Page 40 of Island Holiday

“He must’ve painted it as an adventure, a ground-floor opportunity while they’re still in school,” Jess said. “When Sonya found the purchase record for the new cell phones and you matched them to the profiles, the influencer angle was as bright as the sun.” Jess shook her head. “A pretty genius move giving them new devices and turning off their personal phones during this trial period. He must be holding them, since the accounts are still active. I can’t call them gullible for going along with it. Not these days. Loads of people have more than one deviceand many use a certain phone specifically for their influencer accounts.”

Sonya twisted in her seat, eager for a look at the activity on the dock even before they turned back upstream. “I should have caught on to that earlier.”

“What do you mean?” Connor asked.

“I never thought to look at what the testers were studying. I was too focused on what Zimmer was up to with the property rentals to bother with who he was targeting. If I’d looked harder at the students, maybe this situation could’ve been prevented.”

“Doubtful,” Jess said. “Criminals get greedy.”

Connor sat down next to her. “Jess makes a good point. And I think it was only a matter of an excellent con man drilling down to find the students most inclined to cooperate.”

Sonya couldn’t argue with that. People were his thing. Numbers were hers.

And trumping both of those factors was the captain turning the water taxi upstream. Finally. Down deep she needed to witness the rescue, not just for the case. For the pieces of herself that felt sharp and broken. These girls had people who did care, they just hadn’t known to be worried. She was determined to see them safely reunited.

On the water taxi, they were far enough away that they wouldn’t be perceived as a threat, if they were noticed at all. In silence, the three of them watched as the chartered boat turned and came to a stop at that condo dock.

The lines were barely secured before the young women were strolling down the dock, seemingly excited about the adventure ahead. In her head, Sonya cursed. Zimmer must have gathered the young women in a public area. Probably the pool or nearby clubhouse.

She watched as Logan stepped onto the dock to hook up a short ramp to make boarding easier. Even from this distance, his smile was pure Southern charm as he invited everyone aboard.

Zimmer included.

Sonya had to give the Guardian Agency credit for hiring experts. Zimmer didn’t seem nervous. He clearly had no idea his scheme was about to come crashing down around his ears.

She held her breath until the boat was underway once more. Part of her was hoping Mertens would show up. Highly unlikely that Mertens would take such a big risk, but it was the season of miracles.

The water taxi puttered along while Sonya’s heart raced. It was all she could do to watch the scene unfold. Thank goodness this takedown hadn’t been left to her and Connor alone. Training or not, she likely would’ve frozen up, becoming a complete liability and leaving Connor to do all the heavy lifting. She glanced at him. Sure, he was fit and capable of all kinds of things, even overcoming her weaknesses. And she was so glad they didn’t have to ask him to step up and live it firsthand.

What a strange realization, to finally accept that she was strongest when working behind a desk. That was her lane, her best possible service to the team, and it was enough.

Humbled, she turned to Jess. “Thanks for working this out,” she murmured.

Jess’s smile was tight, her gaze locked on the other boat.

The three young women were sitting together and someone had cued up music, pumping now through the boat speakers. The updated holiday tunes drifted across the river. In another context, it would have been a completely fun seasonal event.

Zimmer stood closer to the helm, next to Logan while Knox continued to steer.

“How long do we wait?” Sonya asked Jess.

“By now, Knox has confirmed everyone is on board and sent the signal to the police boat.”

“Okay.” She chanted the word over and over in her head. It was all going to be okay. Any minute now the police and FBI would swarm the boat and take Zimmer into custody. Any minute now, those girls would be out of danger.

The water taxi moved closer to the bank, the captain behaving as if he was giving a tour. She appreciated the cover, though Zimmer probably had no idea about normal traffic on the river. From everything they’d found, he was too focused on his little bubble of power.

The sound of the police boat closing in got his attention. The music wasn’t enough of a diversion. He hesitated, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. Then he twisted around Logan, lunging for the bow of the boat. Logan tripped him up and sent him sprawling as Knox brought the boat to a gentle stop.

Zimmer popped to his feet, resisting Logan’s attempts to keep him down. The girls screamed as the men fought, trying to intervene. Effectively conned, they tried to protect Zimmer.

Logan and Knox worked together to separate the women and corral Zimmer.

In the chaos, Zimmer noticed the water taxi and leapt out of the charter, swimming downstream as fast as he could.

“Hell no!” Connor was on his feet, rushing for the railing.

At the helm of the water taxi, the captain looked to Jess for direction.

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