He looked around the boat he was on to see if he could make a plank to walk across, but there was nothing on the deck but the mast, and it would never swing over for him to use.There was a hook though, for retrieving nets from the water.
Barry leaned the hook over the side of the boat and grabbed the other boat’s side.He pulled it toward him until the boats were closer together.Barry released his grip on the hook and took several steps back.As the boats drifted closer, he took a running start and used the ledge as a pole vault to jump to the other deck.
As his feet hit the deck, he tucked and rolled before coming up to standing.He stood frozen a moment to make sure no one had heard him.There was no cry of alarm.
He made his way across the boat to the other end.He could see the guards standing watch and ducked down.
“I want more money,” Barry heard coming from just on the other side of the gunwale.Barry pulled out his phone and started recording the conversation.He hoped he could track the person down by voice.
“You get paid what I say,” Miles stated evenly.
“I’m the one taking all of the risks.”
“You don’t like it, I’ll find someone else.”
“Good luck,” the other person said confidently, as if he knew he was Miles’s only choice.But for what?
“Or I can turn you in,” Miles threatened.
“If you think you can double cross me…”
“Don’t try to threaten me,” Miles spoke over the other person.“Bigger men than you have tried, and they are swimming with the fishes as you will be if you try to fuck with me like this again.”
Barry turned to face the side of the boat and peeked over the edge, hoping to finally get a glimpse of the person Miles was speaking to.They were wearing a black baseball cap and a hooded jacket pulled over the cap that concealed their face.
The jacket they wore was baggy, not giving any clue as to the size and build of the person.Barry brought his camera up to take several photos anyway when there was the sound of boards creaking.
“Someone’s here,” one of the guards announced, pulling their pistol from their waistband and looking all around for the source of the noise.
The person meeting Miles pushed past him and took off for the far end of the dock.Both guards took up positions at the front and back of Miles as they ran back toward the town, probably headed for the car.
Barry hopped down from the boat onto the side dock and took off in the direction of the person Miles had been meeting, hoping to get a glimpse of them.He heard the rev of an engine and a boat speeding away.
Barry made it to the end of the dock in time to see the person on the side of the boat that someone else was driving, but it was too far away and too dark to see them clearly.
Damn.The person was smart.They’d had an exit strategy already in place with a getaway driver.Barry wanted to stomp his foot in frustration.He had been so close to getting a picture of the person.
Barry made his way back to where he had left Mac.Hopefully, she had stayed where he’d left her and out of sight.Or could she have followed him?
Barry’s steps picked up speed, a feeling of dread sinking into the pit of his stomach.
“Barry,” came a soft whisper near where he had gotten on the boat.
He came to a halt and turned in the direction of the voice and saw a dark shadow hunched near the boat at the stern.“Mac?”She was on the dock instead of where he’d left her.He remembered this was where the dock had creaked under his feet.“The noise on the dock, that was you?”
She was the reason they’d all scattered like cockroaches when a light was turned on.She had blown his chance to capture who Miles was working with.
Mac stood up and came toward him slowly.“I’m sorry.You were taking a while, and I got antsy.I thought I could get close enough to hear them.”Mac looked crestfallen that she had ruined their chance to find out who Miles was working with.Barry wanted to be angry and chastise her, but he knew it wouldn’t change anything.Besides, it wasn’t completely her fault.
He had taken a rookie on a stake-out and hadn’t explained any of the ground rules first.Barry balled up his fists and took several deep breaths.“We should go.”
Barry headed toward the car, not looking back to see if Mac was following, just assuming she was.He got into the car and waited for her to climb in the other side.She was just as silent as he headed back to his hotel.
There were a million things he wanted to say to Mac right now, but he knew they would be said in anger, so he remained silent.It wasn’t like the mission was completely blown.He’d had setbacks in other missions too.He just needed some time to cool down and think about his next steps.
First thing he had to do was get Mac out of the situation.She was a danger to herself and the mission.She didn’t know the first thing about spying and staying silent.It wasn’t like she needed those skills to tag sharks.
She also didn’t know how to protect herself.It was only now that he realized that if she had been caught while he was on the dock, she could have been kidnapped or hurt, and there was nothing she could have done about it.
