Page 133 of Deep Tide

Her hands encountered a latch, and her pulse picked up again. It was one of those turn latches. Holding her breath, she moved it ninety degrees. Then she lifted the metal flap and pushed. A narrow strip of gray appeared.

Thank God.

The hinges creaked as she eased open the door. Damp ocean air wafted into the room.

Clang!

She jumped as what sounded like a heavy metal chain landed on the roof. She closed the door and looked up. Footsteps thudded over her, and she could tell at least one person was within a few yards of her location. The footsteps shifted to the other side of the roof and then disappeared altogether.

Leyla eased the door open again, blinking at the dimness. She glanced up. The sky was gray and dusky—but not dark yet. A bright floodlight nearby cast shadows along the concrete decking.

Peering out, she checked for people but only heard voices in the distance, along with the steady hum of mechanical equipment. She slipped through the door and eased it shut behind her. It had been latched from the inside, so would it swing open now and attract attention? She didn’t know, and she didn’t have time to worry about it. She needed to find a place to hide.

Slowly, cautiously, she ducked low and stayed near the wall as she crept toward another large metal structure. This one was a shipping container, too, but it had a window, and light spilled out, creating a white rectangle on the concrete.

What now?

She’d escaped the death chamber, but she was still stuck in the middle of nowhere. It was a windy night, too, and she visualized the whitecaps she’d seen on the water as the helicopter had landed.

She had to get her hands on a phone. Or maybe a radio. She had to call for help and then find a good hiding place where she could wait for help to reach her.

Shouts suddenly went up nearby. She ducked behind a stack of wooden platforms. People were yelling back and forth, but she couldn’t make out the words. Then she heard a rhythmic noise in the distance.

Another helicopter landing?

She slid along the wall until she reached a corner. Leaning her head around, she caught sight of the front of the yellow helicopter.

No pilot. So, Gagnon wasn’t going anywhere yet. Which was good, probably.

Or was it?

The helicopter noise grew louder, and she squinted her eyes as dust whipped up. She still couldn’t see it, but the thunder of the rotor blades was unmistakable. Where was it going to land? Gagnon’s helicopter was still parked on the X.

Someone stepped into view. A man she didn’t recognize from the back. Not Gagnon—this one had a long dark ponytail.

Then Gagnon walked into view.

Leyla’s breath caught. He had a pistol tucked in the back of his jeans. It was the first time she’d seen him armed, she realized. Was he planning to come looking for her?

She ducked against the side of the building, squinting her eyes at the dust as the helicopter swooped lower. The side door was open, and a man stood beside a rope, lowering a large crate. Men on deck crowded below as the load came down.

Everyone was distracted. Now was her moment.

Leyla crept around the corner of the metal structure and spied an orange forklift parked beside a corrugated metal building with windows. Beside the building was a tangle of ducts and pipes. It looked shadowy there, lots of places to hide. And maybe she could sneak into that building and find a phone or a radio. But first she had to make it across a wide-open space.

The helicopter noise was deafening now, and the air vibrated all around her. She set her sights on the building and made a sprint for it.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-SEVEN

Sean gripped the rail, soaked to the skin as the speedboat sliced through the swells. The oil rig was a glowing behemoth several football fields away. Sean lifted the binoculars, struggling to hold them steady with one hand while gripping the rail with the other.

The boat slowed, and Sean whipped around.

Joel pulled the throttle back, bringing the boat to a stop. The bow pitched forward, and Sean caught himself on the rail.

“What?” Sean yelled over the noise.

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