Page 55 of Captured

“Son of a bitch.” Dimitri squinted toward the water, following the lights of the beach rovers. Only one was moving at speed, but there were enough machines on the beach that he might not be immediately noticed. He wasn’t sure how well versed Lauren was in evading pursuit, but he didn’t get the impression she cared so much right now. She was moving too quickly, with too much focus. She was meeting someone who was already in place.

“Where’s Smithson?”

“Still no sighting.

“Lauren’s heading somewhere fast, I think to meet him. How far away is the ONSF boat?”

“Not far. Redivert to where she’s heading?”

Dimitri considered it. “Where would the bastard be if he’s not aboard his own boat? How many likely options?”

It took Stefan only a minute to respond. “Three options, one of which hasn’t radioed in the last twenty-four hours.Pleasure cruiser now anchored close enough to Miranos to be a possibility, if they have a speedboat. Getting the data.”

“Nationality?”

“Turkish.”

Dimitri blew out a breath. Better if it was Oûrois, but the Turks didn’t take appropriation of their nationals’ property lightly. If Smithson had boarded the boat without the owners’ permission.... “Can you get a man on that boat, make him look like he’s not official ONSF? If Smithson is still there, I don’t want to startle him into doing something stupid if we can help it.”

“Of course. How much time?”

“Sooner the better.” Dimitri cut the wheel and headed out onto the sand. He’d let Lauren get far enough ahead now that he knew where he was going. Hopefully, she’d slow down as well, maybe lose her nerve.

He remembered her talking about her sister. Not likely she’d lose her nerve. “I need those texts.”

“Working on it.”

“Ready the speedboat, but don’t move it. Again, I don’t want Smithson spooked, if that’s who’s behind Lauren’s flight, which it almost has to be.”

Stefan paused. “He could be picking up Ms. Grant as a point of mutual concession. She could want to go with him for some reason.”

Dimitri grimaced. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

He cut the line and roared ahead, cursing Lauren and her stupidity. For once, she’d overthought the problem from all the angles but one. She should have trusted him to at least go with her. Smithson was dangerous, probably even crazy. But setting aside his natural dominance as a demigod, Dimitri was a trained professional, used to risking his life for his country.

And he was more than willing to risk it for her.

He ditched the rover when he was an eighth of a mile out, and continued on foot to the dock. The place was quiet now, save for a few diehards at the bar. Easy for a boat to sneak into one of the unoccupied slips, especially if they weren’t staying long. Miranos was too small a concern, especially in this secondary port, to be sticklers about short-termers. Sooner or later, everyone needed a place to land.

But as soon as Dimitri reached the port, he realized his mistake. He saw the rover, but Lauren wasn’t standing on the dock, and she wasn’t in the lighted area of the bar either. More importantly, there weren’t any boats with Turkish lettering that he could see nosing up to the dock. The dock itself was more deserted than usual, and the boats looked as if they belonged there, all of them fishing craft. Probably anyone out to sea had stayed out, weathering the storm and putting in elsewhere now that the sun had set.

Still, where had Lauren gone? The small cove they’d visited earlier today was too tricky for any large boat to enter, though a dinghy could certainly navigate the shallow waters. But why take the extra chance? What had Lauren offered that had made it worth Smithson’s while to play the game...unless it was the game itself that had attracted him? She knew the man better than probably anyone did. What was she thinking?

Then his eyes returned to his rover. There was that spare gun locked beneath the seat—had she taken it?

He moved swiftly over to the side of the rover, leaning into the back of it. The box was there, apparently locked, but when he lifted it, he frowned—it was heavy. The gun remained inside. As he flipped the box on its side, though, he noticed the paper fluttering in the breeze.

Using his phone as a flashlight, he pointed it at the paper. Lauren’s script handwriting showed in the dim glow, stark and sure.

Please don’t worry about me. I’ve got this.

There was only one place she could’ve gone on foot. He headed for the cove at a dead run.

Thirty-Seven

Lauren stepped past the last swaying piece of sea junk, her gaze on the far ocean. She could see a small yacht far enough out to miss the reef, though she had no idea if it was Henry’s. Had he really come this close, or did he have friends on the high seas? Or, yet more likely, had he commandeered someone’s boat for his own use?

The dinghy pulled up on the beach was a different story. It was large enough to hold six people, yet only three men stood next to it. Two of them with guns, the other apparently unarmed, staring off to sea. Henry.

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