Page 209 of Forced Vows

"With me," I bark before pivoting and sprinting to the boathouse.

Brogan has a speedboat as well as a yacht.

I type in the code I saw Róise use and open the door. Ollie and one of Brogan's other men are already untying the speedboat from its mooring. I jump on board. My men are right behind me, crowding one of Brogan's guys out. But Ollie manages to get on board too.

"Is this thing equipped with sonar?" I don't bother looking at my phone for Róise's location.

Deep water is one of nature's signal blockers.

"No. The yacht is, but that would take too long to get in the water."

"Let's go."

Ollie's body is rigid with the need for action, but he says, "Waiting for the boss."

I make the choice easy for him.

Pulling my gun, I point at his head. "Get this fucking boat moving."

I don't bother to threaten to shoot him. If he isn't smart enough to figure out I will, Ollie shouldn't be the one driving in pursuit.

Róise's bodyguard shows the smarts I expect and pushes the throttle forward, pulling slowly out of the boathouse.

As soon as we clear the mooring, he asks, "Which way?"

Straining my eyes to see even the smallest ripple to indicate the DPVs' progress, I see nothing.

Dannazione!

We have no fucking way to know which way they went. Three yachts are out in the bay. Any one of them could be the destination.

Or those fottuto stronzos could be planning to use the DPVs to get all the way across the bay. It would be dangerous, but that doesn't mean they won't try it.

Most likely, they have a helicopter waiting and plan to surface under the cover of another boathouse. But that could be anywhere along the shore in either direction.

I think about the man my gut tells me is responsible for this kidnapping. What would Gabriel Lion do? And I have no fucking clue.

If it were me, I would get to shore as quickly as possible and head for a helipad.

I call Brogan.

He answers on the first ring. "You left without me, you son of a bitch. That's my niece out there."

"She is my woman." My fucking beating heart. "Yacht or helicopter? Which are Gabriel's people likely to use?"

"If Gabriel planned the op, they'll rely on reaching the shore undetected and use a vehicle."

"No fucking way. These men are not that stupid."

"Gabriel doesn't have a yacht or a helicopter. He's got a jet he's really proud of, but that requires filing a flight plan."

"A helicopter doesn't."

"The AOG are all about self-sufficiency. He's not going to borrow a helicopter from an ally."

Trusting Brogan's take on this, I tap Ollie's shoulder. "Head southeast."

The man opens the throttle and we sail across the water. Even if they're using the fastest DPVs on the market, Róise's kidnappers are going to max out at about 9 mph. The speedboat can go ten times that on calm water.

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