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“Hey, hey!” she called out, yelling at the top of her lungs. “We’re over here!”
Something was happening. My stomach grew tighter by the second, the urge to get up and run building within. Strange as it might’ve seemed, my first instinct was to call for Logan. But I knew he was nowhere nearby.
I rose, standing next to Marta and squinting my eyes to get a better look at the boat. It was coming right toward us, three men on board. As they drew closer, one more horrible detail was revealed.
The men were armed.
Each of them had a rifle in their hands. The men were dressed all in black, with sunglasses hiding their eyes and bandanas over the bottom part of their faces.
I had to run. I had to get out of there.
Without waiting another second, I turned and prepared to bolt. Before I could take even a single step, something stopped me, someonestopped me, a hard grip on my wrist. I turned, horror on my face as I realized it was Marta.
“What the hell are you doing?” I asked. “Let me go!”
I tried to pull my hand away from her grasp, but Marta held me with surprising strength. Her expression was hard, determined.
“Please, Emily, don’t run.”
Despite Marta holding me in place, the boatful of armed men drawing closer by the second, I did my best to stay calm. The speedboat’s motor grew louder, the sound nearly deafening.
“Marta, please tell me right now what’s going on.” My voice cracked a bit from the fear running through my body.
“You have nothing to be worried about,chica. Those men, they were hired by your father. Don’t you see, this is a rescue mission!” She smiled as if that were news that I’d be happy about. A new pulse of fear blasted through me.
I had to run.
“Over here!” Marta shouted, waving with her free hand. “You have to hurry!”
Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, I put my hand on Marta’s shoulder and shoved her hard. Marta let out a cry as she let go of my wrist and stumbled backward, and I hadmy chance. I turned and ran hard, my legs pumping, my feet pounding into the hot sand.
But I didn’t get very far. I hit a pocket in the sand, my foot twisting to the side, my leg giving out underneath me. I stumbled forward, landing hard on my elbow, more pain rushing through me.
I rolled over onto my side, watching with bleary eyes as the boat approached, coming to a stop a hundred or so feet away from the shore. Marta ran in front of me, waving her arms.
“Right here! Hurry, before she runs again!”
I struggled to get up, the pain in my ankle too much to put weight on. The men jumped out of the boat and into the shallow water, guns in hand.
Chapter 18
Logan
“Where the hell are you?”
The growl of the Gator ATV filled the air as I tore down the path toward the beach. From my vantage point on the hill, I’d been able to see the speedboat as it’d driven closer to the shore. At that moment, it was out of sight.
“At guard post C.” Robert’s voice crackled in through the walkie-talkie. “Luis and I are on our way now.”
Guard post C—that was all the way on the other side of the estate. Even if Roberto hauled ass in his Gator, there was no way he’d make it in time.
“Call the rest of the men,” I said. “I want them heavily armed and wearing armored vests.”
“Will do,jefe. Don’t go running headlong into trouble now, you hear? You’re not as good of a shot as me.”
In spite of the severity of the situation, I allowed myself a small smile. Roberto and the rest of the guards may not have been near enough to help, but I was. Not a chance I’d let anything happen to Emily.
I pulled the Gator just behind the bluff overlooking the beach. Once there, I killed the engine and dismounted, takingmy pistol out and clicking off the safety. I’d counted three men, which meant that I’d need the element of surprise if I was going to get through this encounter without being turned into Swiss cheese.
