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But what if Chase was inside the first ambulance? What if he was on his way to the hospital now? Injured and unable to get in touch with us and tell us what to do. Where to go. Where to hide. I winced at the thought, hating the way my heart careened recklessly inside my chest. What was I supposed to do without him? I didn’t know how to drive the boat and I couldn’t trust anyone else to do it for me.
On top of that, I didn’t know where to go, even if I could hire a captain for the boat. Chase was not only my protector, but he’d been the brains behind the escape as well. Without him, I’d go around in circles and eventually wind up as a sitting duck.
Then there was the most terrifying question of all. Did Henry’s men find us? Did they have Chase? If they did, I had to find them. I had to figure out a way to convince Henry to let Chase go. Unharmed. But how? I didn’t have anything Henry wanted anymore.
I looked down at Jackson and my stomach clenched into a tight ball. Jackson was my only leverage and I’d never let him go. I’d die first.
If I lost Jackson, I might as well let Henry put me out of my misery. There would be no coming back from such a blow. I wouldn’t have anything left to live for.
“Check that boat over there. Make sure no one is harmed!”
The voice snapped me out of my terrified musings. I sat up straighter and peeked over the edge. A man in a police uniform was approaching the boat, flashlight raised, and his eyes scanning the bow intently.
Shit.
“Come on,” I whispered, pulling Jackson back toward the stairs. We couldn’t talk to the police. They’d want to ask all kinds of questions which would not only delay our departure but then our names would be on record, attached in some way to the explosion. Then, they’d want to see paperwork for the boat. TV News, it would be a disaster.
Jackson went first and I slunk behind him, making sure each step was silent and sure. Once below, we went back to our room and I closed the lightweight wooden door with a soft click. I pressed my finger to my lips and set Jackson on the edge of the bed. His eyes were wide with alarm and I hated myself more for scaring him half to death.
“Hello?” the man’s voice carried down the stairs. “Is anyone aboard?”
Jackson’s panicked eyes locked with mine. I shook my head slowly.
Footsteps sounded and I released a quiet exhale. Thank God. They were leaving.
Hours passed—or was it just minutes? —in agonizingly slow motion and I reached the conclusion that Chase wasn’t coming back.
I crept upstairs—leaving Jackson below—and had seen the fire had dwindled and the people that swarmed the docks were dissipating. I didn’t check the time when the explosion happened, but it had to have been nearly an hour since the sound had shot out through the night, rocking the neighboring boat.
A sickening realization sunk in as I watched the rest of the rescue team leave a little while after that. The police were still there, taping off the charred and broken remains of the vessel that was very close to ours. If Henry’s people were in the city, this was the perfect chance to slip away, as no one was going to get beyond the police line without proof that they owned one of the boats docked there.
We had to leave. We had to go somewhere safe.
Even if that meant leaving without Chase.
17
Melissa
“What the hell am I looking at here?” I asked myself in a frazzled whisper. I scanned back and forth at the control panels, trying to make sense of it, to find a clear beginning, but all it was doing was pushing harder on the limits of my sanity. Time was slipping away and I had to get away from the dock.
So far, no one else had tried to board the boat in order to go sniffing through our belongings, but I knew that luck wouldn’t hold out. The next time a police officer came on deck, they’d come below and find Jackson and me holed up in the bedroom.
Even though my heart was threatening to tear itself to pieces at the thought of leaving Chase behind, I knew I had to go. I told myself that it’s what he’d want me to do. But even with that rationalization, I was still a mess over the idea. As I tried to make sense of the control panel for the boat, tears blurred my eyes. But I had to figure this out. No matter how bad I wanted to throw myself on the floor and cry out of sheer terror, I couldn’t give up.
