Emerson crinkled her nose slightly before her eyes lit up. “Yeah, sure.”
8
*EMERSON*
“For real?” Calder asked. “You’re going to with this a-hole to Alaska?”
I shrugged. “Yeah.”
“To Alaska?” Calder questioned. “Where it snows?”
“Yeah, my boat is destroyed, my grant is gone, and in a few days I won’t have an apartment. What do I have to lose besides spending a winter in a cabin with a hot SEAL?”
My cheeks instantly heated. Okay, so I should have left out the part about the hot SEAL. My excitement just got the better of me. It was that, or I really was seconds away from a serious mental breakdown.
I was staying positive.
“I’ll even pinky promise,” I said, holding out the pinky of my right hand to Knox.
Knox looped his with mine instantly.
Hourslater I wrapped my arms around my middle as we barreled over the water. The engine on the small skiff Calderfound us barely whispered as we cut through the dark ocean water. It wasn’t until that moment that regret set in.
Or maybe more realization.
I was on a boat in the middle of the ocean. With a former SEAL who carried a gun. We were racing our way to a bigger boat further out in the ocean—a boat with a terrible man on it.
How did I get myself into these situations?
Somehow I ended up between a rock and a hard place. Well, a die on this boat or move to Alaska place. And I couldn’t even blame anyone but myself.
Knox crouched at the helm, his left hand steady on the throttle, his other resting near the console as if we were out for a whale-watching tour. Nothing about him suggested we were on our way to a late-night covert operation that might get us both killed. Although my odds were on me meeting the fishes before him.
He pointed ahead of us, and I squinted to see what he wanted to show me. The yacht loomed ahead of us, its lights low as if everyone on board was sleeping. Weren’t evil villains supposed to be hosting all-night parties with women and booze? I cringed at the mental images.
Knox slowed us, and I tensed, leaning forward to get a better view of the yacht.
It was big. Like a floating palace.
Of debauchery.
My stomach flipped.
“You still okay?” Knox asked me in a whisper.
I barely heard him over the waves against the side of our boat. I nodded, even though I’d rather jump in the water and take my chances with the sharks. “Totally.”
My heart jerked as our boat slowed again. I swear, it wanted to punch its way out of my ribs.
We drifted alongside the yacht, and I held my breath so if anyone heard us, it wouldn’t be my fault. A strong breeze slapped speckles of seawater against my face. The gentle slap of water against the side of our boat sounded impossibly loud.
In silent movements, Knox hooked us to a ladder off the yacht and climbed the first rung with ease, like he’d practiced it a hundred times. Considering he was a former SEAL, he probably had.
I followed, my hands shaking. My foot slipped and Knox reached down to grab me, but I jerked my shoulder away from his hand. This was fine. I had everything under control.
At the top, Knox pulled me over the edge of the boat. I took a small breath and readied myself for the next steps. That’s how I’d get through this. Just one small step at a time. Like an astronaut on the moon, except I was trying to steal a computer chip from a megalomaniac named Rex.
Knox and Calder said there’d be enough evidence on Rex’s computer to put him away forever. It made the sacrifice worthwhile.
