Seduced by Sunday (35 page)

The boat tipped again. She slid to the floor, curled into a ball, and closed her eyes.

“Do we have a trace?” Rick asked into the phone.

Val rushed beside Rick as he jumped into a golf cart and released the emergency break.

They were speeding toward the island airport.

Lou stayed behind with orders to lock all employees down. It was obvious there was more than one accomplice on the island. Who they were and what they could tell them might be the difference between life and death for Margaret.

Rick spoke quickly, most of the conversation lost on Val. When he hung up, he relayed their plan.

“I placed a tracking device on your charter when I came over. There’s another one on the inside of one of the crates. If the boat and drugs divorce, we’ll trace them both.”

Some of the tension in Val’s head started to relax. “How will we know where Margaret is?”

Rick, who always seemed to have a smile, didn’t have a hint of one now. “She’s my wife’s best friend. Losing her isn’t an option.”

Val could beat that . . . “She’s my future.”

Rick offered a nod. “How well do you shoot, Masini?”

“Well enough. I wouldn’t take a shot with someone I cared about close by.”

They skidded to a halt in front of the airstrip and jumped out. Rick reached behind his back and stopped short. He patted his belt line, removed his jacket to reveal the holster he had strapped to his shoulders. “Son of a bitch.” Rick was smiling now.

“What?”

He held up a finger and removed his cell phone. “Hey, babe. No time to explain. Tell me, what sport did Meg excel in during college?”

Val shuffled his feet as he watched Rick listen to his wife. He started to laugh, the sound in complete contrast to the emotions inside Val’s stomach.

The sound of a helicopter on approach drowned out the call.

“Love you, too.” Rick hung up, smiled. “Learn something new every day.”

“What?”

The wind kicked up as the helicopter spun around to land. Val moved back, found himself turning away to avoid the blowing sand.

“Meg was part of a marksmanship team her sophomore and junior years,” he yelled. “I had no idea.”

“What good is that without a gun?”

Rick kept smiling, reached around his back, and removed an empty holster. “Decent pickpocket skills.”

For the first time in hours, Val felt his heart lift.

The pilot waved outside the window for them to jump in.

It wasn’t until they clicked their seat belts and were in the air that Val realized they were in a military helicopter.

Neil sat next to the pilot and handed earphones to Val.

Once the earphones muffled the sound of the chopper, and the voices of the men on board could be heard without yelling, Val said, “I thought you were both
retired
Marines.”

It was the pilot who answered, “Once a Marine, always a Marine.”

“Let’s find your sister,” Neil said.

Val looked in the direction Margaret sailed. “What about Margaret?”

Rick tapped on a device that sat in the center of the helicopter. It reminded Val of a submarine gauge, or maybe something air traffic control used to keep track of what was in the air. There were blips and dots . . . “The red one is Meg.”

“The others?”

“These two are Blake’s, positioned to avoid detection . . . and these three”—Rick winked—“friends.”

“Looks like a small army.”

“Close enough,” Neil said.

Rick shoved a pair of binoculars into Val’s hands and they all peered out over the ocean.

Time ticked slowly.

Val scoured the ocean, glancing into every boat, every personal watercraft. The only redemption was not finding an empty boat. Even though frustration made his foot tap, he kept looking. Gabi was out there.

An hour into their search, Neil called out and pointed. “There.”

The pilot circled around and moved with purpose.

All Val saw was a small boat and a pool of white resting on the bottom of it. The closer they approached, the more hopeful he became.

Dressed in a dirty white dress, her limbs bright red with the sun, Gabi lay with her arm over her head. She wasn’t moving.

“How low can we get?”

The pilot moved away from the small craft, but even then, the waves rocked the vessel enough to worry Val that it would tip. Without thought, Val removed the earphones and stripped his shirt over his head.

Understanding transferred from Rick with a look.

Val kicked off his shoes and removed his seat belt.

Rick handed him a chunky radio. Val assumed it was waterproof and held on.

Val felt the wind kick when Rick opened the sliding door.

“We’ll move closer,” Rick yelled.

Val estimated the height, knew his limits. If there was one thing living his life on an island had taught him, it was cliff diving. With his feet on the skids, Val pushed off, and sliced into the water seconds later.

Once he bobbed over the surface, he gave a thumbs-up, held the radio in his teeth, and swam to his sister’s side.

He was winded when he peered over the side of the boat. “Gabi?
Tesoro?
”

She moaned.

He hoisted himself on board, nearly pulling her into the ocean twice before he managed to climb in.

Seawater dripped on her as he leaned close to get a better look.

Her face was drawn, red, with dark spots under her eyes. She’d aged ten years in the week she’d been out of his sight.

Her lips were cracked and bleeding, her hair matted. “What has he done to you?”

Val lifted her arm, felt for her pulse, and noticed all the bruises. Some were angry and swollen. Others were yellow and fading.

She moaned again, but didn’t open her eyes.

“What do we have down there?” Val heard Rick through the radio.

He lifted the device, pressed the button. “Alive. Barely. She needs a hospital.”

“Do you see any explosives?”

Merda
, he’d forgotten about that. He looked under the one seat and noticed a device stuck to the underside. He knew nothing about bombs, but assumed it was. “Yeah. About three inches in diameter, a few wires . . . a light.”

Val stroked Gabi’s brow as he spoke.

“I’m coming down.”

An eternity later, Rick was lowered in a harness. The boat barely handled the three of them, but Val countered wherever Rick stood to keep the vessel upright.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Rick laughed when he saw the explosive. He reached for it.

Val stopped him. “Careful.”

Rick pushed his hand away. “I built better shit in my teenage backyard.” He pulled two wires and the light went out. “Amateur. Alonzo might run drugs, but he knows squat about bombs.”

Val didn’t realize how fast he was breathing until that moment.

“Let’s get her out of here.”

Val followed Rick’s instructions and helped secure his unconscious sister to Rick’s frame.

Once they were ready to go, Val said, “Don’t come back for me. Get her to a hospital.”

“One step ahead of you, Masini. There’s a boat on its way to you now.” Rick reached into a pocket and handed Val his cell phone. “In case Alonzo calls you directly.”

“Got it.” Val kissed the top of his sister’s head. “Keep her alive.”

Rick winked, shot his thumb in the air, and was gone.

To say she was scared shitless would be an understatement.

Meg watched Val’s island sink away without any trace of anyone following. She considered her options. She could jump overboard and swim away, but outrunning a bullet was impossible. And swimming more than a few hundred yards wouldn’t be smart, not with her set of lungs. Then there was the fact that she had no idea if Gabi was safe.

Meg trusted Rick and Neil, knew of their abilities to track and to find. She had to bank on the fact that Alonzo and his shit-pot of men knew nothing about her friends.

How would Alonzo take a two-thirds shipment of goods? Would he shoot her on the spot, or negotiate a swap? Rick had alluded to the cost of each pallet. Close to a million dollars in its current state, triple that after it was refined.

“Where are you taking me?” she finally asked after the sight of Val’s island disappeared completely. Jumping overboard now would be suicide.

Could she shoot the captain and take over the boat?

Maybe if he was threatening her with more than a look. Cold-blooded killer, she wasn’t.

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

Asshole.

“How does it feel to know your friends abuse women?”

Stephan didn’t comment and continued to man his boat.

The quiet was killing her, so she kept talking. “Alonzo seemed like a complete putz to me. Too stupid to pull all this off.”

The captain shifted on the balls of his feet.

“I bet there’s someone else waiting to take delivery. Maybe even cut you out of the pie.”

Stephan’s eyes swung her way, then back to the horizon.

“How well do you know Alonzo anyway? I bet he’s not even Italian.”

“You talk too much.”

And you’re fidgeting.

“I’m new at this
held against my will
thing. Am I supposed to sit here and be scared? Is that what Gabi did?”

“Gabi wasn’t smart enough to be scared.”

That burned.

Sweet, innocent Gabi would never be the same. “You fixed her, didn’t you? No chance she’ll trust anyone ever again. You must be proud.” Meg bit out her last words.

“I never touched Gabi.”

“And that makes it OK in your head? Men can justify anything.” It was strange how anger took away the fear. With that anger came clarity and the ability to think.

A radio on the control panel offered static and then she heard a male voice. “Alpha to Beta, you there?”

Stephan picked up the simple radio and answered. “I’m here. On target with cargo.”

“Any trails?”

“None in my visibility. Yours?”

“We’re clear. Continue to target and hold your position once in sight.”

Stephan discontinued the call.

Meg found herself squirming. “Alpha and Beta? That makes them the boss and you their bitch.”

She didn’t see his fist coming until it was on her. She went with the punch as best she could. Pain exploded in her jaw, her teeth cut a nice gouge in her cheek.

“Shut your mouth.”

Yeah . . . that sounded good to her.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Val pulled on the dry clothes offered, slipped into ill-fitting shoes, and made his way to the bridge of the ship that picked him up. He wasn’t sure what kind of vessel it was. It moved with the pace of a speedboat but housed a dozen crew members with the capacity of carrying passengers and cargo. The only other similar ships he’d seen were those used by the port authority. This ship, however, didn’t have the markings of the ocean police.

Someone handed him a bottle of water. “Thank you.”

“Glad we can help.”

“Any word on my sister?”

“In the hands of Miami General’s finest.” The captain stopped him before he could ask. “I don’t know more than that. Neil and Rick are back in the sky.”

One down, one to go.

The captain pointed at a map similar to what Val had seen on the helicopter. “She’s here, we’re here.” Some of the dots on the map were lit up. Others were just blips.