Page 33

Chapter

Seventeen

So close, and yet not close enough.

At the sound of the gunshots, Alannah cried out, turned around, tripped, and went down.

At least Jake hoped she only went down because she’d tripped because the alternative was that she’d been hit.

Diving toward her body, he covered it with his own, offering the only protection he could.

While he’d hoped they would both make it into that boat, he was prepared to give his life to save Alannah.

Or even just to give her a chance. It wasn't even about being prepared, he would gladly do it.

Even if things hadn't changed between them over the last couple of weeks, he would be more than willing to sacrifice his life for hers.

She was his best friend, and the vow he’d made as a five-year-old was one he had honored into adulthood. Alannah was his to protect, his best friend, but maybe there had always been more there and he just hadn't seen it.

“Are you hit?” he asked, trying to keep the panic from his voice.

“No. At least I don’t think so. I just tripped. Are you hit?”

“No. Just worried about you.”

“They’re shooting at us.” Alannah said it like she couldn’t quite grasp it, even though they’d both known the risks when they made a run for it. She was in shock, but as he glanced over his shoulder, he could see the men shooting at them were still quite a way down the beach.

There was still a chance.

At least for Alannah.

“Get up, sunshine, get onto the boat and get out of here, I’ll hold them off for as long as I can.”

“No.”

The word was said firmly, and her hands fisted in his shirt, gripping him with a ferocity that surprised him even though it shouldn’t. His sunshine had learned to be tough the hard way, and even though she was terrified, she wasn't going to just give up.

“I'm not leaving you to die for me, there has to be another way.”

Was there?

Was there something they could do?

If he could get his hands on one of those weapons, they would at least stand a chance. The boat was tiny, so he didn't think there could be more than six people searching the island. If he was armed, he liked those odds.

But trying something meant allowing Alannah to stay in the line of fire.

“Jake, we’re in this together,” she said firmly. “A team. I won't let you sacrifice yourself.”

Running through scenarios in his head, he knew he had to come up with something fast, their window of opportunity was quickly diminishing.

For now, there were only the two men, but if more were on the island the gunshots would have them zeroing in on this location. If they were going to do something, it had to be now.

“We’re going to get back up and run for the boat. When we get to it, you're going to jump in, and I’m going to push it into the water. Then I’m going to fake being hit and go under. You’re going to stay in the boat until they get close. When they’re distracted, I’ll make my move.”

This was risky.

The riskiest thing he’d ever done.

He’d been in more dangerous situations in his career, but none of them had involved his best friend putting her life on the line.

“Are you sure you want to do this? I can probably buy enough time for you to get away.”

Her gaze was clear and shining with determination. “I'm positive. Let’s do this.”

With a single nod, he grabbed her wrists and dragged her up with him. Then they both started running again. The gunshots had temporarily stopped while they were both down, but they started up again, plowing into the sand as he and Alannah sprinted the last of the distance to the boat.

Like he’d told her to, she jumped right into it, then turned her big trusting eyes on him.

She had no idea what her trust did to him.

After what her parents had done to her, she had every right not to ever trust another person again, and yet here she was putting her life in his hands and believing that he could protect it.

Pushing the motorboat out into the water was easy enough, and when a bullet pinged right into the water beside him, Jake knew that was his chance.

Giving the boat one last shove toward the ocean, he dropped and went under.

While he’d been in Delta Force and not a SEAL, he’d grown up playing in the ocean.

He was confident in the water and a good swimmer.

Holding his breath was easy enough and without moving too much to alert the men chasing them that he was alive and well, he maneuvered himself around to the other side of the little boat.

This was still a risky plan, but he was starting to feel better about it.

Above him in the boat, Alannah let out an ear-splitting howl of pain, that if he didn't know better, he would have thought she believed she’d just witnessed the death of her best friend.

Thankfully, the gunshots stopped, and he had to assume that the men hunting them believed that not only had they killed him, but they had easy prey to do whatever they wanted with.

Keeping low in the water, allowing just the top of his head to his nose out so he could breathe, he kept still and waited.

Didn't take long until he could hear the splashing sounds of the men approaching the boat.

“Don’t think about doing anything stupid, darling,” one drawled, and he wondered what Alannah was doing.

“You killed him,” she whimpered, and even though he couldn’t see her, he knew she was crying. She didn't have the skill to cry on command, but given how afraid she likely was, he wasn't surprised that she was crying or that the tears were real. They just weren't because she thought he was dead.

“He didn't have to die yet, he shouldn’t have tried to run,” the other man said, his voice lower, deeper, bordering on bored.

“Why are you doing this?” Alannah whimpered. They hadn't had much time to talk through a plan, so he was glad she had figured out enough to know that keeping them talking was helpful.

This was only going to work if he got the timing absolutely perfect.

Even one second off and he’d be dead for real, leaving Alannah at the mercy of these two men who didn't even know the meaning of that word.

“Your boyfriend didn't tell you that his family is trying to ruin a man over something that happened over twenty years ago?” bored man asked.

“He told me what happened to his stepmom, and why you're after him, but I don’t understand what that has to do with me. I didn't do anything, I'm not part of this,” Alannah wept.

“You weren't until he made you part of it. Now you're right in the middle of it, darling,” the other man drawled.

The splashing had stopped, and he was sure the two men had reached the boat. If he was standing right now, the water would probably come up to his chest, the men were likely about the same height as him so it would give him a clear shot at taking them down.

Once he had one down and his hands on the weapon, he could eliminate the other. As much as he’d love to keep them alive, try to get some answers out of them, this wasn't the time. This little boat was more the kind that came with a bigger one than the kind you took out to travel long distances.

Chances were a whole army of these men was somewhere close by, and now that he had the means to get Alannah off the island, he was going to take it.

“D-don’t,” Alannah’s panicked voice hit his ears. “Don’t touch me.”

“What’re you going to do to stop it?” the drawler asked and then chuckled in a way that made Jake see red.

He knew exactly what these men had planned for Alannah, and there was no way he was going to allow it to happen.

She’d only just learned that her body belonged to her, that the past and the way she’d been treated didn't have to affect how she saw herself, no way was he was going to allow her to lose that freedom so quickly.

This brave, strong, sunshiny woman deserved the world, and while Jake didn't know if he could be the one to give it to her, he did know that he wasn't going to let anyone hurt her. He was her protector, and he took that job very seriously.

It was now or never.

There wasn't going to be a better opportunity. The men were distracted by Alannah and the sick things they wanted to do to her. They were completely unaware of his presence, and they would remain so until he struck, and it was too late for them to do anything about it.

Taking a deep breath, Jake dropped completely below the surface and made his move.

October 20 th

3:03 P.M.

Come on, Jake.

Where are you?

Please do something.

Soon.

Alannah pressed herself into the very back of boat as the men standing in the water before her reached out to try to grab her.

The looks on their faces told her exactly what they were going to do if they got their hands on her.

“Don’t be shy, darling,” the man with the startling blue eyes said as he managed to get a hold of her wrist and yank her toward them.

“Stop! Don’t,” she cried, hitting at him and trying to pull herself free. Even though she knew these men weren't going to get a chance to follow through on what they had planned, the terror she felt was real.

Jake will stop them.

He won't let them hurt me.

Reminding herself of that didn't seem to be helping. What if Jake really had been shot? She was assuming he’d done what he said he was going to do, but maybe that last bullet had hit him and he was already dead.

It had been a couple of minutes since he went under, and he hadn't come back up, which meant if he had been hit he was already dead.

Or maybe he’d been shot on the beach.

When he’d asked her, she’d said she hadn't been hit, and he’d said the same when she asked him, but at the time, adrenaline had been buzzing through her veins, and she hadn't really been completely sure that she wasn't shot because she couldn’t feel anything.

It had been like her body was numb, too focused on survival to worry about anything else.

Now she could feel, though.