I’ll have to talk to Dr. Nandes about it.
I retrieve the key to the side door from the back of my jeans and open it, noticing it is already unlocked.
Better not tell North that someone fucked up, or there will be hell to pay.
I make a mental note to talk to him about getting a new security setup while we make our way up to North’s office to retrieve the toy boat, which sits on the desk as expected. As we walk back down the stairs, I watch Lio to make sure he doesn’t slip, then my gaze catches on the ladder next to the boats. It’s at a completely wrong angle, and I swear it wasn’t like that when we left yesterday.
We were the last to leave, besides North.
When we get down to the main floor, I go over to the ladder. There is a jacket laying on the ground beside it, so I pick it up and hold it out to inspect it more closely. It’s a women’s running jacket, with a phone and some car keys in the pockets.
What the fuck?
“Lio, stay here, please,” I tell him, patting his head before I make my painfully slow way up the ladder and onto the boat. I look in the wheelhouse, but there is no one there. I turn and look around, but there’s no trace of anybody. Just when I’m about to shrug it off, my gaze falls on the closed maintenance hatch.
I remind myself it’s better to be safe than sorry as I walk to the hatch and yank it open to peer into the small space.
My heart nearly stops at what I see inside.
There, sitting on the ground, surrounded by the motor and machine parts of the boat, is a blonde-haired woman. I can’t see her face since she has her knees drawn to her chest, hugging them, her face buried inside. She’s trembling like a leaf, and sobs are escaping her while she’s rocking back and forth.
“Hey, are you okay?” I ask like an idiot, panic surging inside me.
How did she get in there?
Howlongwas she in there?
She doesn’t move besides trembling, and there is no way I could fit in beside her. So I crouch down and grab her under her arms, pulling her out of the hatch and depositing her on her feet on the deck next to the railing.
Her whole body is shaking, her face pale, yet red at the same time from all the crying. Her cheeks are wet when she looks at me with fearful hazel eyes, and my breath catches in my throat.
It’sher.
I have to remind myself to breathe before I say, “Here, you can hang onto the railing to steady yourself.” I grab her hand and guide it to the side of the boat, but she looks at me with even more panic in her eyes and clutches my shirt over my chest. “Well, you’re welcome to hang on to me too, but I’m not very stable,” I try to joke, but it goes right over her head, concerning me even more. “Do you need to sit down?” I ask, but still, nothing from her. “Come on, let’s get down from the boat, and you can tell me what happened.”
I try to pry her hands away from my shirt to take a step toward the ladder and guide her down, but she whispers, barely audible, begging me with her words and her eyes, “Please.”
I don’t know what she’s pleading for, but I would give her all of me right here, right now.
A kidney? Sure, take it.
You know what, take the leg I have left. I don’t need it anyway.
I crouch down and put my arm around her thighs, just shy of her butt, and stand, holding her to me like I do with Lio. Her arms come around my neck, and she clutches my shirt again, crying hard.
My heart races for a completely different reason now.
God, she smells so damn good, like coconut shortcake.
My dick stirs in my pants, and fuck, it is really not the time.
“Shh… you’re okay, I got you. Nothing bad happened,” I soothe, carrying her to the ladder. “This might get a bit bumpy, so hold on tight,” I warn her, and she wraps her arms around my neck so firmly it’s almost hard to breathe.
Balancing her weight against my side, I grasp the ladder with my free hand. The familiar routine kicks in—my left foot finds the next rung, and once I secure it, the right joins. It’s a dance I’ve mastered, making sure each step is steady, compensating for the leg that doesn’t quite move like it used to. But it’s a struggle with her added weight, even if she is light as a feather.
When I hit solid ground, Lio looks at me questioningly. “What’s wrong with her?”
“I don’t know, bud. Let’s take her home and find out.”
