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“Pull up anchor!” Robert shouted to William, who was hauling his up right away, just like Robert was trying to.

Everyone had their life jackets on, but if the boat hit one of theirs, it could seriously injure them. That’s when Maisie thought of Jack and how he must have used a boat to dump Gus’s body. God, had he been tracking William’s movements all this time, just waiting for the right moment to go after him?

William had posted about fishing with Chelsea, and the cliffs in the picture showed just where they were. “It’s probably Jack,” Maisie said. She got on her phone while Robert started the boat’s motor and got them underway. “Grant, we’ve got trouble.”

“Enrick told me you’re fishing with Robert. What happened this time?” Grant asked.

“We have a boat headed straight for us. I’m sure he’s afterWilliam and Chelsea. But he’ll want to take us out too, most likely, so there aren’t any witnesses.”

“Jack?”

“I can’t make him out, but that’s whom I suspect. He’s not slowing down, and he’s gaining on us.”

“Hell, it will take us time to launch a couple more boats, but we’ll do it. Just try to get close to our beach.”

“We’re headed that way now.” But Maisie knew they weren’t going to make it to shore before the faster, larger boat was upon them.

Chapter 26

Robert couldn’t believe that Jack would be barreling down on them with his motorboat—he wasn’t sure how fast it could go, but he was coming in hot. It looked like it would close in on them before they could outrun him. “We’re going to separate from you guys and turn,” Robert shouted to William.

“He’s going to go after Chelsea and William,” Maisie warned.

“Aye, and we’re going to make a turn and toss the extra towrope, anchor, fishing line, everything we’ve got to try to wrap around his propellers,” Robert said.

She picked up the flare gun. “What about this?”

“We’ll use that as a last resort. Can you switch places with me?”

“Aye.”

William pulled the same maneuver, making a sweep to the left instead. As soon as the motorboat followed him, Maisie had switched places and was driving her and Robert’s boat as close as she could get to Jack’s before it passed them by. Robert tossed the extra length of towrope, fishing net, and fishing lines at the motorboat. They were right near thepropeller, but he was afraid they hadn’t caught. Then suddenly, they heard a grinding noise, and some of the items, if not all of them, were tangled around the prop.

Jack was cursing a blue streak as his boat went idle in the water.

Robert and Maisie couldn’t see William’s boat until they headed back toward the beach, getting out of reach of Jack’s wrath, in case Jack decided to shoot at them with a flare gun or rifle if he had one on him.

“What are you going to do?” Maisie asked Robert.

“Take him into custody.”

“How?”

“Get closer to his boat. I’ll use the transom to climb aboard. Then you head to the beach.”

“No, Robert. He could shoot you as soon as you get on his boat.”

But Robert had to stop him. He was afraid that the bastard would flee somehow and they would still have the issue of William and Chelsea’s safety.

Despite Maisie’s objection, she apparently trusted Robert enough to do this and he trusted her to get him close enough to Jack’s vessel. He leapt onto the transom, made it into the boat, and saw Jack with his hands on his head, watching Chelsea and William get away. He was so shook up that his prey had evaded him that he seemed to have forgotten that another boat was still out there with Robert and Maisie on it.

Robert stripped off his clothes and shifted into his wolf, not having the luxury of time or any other way to sneak up on Jack. Robert sprinted to take Jack down, and in thatinstant, Jack turned and saw him.

“What the hell?”

Yeah, always watch your back with wolves. Especially when the hunter with murder on his mind was now the prey.

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