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Nothing.
I stroked his hair back and smiled down at him. “I’ll make blueberry pancakes.”
A tiny smile took the place of the grouchy expression he’d been wearing and I smiled down at him. “That’s better.”
I scooted to the edge of the bed, ready to go up and see if Chase needed help, but before I could say goodnight to Jackson, an explosion broke the silence and the entire ship shuddered and rocked. I was pitched off the edge of the bed, stopping myself with my arm against the wall before I fell to the floor. Jackson bounced but was safe in bed. His eyes flew open wide and he burst into tears, absolutely terrified. I hurried to wrap him in my arms as he wailed.
What the hell had just happened?
My stomach clenched and unclenched so hard I thought I might throw up my dinner right there on the spot. Where is Chase? Where the fuck is he?
“Baby, stay here. No matter what! Promise me that you’ll stay here,” I stared down at Jackson, my hands trembling on his shoulders.
Jackson cried harder and I kissed his forehead. Every piece of my heart ripped to shreds as I left him screaming and crying. I bolted up the stairs and looked in the direction of the sound. Beside us, about a hundred yards away, a small boat had burst into flames. People had popped up from the neighboring boats like groundhogs and panicked screams swirled through the gulf. In the distance, sirens rang out, piercing through the noise.
I couldn’t tear my eyes from the ship as questions swelled in my mind. Where was Chase? Did he know what was happening? Had he set the fire? Whose boat was that?
And most of all, louder than the rest.
Where was Chase? Where the fuck was Chase?
How could he leave us now?
Didn’t he know we needed him?
16
Melissa
What was paradise had quickly become hell.
The white sands, crystal waters, sunglasses, bikinis, and fruity drinks with umbrellas were the perfect ingredients for a magical, tropical vacation by the sea. Under any other circumstances—it would’ve been pure perfection.
But my paradise had been ripped to shreds ten minutes before.
In the aftermath of the explosion that rocked all the boats in the harbor, I paced frantically below deck, stalking from one end of the boat to the other and then back again. I tried to keep my face expressionless and not let Jackson see me sweat, but inside, I was losing it. I had no idea what had happened. Were we in danger? Were Henry’s men still on their way? Did they know what our boat looked like? Had they been trying to blow us up and got mixed up? Had the bomb that was meant for us actually just cost someone else their boat? Or even their lives?
The thoughts were too dark to hold on to. I pushed each horrific one away as soon as it flashed through my mind. My stomach churned and I had to take long, deliberate breaths to keep myself from throwing up all over the floor.
“Mama?” I turned and saw Jackson, my five-year-old son, standing in the doorway of the cabin we shared. “Are you all right? What’s happening?”
I wish I knew.
“Hey, baby. Go back to bed. I’m going to go upstairs for a minute. You have to stay here,” I said, my voice firm, unyielding.
Poor Jackson, did Henry try to kill our baby as well?
I would rather die than see any harm come to my son. He had to stay hidden—away from the chaos.
He nodded and I repeated, “Jackson, you have to stay in the room. Please, promise me.”
“I will, Mama. I promise.”
My heart crumbled and I pressed a long, hard kiss against his forehead and led him back to bed. Once he was tucked in tight, I shut the door, wishing it had a lock and then crept up the stairwell to the top deck of the boat. I hung back in the shadows and sucked in a sharp breath at the scene unfolding on the docks.
The small Cabo harbor was a sight to behold. The huge explosion that had burst through the quiet night had everyone in town on red alert. The scene played out in front of me like something from a violent movie—a chaotic swell of action and noise. The docks were flooded with uniformed men and women who were shouting to one another over the roar of the fire. Even from where I stood, I could feel the heat radiating from the boat as it burned bright in the darkness. The thick smoke brought tears to my eyes and my lungs ached.
God what a nightmare!
Another group of rescue workers were looking to help any injured people and keep any looky-loos from getting anywhere near the other boats docked in the harbor.
Beyond the dock, the sandy, moonlit beach was masked by the lick of flames raging from the burning boat in the harbor. The soft lapping of the tide was drowned out by frantic screams and the sound of emergency sirens as rescue teams arrived on the scene.
