Page 19

CHAPTER 19

J ake 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?”

“He hasn’t surfaced yet.” Jake kept an eye on the water.

More crew members stepped in to enact the emergency protocols.

All passengers were instructed to return to their vehicles as the captain stopped the ferry’s forward momentum.

Jake stayed where he was. “I need to talk to the captain. I work private security, and there are things he needs to know.”

The crew member stared at him as if weighing his words. Then he motioned for Jake to follow. He led Jake to the wheelhouse, and Jake explained to the captain what was happening.

The captain, a man in his thirties with a long, coarse beard, frowned. “We still have to bring in the Coast Guard to look for him.”

Jake understood the logistics of what had happened and nodded. “I don’t think you’ll find him. He wanted off this boat for a reason.”

“You think he plans to swim all the way back to shore? It’s probably a couple of miles.”

“Either swim back to shore, or he has someone in a boat waiting for him within swimming distance. He could have climbed up on a sandbar to wait.”

This waterway was thick with shifting shoals, which made it difficult to navigate. Sandbars were abundant.

The captain clucked his tongue before shaking his head. “I’ve seen a lot of things, but this is a first.”

“So what happens next? Do we have to wait until he’s located?” Jake didn’t want to waste any more time.

They needed to get to Emerald Isle so he could investigate that other bomb.

“I need to make some calls. But if we don’t find him soon, we’ll need to get out of the way and let the Coast Guard do their job. The man’s car will still be onboard. Authorities might be able to ID him from that.”

“Good point.” Jake turned and glanced around. “How many vehicles are aboard?”

“Twenty-six.”

“We should look and see which ones are empty.”

The captain nodded. “My guys will help you.”

Jake would do that. But first he needed to check on Raven.

Raven glanced up as Jake approached. She was anxious to get out of this vehicle and figure out what was going on.

Except she partly knew what was going on. She’d had a decent view from inside the SUV. She’d seen the man jump into the water. She knew rescue procedures were underway.

Jake opened the SUV door and leaned inside.

Against Raven’s will, her breath caught at his presence.

But she pushed that feeling aside. She was stronger than her emotions, and she would stay focused.

“Are you okay?” Jake stared at her with what appeared to be genuine concern in his gaze.

She nodded. “Just shaken, as are a lot of people on this ferry.”

His expression remained grim and serious. “We’re going to look for this guy’s car. I thought you might want to help.”

Surprise washed through her. “I’d love to.”

She climbed out of the SUV and felt the breeze wash over her, a welcome relief from the stuffy confines of the vehicle. Even though it wasn’t that hot outside, with no air circulation it had felt warmer than she liked.

Or maybe it was being around Jake that caused her to feel this way.

No . . . it was definitely being inside the vehicle.

Jake paused in front of her, locking gazes with her. “Stay close to me, okay? We think this guy was acting alone, but we don’t know that for certain yet.”

Raven repressed a shudder as they began to walk between the vehicles. Crew members also searched.

The rest of the passengers were in their vehicles, many watching everything with wide, curious eyes.

One vehicle caught her eye—a dark-colored sedan.

It appeared empty.

“Jake.” Raven nodded toward the suspect vehicle. “No one is inside this one.”

He pushed himself in front of her, his guard up. “Stay back.”

She didn’t argue.

Considering the fact that bombs were involved in this investigation, Jake wanted to be certain things were clear before they set off any kind of chain reaction.

The captain strode toward them. He must have left his first mate in the pilothouse.

He nodded at the car. “Is this it?”

“It appears empty,” Jake said.

The captain started to open one of the doors.

“Wait!” Jake yelled.

The captain froze, his fingers on the handle.

“I need to check it out first.” Jake gave him a look, not wanting to speak the words aloud in case any nearby passengers might hear.

Realization washed over the captain’s features, and he nodded.

The last thing they wanted were mass casualties caused by an explosion on a boat like this. They couldn’t take any chances.

Jake carefully lay on his back and crawled under the car. The space was a tight fit. But he needed to make sure no explosives were hidden there.

He searched the undercarriage for anything suspicious.

Then he slid back out and gave the captain a nod. “I didn’t see anything. We should be okay to look inside.”

The captain opened one door and Jake the other, and they began to search the vehicle.

Then Jake found something on the floorboard. A paper.

No, not a paper.

A photograph.

His gut twisted.

He almost didn’t want to show Raven. But he couldn’t keep it from her either. She deserved the truth.

Jake slowly turned the photo toward her.

When she saw it, her eyes widened, and she gasped.

It was a picture of her.