Beckett
Drenched from the downpour, I race in the house and punch in the code to the safe.
Fuck. Why did I tell Mia not to keep her gun on her?
I grab the pistol, stick it in the back of my belt, and run out to Hudson’s truck.
“What’s going on?”
“They have her.”
“Oh shit.”
Think Beckett. Think.
“Start driving,” I yell at Hudson as my pulse beats harder in my neck.
“Where?”
“I don’t know. Just...just go down Gulf Drive while I think.”
He throws his phone at me. “Call Ryland. I can’t while I’m driving through this.”
I hit the button.
“Hudson—”
“They have Mia,” I cry out.
“What?”
“The door was open. Her phone was on the ground. They have her.”
“Okay. Stay calm. Where do you think they could have taken her?”
“I don’t know,” I say, tugging at my hair.
“Beckett, we should call Casey. He knows where Skates is hiding out.”
“That’s it. The marina.” I turn to look at Hudson. “Go to the new marina on Holmes Beach.”
The rain starts to lighten up, and the sun peeks behind a cloud, shining through all the drops.
“Hurry up. The weather is changing. They will go out to sea.”
“I’m going as fast as I can,” Hudson claims but speeds up.
“I’m calling Casey. Keep me informed.” Ryland hangs up.
I throw the phone in the cupholder and scrub my face.
They’d better not hurt her.
You should have killed them when you got out of prison.
Mia’s face fills all my thoughts, and new rage and fear moves through me. I try to stop all the notions of what could happen to her and how scared she probably feels.
We round the corner, and Hudson scowls. “Look! It’s Henry’s truck.”
Hudson turns into the parking lot, and I jump out before he comes to a complete stop. A boat, no doubt Casey’s, is coasting through the canal.
“Fuck!” I scream and hit my hand on the hood.
Hudson sticks his head out the window. “Get back in, Beckett.”
As I do, the phone rings. Hudson puts it on speaker.
“Casey said to meet at his house. Skates isn’t getting off his boat while his arrest warrant is out. That’s where he thinks they would take Mia.”
“The boat just left,” I say in a panic.
“He knew that. He has a tracker on the boat. Meet up at Casey’s, and we’ll go out in his boat. He’s getting it ready now.”
“On our way,” Hudson tells him and hangs up.
“I should have killed them,” I growl.
He doesn’t say anything.
I snatch the gun out of my back pocket and flip the safety on and off. I’ve only shot when Hudson and I went to his land the prior week, but I won’t hesitate to kill Skates or Henry. For ten years, it’s all I’ve thought about, and now that they took Mia, there isn’t anything I won’t do to get her back.
“Put the safety on and away,” Hudson tells me.
“I shouldn’t have told Mia not to keep her gun on her.”
Hudson sighs. “Let’s not go down the what I should have done road. Let’s focus on getting Mia back and not all winding up dead.”
“I can’t lose her,” I choke out, looking out the window.
“I know, Bro. Don’t go down this path right now. You gotta stay strong.”
I take a deep breath, trying to get a handle on my rage. The sun is fully out now, the sky clear of any clouds. Besides the flooded roads, there is no sign that any weather besides a great beach day ever existed.
“There is no wind. The sea is calm now. They are going to be able to move faster.”
“I’m sure Casey’s boat goes fast,” Hudson says as he maneuvers the truck into the driveway next to Ryland’s.
Instead of going into the house, we make our way down to the dock where Casey’s boat already has the engines stirring up the water.
The boat is smaller than the one at the marina. It holds one cabin and has three engines on it.
Ryland is on the vessel. Casey is standing at the wheel. Hudson and I unhook a rope and jump on.
“What are they planning?” I hurl at Casey.
“I don’t know. They don’t tell me anything.”
“Liar!” I grip him by the throat.
“Beckett! This isn’t going to help,” Ryland growls and tries to pry my hand off Casey’s throat as his face turns purple.
“Damn it, Beckett. This isn’t helping Mia!” Hudson yells.
I release Casey, and he coughs. When he can speak, he says, “I know you don’t believe this, but I love Mia. She’s my daughter. I don’t want anything to happen to her.”
“Did you love your son, Clay?” I spit at him.
Pain crosses his face. “Yes.”
I shake my head at him and sarcastically glare. “And do you love Skates?”
He closes his eyes as if in more pain. “Yes.”
Disgusted, I scoff at him. “Just drive.” I turn and make my way to the front of the boat.
Within a few minutes, Casey is driving at top speed, and I’m holding onto the rails, with saltwater flying at me, trying to see if I can spot the yacht Skates is on.
Casey slows the boat, and I look back at him. “What are you doing?”
“You need to get back here. It’s going to get rougher, and you can’t stand there.”
“I’m fine. Drive.”
“No. It’s not safe.”
“You seriously—”
“Beckett. Get your ass back here,” Ryland barks at me.
He motions for me to sit next to him. I begrudgingly take the seat.
“What are we going to do once we get there?” Hudson asks.
“I’m going to kill them and end this once and for all,” I confidently say.
“Beckett—”
“Hudson, don’t give me your holier-than-thou shit. They killed my best friend. They shot Mia. Now they’ve kidnapped her. I went to prison for ten years—”
“Yeah, and you don’t need to go back,” Ryland barks.
“Would be worth every second.”
“What’s Mia going to do then?” Hudson raises his eyebrows.
I look away from him. The thought of Mia not being with me and on her own is too much to bear.
“We should call the FBI,” Ryland says.
“No. They will get Mia killed,” I argue.
My phone rings. I look down and see an unknown number. I send it to voicemail. It rings again. After four times, I answer it.
“For ten years, I’ve waited to make this call. Time to pay the piper,” Skates’ voice comes through the line.
“Where is she?” I growl at him.
“You did well, not talking all those years. I’ve got to give you credit for that. But one whiff of pussy, and you can’t shut your mouth. You’re just as bad as Clay.”
My gut drops. I should never have told Mia. He knows I told her.
“What are you talking about?” I try to play dumb.
“It’s time to remind you where your loyalty lies. Tell my dad he’s coming on the boat, too.”
“What?” I glare over at Casey, who’s clueless about the conversation I’m having. With the wind and roar of the engines, he can’t hear.
“You don’t think I know about your little rendezvous with him? I’ve got a tracker on his boat. I know you’re coming.”
The pit in my stomach grows. It’s a trap. We’re walking right into his trap.
A sinister laugh comes across the phone. “I’ll see you soon, pretty boy.”
“Damn it!” I throw the phone on the floor, and it breaks.
“Beckett. What’s going on?”
In a quick movement, I’m behind Casey, gripping his neck again. “Did you set us up?”
The boat takes a sharp turn, and he grasps for the wheel. Hudson races over, prying my fingers off him. “Stop it, Beckett! This isn’t helping.”
Casey coughs again, slumping in the driver’s seat.
“It’s a trap,” I yell. “Skates knows Mia and I have spoken with you. There’s a tracker on this boat. He knows we’re coming.”
“What?” The color drains out of Casey’s face.
“He said to tell you that you’re coming on the boat, too.”
Casey shakes his head. “Oh God. He’s going to kill me.”
“Stop the boat,” Ryland yells.
I spin on him. “We aren’t stopping.”
“Beckett, stop the boat. We can’t just walk right into his trap. We should have made a plan before we left.”
“If we stop, Skates will know we’ve stopped,” I bark.
“Then slow it down,” Hudson chimes in.
Casey grips the throttle and slows the boat down so it’s still moving forward against the waves but not fast.
“What do you think Skates is planning?” Ryland asks Casey.
“I don’t know. Honestly. It could be anything. Shooting her and dumping her at sea. Not shooting her and dumping her at sea. I don’t know.”
I stare at him in horror, swallowing down vomit. “This is the son you love?” I growl.
“You don’t understand, but he’s my flesh. It’s my fault he’s like this.”
“How?” Hudson asks as I glare at him.
Casey looks away then back, slowly opening his eyes. He stares at me. “I took Mia’s mom away from Skates.”
New disgust fills me. “Mia’s mom dated Skates?”
He nods.
“You forgot that little detail this morning, didn’t you? What else haven’t you told us?”
Casey looks to the sky then back at me. “He thinks she left him because of my money, but that isn’t true. She loved me. I loved her. He hated her for it. He hated Clay. He hates Mia.”
He hates Mia. Meaning he wants to hurt her.
I jerk my head at Casey. “Did he set Clay up?”
Tears fill his eyes. “Veronica’s initiation into the Twisted Hearts was to sleep with Clay and convince him to work for Skates.”
“No,” I barely manage to get out.
“He wanted to own Clay. But then he talked. And now, I don’t know what he will do to Mia.” He breaks down and starts to sob.
I glance at Ryland and Hudson then back at him. “You need to get your shit together. It’s time to stop being a coward and do what’s right. And that is saving Mia, no matter what happens to Skates.”
He looks up in agony but slowly agrees.
God, I want to punch him then throw him off this boat.
Later, Beckett. Get Mia first.
“Casey, tell us about the boat,” Ryland says.
He takes a deep breath. “There are three cabins with a central living area and kitchen. You can drive from inside or climb up to the top. The captain is one of Skates’ men, and another man is on board as part of the crew.”
“Don’t forget Henry. His car was at the marina,” Hudson pipes up.
“Do you have a gun on you?” I ask Casey.
“No. They won’t let you on without a pat-down anyway.”
I look at Ryland and Hudson. “Do you have your guns?”
“Yes,” Ryland says.
Hudson sighs. “I don’t have mine on me.”
I hand Hudson Mia’s gun. “Take this. You two get in the cabin when we approach so they don’t know you’re here.”
“He’s going to kill us,” Casey states.
“You’re going to tell him you’ve been playing Mia and me. Get your story together because he needs to believe that you’re on his side and only talked to us to find out what we knew. He needs to think you brought me here to have me killed.”
Casey’s head jerks. “Skates won’t hesitate to shoot.”
“Yes. I know that. I saw him murder Clay and shoot Mia.”
He looks away.
I turn to Ryland and Hudson. “You need to get Mia out of there. Leave us if you have to, but whatever you do, get her to safety.”
Their jaws clench, but they nod.
“Where would they have Mia?”
“The bedroom, but you have to go through the main cabin to get to it,” Casey says.
Shit. “Then we need to get everyone out on the deck.”
“How?” Casey asks.
What leverage do I have on Skates?
A few minutes pass then it hits me.
“I know how to make Skates come out.”
“What are you going to do?” Ryland asks.
“Hit him where it hurts the most.”
If there’s one thing I know about Skates from being incarcerated, it’s that loyalty is everything to him. I know a lot about who’s loyal and essential to him from the ten years I’ve spent in prison. And while I may need to kill Skates with my bare hands, I’m pretty confident by the time I spew my story, Henry’s going to be begging for his life. Skates isn’t going to appreciate what I tell him. I turn to Casey. “Speed up. We need to get there before something happens to Mia.”
Please, God, don’t let anything happen to her.