He crawled just far enough to get an ample view of the pier and surveyed the scene with his binoculars.
This was the distraction. The one Eric suggested to the person on the phone—probably to his previously-deceased cousin, Dylan. Jason still couldn’t wrap his mind around all of that. A wall of smoke obliterated his view of the pier. Smoke, no fire. Clearly intentional.
Part of him wanted to run right through that smoke and tackle Dylan Kitts somewhere on the other side. But the more rational parts of him knew it was too big a risk.
“Knox, Leland, I’m calling this. Abort. Meet back at the rendezvous point.”
He knew Eric was listening, but it didn’t matter now. There were no good options. They’d retreat, then try to intercept the boat somehow. That would take a miracle. But he didn’t want to abandon all hope, so he pretended it was possible. He felt like kicking something.
“Roger that,” Knox replied.
A second later, Leland’s voice said, “Understood.”
Jason crawled back to Tayla. “We’re getting out of here,” he said. “Stay close, follow me. We’re heading to that large clump of bushes near the road, probably not far from where you parked. Knox and Leland will meet us there.”
She nodded, with so much trust in her eyes he could hardly stand it. He wanted to be worthy of that trust. But he didn’t know if he ever would be. That thought caused more pain than Eric’s betrayal.
Thankfully, Tayla stayed within an arm’s length of him all the way to their destination. So far, so good.
When they arrived, Jason used his binoculars to check on the pier again. Dylan Kitts came prepared—plenty of smoke still blocked his view. He couldn’t see any of the men, but the last time he had a clear view, more than a dozen crates sat on the pier, so the men might be loading The Sea Queen now.
He and Tayla sat in the middle of the thick foliage and waited for Leland and Knox.
He leaned toward her, keeping his voice low. “Hey. Just a heads up—Enzo is here. Leland and Knox have him tied up in the rocks over there.” He pointed toward theirhiding spot. “He won’t be any trouble. I just didn’t want you to be shocked if they mention him.”
“Thanks,” she whispered, eyes wide.
Her expression shifted.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Jason, I’m so sorry about tonight. I know you’d hoped for a better outcome. And me being here is stressing you out more. And I’m sorry about Eric and—”
“Hey, stop. Just stop. Don’t apologize for anything—especially about Eric. He’s to blame for this,” he lifted his chin toward the smokescreen. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Her eyes softened. And she kept staring at him. Like he was supposed to keep talking.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yes. Yes, you coming out here stresses me out, but only because I care about you.” Might as well be honest. It’s not like she doesn’t know. “This is dangerous. And I can’t . . . I just can’t . . . I don’t want you to get hurt, okay? But, to be fair, you brought some very helpful information. So, thank you. Coming out here to tell me about Eric was a brave thing to do.”
The moonlight on her face was so beautiful he had to look away—before he did something he’d regret, like lose himself in another passionate kiss.
He stared at the dirt around his boot.
“You can’t what?” she asked.
“What?”
“You said ‘I can’t’ but you didn’t finish that thought. You can’twhat?”
He pulled his gaze back to hers. Fine. If she really wanted the truth, he’d lay it out there. Maybe then she would understand.
“Tayla, I can’t live with more guilt. When my wife died, the guilt almost killed me. I can’t go through that again. It was my fault. You deserve better, Tayla. Maybe it’s selfish, but if anything happened to you . . . I might not survive what that guilt would do to me.”
Unshed tears welled in her eyes. He wanted to wipe them away. But instead, he refocused on the dirt around his feet again.
“Why do you think her death was your fault?”
He needed to make her understand. He looked straight into her eyes. “I was right there, Tayla. Sitting right next to her in the restaurant. I didn’t see the shooter. I didn’tsense the danger. She was falling to the floor before I had a clue what was going on. I put pressure on her wound and called for an ambulance but . . . She didn’t even realize how badly she was injured. She kept saying ‘It’s okay, it’s okay, Jason.’”
