“First I had to stay alive,” he says. “I was scared to come up for air. Because I’m the only one who can say exactly what happened. I’m the only person with any power over Alessandro Mancini, and that is a dangerous place to be.”
Now we know why Mancini’s urgency grew—he knew that Ellis had seen him kill Felix. And Ellis knew about the Starline Hotel. Mancini’s house of cards was coming down.
“Dad’s right. You have to get out of here,” I say, leading him down the dock again. “The Collective are everywhere. You have to—”
There is a loud bang, and Ellis loses his footing and falls into me. He cries out in pain, and as I steady him, we both notice a red blotch start spreading across his T-shirt. He clutches his side and looks over to meet my eyes.
“I think I’ve been shot,” he murmurs.
On the beach, the crowd is quieted from the loud boom, frightened as they look around, not sure of its source. At this end of the dock, we’re mostly hidden from their view. The Shack continues to billow out smoke, making everything hazy. Our father stands atThe Tarpon,eyes wide, as my brother bleeds next to me.
Our dad realizes what’s happened, and takes off in our direction. Just as he starts to run, a man steps onto the dock from one of the otherboats. It’s the tall guy who posed as a detective, and he’s holding a gun, swinging it to aim at each of us.
I gasp, clutching on to my brother as if I can protect us both. And then I realize this creep probably burned down the Surf Shack in an attempt to get us all in one place.
The tall guy motions us toward his boat. “Let’s go,” he orders. When none of us move, he trains the gun on my father. “Now,” the man says.
I hold on to Ellis, the blood spreading across his shirt. There is no way we are getting on that boat.
“There’s a crowd of witnesses,” I say loudly, trying to get their attention. I can’t scream for help, not with my father under threat. But the crowd can’t see us from where we’re standing, half hidden behind the equipment rack.
The guy cocks the gun, and I have to hold my injured brother back from lunging forward to protect our father.
“You think anyone there is going to help you?” the guy asks with a bitter laugh. “At the end of the day, you could have this all on videotape and no one would care. In fact, I bet by tomorrow you’ll be the one accused of burning down your own business for the insurance money. Now get on the fucking boat.”
There is a flurry of movement as Jamie runs past us—appearing out of nowhere. The man, startled, quickly shifts the gun to aim at him but it’s too late. Jamie tackles him on the dock, climbing on top of him and slugging away with both fists. It’s chaotic, and as I let go of Ellis to help him, the short guy suddenly appears behind my father.
“Not so fast,” he says, pushing the gun against my father’s shoulder. Jamie stops hitting the other guy, still panting hard from the effort. Ellis curses next to me.
I look back toward the crowd, but they can’t see any of this happening.They’re so close, but if I scream, these men will kill my father. Kill all of us. It’s the most helpless feeling in the world.
The guests are gathered together on the beach, phones to their ears while making frantic calls. The sirens sound closer, but I don’t see the flashing lights yet. There’s help all around us, and yet, no one can save us.
Jamie looks over at me, his eyes asking me what he should do. His hand is dripping blood as it runs down from his arm, the stitches surely split. The man underneath him is barely conscious, while the other has my father held at gunpoint.
What choice do we have? We go now and try to fight our way out later.
With my arm supporting him, Ellis and I take a step toward the boat.
“Stop,” Matteo calls, and I turn to see him approaching. He has his hands held up, as if surrendering. Next to me, Ellis tenses. This is the son of the man who wants to kill him.
“It’s okay,” I say, but my brother keeps his gaze sharp.
“Get away from them,” Matteo tells the man with the gun. “It’s over.”
“Kid,” the short guy says frustrated. “I don’t have time for this shit. Go back to your father. We have a job to do.”
Matteo continues forward, glancing at me as he passes. He darts a look at my brother and when he looks at me again, he’s sorry. Like he can make up for everything his father’s done.
And for a moment, he looks just like Felix.
“Matteo, wait,” I breathe out, suddenly afraid that it’s going to happen again. That a Mancini is going to die trying to protect us.
He doesn’t stop; he keeps moving toward the man with the gun. When the short guy points it at him, Matteo pauses, putting up his chin in defiance.
“I’m not joking around,” the man yells to him. Then he pushes my father forward, jabbing the butt of the gun into the back of his head. “Now the rest of you on the boat. We’re taking a trip to Sunset Docks.”
Just as the short guy gets my father to the edge of the dock, Matteo rushes forward. In a smooth movement, he grabs a bait cooler by the handle and swings it. It slams against the head of the guy, knocking him sideways and sending his gun sailing into the water.
