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“It was headed due west. I could see its lights about a dozen miles out, but then they disappeared. Your fast raft is this way.” They followed him down the ramp. The sea breeze was warm, the marina silent other than the soothing lap of the water.
“Do you know how many crewmembers are aboard?” They needed to know what they were walking into. How many to expect and how Cyrus might have subdued them.
“This departure was not expected. Mr. Beaumont said they would be in port several days. He gave all the crew, except a couple, time off.”
“When you say a couple?”
“The chef and head steward were the only ones I’ve seen around all day.”
Christian prayed Cyrus hadn’t harmed them like he had the security guards, or—his chest squeezed—taken it to the next level.
His heart thudding in his chest, adrenaline burning in his arms, Christian climbed into the black fast raft and held a hand out to Andi. She kicked her shoes off and set them on the dock. “I’ll be back for these.”
They would be back. Hopefully with Cyrus and Ethan in tow.
“You’ve got a floodlight and sea anchor there. Is there anything else I can get for you?”
“We should be good—and thank you.”
Harvey nodded. “Shouldn’t be too many boats out there at this hour. Hope you find them fast. I’m worried about Mr. Beaumont. He’s got a heart condition.”
Christian prayed that Mr. Beaumont, and everyone else aboard, were okay. Prayed he and Andi would reach the yacht before anyone got hurt, but he feared they were already too late. He started the engine.
Harvey untied the raft from the pylon. “Be safe,” he said as they pushed off.
Christian looked over his shoulder as they moved to sea, the lights of the marina fading into the distance. The floodlight would have been helpful, but it’d give away their position. They needed the element of surprise, needed to let the hazy moon be their light.
The raft bounced over the water. “Hang on,” he said to Andi. “Serious stretch of waves.” Christian steered straight for the closest one. He rode it up and over, catching air, then slapping down on the back side of it.
Andi held the handle on the side.
“You good?” he called over the roar of the fast raft.
She nodded.
A few minutes later he caught sight of lights to the west, and as the moon peeked a bit more fully through the clouds, he spotted a vessel bobbing in the ocean’s wake. “I got a yacht four hundred yards due west. That has to be it. I’m going to cut the engine, glide in two hundred yards, and then we’ll swim for it.”
“You seem to really know what you’re doing,” she said.
“Knowledge from a previous case.”
“I’m going to want to hear about that one when this is over.”
“You got it.” He prayed it ended soon, with Cyrus and Ethan behind bars where they belonged.
“Glad I changed into jeans for this one,” she said as they eased toward the yacht. “A skirt could have been awkward.”
“I wish we both had wetsuits.” But it’d be trousers for him. He studied the yacht.
TheMr. Beaumontrose and fell on the waves. The top deck was silent. Dark. But lights shone on the next deck down. “I’m trying to remember the layout, but we cased five yachts, and it’s been years.” Though potential heists he’d plotted out never fully left his mind. “I believe that’s the main cabin level. There’s a big living space there, if I recall correctly.”
“Most likely where the collection is,” she said, pulling her outer shirt off so just her tank top remained.
He followed suit, taking his shirt off—less cumbersome in the water. “We’ll enter off the dive platform on the stern. Move along the port side.” He indicated the path they’d take with his hand. “With all the lights out above deck, we should have the element of surprise.” He just prayed that didn’t backfire on them, that Cyrus wouldn’t start shooting when they appeared—or hurt the owner or what crew members were aboard.
Reaching a good anchoring point two hundred yards out, he eased the sea anchor into the dark water, then turned to look at Andi. “Okay,” he said. “We’re going to have to swim the rest of the way in. We need the element of surprise, and we need to be as silent as possible, so breaststroke.”
She nodded and adjusted her waist holster.
