“You need to let me answer him,” Cap demanded through gritted teeth.
The Colombian pulled his gun from his waistband and yanked Emma to him, pressing the barrel into her side.
“You tell him everything is fine, or she dies.”
The fear in Emma’s watery eyes pierced his heart. The woman knew the threat was real.
He scooped up the radio. “Hey, Mick. It’s Cap. Everything’s okay. Thanks for asking.”
“What are you doing there, buddy? I’ve gotta know.”
Cap forced a chuckle.
“I wound up with a bridal party on board today. Turns out, the ladies aren’t much interested in fishing, so we’re just kind of going back and forth, and they’re sunning themselves on the deck. Just enjoying the ride.”
A moment of silence passed before Mick laughed. “Well, okay, then. Sorry to bother you, it’s just that from my perspective, things looked a little strange, so I wanted to make sure you were okay and didn’t need anything. Have fun with the ladies. I guess it’ll be easy earnings today.”
“For sure. Thanks, Mick. I appreciate the concern, and tell that beautiful daughter of yours that I’m thrilled for her on her new promotion. She’s exactly what’s needed right now.”
Mick’s response came slowly. “Will do. Thank you.”
Mick steered his vessel away from them.
The Colombian looked at Cap and nodded as he let out a relieved breath. Then, he tucked his gun back into his waistband.
Cap exhaled.
“We don’t have all day. I’ve got places to be. I need that bag now.”
Emma rubbed her arm where the guy had been squeezing it. Her troubled gaze shifted from him to the windshield. He’d give anything to wipe her worry away, but all he could hope for right now was that Mick got his hint about his daughter, Markie, Sturgeon Bay Police Department Investigator Markie Pearson-Hawk. She didn’t just get a promotion; she’d been an investigator for a while now. Not knowing how else to communicate they were in distress, he made that up, hoping Mick would pick up on it.
“With this east wind, I’m going to move a little closer to shore, because if the bag is floating, it would have been pushed that way, and in the shallower waters, if it sank, we might pick it up with the fish finder.”
The Colombian nodded, showing he bought that. It was a legitimate thought process, but Cap also hoped that by getting closer to shore, he might find an opportunity to get out of this situation. He didn’t know. He was grasping at anything. Maybe he should just run the boat aground and take it from there, but he thought better of that, because that would surely cause someone to get hurt or killed.
Jonathan let out a yelp.
Cap’s gaze flew to him.
“You sure fucked this up, buddy,” the second Colombian on their boat said to Jonathan.
The dealers’ increased edginess suggested they must be pushing up against a deadline.
The sidekick pushed Jonathan, and he flew forward with no way to prevent himself from face-planting, since his hands were still zip-tied behind his back.
Jonathan groaned upon impact, and when he lifted his head, Emma winced and threw her hand over her mouth. Jonathan’s nose was about as crooked as Cap had ever seen. Blood poured out of it. The man swung his boot into Jonathan’s side, drawing an agonizing groan from him.
“Enough!” the leader barked out.
Cap kept his gaze on the man in charge and wondered what he’d do next.
“Toss him. He’s of no use to us. I’m not going to pay for his mistake. At least we can tell Marco we took care of the problem.”
Marco who? Cap pondered. He’d file that name for later.
“No!” Emma exclaimed as she rushed forward, throwing herself in front of the tall man, barking orders.
He shoved her back as if the weight of her was nothing to him, and she tumbled to the ground. She bounced back up and begged the man not to throw her ex overboard. He pushed her again. Cap moved quickly and caught her in a full-on embrace. His arms held her tightly with her back pressed firmly to his chest. Somehow, she weaseled herself around and threw her arms around him, clinging to him as if her life depended on it.
