Page 128 of Hard Luck (Blackstone House)

Bella continued to search the boat for anything that might be useful while Cole slumped into a seat in the shade of the sun canopy and considered all that had happened today. Bella wasn’t the woman he’d thought she was, but maybe he wasn’t the man he’d thought he was either. Because when that nutjob’s head had disintegrated in front of him, he’d felt horror and relief, but mostly relief. And she wasn’t the monster he’d first feared either. She didn’t seem inclined to kill him, and if the key had been in the boat, they would have been well on their way to Emerald Shores by now.

And Cole thought about Adam, Frankie’s little brother. The kid who’d wanted to be a doctor until he’d fallen into the drug scene at university. The way Frankie had cried when she’d gone with her parents to scatter his ashes overthe sea. Cole had been there for moral support, and he’d witnessed the agony firsthand.

Were there really drugs in the prison? Why else would a bunch of gun-toting criminals be so determined to keep strangers away? It was the perfect hiding place. And in the aftermath of Adam’s death, Cole remembered telling Frankie that if he ever got his hands on the dealer who’d sold Adam that first dose of heroin, he’d strangle him with his bare hands.

“Do it,” he said to Bella. The man had tried to kill both of them, and Cole had no doubt he’d make another attempt, given the chance.

She turned, one eyebrow raised in question.

“Do it,” he repeated. “Just get it over with.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“If you can do it without getting hurt.”

Bella studied him for a long moment. What did she see? Did she see fear? Confusion? Disappointment? Cole felt all of those, but mostly anger.

Finally, she nodded. “Then we’ll need to find you a good hiding place.”

CHAPTER 45

JEZEBEL

The assholes were lazy. A single key fit the padlock at the sally port, the one securing the service entrance at the rear of the prison, and the two on the side doors. Based on my recon, I was almost certain Six was still in the building.

I chose the door closest to the sally port, slipped into the gun gallery like the wraith that I was, and settled in to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Damn, it stank in here. No normal person would put up with the stench, which was another reason I thought these assholes were drug runners. Drug runners with a penchant for sampling their own product. Chronically snorting illegal substances led to fun side effects like frequent nosebleeds, a collapsed septum, and a fucked-up sense of smell.

But at least Cole was safe. I’d parked him in the trees beyond the barracks, and on my way back, I’d brushed over the occasional footprint so Six couldn’t track him there. Not that Six seemed to be doing much of anything. He was in the kitchen. Occasionally, I heard movement in there, but he hadn’t shown his face yet.

Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up.

My patience was thin today. These fuckers had screwed with me personally. Although I wasn’t worried about the future—I could switch to a new identity in a heartbeat, and Cole had no idea where I lived—I felt an aching loss that hadn’t been there after the split with Bastian. Cole would go on with his life, but I’d play no part in it.

I’d miss him.

I’d always miss him.

Then I heard the boat.

A powerful roar, and it was heading the wrong way. Away from Skeleton Cay. For the first time in forever, I felt a twinge of fear. The Mako was leaving, but who the hell was driving it? For a moment, I wondered if I’d miscounted, if there had been seven men on the boat and one of them had stayed quiet and hidden, waiting to escape when the coast was clear. But I knew I hadn’t miscounted.

Could someone have been on the island already? A person left to guard whatever the gang had stashed in the prison? No, that didn’t make sense. The main building had been locked from the outside when we arrived, and the barracks hadn’t been touched in years. A guard wouldn’t be living wild in the forest.

There was only one explanation. Cole had ignored my safety instructions, found the keys, and taken the boat.

Fuck my eternally damned life.

I only hoped he went home to Emerald Shores rather than heading to Windjammer Bank, because Witt was the type of man who’d lash out if cornered.

Six must have heard the boat engine too, because he jogged down the central walkway, heading for the admin block at the front of the prison where he could see the harbour through the barred windows. I shot him in the chest, and he sprawled across the floor.

Instinct nearly sent me running to the sea, but reasontold me I’d never catch the Mako anyway. Instead, I glanced at the empty harbour as I unlocked the sally port. Cole was gone, but at least I could find out what had been so important to the gang that they’d ruin my relationship.

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