“Go.” Tonight, Jack will be our eyes. We four drew straws and he lost.
Grabbing my gear bag, I race down the hall with the other two men and on the stairwell, my comm crackles. “They’ve put her in a boat.”
My fucking stomach wants to hurl but I hold it back and swallow hard. They’re either going to toss her to the sharks or bring her to the hospital. Either way, we’ll find her. We have to.
We jog single file out the lobby and down the street to where we paid a guy to watch our SUV. Slate drives, me and Lucky take the back.
My determination is mirrored on my Aussie friend’s face. “Her baby represents a lot of dough. They’re going to do what they can to save it.”
I grunt, my throat too tight to speak. This is all my fault. I should never have agreed to let her come here.
Lucky’s a goddamned mind reader. “We all vetted the estate you stayed at. The security was top notch.”
Except when it wasn’t.I blink hard and force my emotions to where they belong. If I’m going to save my lady, I need to be at the top of my game.
Minutes later, salt water sprays our faces and as we speed across the bay, I adjust my headset, tap my pal on the shoulder, and test my mic.
Back at the hotel, Jack barges in. “Heads up. Sam’s on a ship heading for the hospital where they brought the Whitbread’s surrogate yesterday. A driver will meet you at the coordinates I’m sending now.”
“Copy that.” Slate changes course and thirty minutes, later, we arrive at a larger island. As promised, a car is waiting but it takes fifteen more minutes to get to the hospital.
“Jack, you see her?”
“Affirmative. They wheeled her into the emergency entrance about three minutes ago.”
What if I lose the baby? Lose her?The tight hold I’ve had on my emotions slips but I regain it almost immediately. They’ll be plenty of time for losing my shit, later. Right now, Sam needs me and failure is not an option.
Chapter 21
Sam
As the boat bounces on the dark ocean waves, I hang onto the seat, ready to dive. If I have to jump ship, I will.
“I say she dies.” The meaner of the two, a dark-haired Spanish man in his forties, pulls out his gun but the younger scoffs.
“Then you owe me. I want my share for her baby.”
“There’s plenty more where she came from.” From behind, the cold steel of his barrel presses against my temple and sweat runs down my side. Whatever happens, I will fight. My little one deserves everything I can give.
The nicer guy slaps the gun down. “Are you out of your mind? Her husband is an ex-navy SEAL and she was FBI. Do you know how much people will bid for their offspring?”
Baby auctions? That is so not right. Dammit. I am going to live, if only to put these assholes away for life. Standing to spring over the side, I screech to a halt when a red light skims the tops of the waves and rotates over palm trees.
“You better be worth the trouble.” Mr. I’d-Rather-See-You-Dead curses as he throws the anchor and it plunks in the water.
Once we’ve stopped, he places a plastic ladder over the edge. “You make one wrong move and you’re dead. You hear?”
Nodding, I climb down and jump in the murky water where a female paramedic holds out her hands. “Can you walk?”
“Yes, actually, I feel fine, now.” I speak loud enough for the men following to hear. Damn, that was too close.
“Come.” The Bahamian leads me to her ambulance’s tailgate where her partner waits and while he reads my vitals, she pulls out an iPad. “It says here you had cramps and blood. Is that so?”
“I, ah, I did but just a little. Not anymore.” My voice quivers as I watch the Spaniard reach behind his back for his gun. Oh, shit. He’s going to shoot me.
“Don’t worry. Go on back and lie down. We’ll have a doctor take a look at you.” Squatting beside me, the medic takes my hand, and pointedly closes the door on the two resort goons.
Finally, something is going right.
