26
Todd paced the small area of the boat, wanting to demand what was taking her so long. Unfortunately, while Emily’s helmet had the ability to communicate, he didn’t have the other equipment necessary to do so. He should have thought of that. With a huff, he slumped into the seat, his eyes on the line. Should he pull her up? Ask her what the problem was and what was taking so long?
His phone rang. “What?”
“You got it yet?”
“No. She’s down there working.”
A pause. “You’re sure she can get it?”
“I’m sure. Just chill, Jeff, okay?” The man was starting to wear on his nerves. He’d been growing more and more tense over the last week or so. “You’re going to get your cut. I’m just waiting for her to come up.”
“Should have gotten that boyfriend of hers to get it. That was the original plan.”
Todd rolled his eyes. “And I told you I wasn’t dealing with a cop who’d try to escape or simply refuse to cooperate. This is much better, I promise. Now, just hang tight. I’ll let you know when we’re on the way. Have the computer ready.”
“It’s ready.”
Todd gritted his teeth and turned toward Hudson. “What?”
“Got a boat heading our way and that chopper is coming closer. I don’t like this.”
Todd frowned and the tension across the back of his shoulders doubled. “Talk to you later.” He hung up.
Hudson had the binoculars to his eyes.
“What do you see?” Todd demanded.
The man swore. “I see enough to know that we need to get out of here.”
“Cops?”
“I think so. In the chopper for sure. Not so sure about the other boat. It seems to have stopped and is just sitting there.” He held the binoculars to his eyes a little longer, then lowered them. “I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right. We need to go.”
“We can’t go. Not without that flash drive.”
“It’s not worth going to prison for.”
A gunshot cracked the still air. Red burst from Hudson’s chest. He slumped in his seat.
Todd darted to him and pulled the man to the floor, not bothering to check and see if he was still alive. There wasn’t anything he could do for him at this point nor did he care to do so. Ducking low, he grabbed the rope that he’d attached to Emily and started reeling her in. Fast.
She’d have the bends, coming up so quickly, but she’d had enough time to get the flash drive and it was time to go. And even if she didn’t have it, he had to get rid of her since she knew who he was. He now knew the location of the boat. He could get someone else and come back when things cooled down.
Another shot slammed into the side of the hull and he ducked but didn’t stop pulling. Leaving without her wasn’t an option.
When the rope stayed slack, his heart skipped into a frantic, desperate rhythm. Had she managed to cut herself loose? When no more shots sounded, he raised his head slightly to see the boat racing for the dock.
What?
Todd gave one more yank on the line and pulled the end into the boat.
Minus Emily.
“Who’s shooting?” Ryan yelled.
Brady pointed. “That guy in the boat! He’s shooting at Emily’s boat!”
Only the fact that Emily wasn’t actually on the boat kept him from diving in and trying to get to her.
Another shot pinged off the craft. Brady kept the binoculars on his eyes. “One guy’s down. The other guy dropped low. And he pulled the rope in. Emily’s not on the end of that rope!”
Another shot.
The man on the boat returned fire, then ducked low. Nothing happened.
“Can we get close enough to return fire without getting ourselves shot?” Gabe asked.
Anissa shook her head. “We don’t have any coverage on this vessel. Look. There he is.”
“What’s he doing?” Brady muttered. “Stay down, you idiot. Don’t give him a target.”
The man lifted his head a fraction too far and the next bullet found its mark. A fine red mist sprayed upward. “We’ve got to stop them or we’re next,” Brady said. “Can anyone get a bead on him? Ryan?”
“I can’t get a visual,” Ryan said, his gun aimed in the direction of the craft. He shook his head and lowered the weapon. “I’d need a rifle to hit him at this range.”
“I think someone else is down there with her,” Brady said, lowering the binoculars. “Get the chopper to make a pass over the shooter, will you?”
Gabe spoke into the COMMS, and within seconds, the chopper made a low pass over the boat.
The little speedboat holding the killer sped away. The chopper followed. “They’ll stay with the boat and hopefully someone can pick him up,” Anissa said. “Our lake unit is on the way and I’ve already called for a forensics team and the ME for the dead guys in that boat.”
“We need to get to Emily,” Brady said. “Now.” Was she hurt? Was she even alive? His heart thundered in his ears as he tried to keep his cool.
Gabe grabbed his helmet. “Let’s go get her.”
“I’m ready,” Adam said.
“Ryan, you’re Adam’s tender. I’ll be Gabe’s,” Anissa said.
And Brady chafed because he was stuck on the boat with no dive gear. He’d taken off after Emily without thinking he’d wind up on another lake needing to go in.
Thankfully, he could listen in on the COMMS. Otherwise, he’d be tempted to just go in without a suit. And he would if he didn’t trust this team.
“Suit up, St. John,” Ryan said.
“What?”
“We’re about the same size.” Ryan handed him his dry suit. “If that was my lady down there, I wouldn’t be up here.”
Without questioning the gift, Brady pulled on the suit faster than had ever been done in the history of dives. “Thanks, man,” he said before pulling the helmet over his head. “I appreciate it.”
“I’ve got your rope,” Ryan said. “We’ll find another way to let Adam be useful.”
“Have him update Linc.”
“I can do that,” Adam said.
“Can you get us in closer to the boat, Anissa?” Gabe said.
Once they were right over the spot where Emily went down if the boat was any indication, he and Gabe went to the dive platform and slid into the water feet first.
The man with the knife had moved closer and Emily had grabbed the rope to give it two yanks. Only to find he’d cut her loose. For several minutes, they’d done a crazy kind of water dance. He’d move closer, she’d dart away, her goal to get to the door. And then he’d move back to block her. The water continued to grow murkier as they stirred things up. What did he want?
Panic quickened her breathing, and while she desperately wanted to look at her air gauge, she didn’t dare take her eyes off the blurry man in front of her.
He lunged at her. She kicked hard and shot past him, swinging out with the crowbar she still clutched in her right hand.
Her shot in the dark connected with his arm, and the knife sank to the bottom of the vessel. His dark eyes flashed at her from behind the mask, and she kicked backward toward the doorway.
And stared in horror as his hand snaked out to grab at the trailing rope. He missed. Emily continued her exit even as she snagged the rope to reel it in. She had to get out of the boat before she had a full-blown panic attack. Her feet kicked in frantic swipes, propelling her toward the galley. She expected to feel the edge of the blade sink into her back at any moment.
She spun to see him gaining on her, reaching for the still-trailing end of the rope with one hand and gripping the knife in the other. The fact that he’d stopped to retrieve it had gained her a few precious seconds, but not many.
She continued to kick even as she yanked the rope away from his grip. If he managed to grab it, she was done. She darted out of the side door and into the open expanse of the lake.
With frantic kicks, she headed for the surface.
The next raging question was, how was she going to slow down to avoid decompression sickness? No more than thirty feet per second, right? Was it better to risk that or would it be better to let him catch up with her and try to escape later?
Or would he just stab her when he caught her?
God, please!
She glanced at her gauge and gasped. Fifteen minutes remained and then she’d be in serious trouble. Her rapid, panicked breathing had used the air faster than was good. Not only that, but she was quickly reaching her no decompression limit.
She inflated the BCD and slowed her ascent. She needed to stop for at least three to five minutes and that just wasn’t going to be possible.
The man behind her did the same. Emily continued to gather rope only to have him make a whip-fast lunge and snag the end of it.
A strangled shriek escaped her and she kicked out.
He yanked her back . . .
. . . and slowly reeled her in.