Page 81 of The Sailor

“Hush!” Rogers scolded. “You don’t wanna warn Lucas that you’re here if he doesn’t already know. He could do something rash.”

The man wasn’t wrong, but Zach wasn’t able to keep quiet. If Marit was here, she needed to know that help was on the way. To hold on. To stay strong for just a few more seconds.

“Get as close to shore as you can. We’ll get out and tie up the boat,” Linc ordered.

Thankfully, Rogers didn’t argue, he simply did as asked. As soon as the hull of the boat hit sand, Zach didn’t hesitate to jump out. His boots and pants immediately got soaked in the cold water, but he didn’t even notice. All his attention was on the shoreline.

As his brother tied up the boat, then headed for the Men At Work to see what he could find there, Zach stood on the shore and let his gaze touch on every inch of ground, every leaf, trying to find any indication of where Marit and Pearson might have gone.

“Boat’s empty,” Linc announced, coming to stand at Zach’s side. “Found some stuff I think will be interesting to the cops . . . bottle of some sort of liquid and a handkerchief nearby. Scuff marks that could be from a struggle or from lobster pots. Anyway . . . see anything here?”

Zach pointed to footsteps in the sand just past the rocks along the edge of the shore, then took a step forward to follow them.

But Linc grabbed his arm, holding him back.

“Let me go,” Zach growled, struggling to throw off his brother’s grip.

But Linc wasn’t listening. “Not so fast, bro. You need to be smart! Use your head. You can’t go tromping around making enough noise to wake the dead. Like Rogers said, warning Pearson that we’re here could go very badly for Marit.”

“This isn’t Iraq, or North Korea, or wherever it was that you crashed, Lincoln! I’m not trying to be a dick, but if Marit is out there with an unstable Pearson, I need to get to her now!”

Linc stared at him for a beat before nodding. “I’ve got your back,” he said simply, as he pulled out a pocketknife.

Zach wasn’t a stranger to violence, but his entire being was focused on finding Marit. If Pearson was hurting her when they found them, he’d do whatever he needed to do to make sure the man never touched anyone again.

Apparently having words with the asshole wasn’t enough to make him understand how serious the Youngs were about protecting one of their own. Now he regretted not making his point in a more physical way. Now he’d kill the man with his bare hands and deal with any consequences his actions brought down upon him.

Having Linc with him, with at least some sort of weapon, was reassuring, and it gave Zach the confidence he needed to stride into the trees.

It wasn’t long before the land began to slope upward, and before they’d taken too many steps through the trees, they heard the first sounds of exactly what—who—they were looking for.

Pearson’s loud and pissed-off rantings were easy to hear through the trees. His words carried on the wind that had picked up, now whipping all around them.

“Fucking bitch! When I get my goddamn hands on you, you’re going to wish you were dead! Whore! Cunt!”

Zach’s adrenaline kicked in. But even as he scrambled up the steep hill in front of him, it dawned on him that, aside from furious, Pearson sounded frustrated . . . almost desperate. As if he wasn’t getting what he wanted—namely, Marit.

Zach glanced behind him and met Linc’s gaze. His older brother nodded once, giving Zach permission to do what he’d been holding back from doing since they’d headed into the trees.

“Marit!” Zach yelled. “Where are you? It’s me! Zach! Are you here?”

Silence met his call, and for a moment, his heart felt as if it had stopped beating in his chest.

Then he heard the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard in his life.

“Zach? I’m here! At the top of the hill!”

Zach moved even faster than before. It felt as if he were trudging through molasses though, not able to get to her as quickly as he wanted.

Interestingly, Pearson had suddenly gone quiet. When he’d been swearing at Marit nonstop before Zach called out.

The sight that greeted him when he arrived at the top of the hill was one he’d never forget. Marit was standing on top of a few boards that were extremely out of place in the pristine forest around them. There were piles of dirt in the clearing. She was shaking from head to foot . . . but she was alive and seemingly well.

Zach didn’t hesitate. Didn’t look around for any dangers that might be lurking, his only goal to get to Marit. The second his arms closed around her, his entire being seemed to sag in relief.

They both went to their knees, as if neither could stand a second longer. Zach was holding her too tightly, but he couldn’t help it. He’d never been so scared in his entire life.

“Holy shit, that’s one hell of a hole,” Linc said almost nonchalantly from behind Zach.