Page 30 of Silk Shadow

A low hum caught his attention. It sounded like an outboard motor.

Alarm bells fired off in his brain. He stared out to sea, but it was pitch black and he had zero visibility. The flickering fairy lights on the railings didn't help.

"What's wrong?" asked Izzy, noticing his agitation. He liked that she was in tune with him. Robert didn’t have her entirely captivated, just yet—but he couldn’t focus on that now.

"I don't know. I thought I heard something."

"What? Out there?" She too gazed into the darkness off the bow.

"There's nothing out there but ocean," scoffed Robert, glancing around. "You're paranoid."

Viper listened hard, but the sound had vanished, yet the hairs on the back of his neck prickled. Over the years he'd learned to trust his gut. Slowly, he reached for his gun.

Two other couples had wandered out onto the bow, but most of the guests were at the stern, which was designed for entertaining and had easy access to the bar.

He peered over the side into the water.

Nothing.

The prickling moved to his arms. Something was definitely up.

A shot echoed through the night air, making everybody jump. Seconds later, four armed men in ski masks leaped over the guard railing onto the deck.

Fuck!

He was on the wrong side.

Viper raced toward Izzy, firing at the attackers in order to create some kind of cover. They returned fire and he had no choice but to dive behind the leather seats. His Glock was no match for four semi-automatic weapons.

"Get down!" he yelled.

The guests screamed and ran back inside. All except Robert, who stood rooted to the spot. Izzy screamed as a black-clad man swooped her up and tossed her overboard into the waiting motorboat.

"Izzy, no!"

Viper belly-crawled out from behind the seat only to duck back again when a hail of bullets rained down on him. He was outgunned, and he fucking knew it. There was nothing he could do. He couldn’t get to her without ripping himself to pieces.

Robert cried out as a bullet nicked his arm. The idiot was still standing up in full sight, staring at the kidnappers like a deer in headlights. He might not be able to get to Izzy, but he could reach Robert. Viper lurched forward, grabbed him, and pulled him back down behind the seats as another torrent of bullets flew overhead. If the idiot had still been upright, he'd be a dead man.

Something glittery caught his eye. He glanced down and saw it was Izzy's turquoise pendant. It must have come loose in the struggle.

The outboard motor sprang to life and the men jumped over the railing back onto the craft. As soon as they’d stopped firing, Viper took off across the deck.

"I'm shot. Help me. I've been shot," cried Robert, clutching his bleeding arm.

Viper gripped the railing and stared out after the inflatable. He watched as it disappeared into the darkness, its black hull a mere shadow in the glow of the superyacht. It was designed for stealth over speed. He gauged the outboard motor to be at least fifty horsepower.

Viper thought hard. It would take too long for the yacht to pull up anchor, and he didn't particularly want to lead fifty wealthy partygoers into a shootout with a bunch of pirates.

That left the jet ski.

He raced along the gangway to the stern and ripped the cover off the machine, before pushing it onto the launch pad. In the background, he could hear Robert still yelping on the deck.

"Call 911 and the Coast Guard," he shouted to Emily, who'd come out to see if the coast was clear.

“Is Izzy all right?” Her face was ashen.

“No, she’s been taken, and Robert’s been shot.”

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