He needed to get another cell phone ASAP. How the hell could he request backup without a way to make that call?”
They made it back to the dock where the houseboat was moored, shrouded in darkness. They should have left a light on.
But no matter, they weren’t staying.
Holly cut the engine and let the skiff float the rest of the way. After listening to the motor's constant hum, the silence seemed almost deafening. Not even the cicadas and frogs dared break the quiet.
Simon secured the line to a piling on the dock and stepped out of the boat. He reached down and gripped Holly’s hand, helping her up onto the dock and into his embrace.
She wrapped her arms around him and rested her forehead against his chest. “I’m scared.”
He tightened his hold.
“Not for me,” she said. “But for them.”
“I’m worried as well.” He lifted her chin and brushed his lips across hers. “I just need one thing from inside the houseboat, then we can head out. Do you need anything?”
“My toothbrush,” she said.
“We have extras at the boarding house. I just want to grab my bag.” Simon led the way across the gangway, intent on getting inside and grabbing his handgun out of his go-bag. He hadn’t carried it up to that point but was convinced he should. The people they were dealing with were greedy and ruthless.
He'd feel better if he was armed.
He slipped the key into the lock and pushed the door open.
A light blinked on.
Simon froze. A man stood in front of him holding a gun in his hand. With his hand still on the door, Simon jerked it closed and yelled, “Holly, run!”
“Too late,” a voice said behind him.
He turned to find Solberg’s fixer with his hand hanging onto Holly’s hair, a gun pressed to her temple. “Make any stupid moves, and I’ll blow her head off.”
Chapter 14
The hand in her hair pulled so hard, Holly’s eyes watered.
The man had sneaked up so silently she hadn’t heard him. She hadn’t known he was there until he’d grabbed a handful of her hair and yanked her head back.
She hadn’t even had time to scream before he’d pressed the cold, hard barrel of a gun to her temple.
As Simon yelled, “Holly, run!” he’d spun toward her.
The guy holding her hair said, “Make any stupid moves, and I’ll blow her head off.”
Simon stood still and slowly raised his hand. “Don’t hurt her.”
“I won’t as long as you do exactly as I say.” The man pulled on her hair, making her lean back to ease the pain.
“Down on your knees,” he demanded, “and hands behind your head.”
Simon dropped to his knees and clasped his hands behind his head.
The guy behind him stuck his handgun in his waistband and grabbed Simon’s wrists, securing them with a zip tie.
“Get his ankles,” Holly’s captor said.
The man following orders kicked Simon’s feet together behind him and secured his ankles with another long zip tie.
