“Good. No matter what happens, run to the end of the dock, and jump in the boat. If it don’t start, you fuckin’ swim. Y’hear?” At the car doors slamming nearby, my heartrate increases.
When her hand taps my back, I take a deep breath and inch toward the bayside sliding glass doors. If we don’t make a run for it, we’ll soon be flat metal ducks lined up at the county fair.
No time for niceties, I shoot out the kneecap of the dumbass sitting at the kitchen table. Then, I sprint out the back and jump over the body of the second kidnapper. Sam, halfway down the hill, turns, aims behind us, and shoots. With her providing cover, my employee sprints ahead of me.
Bullets zing near my head. Some hit the water, others hit the wood, and splinters break away near my feet. All the while the goddamn motor sputters and smokes, refusing to start.
The last one aboard, I jump in the aluminum fishing boat, and pray.Dammit, Almighty God, we sure could use a miracle.
Sweating, Montclair yanks the pull cord one last time. The engine chugs, he adjusts the choke, and I push us away from the dock. Without warning, a twentyish kid leaps in. I’d toss him out, but that would mean lifting my head, a fool thing to do under fire.
Water gurgles and by the grace of God, we speed away, out of the pistols’ range. The SUVs try to follow along the road but after a few minutes, they’re nothing but dots in the distance.
Out of danger, I toss the anchor rope to Landy who ties up our stowaway, then shoves his ass to the bottom of the boat.
For the first time, she lifts her lids to make eye contact with the millionaire. “This is Tony, one of my kidnappers.”
Sam, on the middle seat, shakes her head, and shouts toward me, sitting at the bow. “I’m sorry. I can’t believe he woke up. He was out cold.”
Dash removes his hand from the throttle, kills the engine, and grabs the kid by the collar. “No matter, I’ll toss him over.”
“Please, don’t. I can’t swim.” The coder’s eyes widen but I don’t have a lot of sympathy.
Because of him, I’m on the west coast freezing my ass off in a metal rowboat. “Well, you don’t need to fret none about never learning to doggie paddle, dude. Hyperthermia would kill you before you’d ever reach shore.”
The bearded young man sputters. “Listen, I didn’t hurt anyone. It wasn’t my idea to kidnap her.”
“Right, you were just following orders.” Face grim, the bounty hunter grabs the stowaway’s arm and when he lifts him to his knees, I truly believe he intends for the kid to drown.
Picturing myself in the frigid water trying to save the little twerp, I talk fast. “Who were those guys in the black SUVs?”
“Russians.”
As the words leave his mouth, Sam puts her hands over her ears. “Abso-fucking-lutely not!”
“Babe, what’s wrong?”Perhaps she’s having a delayed reaction to the head wound?
I pry her fingers away from her head and as I put them in her lap, she scowls. “We’ve dealt with my uncle Vinny, the Detroit Kings, the Chinese, and CloudTekToys. I can’t handle any more bad guy flavors.”
Hoping she’s kidding, I chuckle. “Sweetheart, this isn’t a novel. We can’t simply change facts.”
“Why not? Everyone else does. Believe me. It’ll work.”
She’s about to say more but thankfully, our new hire taps her on the shoulder. “Sam, I’m sorry but Tony’s right. Russians bought some data and when I found out, I corrupted the files before they could download.”
“Stupid bitch. We took you so you wouldn’t get killed.” The generation z-er doesn’t know how close he is to visiting Davy Jones.
“Watch your mouth. Drowning is still an option.” Sure enough, our client hasn’t had much sleep and is beginning to fray around the edges.
Sensing his mood, Landy touches his arm. “He might be right about the stupid move, but I had no choice.”
“About what? I’m not following.” At an oncoming wave, my wife clutches the sides of the boat and the other woman, at the stern, grabs Tony by the belt before he topples over.
Once we’re done rocking, and her kidnapper’s seated next to the spare gas tank, she continues with her explanation. “The Secretary of State had no idea a Smart Sissy doll was in his home, let alone listening to his conversations. In the wrong hands, his intel could change the course of the war.”
“Why didn’t you call us?” My partner looks to me, and I shrug. Maybe hiring her wasn’t such an excellent choice, after all.
Scowling, our new operative reads our looks and kicks at Tony. “I started to, but he and his doofus friend got the drop on me.”
