Page 92 of Between Love and Honor

“You bet I did.”

Eugenie growled low in her throat. A boat’s engine roared to life beside them.

“And for that you will pay. I’m happy to sell out your husband’s assets on your behalf. And now I get to add our little sweetheart’s beloved, the Mariner, to the list. I’ll be rich with the bidding war he’ll bring in. But perhaps it’s best just to put you out of your misery right now.”

“Eugenie, no!” Sir Rodney cried.

And then everything seemed to happen in a nanosecond. Caracas leaped from his hiding place just as gunshots rang out. Ben covered Quinn with this body. Sir Rodney screamed. When the dust cleared. Eugenie was climbing aboard a cigarette boat built for speed. Ben snatched up his Glock.

“You okay?” he breathed.

Quinn nodded. She gripped his face with both palms.

He was grateful for the enthusiastic kiss she gave him, but the moaning beside him kept him from returning it.

“Madam Secretary!” Ben crawled away from Quinn.

“I’m unhurt,” she replied. “But Agent Caracas needs medical attention. He’ll bleed out without a tourniquet.”

“The secretary,” Caracas wheezed. “Don’t leave her unprotected.”

Adam and Griff suddenly jumped on board like the cavalry. Griff gingerly hurled the umbrella into the drink while Ben pulled a first-aid kit from beneath the captain’s chair.

“Nice shot,” Griff said gesturing to Sir Rodney who was slumped back with a bullet hole to the head.

“Yeah, but the girl was too slippery,” Adam replied.

“Don’t worry,” Griff said. “The coast guard will get her before she leaves the Potomac.”

Ben heaved a breath of relief as he administered to the other agent’s leg. “You hear that, Quinn. It’s finally over.”

When she didn’t respond, he glanced up at his buddies.

Griff darted down below. He reemerged ten seconds later, a stricken look on his face.

“Not there.”

“It will never be over as long as Eugenie is alive,” the secretary said ominously. “For you. Or for Quinn.”

“No!”

Ben shot from the boat. He frantically searched the dock for her.

“There!” Adam pointed toward the beach area. Someone was running along the sand. They tripped over the leg from The Awakening sculpture before jumping on one of the Jet Skis and firing it up.

“We have to stop her!” Ben began to untie the lines.

“Help me out here.”

Adam released the starboard side as Ben fired up the engine. Luckily, he was in the end slip. It was less than a minute before he was out on the river. He could hear the roar of the cigarette boat ahead of them.

“Where is she?” he demanded.

“About a hundred meters behind it,” Adam called from the bow. “But she’s gaining on them quickly.”

Ben gunned the engines but the big boat had too much mass to catch them. Griff barked into his cell phone. “The coast guard is in place to intercept,” he told them. The news didn’t provide the reassurance Ben needed. He urged the Seas the Day to move faster.

“Holy shit,” Adam called from the bow. “Quinn has nearly caught up to them.”

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