Vacation deadly, p.1
Vacation Deadly, page 1
Vacation Deadly
An Action-Adventure Thriller Collection
Kat Simons
Contents
Blurb
Introduction
Blue Skies and Conman’s Eyes
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
A Vacation to Die For
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Darwin’s Atoll
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Taking the Heat
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Deadly Breaks
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Thank You
Books By Kat Simons
About the Author
KatSimonsBooks
Newsletter Bonuses
When taking a vacation turns deadly…
Everyone needs a break from real life, a little time away from work. Even conmen and assassins and thrill-seeking treasure hunters crave some down time. But no one escapes work for long. When dangers charge in to destroy all that hard won peace and the bullets start flying, the vacation comes to an end.
And the deadly consequences begin.
Exotic settings and fast-paced action fill this collection of five adventure thriller stories from bestselling author Kat Simons. With larger-than-life heroes, adventures only the brave risk, and a sly humor to balance all the bullets.
VACATION DEADLY
Copyright © 2024 by Katrina Tipton
Cover design: © 2024 T&D Publishing
Cover Art: © Katya Triling | Dreamstime.com
Published by: T&D Publishing
T&D Publishing: https://www.tanddpublishing.com
Kat Simons Website: https://www.katsimons.com
Kat Simons Newsletter: https://bit.ly/KatSimonsNewsletter
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
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To my hero and our heroes in training.
Introduction
I have always loved a good action-adventure movie. Add in a little humor and I’m all in. The more over the top, the better. I grew up watching the action-adventure thrillers of the 80s and still love a good larger-than-life hero. Die Hard, Aliens, True Lies, Demolition Man, Indiana Jones, Jumanji, Laura Kroft, Jurassic Park. It’s got adventure, travel, action, fun characters, and a bit of a laugh in the middle of all the gunfights… I love it.
And sometimes, I even commit action-adventure thriller while writing.
Travel is also a big part of my life. As a mother, the idea of a quiet holiday on a beach with plenty of time to read is…a dream. But traveling with my kids is great fun, too. And who doesn’t love a nice little get away, quiet, no one to bother you, nothing to do but kick back and enjoy yourself…
Unfortunately, when your real life is as complicated as the main characters in this collection, a little quiet time is never really on the table. In fact, sometimes a vacation can turn deadly.
VACATION DEADLY includes five all new action-adventure thrillers, with main characters that take life by the throat and go all in. As you might be able to tell, I have a soft spot for thieves, but also the occasional assassin. Sometimes, though, I just like a larger-than-life type of character willing to go in and do the thing because it’s the right thing to do.
I have a little of all that here.
The first story, Blue Skies and Conman’s Eyes, jumps right into the theme of this collection with a main character just looking for a break on her all-you-can-eat cruise around the Hawaiian Islands. But her reputation follows her. Some people just can’t get away from work.
And speaking of not being able to get away from work! In A Vacation to Die For, our heroine goes all the way to a tiny island off the coast of Bali just for a little quite reading time. But no. Work has to call. And… Well, let’s just say, destroying an assassin’s book before she’s finished reading it is a bad idea. Very bad.
In Darwin’s Atoll, our main characters end up exactly where they want to be, just not with the people they wanted along for the ride. They probably should have checked who owned that yacht. Treasure hunting does have its drawbacks, even in the tropics.
Taking the Heat takes a little turn, heading into the mountains, with a main character whose past has left her avoiding the thing she loves most. But when push comes to shove, and people are in need, she does what she has to do. And maybe along the way can find some forgiveness for herself.
Finally, the collection ends in the great outdoors with Deadly Breaks. More beautiful mountain scenery and clean, pine-scented air. All of which the main character hates. The moose doesn’t help. He hates the open air and beautiful forest even more when the bullets start flying.
This collection is full of fun adventure stories with a thriller twist that I hope will keep readers entertained. I know they sure kept me entertained when I was writing them.
Thanks for picking up VACATION DEADLY! I hope you enjoy it.
Kat Simons
May 2024
Blue Skies and Conman’s Eyes
1
My first holiday in five years, and I’d been looking forward to that break like you wouldn’t believe. No idea why I expected it to be anything but a disaster. My life is one big walking disaster after another. But I had some “Love Boat” crap in my head. My dad played that show constantly when I was a kid, always on in the background. It stuck in deep. I thought a cruise around the Hawaiian Islands would be my Love Boat.
Boy, was I wrong.
The crowds at the dock where thick and pushy, half of them dressed in cheap, scratchy Hawaiian shirts. A handful had picked up the good stuff and were wearing nice, authentic Hawaiian shirts. Still, it was a lot of flowers on a lot of well-fed white people. I did like the flower lei they handed out before boarding. Smelled like the islands. Like heaven as far as I was concerned. The air was hot and damp, but the breeze was nice when it broke through the crowds.
“That breeze’ll feel great at sea, eh?” This from one of the tourists crowded up next to me, a middle aged white guy I gave a passing glance.
“Sure,” I said, forcing a smile.
Not sure why I was trying to be friendly. Not like I intended on spending much time with any of these people. I was here for the drink card, the all you could eat buffet, and the spa. Maybe a little touristing on the islands when we stopped, but not with groups. I was sick up to my eyeballs of people. Any people.
So why, you might ask, was I cruising—stuck on a giant floating city with a bunch of people intent on getting drunk and stuffing their faces and spending over the top for knock off Coach bags? I could have gone to a secluded island in east Asia and hidden in a cabana on the sea with no internet and few people and just the ocean and the sun as my company.
Sounds nice until you have to do it. Been there, done that. Got the t-shirt. Wasn’t my cup of tea, as they say.
Anyway, the crowds pushed and shoved through all the security, up the gangway to the main deck. Lots of laughing and too-loud talking. Lots of crew directing everyone around, checking boarding tickets. They took our luggage before boarding, promising it would be in our rooms when we got there. Fine by me. I’d overpacked a little. I might want to spend all my time in the spa or eating, but I intended to do it in style since I didn’t have to lug the suitcase around between destinations. Love Boat illusions and pretty sandals. That was my goal.
I was apparently not the only one who packed this way for the cruise. The number of oversized luggage that, from the way the crew hefted it, had to be filled with bricks, was more than a little awe-inspiring.
Plenty of crew around onboard too, making sure we all got to the right elevators and the right floors to find our rooms. I’d sprung for an outside room so I’d have a window, but nothing with a balcony cause I’d stay up all night imagining falling off that balcony into the Pacific Ocean and never being seen again. I’m a good swimmer. Kind of have to be. But I doubted my ability to survive the Pacific long enough to reach land.
I felt for the people in the interior rooms, with no windows, but I figured the ones booking those rooms only meant to sleep in them and maybe have sex but otherwise would spend most of their time by the pool or in the restaurants and bars and stuff. I spotted one of those interior rooms when I was hunting down mine, and… Yeah, they weren’t gonna be spending much time in those cramped and lightless spaces.
My room, when I finally reached it after going up and down amazingly long corridors, was bright, comfortably sized for a single traveler—not too big, not too small—and had a bathroom I wouldn’t have to turn sideways to get through the door.
As this was my first time on a cruise, I really h
There was a towel on the bed folded into a swan, which was cute, and my suitcase was already waiting for me. That was some backdoor process. I made a mental note to figure out how my suitcase made it here so fast—old habits, looking for the quickest way out, etc… Though where the hell I thought I’d go in the middle of the Pacific, I had no idea.
I stepped to the window, admired the less than scenic view of the docks, substantially less crowded than before. The warehouses from this angle looked a little less beat up. The big tour group buses that had crowded the parking lot across from the dock had thinned out. Beyond the docks, though, the fern and tree-covered volcanic mountains rose to dominate the background. A lot prettier than the dark stained buildings and cement surrounding the docks. Hell of a lot prettier than New York.
Still not entirely sure why I choose Hawaii for this cruise, with the required eleven hour flight to get here, instead of the Caribbean. Guess, I figured I’d be less likely to run into anyone I knew. Which was part of the point of a vacation for me.
I wanted to unpack my suitcase but I was also starving and wanted to scout out the restaurants and bars and most especially the spa. I was ready for a week of spa treatments. I’d never indulged in spa treatments. Like I said, delusions of Love Boat, though in my case, I wasn’t interested in the “love” part. Just the boat.
Ignoring my suitcase, I made my way through the labyrinthine corridors—which you’d think would be straight forward, up and down the length of the boat, but for reasons surpassing logic, there were a lot of corridors wrapping around each other. At least it felt that way. I needed a map. There’d probably been one in my room, but I didn’t want to hike back to find it. When I finally spotted one posted on the walls, that helped clear things up. I suspected I wasn’t the only one who got turned around.
Did an about face and headed in the right direction to reach the pool deck and the big buffet. There was a vibration in the floor, the engines on and churning, but that had been there even while we were docked, so I didn’t realize we’d moved out to sea until I stepped out to the poolside and spotted the island mountains a significantly farther distance away. I couldn’t feel the giant ship moving. The only reason I knew we were was because the island was moving past. That was impressive. Probably helped with motion sickness for those who suffered. I was lucky. Stomach like steal. But I liked I wouldn’t feel the ship rocking. That kind of thing brought bad memories.
Bumped into a few people on my way to the buffet, including the middle aged white guy who’d tried to talk to me down on the dock. He waved like we were old friends. “How you like your room? Mine’s nice. Little swan on the bed. I love that. This your first cruise?”
“No,” I lied with a straight face. “But first time on a ship this big.” Which was enough truth to keep me honest—ha!—and also keep me from looking stupid when I got lost and, of course, this guy would be the one to spot me and direct me.
Since he was pretending we knew each other, I took a minute to study him a bit closer. Middle aged white guy impression didn’t change much. He wore one of the better Hawaiian shirts, muted flowers in blue and white, and tan pocketed shorts. His blondish-brown hair was going gray, but it blended in well with the base color. He was darkly tanned, unlike my pale white New Yorker complexion, though I couldn’t tell if it was real or fake—so if it was fake, it was a great job—and he had the kind of comfortable face that could be overlooked in a crowd.
I made an effort to be overlooked in a crowd most of the time, too. Which was why I was dressed in shorts and a t-shirt with a giant red Hibiscus on the front. My brown hair was pulled back into a lazy ponytail. My black flipflops had been purchased at a tourist store in Waikiki where the clerk called them slippers. I had embraced the tourist look as completely as I could tolerate. Though I kept my glasses on instead of indulging in contacts. I hated contacts. I wore them when I had to, when I was working, but this was supposed to be a vacation, not work.
Supposed to be.
I tried to smile and move around the guy, but he followed me to the buffet, chatting away about the drinks card, free food, and the first tour he was taking when we reached Kauai, the first stop on the cruise. I sure hoped this guy didn’t think I was going to be his Love Boat experience. People like me, we don’t do relationships if we can avoid them. Too much to lose if you have a close relationship of some kind. Too many chances of being caught flat-footed and someone gets hurt. Might even die.
I considered making excuses and ditching him. I wanted to eat all the food in peace. There was a lot of it and I intended on sampling everything then going back for the good things until I was good and stuffed. Then a nap—alone!—in my room. Then I’d unpack. Putting the unpacking off felt rebellious. Hell, yeah, I was on a vacation. I don’t have to unpack until I’m damned good and ready.
That’ll teach me. Should have unpacked the minute I got aboard.
The chatty guy stayed in line with me as we filled plates. Then followed me to a seat near a window looking out over the sea. This deck was high and gave excellent views of rolling blue water and blue blue skies. I kept my attention on the view as chatty guy went on and on about his business selling real estate in California. Suppose that explained the tan. Only good thing about his company was he didn’t require much from me. Didn’t ask questions that would require more lies. Didn’t even ask my name. Spent the whole time talking about himself and I was more than content to let him so long as I got a second serving of pineapple ice cream because that shit was good.
When I couldn’t fit in anymore food or ice cream, I tried to make my excuses. “Need a nap now,” I said with a half laugh.
“I’ll walk you back,” he said. “I got lost finding my room. This place is a labyrinth. Better to have someone with you if you get lost, right? Company until you find your way around. This isn’t my first cruise, either, but still I got lost. I love these things. I cruise all the time. Love the sea breeze.”
Since I couldn’t get a word in to politely refuse his company back to my room, I slogged on, counting the minutes until I could ditch this guy. I didn’t want to make a scene. I didn’t want to call attention to myself. That was the whole point. No reason to pick me out of the crowd on a cruise ship full of pasty or artificially tanned tourists. You’d be surprised by how many people notice you when you’re making an effort to be alone. No one looks twice when you’re one of many in a crowd.
At least that’s been my experience.
The chatty guy followed me all the way to my room before finally giving me a little salute and continuing on down the corridor. “One floor down, same side of the ship,” he said. “Great coincidence, huh?”
“Sure,” I said with my forced smile and made sure he’d vanished into the labyrinth before I went into my room and locked the door behind me. Paranoia was a hazard of the job. I saw no reason to ditch that on this vacation even though I’d ditched most all of my other work-related habits.
Okay, well, not all of them.
Couldn’t get a gun on a cruise ship. Lot of metal detectors and scanners getting through the docks and onto the ship, all the luggage scanned. I was good with that. I hated guns, even though I occasionally had call to use them. But I didn’t like traveling without any weapons at all, even on vacation. Night sticks and batons aren’t allowed on the cruise either. But I’ve got a big, thick wooden stick that I’ve covered in detailed, anatomically correct—if exaggerated—plastic, so when scanned or when some noisy inspector looks closely at my stuff, all they see is a dildo. A rather impressive one, too. No one questions the purpose of a dildo. Everyone knows what they’re for.
