprise, surprise. Play your cards right, honey, and you could be number six.”

  Willow rolled her eyes and groaned. “I am not looking to get married. Been there, done that. Why would I ever do it again?”

  Josh shrugged, enjoying the play by play. Willow always challenged him. “I don’t know. Security, maybe?”

  “I have two dogs. Try again.”

  “Someone to warm your feet at night.”

  “I have two dogs. Try again.”

  “Someone to tell you you’re pretty.”

  Willow handed him his coffee cup. “I can pay someone to do that.”

  “Then it looks like you have no need of marital bliss. Congratulations.”

  He flipped the huge omelet out onto a plate. It would be more than enough to share once he made some toast.

  “You made a mess,” Willow scolded playfully as she retrieved plates and forks and placed them on the table. “I’ll have you know that’s my job. No horning in on my fun.”

  He had made a mess. There were veggies and ham cubes on the floor where they had escaped during the transfer from cutting board to skillet. He knelt down to scoop them up in his hand and looked up as Willow refilled her coffee cup. She really shouldn’t be allowed around anything that hot. She was a menace in the kitchen.

  Just about to stand, he spied something way under the lip of the granite-topped island. If Willow found out she had a spider or roach in the house she might put it on the market and move. He reached up to the counter and grabbed a paper towel, capturing the invader but his fingers immediately knew this wasn’t a household pest. He was a veterinarian, not a cop, but he had a feeling that what he’d found wasn’t good.

  Standing, he placed the paper towel on the counter and pointed to it. Willow frowned and open her mouth to speak but he pressed his hand over her lips and shook his head. She nodded silently as if understanding but her expression was questioning. He reached for the pen and paper next to the refrigerator where the housekeeper made her grocery list and scrawled a note, setting it next to the small metal object he’d found.

  I don’t know much about these things but I think your home is being bugged.

  They’d left the small metal device in the kitchen while they ate outside on the back patio, the two dogs Brodie and Scout at their feet, hoping for a dropped morsel of food. Josh had taken a few pictures of it with his phone and shot them off to Ellis, so now it was a waiting game. That didn’t stop Willow from being extremely pissed off. If it was what Josh thought it was, someone was going to answer for it.

  “How long do you think it’s been there?” she asked, her voice trembling with anger. “I don’t suppose there’s any chance it’s part of the Wi-Fi system and we’re overreacting.”

  Josh shoveled a bite of omelet into his mouth before answering. That was something she’d noticed about him although she’d only met him a little over a week ago. He’d take his time thinking about what he was going to say, measuring his words carefully. Perhaps it came from being a veterinarian and all the nervous pet parents like herself. Maybe it was just how he was born.

  “It could be. Like I said, I’m no expert. I’ve only seen them in movies so at this point it could be a lot of things. But I think one thing is certain, it’s not part of the kitchen island.”

  Pushing food around on her plate, she ran through every recent conversation she could remember. “I don’t know what they were listening for. My housekeeper’s recipe for lasagna?”

  “I think you need to be prepared for the very real possibility that if that is what I think it is, it’s not the only one in the house. They may be scattered all over. We should check Bailey and Peyton’s houses as well.”

  Thoughts of what they might have heard had her cheeks flushing a bright red. She might be a widow and not have a man, but dammit, she still had needs. Needs that were taken care of by certain battery operated objects she kept stashed in the nightstand drawer.

  “I feel so violated. Like they know all my secrets. Thank goodness they can’t see me too.”

  She had a habit of walking around with little on when she was the only one home.

  His look had her groaning in protest. “No. Just no. Do you think they have a camera too? Son of a bitch. That must be how they know all the secrets. They’re spying.”

  “We need to sweep the house completely, honey. Every nook and cranny. I don’t know what they’re doing but generally where there’s smoke there’s fire, if you know what I mean.”

  She did and now she was completely squicked out. “Maybe we should go to a hotel.”

  Shrugging, he pointed
to her barely touched food. “You need to eat. Keep up your strength. As for a hotel, who’s to say what they’re watching. They could have eyes everywhere.”

  Her stomach lurched and she stared at her plate. There was no way she could choke down this food. Maybe the toast? She listlessly bit into the dry bread, not bothering with butter or jam. “Now I am totally creeped out. My skin is tingling and I feel eyes on me everywhere. I’m so paranoid I may need a tinfoil hat. Doesn’t this bother you?”

  Mr. Laidback and Mellow considered the question. “I’m not thrilled about it but I’m not going to get upset until I know what we’re dealing with. Besides, I cannot imagine a more boring subject for anyone to watch than me. I’m a walking cure for insomnia.”

  “I bet your life isn’t that boring.”

  He reached out a hand. “I’ll take that bet. Five bucks says you’d find my life a snoozefest. Deal?”

  She was enjoying Josh’s company more and more. She shook his hand, his callused fingers slightly rough against her skin. “I’ll take that bet. So tell me about your life and be specific.”

  “I wake up early and feed all the dogs and then go for a run. I shower, grab a quick breakfast, then try to make it into the clinic by seven-thirty. Then I proceed to see patients for about twelve hours, possibly taking a short break for lunch where I eat a sandwich and chips. Most evenings after work I have dinner, read, or maybe watch some television. Now and then I play poker with Ellis, Chase, and a few other friends. If I take a rare day off, I might play tennis with Chase but mostly I do maintenance around the house or take the dogs for a walk. There. That’s my life.”

  Willow didn’t say a word, instead walking into the house and digging in her purse. She came back outside and slapped a five down on the table. “You win. That’s pathetic, Josh. You need to get out more and have some fun. Live a little. You only get one chance at life. Don’t you ever date or maybe go dancing? Travel?”