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I threw my hands up in the air. “You lied this whole time? I can’t believe...”
“Kayli,” he barked at me. He inched closer. “Just hang on a second. Let me explain.”
It was as if the boat had stopped dead still, as well as the earth and the universe around us. I played what he said over in my mind again. “What did you call me?” I wailed at him, unable to contain the fury in my voice.
“Kate,” he said, and then took a small inch back as if he realized he’d made a mistake. “Baby doll, listen to me.”
“No, you just called me Kayli,” I said. I pointed a finger at him. “How long have you known?”
He huffed, and straightened. “Like I’d let you walk into my house without knowing your name.”
“You knew all this time?” I smashed a fist at the air toward him. “You lying jerk!”
“You lied to me!” he cried out. “You’re not with the FBI. You’re not even on their radar. You gave me a false name. You couldn’t even tell me your name when you’ve fallen for me.”
“You’re crazy.”
He smirked in a smug way. “Admit it. You’re head over heels. It’s all over your face.”
“Oh my god!” I didn’t want to hear it. And I certainly didn’t want to talk any more. I lunged sideways, finding the holster behind Marc’s back and I yanked out the gun, swinging the barrel around at Blake.
“Whoa, whoa,” Blake said, as did the man next to him. They both stepped back, with their hands up in front protectively.
Marc coughed once. “Easy, Bambi.”
“Yeah, take it easy.” Blake flinched. “Wait, did you just call her Bambi?”
“Stop calling me that,” I said.
“It’s her nickname,” Marc said, a satisfied grin washing over his pained face. “She loves it.”
“Ugh!” I howled out.
I did have the gun pointed at Coaltar, and then suddenly he lunged for me. I scrambled to back up, but he was quick. He captured me around the waist and then shoved the gun down to aim at the floor. His startling move shocked me. I squeezed the gun in my hand to hang on to it so he wouldn’t take it.
The gun fired.
I stood stock still, as if terrified I’d shot myself somehow and hadn’t felt it yet.
Blake released me, slumping to the ground and then clutched at his bleeding thigh. “Shit! Kayli! You shot me in the leg.”
My heart was wild in my ears. Maybe I could have gotten away with everything else, but I just shot a billionaire in the leg. I was headed to prison now.
“Kayli,” Marc said, reaching for me. “Sweetie, the boat.”
I nodded. For once, he had the right idea. I looked around, but the fake mugger had vanished, possibly off to warn the Coast Guard that a lunatic was onboard shooting everyone.
I ran for the helm, and then gazed out the window. We were out in open water now. I scanned the horizon, unsure what to do.
“Darling,” Blake said. He gasped, holding his knee. He rolled onto his side and tried to sit up. “Sweetie. Don’t do anything stupid.”
I ignored him. I looked out at the water and then I spotted it, the red buoy. A sand bank or a rock just under the surface. I spotted more behind it, and realized we were at the river and little inlet between Folly Beach and Kiawah Island. There were rocks all over. If I could just angle the boat.
I turned the helm, making the boat head west back toward land. I may not have known any controls, but I could turn a steering wheel.
When the boat was aiming for the tiny island sitting in the middle of the river outlet, I straightened so the boat would head right for it.
“Kayli!” Coaltar called after me. “Damn it. Don’t wreck my yacht.”
I leapt over Coaltar on the floor and went for Marc.
Marc gave a half laugh. “Wasn’t really what I meant, but I’ll go with your plan,” Marc said.
I huffed and grabbed at his shoulder, easing myself under his arm so I could assist him out.
“Doll face,” Coaltar cooed after me. He sucked air through his teeth in a pained breath and clutched at his thigh. “Sweetie. What do you want from me? You can’t leave me like this.”
“Maybe if you had changed your mind,” I said coolly, closing off my heart, unwilling to look back at him. “Maybe if you hadn’t planned on killing a bunch of people. Maybe if you had been different and could just dump the drugs into the ocean and didn’t even think to hurt anyone else in some petty revenge. You’ll still make them sick. Someone could die. This war goes on whether or not you want it to. They’ll come back here. This has to stop. You can’t hurt people like this. If you hadn’t lied to me, maybe we could have found another way.”
“Come on, Kayli,” he said. “You have to understand. Every dog has a few fleas.”
Marc glanced over my shoulder, smirking at him. “You’ve got a few big ones. May want to get a collar, or a spray, or something for it.” He grimaced and I could tell he was biting back some of the pain from his own leg.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said.
He nodded, and used me like a crutch to hobble.
“Kayli!” Coaltar called once more, and then flattened onto his back.
And he laughed.
It was a laugh that would haunt my dreams. Satisfaction, amused, not a hint of anger that I’d hurt him or for his boat that was about to crash. He relaxed against the floor and looked to be waiting. He was giving me what he thought I wanted.
His was a laugh that, on the surface I cringed and tried to show Marc I thought was crazy.
Secretly, inside, I luxuriated in it. I found my heart pounding in a way that I was proud. Despite all his dirty tricks, in the end, I’d won.
This time.
PROFESSIONALS
I fled with Marc, helping him as best as I could. “We should hurry,” I said. “We should get off this boat before it crashes.”
“I agree.”
We made it back to the stairs, but he slid
onto his butt so he could butt hop down each of the steps, and I helped him to stand once we got to the bottom.
I was about to help him down the second set of stairs when a looming figure charged at us from a side door. I started to cover Marc, but he shoved me to the floor, taking the full brunt of the man.
Marc went down, but in a flash, he was up again. While he still favored his leg, he punched the ogre man in the gut.
The monster took the hit, but with his mass, he wasn’t going down. He took a small step back and then ducked low, aiming to head butt Marc against the wall.
“Marc!” I cried out, and clamored up, ready to kick the guy, or claw his eyes out, whichever worked better. Probably both.
Before I could ready a kick, a body dropped down from the stairs. A leg shot out, catching the brute in the back of the knee. The monster went down hard.
Axel stood over him. He readied a fist and it landed straight into the guy’s throat. The man reeled back. Axel punched him again in the nose, and then again in the same spot.
Marc stepped back, getting out of the way. The man went down. Axel hovered over him, fists tight. He was ready.
But the monster didn’t get back up.
“Axel,” I called.
Axel looked up, his eyes a wild mess. He tapped his ear quickly. “Corey is telling me there’s another one at the balcony. He’s releasing the boat. I’ll go get him. Go ahead and get Marc to that balcony. I’ll get the boat.”
I nodded. I went back for Marc, becoming the crutch again. Axel disappeared. I couldn’t believe what I just saw. Axel seemed like a rock, steady and waiting. Suddenly he became the hurricane force. The calm that hid a storm.
Moving Marc was slow progress. He hopped a few steps and then needed to stop to catch his breath. “Just go,” he said. “This boat is going to crash.”
“Raven!” I called when we were on the living room deck.
Raven materialized from the bedroom section. He took one look at Marc and leapt forward to take the other side under his arm. “Holy shit, you shot him again.”
“No,” Marc said. “Didn’t shoot me.”
Raven’s eyebrows went up and he glanced at me for answers. “Who did she shoot?”
