Chapter 33

 

 

“Del! Stay here in the stateroom, okay? I need to figure out what other hostiles are out there.” Kelly flew to the stateroom door, checked to make sure the coast was clear, then hit the stairs once again. She crept upstairs, then slid into the hallway, looking toward the bow of the boat for any remaining Percutio men before she turned back around.

Suddenly, a tall figure in black appeared out of nowhere and pulled Kelly tightly into her arms.

“Riley! Oh, Riley!” Kelly threw her arms around her fiancé and started to cry, her relief enormous. She started to shake from her adrenaline rush and she burrowed into Riley’s arms.

“Kelly!” Teagan appeared behind her, rage still edging her features, as she looked past Kelly for Delaney. “Is Del okay? Where is she?”

“She’s in the master stateroom, Teagan. She’s okay, just tired and bruised. She was a fucking fighter, broki, jumping in it without any hesitation whatsoever. I couldn’t have done this without her.” After kissing Kelly hastily on the cheek, Teagan ran down the stairs toward the master stateroom.

Riley captured Kelly’s mouth with a brief, hard kiss before asking, “Princesa. Where’s Reizan?”

“Dead.” Kelly suddenly felt exhausted. “His body is on the floor of the master stateroom. One of his goons is bound with zip ties and is behind the bed on the far side, unconscious. I shot the second one right outside the galley, and Delaney shot a third one, who’s also lying on the stateroom floor. Del and I were betting there were four, besides Reizan and Alan McAllister.”

Kelly struggled for a moment, the events of the past few hours starting to catch up with her.

“Reizan shot and killed Alan in front of us. So, we have six accounted for: Reizan, McAllister, Goon 1—who is bound and unconscious in the stateroom—and Goon 2, whom Del shot and is lying on the floor of the master stateroom, presumed dead. Goon 3, whom I shot, is lying outside the galley, also presumed dead. Goon 4 is the captain. What Del and I didn’t know was if there were any more hostiles besides them.”

“No, baby, that was all of them. We were able to get that intel from Bob Seibert—that there were only six who came aboard.” Riley shook her head in awe. “I swear to Christ, princesa, you and Delaney were like a two-woman SWAT team on this ship. Un-fucking-believable.”

Suddenly, Riley touched the comm in her ear, still holding tightly onto Kelly and kissing her forehead.

“Go.” She listened for a couple of minutes before she told Kelly, “Kenn and Jaime are guarding the captain. Casey and Drew are taking the powerboats back to Harborage Marina, and they’ll meet us there. Blake has the bridge here, and she’s taking us back to Harborage as well. Trill and Bryn are making sure the rest of the ship is clear, and Teagan has Delaney.”

Riley finally permitted herself to relax a bit and captured Kelly’s mouth more thoroughly, feeling massive relief and love flood through her body at the feel of her woman safe in her arms.

“The Coast Guard is going to want to talk to you and Delaney, princesa,” she said when she had finally released Kelly’s mouth. “Bob Seibert, Blake’s dad, has been keeping them informed for us so far. Mr. Seibert is a master mariner, incidentally—which means he holds the highest level seafarer license it’s possible to achieve—and he fucking knows everyone in the Coast Guard here, plus all the people at the Port of Tampa. The Coast Guard knew we were dealing with a hostage situation and were standing by to provide support as needed.”

Despite her exhaustion, Kelly raised her eyebrow. “Do I even want to know what kind of juice APS has in the greater Tampa Bay area that the fucking Coast Guard would defer to them in something like this and let them take the lead?”

Riley smirked at her, but instead of answering, she kissed Kelly’s forehead again before continuing.

“Needless to say, baby, Grigor Reizan and Percutio have never been popular with any law enforcement agency here in Florida.” Riley kissed her temple as they headed for the salon. “You and Delaney will both have to give a statement describing what happened from the time each of you were taken, but beyond that, you won’t have much to worry about. As a matter of fact, there’s going to be a bunch of law enforcement officials lining up to shake your hand for taking Reizan out.”

As they passed the stairs leading down into the master stateroom, they met Teagan and Delaney coming up. Teagan’s arm was wrapped firmly around Delaney for support.

When Delaney saw Kelly, however, she flew up the rest of the stairs and grabbed Kelly in a huge hug. The two women stood there for a long time with their arms wrapped around each other.

“Nothing like a little hostage situation to get to know someone better,” Kelly joked eventually even as she wiped her eyes, prompting Delaney to burst out laughing as the girls finally stepped back from each other.

“Right? I think I’m going to create my first dessert and name it in your honor, Kel.” Delaney’s eyes gleamed with both mirth and residual tears. “I’m going to call it Kidnapper’s Confection.” They both giggled, exhausted and slap-happy.

Riley and Teagan rolled their eyes at each other, then back at the women. “Femmes,” Teagan muttered, even as her eyes never left Delaney.

Then, Riley looked at Delaney’s face and her brows lowered. “Reizan?” she asked tersely, gesturing to the large black and blue mark blooming on Delaney’s cheek.

Delaney nodded as she touched her face gently. “My cheek looks a heck of a lot better than Reizan’s head, though, thanks to Kelly,” Del assured Riley and Teagan, who looked similarly pissed.

“We’re going to take you two to the salon, so you can rest for a bit before we get to Harborage Marina. Both the Coast Guard and the FBI are there, waiting to talk to you both.” Riley rapidly sent a text. “Your parents are also there, Del, plus my parents and the rest of your girls, including Rowan. I just asked my dad to give your parents a heads-up about your face, so it’s not such a shock.”

Riley got Kelly and Delaney settled in the salon while Teagan found them some cold water. After drinking deeply, Kelly collapsed against Riley and closed her eyes to take a nap.

Teagan gently but insistently seated an equally exhausted Delaney on another couch, sitting down beside her and urging Del to rest. Delaney initially stiffened for a moment, but then relaxed against Teagan, closing her eyes as well. In an instant, both women were asleep.

 

* * * * *

 

Almost absentmindedly, Teagan gently stroked Delaney’s black curls away from her face, her other arm wrapped firmly around the petite pastry chef. “They’re so tired and have been through so much,” she said to Riley in a low voice so she wouldn’t disturb them. “I look at that bruise on Del’s face and I wish I could kill Reizan again myself, the motherfucker.”

“I know.” Riley had both arms wrapped around her sleeping fiancée. “Kel said she could have never done what she did without Delaney’s help. It sounds like Del was pretty fierce.” Riley was contemplative as she looked at her friend. “The last ten years have changed her, Teag. She’s not the girl we all remember.” Riley continued. “She’s still sweet as fuck, and she still clearly cares about the people around her. But she’s, I don’t know, cautious in a way she never was back then. Almost as if she’s expecting to take damage if she doesn’t protect herself.”

Teagan’s face was cold. “I know. It’s not just that, either.” She held Delaney closer. “I’m prouder than hell that she was able to do what she did today, Riles. But when Kelly told us how Del jumped in, feet first, with no hesitation? All I could think was, those were not the actions of the shy, passive Delaney I remember.”

Teagan’s face grew colder as she focused on the beautiful, sleeping face against her.

“There is a Michigan asshole motherfucker out there who better hope to Christ I never find out what she put Del through. Or what she did to turn the sweetest, most innocent woman I’ve ever known into someone so guarded that she won’t let anyone get close to her.”