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“Boat,” Fox whispered, grabbing my arm and turning my attention to a large yacht anchored at the other opening end of the mangroves. It was a huge boat, painted red and black, looking like a vicious thing. There was a name scrawled across the side in white brush strokes: Le Mans France. From where I slowed our boat to a stop, we could see no movement on the deck either.
“L.M.F.… Jonah, this is it.” Fox grabbed the camera with the long lens, its body covered in a ziplock bag to prevent any water damage. I grabbed the binoculars. We both held our breaths as we scanned the deck, still seeing zero activity. There were stacks of suspicious-looking crates, all of them unlabeled, strapped down to the deck. The windows were all blacked out, so we couldn’t see anything that was happening inside of the quarters either.
“We’ve got to get closer,” Fox said.
I agreed. My hands started to shake then, my nerves ratcheting up, unwelcomed. I took a deep breath of ocean air and managed to keep control.
We moved closer, the waves gentle, broken up by the wide system of roots.
Movement. “Shit.” Fox’s camera clicked in rapid succession. “They’re pulling up their anchor.”
“Any recognizable faces?” I could see the shapes on the deck, but I couldn’t make out faces, and I didn’t want to raise my binoculars in case my hands decided to shake again.
I kept them steady on the black steering wheel.
“Just two guys I’d never seen before… Fuck.”
“We need to find out who’s in charge of that boat,” I said.
“So, get in close and cause a scene?”
I smiled, adrenaline swapping out the blood in my veins. “Maybe we should follow them? Get pictures of whoever steps off at the dock?”
“And then all we’ll have are pictures of Lucien and his weekend boating trip. It won’t be hard proof of anything. No, I think we need to get in there.”
“Lucien will recognize us. If it is him.”
“But his goons won’t.” Fox put the big camera down between us and grabbed his phone, opening the video recording app. He set it to record and propped it up underneath the center console, the lens aiming up and the phone itself totally camouflaged against the black center panel. “We get on record that they’re selling drugs, and then Lucien comes out and we get him looking like a fool on camera. Go to the cops with it and shut this case once and for all.”
It was risky. It was dangerous. But it also felt right.
Then again, the world always felt right whenever Fox was at my side.
“Let’s cause a scene, baby.”
I leaned in and stole a quick kiss, both of us smiling, my nerves mixing with the rush of the moment, all my senses sharpened.
We picked up speed, cutting through the water and heading straight for the large yacht before it started to drive away. On the deck, we could see the two figure pointing at us, shielding their eyes against the sun and trying to make out who in the hell was driving so fast toward them.
Fox stood up, waving his hands in the air. “Hey! Don’t leave!”
The thugs called out something to someone in the captain’s cabin. I could see the men clearer now, both of them wearing black and green and sporting guns on their hips.
“Fox, they’re armed,” I said.
Fox nodded, acknowledging me but keeping his eyes on the men. I slowed the boat down, stopping us with enough distance that I could make a getaway if we needed.
I was hoping we could get out of this peacefully, though. Lucien had only dealt with us a couple of times; maybe he wouldn’t recognize us. Maybe he was high on his own supply, too high to know that the two detectives hired to shut down his budding drug empire were knocking on the side of his yacht.
“Turn around,” the smaller of the two yelled down at us. “Get the fuck back!”
“We’re here to pick up Dragon.”
That stopped both men in their tracks. The one with a birthmark that covered half his face looked to his tinier partner. I could just make out the words “they know it’s—” and then the sounds of the ocean took over.
The small one turned back to us. “You’re late,” he called down at us, looking over his matte-black sunglasses.
“Got tied up,” Fox said. “Are you going to throw down a ladder?”
I looked up at Fox, swallowing my surprise. He wasn’t actually thinking about boarding, was he? That would leave us far too exposed.
They whispered some more. I kept my hands on the steering wheel and throttle, keeping my eyes pinned to their guns. The sun hung heavy in the sky and appeared to light a spotlight down on the jet-black pistols.
“Go talk to your boss,” Fox said. “We don’t have time to float around like whale shit in the ocean.”
