He’d be damned if he let her slip away.
He dropped onto the dock. Every instinct, every ounce of fear, fury, and helplessness burning in his gut, propelled him forward. He hit the end at full speed and launched himself into the air as the boat cleared the structure. For one terrible second, there was nothing beneath him but black water and the roar of the motor.
At the last possible moment, his hand caught the side rail. Pain exploded through his shoulder as his body slammed against the hull. His boots struck water before finding the side edge of the boat as it fishtailed hard, Strickland trying to throw him.
“Leland!” Julia cried out as his body flew sideways.
But he held on. For her.
He hauled himself upward hand over hand against the pitching motion of the boat until he could swing a leg over and pull himself on board.
Strickland abandoned the wheel and lunged at him. They collided brutally, both nearly tumbling over the side. The boat rocked violently beneath them, wake sloshing hard against the hull.
A blade flashed in the other man’s hand.
Knife!” Julia screamed.
Strickland slashed fast and low, driving Leland toward the rail. To avoid a slicing blow, he arched, black churning water just inches behind him. Strickland pressed his advantage and the knife against his throat. Leland caught his wrist, and they grappled. Even in his awkward position, Leland outmatched him in strength. He shoved him back and, catching him off-balance, slammed his knife hand against the railing. Not once, but twice, until the blade clattered onto the deck and slid somewhere out of sight.
More determined than panicked, Strickland came at him hard, fists flying. One clipped him on the jaw.
Leland had long since burned through his fear. All that remained was fury. He drove a brutal punch into Strickland’s ribs. Another under his chin snapped his head up sharply.
The man reeled, blood on his lips, but he kept fighting because he knew what losing brought him.
Leland caught flashes of movement behind him. Julia, with the dropped knife in hand, twisted awkwardly, sawing at the ropes around her wrists in frantic, jerking strokes. The unmoored boat drifted through the narrow channel, the engine still running while dark pilings rushed closer by the second.
He couldn’t spare more attention than that. One lethal threat at a time.
Strickland didn’t match him in size or skill, but he fought like a man with nothing to lose. Every opening Leland created closed again almost instantly under Strickland’s brutal desperation.
A right hook came hard toward his jaw, but it didn’t land as he ducked and dodged. He lost his footing on the wet deck, however, going down on one knee. Strickland saw his opening. His expression changed from fear to hope. He looked around fora weapon. An instant later, he bore down on him, red canister fire extinguisher raised to strike.
Leland had enough time to prepare for the blow. Arms raised to cover his head, twisting away. The impact was jarring, but his back took the brunt of it.
He came up swinging, climbing to his feet as he landed punches, a right cross, a devastating left hook, driving Strickland into the console with enough force to crack the fiberglass. But the man answered again.
“Leland. Duck!” Julia’s voice cracked through the chaos.
He dropped instinctively, already moving before her words fully registered.
A deafening pop rent the air. Red light exploded across the deck as a flare slammed into Strickland’s shoulder. He screamed in pain. The burning flare ricocheted wildly off the deck while Strickland staggered under the hit.
That was enough. Leland drove into him full force, tackling him hard as the boat rocked violently beneath them. He rolled, coming up on his knees and slammed the son of a bitch face-first into the deck.
The boat jolted sideways at the same time Alec vaulted aboard from Dev’s pursuit boat, weapon already drawn.
“Don’t move,” Alec barked.
Strickland struggled once beneath Leland’s grip. Then stilled. Breathing hard.
“We’ve got him,” Dev said, moving past Alec.
Leland relinquished his place, barely noticing as Dev shoved his knee into Strickland’s back and cuffed him. His priority shifted immediately. Turning, he searched for Julia.
She was on her knees a few feet away, half gasping for breath, half sobbing.
He crossed the distance in two strides and dropped in front of her. His hands cupped her shoulders gently. “You’re okay.”
