Page 19
Story: Lethal Deceit
She coughs in my face, shuddering in my grip as her eyes flicker open and she sucks in a gulp of air.
“Just relax. You’re okay,” I say.
Her body goes limp, and she lets me start my slow crawl back to the jetty.
When I’m a few feet away, I look up and see two men silhouetted. Given the size of the second man, it’s obvious who decided to join the party.
Caleb.
As I swim closer with my arm locked around Samantha’s chest, Caleb extends his hand, ready to grab her. “We don’t have much time,” he says.
I grunt a reply, too focused on getting her out of the water. “Keep her upright.”
He nods, his face grave in the searchlight. “Roger that.” His hands snag on her clothing, and he yanks her up onto the boat.
As I haul myself up the ladder, another face appears. Jake’s talking to the owner of the boat in placating tones. “…emergency, we’ll intercept the cops and let them know how helpful you’ve been to our investigation.”
Investigation? Who is this kid? I don’t know what other lies he’s telling, but I don’t have time to care. Not when I have a drowning victim coughing up bay water and shivering.
“She needs to go to the hospital,” I say to Caleb.
Samantha shakes her head vehemently.
As I accept a towel from him, Caleb lowers his voice. “I agree. Not an option. We lost sight of the boat, but they left us a message.”
I frown, yank my jeans over my wet boxers, and grimace at the sensation. “What message?”
He mimes slicing his throat. “Owner of the boat.”
Samantha groans behind us and croaks out a name. “Juan.”
As the owner steps inside the cabin, Jake gains our attention. “We need to get out of here. PD are about two minutes away.”
Samantha tries to get up but collapses on the deck. Without thinking, I pull her upward and into me. She staggers, but when Caleb grabs my shoes, she lets me guide her off the boat and back onto the jetty.
Caleb hooks his arm under her, and we half drag her down the jetty until Jake points out the obvious. “Faster to carry her.”
With no time to draw straws, I defer to Caleb, who hefts her in his arms and stalks off down the jetty as if she weighed no more than a sack of potatoes.
I glance at Jake as we pick up our pace so we can go ahead of him. “You saw me check in with the dockmaster?”
He laughs. “Silas told us to watch your back. And Caleb figured you’d save us the legwork.”
Something tells me they already knew who was moored at each slip, but I let it go, too concerned about Samantha’s condition. I skirt around Caleb, hurry past him to the Jeep in the parking lot, and open the back door. “She needs a medical assessment,” I say.
Caleb nods and eases her into the backseat. “Jake? Get us out of here. I’ll call Axel and see who we’ve got in the area.”
Jake gives him a clipped nod then slides in behind the wheel again. When Caleb takes the passenger side, I climb into the back so I can fasten Samantha’s seat belt. I reach across her, and she shrinks back, pressing her spine against the door. Even with minimal lighting, it’s apparent she’s terrified of me.
Not a response I’ve ever had to deal with after I’ve saved a life.
“Can you reach your seat belt?”
Her response is weak, almost pathetic. “Yes.”
With trembling fingers, she pulls it taut, and I click mine into place just as Jake floors the accelerator.
I glance over my shoulder and catch the flash of blue and red lights as they speed into the marina carpark. A knot of guilt wedges in my gut that I’m not going to be there to help explain. Not that Icanexplain. I’m about as clueless as I was when Reese and Verity showed up on the plane and saved my life.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19 (Reading here)
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111