Liable Charity: A Charity Styles Novel (Caribbean Thriller Series Book 8) by Wayne Stinnett & Kimberli Bindschatel

Author:Wayne Stinnett & Kimberli Bindschatel [Stinnett, Wayne & Bindschatel, Kimberli]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Down Island Press
Published: 2023-06-30T05:00:00+00:00

The ad hoc group of investigators went up to the cockpit, where it was noticeably cooler. Paul and Poppy slid around the bench seat while Kevin and Charity sat next to them at either end of the U-shaped dinette. Jojo took the remaining deck chair and smiled at Charity.

Grudgingly, she turned to Kevin. “Friend of Suzette’s,” she said, not really lying very much. “I just happened to see the kidnapping go down from my own boat. The one at the end.” She pointed to the far end of the anchorage, and as Poppy and Kevin turned to look, she added, “Besides being an agent for DHS, I’m also a contractor for Armstrong Research.”

Poppy and Kevin both reacted to Armstrong’s name, but said nothing.

“I contacted Kevin,” Jojo began. “On Judge Landry’s behalf, of course, as soon as he informed me of the ongoing investigation. I figured there must be some connection. It’s all too much of a coincidence. Well, I’ll let Kevin fill you in.”

Kevin looked around at the group as he inched forward in his seat. “I work for WCEA—the Wildlife Crime Enforcement Alliance. We’re a well-funded NGO that investigates wildlife crime globally, in tandem with agencies like U.S. Fish and Wildlife.” He gestured toward Poppy, acknowledging her. “We generally gather intel, either by electronic means or undercover work, then turn it over to the authorities when there’s enough for a warrant.” He turned to Charity. “I believe this is similar to Armstrong’s investigative branch.”

Charity nodded, though she couldn’t imagine their network being as vast as Jack Armstrong’s, and it was doubtful their people were ever sent out to neutralize a specific target.

Kevin continued. “My team and I have been working on a case for over a year, trying to identify a notorious turtle exporter from the New Orleans area.

“The judge recently had a case pop up on his docket—the accused is a man by the name of Earl Hebert. Now, Earl’s a two-bit criminal, recently arrested for catching and illegally selling endangered turtles. When he was booked, then released, we saw the opportunity to surveil him, see if we couldn’t connect some dots. We figure he’s selling to someone, right?”

Charity noticed Poppy shift uncomfortably, a slight pink flush to her cheeks.

“And you’ve connected Hebert to someone here in Mexico?” Charity asked.

Kevin shook his head. “No. We, uh…you see, Poppy and I met a few years ago, on another completely unrelated case. At the time, neither one of us realized the other was on the same side of the law. So, when we happened across each other in New Orleans, both looking for an exporter, well, we–”

Charity grinned. “You each suspected the other?”

Poppy finally spoke up. “Unfortunately, our supervisors didn’t seem to think communication between our agencies was important. We’d been chasing each other, wasting time.”

Kevin smirked. “I thought I’d bagged one helluva trophy.”

Poppy’s cheeks turned a darker shade of pink.

Charity glanced at Paul, whose expression was, as always, inscrutable to the average person. But Charity had been around enough

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