Page 97 of Shallow Remains

She pushed to her knees. Froze when Eve suddenly focused on her and readjusted her aim. Then Eve faced forward suddenly, and Maddy followed her gaze.

A familiar dark orange and black boat was speeding toward them, leaving a white wake behind it.

Lachlan.

He was coming for her. Had no idea the danger he was in. And there was no way to warn him.

A new level of urgency hit Maddy, fueled by the fear and forged into pure steel by the rage. She wasn’t going to let Eve do this. She had to stop it. Had to save him, even if it meant sacrificing herself to do it.

She didn’t know how Eve planned to detonate the bomb, but she guessed she had only a few minutes before shit got real.

Maddy got to the balls of her feet, balancing her weight. She let the rage and determination take hold, engulfing her so fast and hard she barely felt the cold, muscles locked and ready to spring.

She waited until Eve was distracted. Kept her eyes on that pistol as she planned her move, the angle she would have to attack at to avoid getting shot. She tensed, vision narrowed to Eve’s hand gripping the weapon.

Eve picked up her phone.

Now!

Maddy struck like a coiled snake, launching herself at Eve with all her strength. She grabbed Eve’s wrist with both hands, their bodies colliding a heartbeat later.

FIFTY-ONE

He had the throttle wide open. Lachlan absorbed the relentless pounding of the hull against the waves with bent knees, his eyes locked on the horizon. Dead Man’s Island was straight ahead and growing larger off the bow every second.

He tapped his earpiece when his phone rang with his brother’s ringtone. “Grey.”

“I’m with Rafe and Blaine,” Grey said over the distinctive sound of rotors thumping in the background. “Stop immediately, and do a thorough sweep for a bomb. Hear me?”

A boat appeared around the southeast point of Dead Man’s Island, headed his way. He whipped up his binos. Saw Maddy and another woman speeding toward him. “I see them. They’re headed straight at me, there’s no time to⁠—”

“You can’t save her if you’re fucking dead. Do it.”

Fucking hell. Jaw clenched, he eased back on the throttle, bracing his feet apart to adjust to the sudden downshift in momentum. The bow came down to rest on the choppy surface.

“Okay, I’m looking.” He stole another glance at Maddy’s vessel, coming on fast, then spun and began a search. Tossing things onto the deck as he looked under the seats, along the tubes, down in the head. “I don’t see anything.”

“Check again. Closer.”

“There’s nothing in the—” He was just about to climb back up on deck when he spotted a faint light out of the corner of his eye.

He knelt. Saw the digital timer attached to the wall under the sink.

“Fuck me,” he breathed.

“What is it?” Grey demanded.

“A bomb.” It was wired into what looked like C4. Small enough that he would have missed it if he hadn’t been outright looking for a bomb. “It’s placed right under the pilothouse.”

He’d barely had time to absorb that when the timer suddenly lit up. His heart rocketed into his throat when it started counting down from ten seconds.

“Shit, it activated.”

“Get out of there,” Grey snapped.

“On it.” He raced up onto the deck. Off the bow Maddy’s boat was close now but had pretty much stopped. “Shit, Maddy’s in trouble.” She was fighting the woman.

“Get out!”