They got out and Wyatt and Logan climbed in, Jax jumping into the craft just before it sped away. Wyatt thought he could see Pritchard’s boat, but just barely. It was a white dot far down the river, quickly headed to the sea. Wyatt knew once Pritchard got there, Teslyn was as good as dead.
She can’t die. I’ve only just found her.
He opened up the engines, and was gaining on the smaller vessel, but he had no idea how far they were from open water. “Where’s the Coast Guard station?” he yelled to Logan.
“Three miles south. They’ll be coming from the ocean side. I have them on the line.”
That would give them a chance to come at Pritchard from two sides, but Wyatt wasn’t fool enough to think it would matter. A person could drown in a matter of minutes, less than that if they panicked. And no one was more panicky than someone who couldn’t swim in the middle of the ocean.
What the hell had she been thinking, getting that close to the boat to begin with?
He was gaining on Pritchard’s boat and could clearly see Teslyn sitting in the passenger seat. He handed the binoculars to Logan. “See if she’s wearing a life jacket.”
“Negative.”
“Son of a bitch,” Wyatt spat. “Look at a map. How close are we to open water?”
“Half a mile to the Bridge of Lions. That leads to the ocean.”
“Bridge?” Wyatt looked around him at the yacht they’d procured. It had to be twenty feet tall, easily. “What the bridge clearance, Doc?”
“I’m on it. Checking.”
They were a hundred yards off Pritchard’s boat, and Teslyn looked over her shoulder at them, her fear palpable. The Bridge of Lions came into focus in front of them. It was long and flat, with stunningly low clearance. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! Look at that thing!” Pritchard’s boat would have no problem going under it, but Wyatt and his team were screwed. To make matters worse, a slow-moving barge was in the center of the bridge, blocking the only path to the open drawbridge.
“Bridge clearance is eighteen feet without the drawbridge,” said Logan. “Our vertical clearance is twenty-three feet.”
They’d never make it through.
Wyatt made a split-second decision. “Logan, take the helm,” he barked. “Get me as close as you can. Jax, cover me. I’m going to jump onto their boat.”
Jax was incredulous. “You’re going towhat?”
Wyatt quickly found two automatic life vests and fastened one around his torso. If this went wrong, he could hit his head and end up in the water.
Better hope it doesn’t go wrong.
“You heard me,” Wyatt yelled. He turned back to Logan, the only member of their team who wasn’t a former Navy SEAL. “You ever heard of Bernoulli’s principle?”
“As it pertains to airplanes, yes. Not boats.”
“When you get close to that boat, the hulls will be drawn together. Don’t crash into him.” The look Logan gave him might have been comical under different circumstances. For now, he just hoped the younger man could handle the task at hand. A collision could send Teslyn into the water.
Wyatt double-checked his sidearm as the yacht neared Pritchard’s boat. He pictured himself landing successfully, imagining what the terrain would feel like under his feet. They were moving up the side of the smaller vessel when Pritchard fired his weapon toward them.
Wyatt pulled out his gun but hesitated. If he shot Pritchard, the smaller boat would most certainly careen into the yacht, putting Teslyn in grave danger. But Jax made no such hesitation. In the space of an instant, Pritchard slumped over the wheel and his smaller vessel collided with the much larger yacht.
He could hear Teslyn’s screams as the boat she was in was pulled under the yacht and took on a massive amount of water in seconds. He jumped to her, landing between the back seats and front. The yacht was slowing down dramatically, but severe damage had been done to the hull of Pritchard’s boat. Water continued to pour in, and Teslyn was screaming as he tried to fit the life preserver over her head.
“Calm down!” he yelled, trying to startle her. He got her head through the opening. The boat was going down now, completely full of water and sinking beneath the surface. Teslyn’s screams again raged full-force as he yanked the straps around her waist and buckled them firmly in place.
“I’ve got you, you’re okay,” he chanted over and over. The water rose up to their chests and activated the life preservers, buoying them to the surface as the boat and Pritchard’s body slipped into the river beneath them. Her screams turned to whimpers. He held onto her tightly as the yacht circled around to pick them up, and a Coast Guard boat appeared in the distance. Wyatt kissed her head, the cool brackish water splashing their faces in the wake of the boats’ movements. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you, Teslyn. Not ever again.”
CHAPTER25
Teslyn and Wyatt spent the rest of the day at police headquarters being questioned, and sharing the recording Teslyn made of Pritchard on the boat before he died.
As promised, Pritchard spoke freely to Teslyn once they were on the water. He admitted to having Marilyn killed by a deputy friend of his, because of Marilyn’s threat to go public about her relationship with Pritchard and Ivy’s paternity. While he claimed the fire had been set to destroy evidence, he insisted there had been no plan to hurt Ivy, and he hadn’t been at the trailer himself when Marilyn was killed.
