Page 96 of Hidden Depths

Slowly, keeping her eyes on the road, she pressed her ear against the wall. She thought she heard a rustling but couldn’t tell what had caused it without moving away from her post.

God, what do I do? Tell me what to do.

She glanced quickly at the dirty window a few feet away. It wouldn’t give her a good enough view of the interior. She’d have to go down to the other one if she wanted to see inside.

Backing up slowly, she watched the street until her view was obscured, then turned and hurried to the far window.

As she peered through, she caught sight of the back of a large man as he exited the shed.

“Nonononono,” she muttered, darting to the side of the shed. Her heart hammered in her chest as she flailed her arms uselessly. Tom said he’d be watching for her, but they were completely focused on the boat. Not that it mattered. Even if they saw her now, they’d already been spotted.

If she screamed, she could draw the man back and alert the others, giving them time to escape.

Her mouth opened, but her throat closed around any possibility of making a sound. If their enemy was drawn in different directions, he might shoot them all.

Shaking with frustration she whirled back around the corner, screwing her eyes shut. “Please, God, save them.”

Chapter24

“Whoa,”Tom said, making Isla pause her attempt to unlock the gas cap.

“What’d you find?”

He lifted a white plastic-wrapped brick. “Cocaine?”

“Is that the only one?”

“I can see at least half a dozen, but it looks like the compartment goes beyond the opening.” He reached his arm in as far as it would go. “Yeah. It’s extensive.”

She whistled. “I owe you one big time for bringing me in on this.”

“But I thought they were on their way to Cuba. This stash looks like they’ve already been once. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“They were probably keeping it here while they fixed up the shed.”

“Or in case they needed to make a quick getaway.”

“Which they do. Who knows where they’ll go with it next.”

He dragged out more bricks, then a smaller one. “I found the cash.” He looked closely at the bills. “Looks like piles of hundreds. They weren’t done buying.”

“We’ve got to get these boats disabled.”

“Hey!” Tom and Isla turned to see a man with a goatee pointing a gun at them. “Hands up.”

Tom’s eyes darted for the shed, but he couldn’t see Sara. His hands fisted at his side. If she was hurt— Then her head poked around the corner, and he immediately looked back at the man as he took a steadying breath, grateful she hadn’t done something stupid to try to distract this guy. It was clear he was a professional.

Once Sara saw there was nothing she could do, she would hide until the Florida team turned up. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too late. He knew she would struggle if they didn’t make it, but things weren’t looking good.

“What are you doing here?” Goatee said.

“Hey, whoa. What’s with the gun? We’re just here admiring your sweet ride. These babies must fly on the water.”

The man craned far enough to see the open hatch and the blocks of cocaine and cash Tom had removed from the hold.

“You’re admiring more than the boat.”

“Look, I’m not one to judge. I’ve dabbled in drugs in the past, but I’m not interested anymore. I will admit, the money was a temptation, but obviously I was totally out of line. We’ll get out of here and leave you to your business.”

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