Page 37 of Her Captivated Hero

7

The only soundthat could be heard was the lapping water of Half Moon Bay. Gray watched as Griff silently undid the chain at the bottom of the staircase that lead from the water up to the main deck of the Golden Tulip. Then he started climbing the stairs.

God, could they make it any easier?

Gray, Griff and Dalton had all spotted the guard at the top of the stairs as they swam toward the starboard side of the yacht. He was peering into one of the windows of the boat, instead of watching over the rail or toward the stair.

Dalton was next up the stairs after Griff. He stayed low, so that only one member of Black Dawn could be seen above the main deck if the asshole guard actually turned around…which he didn’t. Griff took his knife out and silently killed the man, then Dalton rushed up to help Griff prop the body up against the side of the wall so it would look like the dead man was sleeping.

Aiden and Hunter were at the stern. Their job was to take out the two guards on the lower deck, then climb up to the main deck and take out those two as well. They still hadn’t reported in. When Gray had laid out his plan, Hunter and Aiden had both said, ‘piece of cake’, at the exact same time. They better not have jinxed themselves.

Gray climbed the stairs where Dalton and Griff were waiting for him.

“Lower deck clear,” Aiden’s voice came through clearly in Gray’s earpiece.

“Climbing up to the main deck,” Hunter whispered his report.

“One guard dispatched on port side of main deck,” Griff said into his mic. “I’m heading to port via the bow, I’ll monitor the interior through the windows and doors as I go. Don’t shoot me.”

“Roger that.” Gray heard Hunter’s grin through the receiver.

“Dalton and I will repeat the procedure clockwise.” Gray gave a hand signal for Dalton to follow while he took point toward the stern. Gray quickly peered through each window, but when he got to the door, he went down to his stomach and peeked around.

Damn, there was a guard who was actually alert. He was looking up high, though, so he missed Gray. He needed to take him out quietly. He did a sweep of the room, it was an open area with a circular staircase in the middle.

He turned his head and looked at Dalton, raising one finger.

“Get his attention, so the guard comes out to the deck. I’ll dispatch him as soon as he opens the door,” Gray whispered into his mic.

Dalton nodded. He padded over to the rail, close to the door, but still out of the guard’s line of sight. He took his fin and slapped it against the steel rail. The rapping of the rubber against the metal made a distinctive thwapping sound that had the guard turning to the door, his sub-machine gun at the ready. He spoke into a microphone attached to his shoulder, similar to what police officers wore, then he moved slowly toward the door.

“Dalton, enough,” Gray muttered into his mic. “Team, my bogey just called out to his team that he heard something. Your targets might be on the move to the main deck interior staircase.”

“Gray, we’re on the upper deck, immediately above you. All outside guards are dead, but you’re about to have company, two more guards are coming down the stairs. Hunter’s staying with the two Saudi girls, I’m going up to the owner’s deck,” Aiden said.

Gray looked over his shoulder and saw Dalton nod.

“Give me the fatality numbers,” Dex demanded from shore.

“Two,” Hunter said.

“Two,” Aiden said.

“Two,” Griff answered.

“Zero,” Gray and Dalton answered at the same time.

“But we’ll have three in just a second,” Gray whispered as the door slowly opened. Gray grabbed the Saudi’s ankle and yanked, and in a graceful coordination, Dalton ripped the submachine out of his hands before he could do anything with it. The man hit the deck with a thud. Gray immediately covered the man’s mouth, then shoved his knife into the back of the man’s neck and twisted. Dalton and Gray dragged him out of the line of sight of the door a millisecond before they heard booted footsteps descending the stairs.

Gray gave a chin tilt to Dalton, who put his back to the wall and started to turn with his MP7, when Gray heard a short blast of gunfire in his receiver and overhead at the same instant.

“Two more down, Dex,” Aiden said calmly.

Dalton finished turning and let loose with a hail of bullets. The two Saudi guards were laid out before they could even get a shot off.

“Three,” Dalton said into his mic.

“Which means there is one still on the loose,” Gray said to his men. “Time to spread out. I want those women found.” Gray looked at his watch. “You have fourteen minutes to get off this boat.”