He continued to direct the light where he needed it as he scanned for the number that identified the boat.
Breathing in deeply through my nose and slowly out through pursed lips, I worked to slow my racing pulse. Blood pounded in my ears as my brain and body sounded every damn alarm, telling me something was wrong, and that we were, in fact, sitting fucking ducks. But Langston was right; it was too late to act like we didn’t see anything, not with our light shiningon a ship that they obviously wanted to remain hidden in the darkness.
Swallowing hard, I peered around Langston’s wide frame. With a stilted smile and rigid posture, Juno shot me two thumbs-up. I snorted at her attempt to act nonchalant about this increasingly terrible situation we’d put ourselves in.
“Lang,” I started, my voice trembling with nerves. We had to leave, no matter if they saw us. We were a smaller boat, so surely we would be faster and could make a clean getaway. But I never had time to finish my plea.
From somewhere near the boat, a masculine, garbled yell cut through the lapping waves, making all of us jump at the sound. Was that fucking Russian or some other Eastern European language, or was it just too far away to sound like English?
Before I could process that, a terrified feminine scream sliced through the air, followed by a splash, as if someone or something had fallen overboard.
Still in shock, trying to figure out what the hell we just “witnessed,” Langston’s hand wrapped around my wrist, guiding the light a few feet to the side.
“Is that another fucking boat tied to the fishing ship?” he murmured more to himself than to me or Juno. “And did anyone else hear that guy yelling in fucking Russian?”
I didn’t respond because I didn’t have a fucking clue.
“Maybe we are in a Bond movie after all,” Juno chuckled. “Does that mean I’m a Bond?—”
A flash caught my eye first before the resulting boom of the shot, followed by the tearing of metal as the bullet ripped through some part of the boat. Langston yelled a warlike battle cry for us all to get down just as another shot rang out, then another, and another.
Under heavy gunfire from high-powered weapons, Langston and I shared a distressed look, crouched behind the steeringcolumn. Juno was down, curled in a little ball, making herself as small as possible.
“They can’t hit something they can’t see,” I shouted.
Langston didn’t bother responding; instead, he reached up and started flicking off the running lights while I yanked the power cord out, instantly killing the spotlight.
Chest heaving with my rapid breaths, I palmed the gun’s grip, sweat already slicking my skin and making it slide in my hand. Langston had been in dangerous situations before, but not me. I was the fucking mechanic, not part of the infantry.
The roar of massive engines had us both stilling. I started to speak, but Langston held up a finger, stopping me, and tapped his ear. Straining to hear whatever he did, I shifted to angle my ear in that direction. It was there in the background: a second, smaller, high-pitched engine that was almost drowned out by the ship’s larger ones.
Lights flickered to life, giving us our first decent look at the commercial fishing ship as it trudged forward. More shots rang out, making both Langston and me duck with a curse, but this time, none of the shots hit their mark.
Peering around the corner, I searched for the smaller boat, but it was already gone, or making its getaway with no lights, while the ship moved farther and farther away.
For several minutes, we were frozen, all of us trying to piece together what the hell had just happened.
“I don’t know what the fuck that was,” I rasped, “but we survived it. You all right, Juno?”
Silence. My heart stopped at the quiet.
Langston flipped on the lights, the small bulbs blinking awake. He rushed forward and knelt beside her, hand hovering over her still form as if afraid to touch her.
“Juno,” he called out. “You okay, shortcake?”
Still no answer.
Heart slamming in my chest, I yelled her name, the desperation clear in my voice.
“Answer us, Juno,” I pleaded. “Please be okay. Please be okay.”
If she was hurt, or worse….
I shook my head.
No, I couldn’t think that way, not only for myself, but especially for Langston. He’d just accepted her role in his life, allowed her past his defenses, and if something happened to her, we were all in trouble. He would burn the world down in his grief and rage.
No one would be safe, especially him.
