Web of Danger (Danger Incorporated Book 11)

  Web of Danger

  DANGER INCORPORATED: BOOK 11

  OLIVIA JAYMES

  BLONDE AMBITION PRESS

  Contents

  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

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  About the Author

  Chapter

  One

  Ace Anderson enjoyed being a father. He loved his son Henry more than anything in the world. But that didn’t mean that he wanted to talk about his love life with a teenager. His own son shouldn’t be interested in the details of his date last night.

  “So how did it go?” Henry persisted as they walked through the airy lobby of the resort their family owned. It was one of several properties, along with investments and various other real estate holdings. Since their father had retired five years ago, Ace - as the oldest - was the head of it all. It was a great deal of responsibility, but he’d been born to do the job. He’d never considered being anything else unless you counted a cowboy when he was eight. “Are you going out with her again?”

  Henry was eighteen, a senior in high school, and an all-around great kid. Smart, funny, and laid back. But damn, he wouldn’t let this topic go. Lately, he’d been on the warpath about Ace ending up alone and sad. Henry was worried that when he went to college next year Ace would shrivel up and die from lack of company.

  So the teenager had decided to find his dad a girlfriend. Which was how Ace found himself having drinks with a woman last night.

  Henry had signed Ace up for online dating. It was horrible, or at least last night had been.

  Ace stopped in the middle of the bustling lobby, his son right on his heels. “If I tell you that it was the most awkward night of my life, will you leave it alone? I tried it and it was an abject failure. She and I had nothing in common at all. Not a thing.”

  “You have lots in common,” Henry protested. “Her profile said she likes long walks on the beach and waterskiing.”

  “She admitted last night that she only said that because she thought that’s what a man would want her to say. She hates the beach. Hates the sand. And she’s never waterskied, either. Not that it would have been a deal-breaker for me. I would have been fine with that. It was the lying that I wasn’t a big fan of.”

  “What does she like to do?”

  “She likes to cook.”

  “That’s great. You like to eat.”

  “She’s vegan. And she has five cats. I’m allergic to cats.” Ace shook his head. “It just didn’t work out, son. I won’t be calling her again. I’m sure she’s a lovely person but we didn’t have anything in common. She hated my favorite movies, books, and music. She hated the car I drove. Hell, she wasn’t a big fan of my drink choice, either. She kept pushing me to order a glass of wine. I hate wine. Trust me, we didn’t vibe.”

  Henry nodded and sighed. “Then we’ll just have to keep looking. We’ll find someone.”

  “Oh no, I’m not doing that again,” Ace declared, laughing at the mere idea of putting himself - voluntarily - through that once more. “I don’t need a woman, Henry. I’m fine.”

  “You’re not fine,” Henry argued. “You’re old and alone.”

  “I’m not that damn old,” Ace growled. “I’m forty-two. Not nearly ready for retirement or the old folks home. Listen, I wouldn’t mind a woman in my life, but you can’t force these things. If I find one, it will be in the normal course of my life, not contrived on a computer. That’s just not for me.”

  Henry looked at his father as he’d lost his mind.

  “Dad, that’s not how people meet anymore. Besides, you never go out. How would you meet someone?”

  “That’s not true. I go places, and I meet people. I’m hardly ever home.”

  “And you haven’t met anyone,” Henry replied, triumph in his tone. “So that doesn’t work. You have to be more proactive. That’s what you tell me all the time. Life won’t come to me. I have to go after it.”

  Ace did tell his son that. It was true, too.

  “That’s because you’re a teenager that needs a kick in the trousers to get going. You tend to procrastinate.”

  “Okay, you’re procrastinating about finding a girlfriend.”

  “I think you and I disagree on whether I even need one. I’m doing just fine on my own.”

  “You never date.”

  Ace was about to snap back that he did, indeed, date but that he didn’t tell Henry about it. Because it was none of his business. But he didn’t because his son wasn’t listening anymore. He was gazing at an attractive woman who had walked into the resort lobby. Intently. As if he’d completely forgotten about his old man.

  In a way, Ace didn’t blame him. The lady in question was gorgeous. Slim and lovely, with long hair that reached halfway down her back; she moved with a confidence and grace that was eye-catching, although she didn’t seem aware that she’d attracted some attention. It wasn’t only Henry that was looking. Several of the men in the lobby had turned around as well.

  “Staring is rude, son.”

  Henry dragged his gaze back to his father. “I’m sure she’s used to it. That’s Jessica from Midnight Blue Beach. I’d know her anywhere. Katie is a huge fan.”

  Katie was Henry’s on and off again girlfriend for the last year. Right now, they were on. She was a sweet girl, but she constantly thought she was smarter and more sophisticated than Henry. Ace didn’t know if she was, only that she acted that way.

  “Midnight Blue Beach? That sounds familiar.”

  Rolling his eyes, Henry groaned. “Geez, Dad. Midnight Blue Beach is a television show. You know…a soap opera. She’s famous.”

  He did have a fuzzy recollection of someone talking about the show. Ace didn’t get much of a chance to watch television during the day, not that he would have chosen a daytime drama. He was pretty sure his mother and aunt watched, though.

  “Since when do you watch soap operas?”

  “I told you, Katie’s a huge fan. Wait until I tell her. She’s going to freak out. She’ll die. Literally.”

  Ace wasn’t in the mood to once again lecture his son about what the word literally meant. He was sure Katie would not die upon hearing the news.

  “You can tell Katie that she’s here, but I will not tolerate you or Katie or any of your friends harassing one of our guests. They come here for rest and relaxation. They do not come here to be harassed. If I see either one of you asking for a selfie…”

  Ace didn’t spell out the consequences, but he’d used a tone that said they would be dire.

  “We won’t,” Henry said with another roll of his eyes. “I promise. Geez, you’re uptight. It’s because you don’t have a girlfriend.”

  That wasn’t why Ace was uptight. It was because he was a single father with a myriad of work and family responsibilities.

  “Being an adult sucks,” Ace said to his son. “Adulting isn’t for wimps. You’ll find out someday.”

  “You make it sound terrible. You can eat ice cream for dinner and stay up as late as you want.”

  That was true, except that if Ace had his way, he’d go to bed before ten every night. He was exhausted at the end of the day.

  “It’s not as great as it sounds, and you can stay up as late as you want, too. You haven’t had a bedtime since you were fourteen.”

  Henry’s gaze lingered on the actress who was currently checking in with the front desk clerk. She had a lovely smile and appeared to be polite to the staff. That went a long way in Ace’s book. He always said that you could tell a lot about a person by how they treated the people around them. He’d had some rich and famous assholes here at the resort that had been absolute nightmares. He’d banned them from the property, of course, but their unpleasant memories lingered on.

  “I am going to tell Katie,” Henry said. “But we won’t bother her. I kind of feel badly for her, if you want to know the truth. I guess she left the show a few years ago, and there were tons of rumors that she cheated on her boyfriend. Well, more than rumors. He tweeted that she did.”

  “He actually told the world that his girlfriend cheated on him? On Twitter? What has mankind become? I fear for the future of this planet.”

  “You say that a lot.”

  “Because I think about it a lot. Listen, don’t believe everything that’s on the internet. And don’t believe a bunch of rumors. It isn’t nice to gossip about people. Probably most of that crap isn’t even true. It’s all done for publicity. Even if it was true, it’s none of our business. You wouldn’t want people talking about you.”

  Henry’s expression changed. “They already do. It’s not easy being the son of the leader of a family dynasty, Dad.”

  Ace had his own memories as well. Being a teenager had been hard enough, then he’d had to deal with the expectations
of being an Anderson. He’d made it a point not to let those expectations get to Henry.

  Or at least he’d thought he had.

  “Do you take a lot of crap from the kids at school?”

  Henry shrugged. “It’s not the kids. It’s the teachers mostly.”

  That pissed Ace off. These were supposed to be professionals.

  “What do they say?”

  “Aw c’mon, Dad. I’m not going to rat them out. Besides, it’s not a big deal. I’m graduating in the spring. In college, no one will know about my family. I’ll be just another student.”

  Ace put his hand on his son’s shoulder. “Don’t take any shit. If things get out of control, let me know.”

  “I’ve got it handled. You don’t need to worry.”

  Too late. Ace was a father and that meant that he worried. It was part and parcel of the whole parenthood gig.

  Another glance over at the check-in desk, Ace could see the actress heading to the bank of elevators. He noticed that while she was carrying her phone, she wasn’t heads down staring at it like so many people these days.

  “Dad, now you’re looking. She’s pretty, don’t you think?”

  Ace turned his attention back to his son. “I was just making sure that her check-in was smooth.”

  Henry’s brow rose. “You were kind of staring.”

  “I was not staring. I was watching. There’s a difference.”

  Although the woman was the type that men liked to stare at. Even now, several heads had swiveled when she walked to the elevator. She was beautiful, there was no denying it.

  “You could ask her out.”

  For a moment, Ace wasn’t sure he heard his son correctly.

  “I am not going to ask her out. She’s a guest here at the resort. Besides, she and I are strangers.”

  “I’m just saying, she’s pretty.”

  “She’s far too young. Besides, I’m not looking for a woman, remember?”

  Even a woman as drop-dead gorgeous as that one.

  Chapter

  Two

  Cassie closed the hotel room door behind her and breathed a sigh of relief. She was here for an old friend’s wedding, and hopefully, a few days of rest and relaxation. She’d had her nose to the grindstone these last several months and a little vacation was just what she needed.

  The room was lovely, bright and airy with a king-sized bed and a small sitting area. To her delight and surprise, the table next to the large window had a huge flower arrangement in a crystal vase on it. She breathed in their heady scent before ripping open the card.

  I can’t wait to see you again.

  There was no signature but Cassie assumed that the flowers were from Alicia, the friend getting married here at the resort. They’d known one another since they were quite young but hadn’t seen each other for over a year.

  “I can’t wait to see you again, too,” Cassie said out loud.

  She was looking forward to this week. Alicia had always been known as the most creative person around and the wedding was going to be no exception. The theme of the week - and the actual wedding and reception - was Halloween. Spooky and fun. Cassie had an elaborate costume packed in her luggage that she couldn’t wait to wear. Alicia had urged her guests to be as over the top as possible. She wanted it to be visually spectacular as well as the party of the year.

  Her phone buzzed and she reached into her purse to check the caller. She had a feeling she already knew who it was - sister, mother, or father. They regularly tag-teamed when it came to making her feel guilty for whatever choice she’d recently made in her life. Her sister Trinity, especially, was a master of laying it on thick, although her parents were no slouches in that department. All four of them were deliciously dysfunctional but Cassie seemed to be the only one bothered by it. The other three didn’t see anything wrong with it in the least.

  The screen showed a smiling picture of Trinity, but Cassie didn’t pick up the call, swiping to send it to voicemail. She was mentally exhausted and not interested in dealing with her sister now. She’d call her back. Later.

  Just not right now.

  Trinity was hellbent on convincing her to go back to her former career as an actress. Cassie had been working on the show “Midnight Blue Beach” since she was a teenager but had quit two years ago to start her own business. It was probably a pipe dream but she was going to go for it.

  She was tired of it all - the long hours, the attention, the pressures. The only good thing had been the money. Frankly, she was mostly tired of being mistaken for her character. Cassie was a human being. Her character Jessica wasn’t real. But to most people, that wasn’t the case.

  Cassie didn’t want to be famous. Or well-known. Or in the spotlight.

  People knew her name, or rather they knew the name of her character. They knew all the dirty, salacious details about Jessica - the broken relationships, the marriages, the divorces, the coma. Heck, Jessica had even gone to prison for a few months for a murder she hadn’t committed.

  Jessica had a shit-ton going on in her life.

  Not anymore.

  There was a tap on the door and then several louder knocks. Cassie heard a laugh as well.

  “Open the door, girl,” a voice said. “I’m not getting any younger out here.”

  Alicia. The bride-to-be.

  Cassie immediately threw open the door to see her good friend Alicia and her fiancé Brad. They were probably the best-looking couple she’d ever seen. Both of them blond and tan, so incredibly beautiful. They were both in the entertainment business, and Brad still worked on “Midnight Blue Beach”. Alicia had as well when they were younger, but she was on a different daytime drama at the moment. That’s how they’d all met.

  Alicia pulled Cassie in for a hug, and then Brad took his turn as well, lifting her off of the ground and whirling her around until she was dizzy.

  “You’re here,” Alicia said, clasping her hands together in delight when Cassie’s feet finally came back to earth. “Now the fun really starts.”

  Cassie always inwardly winced when Alicia said things like that. Just a little. Alicia was known for pushing boundaries. She loved to make some noise.

  “How did you even know I was here?” Cassie asked in amazement. “I literally just checked in. I’ve been in this room less than ten minutes.”

  “It was easy,” Alicia scoffed. “I just slipped the front desk a few dollars. They were happy to tell me that you checked in.”

  “They told you my room number.”

  Alicia shrugged. “I told them we were friends. And we are. I wasn’t going to do anything nefarious. Besides, Brad and I just dropped about a hundred grand to have the wedding here. They want to keep us happy.”

  That was true. The staff were probably on their best behavior for the event. If Cassie knew Brad and Alicia - and she did - they would have spared no expense for this wedding extravaganza.

  “We wanted to make sure that you didn’t miss the cocktail party before dinner tonight. We’ve rented out the entire bar area just for our group,” Brad said with a grin, waggling his eyebrows. “There’s going to be a band, too. And you know what that means.”

  It meant dancing. Alicia and Brad were terrific dancers. Cassie? Not so much. As a child, she’d been kicked out of ballet class after only three lessons. The teacher had gently suggested that perhaps ballet wasn’t Cassie’s strong suit. She’d suggested sports. Cassie’s mother had been livid, but Cassie had been relieved. She didn’t want to accidentally kick the other students any longer.

  “Thanks for the warning. I’ll know to duck out early.”

  Alicia placed her hands on her hips, giving Cassie a pointed look. “You will certainly not leave early. I’ll ask the band to play some slow ones. I know you can handle that.”

  Slow dances generally required partners. Which Cassie didn’t have.