Page 24 of The Hijack

“Who dressed it?” I asked.

“Some veterinarian in the mountains,” he said, raising his arm so that I could take a good long look.

I eased the bandage open and saw the stitches, satisfying myself that they had been administered correctly. The edges of the wound were neither pink nor white, but a healthy-looking skin color. That meant there was no infection. I sealed the bandage back up, making a mental note to redress it in the morning. Surely there was a first aid kit onboard that could be put to good use.

I snuggled back down in his arms, closing my eyes. Just because I wasn’t ready to retire yet didn’t mean I was anxious to spring back into action. We could just let the boat drift for a moment longer. It wouldn’t cost anyone their life if we took the long way home.

Theo was on the same wavelength, saying nothing even though I knew he was still alert. I allowed myself to drift off to dreamland, knowing he was there to protect me. Whatever happened in the future, we would deal with it together.

Chapter 13

Theo

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WE WOKE TO A KNOCK on the cabin door. “Excuse me?” a strange man’s voice interrupted my dream. I was reunited with Clark finally, and our bed had expanded to fill the entire world. I couldn’t imagine who might be on the outside looking in. The thought of running across another person out there on the ocean was nearly impossible. Then I remembered Lukas’s man.

“Linc?” I grumbled, blinking my eyes as I resurfaced to reality.

“Hang on,” Clark said, struggling upright. She put her shirt back on and pulled up a pair of pants that I’d never seen before. They were jet black and looked like something a mercenary would wear. Strangely, they didn’t seem to be her size.

She pulled the door open and waved the other man in. I sat up, giving her friend a guilty look. It was no secret what we had been up to for hours. I was surprised that the other man was content to sit on a different boat attached to ours while we went at it with obvious passion.

“Linc, Theo,” Clark said.

“We met last night,” I replied, pulling my shirt on.

“A little bit,” Linc agreed. “Anyway, we’re coming up on the shore. I thought you two might want to...get up.”

“Thanks,” Clark said, pushing her way out the door and back up on deck. I followed swiftly, not wanting to let her out of my sight. In the distance, we could see a thin line of beige on the horizon. Not the same color as the water or the sky, it was proof that this leg of our journey was near its end.

“We need a plan,” Linc said, stating the obvious.

I looked at Clark, asking her nonverbally if we could trust our traveling companion. She shrugged, indicating that she wasn’t sure.

“The original plan was to go back to America,” I reminded her.

“Yeah, so I could find you,” she said.

“Your friends at the Abernathy estate have a lot of toys,” I observed. “Maybe they can help us find Regg.”

“And once we find Regg?” Clark asked.

“Who’s Regg?” Linc asked.

“Reginald Banks,” I clarified. “MI6 operative who’s gone rogue.”

“Why don’t you return to Great Britain?” Linc suggested.

“The problem is that no one except us knows he’s gone rogue,” Clark explained.

“He pinned several deaths on us and put it out through official channels that we’re dead,” I added.

“So you can’t go home?” Linc asked.

“No,” I responded, shaking my head.

I looked at Clark for her take on the subject. She gave me a smile. Linc was an interesting subject, one that I rarely came across anymore. He was young and inexperienced. He seemed to take everything we were saying at face value. If it was an act, it was a very good one. I suspected that he wouldn’t be able to lie even if he wanted to. His boy scout eyes would give him away.