Page 26 of The Hijack

“Because I knew you would want to kill me,” the other woman pointed out, wincing.

“Theo, Jasmine,” Clark made the introduction.

“Pleasure to meet you,” I said, offering Jasmine my hand.

A moment later, the second boat came in, and I reached for the tether to tie it down. Jasmine gave Clark a suspicious look, but Clark just shook her head. Taking her lead from Clark, as we all did, the CIA handler waited patiently.

The moment Linc appeared at the bow and climbed out onto the deck, Jasmine gasped. She looked from Linc to Clark and back again, doing the math in her head. Finally, she rolled her eyes, putting both hands on her hips.

“Way to out a girl, Linc,” Jasmine snarled.

“We’ve been through something together,” Linc defended himself.

“Welcome to the job,” Jasmine snapped.

“Give him a break,” Clark said. “I tortured it out of him.”

“Is that true?” Jasmine demanded.

“No,” Linc responded.

“She was trying to kill me too,” I offered. “If that helps.”

“It doesn’t,” Jasmine countered.

“What are you doing here?” Clark asked. “I thought we were waiting for an extraction.”

“I had a hard time securing an extraction team, considering that the two of you are wanted for treason and presumed dead,” Jasmine quipped.

“Thanks for coming to get us,” Linc replied, showing the first evidence of polite conversation the four of us had engaged in since we landed.

“It’s good to see you,” Jasmine allowed.

“Likewise,” Clark admitted.

“Can we move this party to an airplane?” I asked.

“You have an airplane?” Clark asked suspiciously.

Before Jasmine could answer, another ship crested the shoreline, on a direct intercept course. From that distance, I couldn’t tell if it was a commercial vessel or a private yacht, but whatever it was, it was headed right for us.

Clark and I exchanged glances. The decision was clear. Should we run or hold our ground? Was the newcomer a friend or a foe, or simply another traveler who happened upon the dock at that particular moment? Clark hopped back up onto the boat, giving me a pointed look. I knew exactly where she was going: to get the guns.

I exhaled slowly, easing my way back to put my own boat between me and the stranger. Jasmine did the same, attempting to look casual. Linc followed our gaze and leapt back onto his own boat, disappearing below deck.

I felt that familiar thrill as I waited for the newcomer to either approach or pass us by. The sound of the motor increased, and the slap of the waves against the hulls of all three ships compounded what I knew was happening. The other boat was docking.

There were any number of reasons a strange boat might have for choosing that dock. But I wasn’t a big believer in coincidence. Jasmine had found us somehow on this lonely pier; it stood to reason that someone else might be equally as knowledgeable about our movements.

I’d tracked Linc over thousands of miles of ocean through the use of a transmitter. If Jasmine used the same technology to identify our location, what was to stop a third party from homing in on the signal?

As the craft eased its way up the channel to our side, I stiffened. To heck with pretending to be innocent. I reached for my gun and ducked behind the hull of Clark’s boat. Knowing that she was secured went a long way toward calming my nerves. If this was a slaughter, she could easily push away and return to sea.

Jasmine either had a death wish, or she saw something I missed. Instead of hiding like any self-respecting spy, she stood out in the open, watching the boat as it glided up to the deck. I watched her don a completely different persona. She went from the somewhat bitchy long-time friend of my undercover paramour to a flamboyantly rich American tourist.

“Hello!” she shouted, waving her hand.

“Get down!” I suggested, using the fraction of a second before the passengers of the new boat were within hearing distance.