She grips the curtain of vines tightly. I work my way behind my small seaplane, and I push it out into the opening, struggling as I keep slipping on the wet rock. Once I get it out, I open the door and hold my hand out to Lilly.
She pauses, fear consuming her eyes, causing them to water.
“Trust me, Lilly. I’ve got you.” The plane rocks violently with the water. “Love, we don’t have time, please trust me.”
She nods, and on shaky legs, she makes it the rest of the way down the rocks, slipping briefly, but I catch her in my arms.
“That’s it, Lilly,” I say calmly, even though my heart is racing. I open the door to the plane and help her into it, relieved when she’s sitting.
“Buckle up.” Her face is ghost white as she does what I say. “I have to push the plane some more. Stay put.”
She nods, and before I shut the door, I lift her hand and kiss her knuckles.
A single tear falls down her cheek just as I shut her plane door, and I catch her wiping it away. Moving to the back of the plane again, I give it a hefty push, my muscles screaming at me, my feet slipping against the wet rocks. I don’t give up until the plane is in a position where it’s clear to start the engine.
Thankfully, I filled it up with gas before I hid it, knowing there could be a chance we’d need to make a fast getaway just like this. I step over the floats to get to my side and hop into the plane. Once I have the keys from my backpack, I set the gun down on the console in front of me, ready to prepare for takeoff.
“Keller,” she says, her voice trembling while I start the plane. “I’m terrified.”
“Love, I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I slip on my headphones, flip the switches, and the propeller turns on. We’ll be flying into the wind, best conditions for a seaplane.Thank the gods.I retract the water rudders and hold the yoke back, and we start moving across the water. Once we reach its maximum nose-high altitude, I relax the back pressure on the yoke and return it to neutral. There’s considerably less drag with only the floats touching the water, as we plane across the water on the step. And then we’re lifting off the water. Once we’re fully clear of the island, I feel a lot safer.How close was the threat? How did they know we were there?
“Oh God,” Lilly says as she brings her legs to her chest and rests her chin to her knees.
“Hang in there, Lilly,” I say as I pull up, and we soar into the sky.
The wind creates significant turbulence as we take off, Lilly making scared sounds with every bump along the way. Once we’re in the air and the plane evens out, I push her legs down and place my hand on her thigh. “It’s good, Lilly. We’re good.”
And then with that, she bursts into tears.
ChapterThirty-Four
LILLY
“Come here,” Keller says as he puts his arm around my shoulder, and I lean into his chest, tears streaming down my cheeks. “Shhh, it’s okay.”
The adrenaline from the rush and unknown fear has drained from my body, leaving me a shivering, shaking, emotional mess.
The moment I saw the panic on Keller’s face when he read the text on the phone, I knew whatever he was reading was dire. I did my best to keep it together, not ask him the millions of questions running through my head, and I got ready. But when I say a crater-sized pit formed in my stomach when he pulled out his gun, that would be an understatement. Terror took over, my adrenaline spiked, and I blacked out until we were up in the air.
“What’s . . . what’s happening?” I ask, my teeth chattering from the fallout.
“Our position was compromised. Ottar told us to get out immediately. We’re headed to Harrogate now.”
“Harrogate? But won’t that be an obvious place to look for us?”
“Ottar said to meet at Harrogate.”
“Are you sure it was Ottar?” I ask, and he pauses for a second. I glance up at him, and he’s questioning himself. “I didn’t mean to confuse you. I’m sorry—”
“No, it’s a solid question. And I’m sure it was from Ottar. The only person who has that number is Theo, and Theo gave it to Ottar.”
“Okay. So how would our position be compromised? I didn’t think people knew about the island.”
“There has to be an inside source communicating with whoever is trying to take us out,” Keller says. “I believe Ottar is trying to figure it out. We should know more when we get to Harrogate. Until then, just try to relax.”
Try to relax, ha!
