Page 42 of Chain Reaction

Jake flexed his fingers before curling them into fists. He wished he could draw his gun. But he couldn’t. Not with so many innocent bystanders lingering close.

He would only do so if the man forced his hand.

Right now, he needed to figure out where this guy had gone.

He scanned everyone around him again. The man was nowhere to be seen.

But he had to be somewhere onboard.

Jake headed toward the front of the boat, where a crowd had gathered to look at the water.

If he was trying to lose someone, he’d head toward the crowd in order to blend in.

As he walked past each vehicle, he searched the area around it, making sure this guy wasn’t crouching and waiting to attack.

As he reached the last car, he paused and glanced at the group gathered at the bow.

That was when Jake saw him.

The man had changed his hat and sunglasses, almost as if he’d been prepared for this very moment.

Which didn’t surprise Jake one bit.

“Hey!” Jake yelled.

The man took off into a run.

The passengers nearby gasped. Some of them yelled as the man shoved them aside. Most looked confused.

Jake charged toward the man.

The guy paused at a railing, trapped between it and a nearby car.

Jake had him now.

Satisfaction washed through him.

He couldn’t wait to get some answers from this guy.

But when Jake was only a few feet away, the man turned.

He hurdled the railing.

Then he jumped overboard.

CHAPTER 19

Jake ran to the rail and peered over the edge as gasps and screams sounded around him.

The blue water was choppy today and murky.

The man was nowhere to be seen. He’d probably dived deep.

A crew member ran over. “What just happened?”

“A man jumped over,” Jake told him.

“Man overboard!” The crew member sprang into action, grabbing the radio at his belt and calling in the incident. Then he turned back to Jake, “Do you see him?”