“We have to go.” I grab the beauty by the arm and start to walk toward the boat.
“No!” She pulls against my hold, and I sigh.
“We don’t have time for this.” Without waiting for her to comply, I toss her over my shoulder and run to the boathouse.
“Help!” she screams again.
“Fuck,” I hiss, realizing I should have taped her mouth shut. This didn’t go according to plan, but part of my job is to adjust the plan as we go.
Tossing her into the speedboat, I turn the key and hit the gas. Security in the distance is coming closer, and just as I pull out of the dock, they come busting through the door. Shots are fired, and I grab the girl, shoving her down as I take off.
It’s not far to the other side where I’ve got a car waiting, but the hard part will be convincing the girl that I’m here to save her.
Chapter Three
IRIS
What the hell is happening? This has to be a bad dream or I’m hallucinating.
The giant man pushes me down to the floor of the boat as the sound of gunfire starts to fill the air. I scream when I hear some of the shots hitting the boat, and glass shatters around me. I know it’s my father’s stupid guards, so why the hell are they shooting in my direction? For all they know they could have shot me.
I stay down for now because I don’t really have much of a choice. I’m stuck for the moment because if I get up, I’m afraid I’ll become a target. I stare up at my captor and watch as he keeps one hand on the wheel and turns around to fire off a couple of shots. I close my eyes, praying to wake up from this nightmare.
The boat bounces hard on the choppy water, and my stomach drops every time. It feels like we’re going airborne on each bounce, and I come down hard on the floor. Water sprays all around us, but at least I don’t hear any more gunfire.
Slowly I try to sit up, but the man glares at me so I lie back down. For a second back there I thought he was my savior, but now it looks like he’s my kidnapper. I guess he didn’t want Brock to get to me first, and I swallow hard, wondering why he wants me at all.
He could have easily taken Brock, and he’s a freaking Rineheart. It makes me think this isn’t about money, because I’m not nearly as valuable as him. My mind starts to race, coming up with one crazy idea after another. I keep thinking this has to do with my father because nothing else makes sense.
Looking around the boat, I wonder how I’ll ever get away from this guy. I couldn’t even get away from Brock. My stomach tightens. In the rush of everything else I’d momentarily forgotten about that. What would have happened if this man didn’t come along? For all I know he might do worse.
He has to be one of the biggest men I’ve ever seen. My dad has a lot of security that comes and goes, and most of them are big, but this is a whole other level. Brock was nothing but a doll in his hand that he easily subdued.
When the boat starts to slow down, I know this might be my only chance to get away. I try and control my breathing, but my heart is already starting to race. His attention is straight ahead, and all I need is some time. I’m sure people are already on their way to save me, so all I need to do is stall.
I tell myself to move, to get up and jump off. We have to be close to the shore if he’s slowing down, but still my body is frozen. I'm losing precious seconds as the boat starts to slow even more. Closing my eyes, I tell myself I can do this. We’ve got to be close to the shore, so how hard could it be to make the short swim? I’ve got this.
Before I can change my mind, I bolt up.
He makes a grab for me and catches the back of my dress. As I try to run, I hear my dress rip, freeing his hold on me as I stumble over the side of the boat. The water comes faster than I’m prepared for, and it’s freezing cold.
I gasp underwater, sucking it into my lungs as I push myself back to the surface. I don’t see land anywhere around me, and I begin to panic. I'd been so sure we were on the other side. I fight to keep myself above water, still coughing up the water in my lungs. I’ve always been terrified of water and never learned how to swim. My parents had tried many times, but I couldn’t get over my fear.
A hand wraps around my arm and pulls me out of the water and back into the boat. “That’s the second time I’ve saved you today.”
He puts me down in the seat and the boat takes off again. As I cough a few more times and spit up the water, I’m finally able to catch a full breath. That’s when I look up and see my mistake. I was so disoriented from the chase, I’d jumped off the wrong side of the boat. That’s why I couldn’t see land nearby. I’d let my panic in the water take over and made a stupid mistake.
He keeps the boat pointed towards the shore, and when I think he’s going to slow down he doesn't.
“Hang on,” is all he says right before we hit the shore hard.
The boat comes to a grinding halt, half of it now on the bank and the other back half still in the water. He grabs me by the arm and tries to pull me, but I don’t let go of the bar I’d grabbed on the side of the boat.
“Do you really want to fight me?” I stare up into his dark gaze and see pitch black. For a moment there’s a look I don’t understand, but then it’s gone.
My fingers let go of the bar knowing he’s right: I don’t want to fight him. He hauls me off the boat, and my feet barely hit the ground before he has me over his shoulder and he takes off in a run. How can someone this big run so fast, and also do it while carrying a person on his shoulder? He’s some kind of freaky superhero, minus the good stuff.
I try to get a look at where we are, but my wet hair sticks to my face, blocking most of my view. It’s not long before he’s pulling me off his shoulder and I slide down his body. When my feet touch the ground again, my hands rest against his hard chest for balance.
