Chapter 17
Tayla inched to her right on the moist ground, then her left, trying to find a decent view of The Sea Queen without leaving the cover of the bushes. She was probably covered in dirt by now, but she didn’t care.
She scooted forward another foot and pressed herself into the branches for a better angle.
She heard a rustling behind her a moment before a rough hand clamped over her mouth. Someone pulled her backward and up off her feet. She couldn’t see his face, but it definitely wasn’t Jason. Or Knox. Or Leland. He held her against the front of his body, her legs kicking frantically in the air.
She heard laughing nearby. “What’s the problem, Charlie? You can’t handle her?”
Charlie—whoever that was—gripped her tighter. Her mind knew she would never come close to overpoweringCharlie’s thick arms, but her legs didn’t get the message—they kicked out of instinct.
“Alright, enough,” said the other voice. He walked into her line of sight. His hair was pulled back into a ponytail and his arms looked as massive as Charlie’s. And he was holding a gun.
He made sure she noticed his weapon. “Calm down. Take it easy. Charlie’s going to put you down, and I don’t want to have to hurt you, so you’re not gonna run off, right?”
Charlie took his hand off her mouth. She considered screaming, but she wasn’t sure she should. What if her scream diverted Dylan Kitts’ attention at the wrong moment? She wished she knew Jason’s plan. She decided if Charlie and Ponytail tried to put her in a car, she would scream her lungs out and pray Leland, Knox, or Jason heard her. But if Charlie and Ponytail led her to The Sea Queen, well, that wouldn’t be good, but she didn’t think screaming would help matters.
Ponytail apparently accepted her silence as an affirmative. “Come on,” he waved his gun toward the pathway between the road and the pier.
She forced her legs to carry her to the path, terrified of Ponytail’s intentions. When he directed her toward The Sea Queen, relief washed over her. For an entire two seconds. Then her anxiety for Jason, Leland, and Knox skyrocketed.
Dear God, please keep them safe. I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know what to do. But, please, please protectJason, Leland, and Knox.
When they reached Rock Point Pier, Tayla expected something to happen. She had no ideawhatshould be happening, but her quiet march down the empty pier felt anti-climatic.
Her fear recycled when she realized everyone must be on The Sea Queen.
“Follow Charlie,” Ponytail said, as Charlie stepped onto the gangplank. Ponytail walked behind her. She glanced back a couple of times, looking for what, she didn’t know. Her glance only annoyed Ponytail and confirmed a gun was still pointed at her.
An eerie silence hovered on The Sea Queen. Again, not at all what she expected.
She followed Charlie along a narrow walkway until he stopped and opened a rusty door. “Go in,” Ponytailinstructed. When she stepped inside the musty space, she noticed Dylan Kitts’ baseball cap sitting near the helm.
“What are you doing here?”
She startled at the sharp voice. Only then did she notice two more men stood in the room, Dylan Kitts and the other man from the cell phone video—Gus’s killer.
The voice belonged to Dylan, who glared at Ponytail and Charlie. “What is this? Why did you come back here?”
Ponytail looked smug. “We caught her spy’n. From some bushes. Thought she might be worth somethin’ to ya. You said you were worried about spies out there.”
Dylan didn’t look happy. “You imbecile. I didn’t want to engage with them. We’re done with our business. I didn’t need to aggravate them. I was about to leave!”
Ponytail looked confused. “Want me to throw her overboard?”
Dylan looked like he wanted to throttle him. “No. No, I do not. Just get out of here. Go!”
“Leave the girl,” Gus’s killer spoke for the first time.
Dylan raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
The man nodded.
Dylan turned back to Ponytail and Charlie. “Go on, get out. Leave her with us. And don’t talk to anyone else tonight or I’ll take back every cent I paid you, and more!”
Ponytail looked like he wanted to spit at Dylan. But he and Charlie both settled for disgruntled huffs and left.
Dylan’s gaze landed on Tayla. “Well, I think I know who you are. Faraday’s niece, am I correct?”
