Page 147 of The Heart

We’re not losing anyone else today.

Turning my focus back to where Colton’s hand is locked with mine, I take a steadying breath. I watch his thumb tap out a tune against my skin. I can’t help but smile when I recognize it as one of the stupid songs we sang in the car to piss off Sebastian. Looking up at him, I find a small but devastating smile tugging at his lips. He glances over, and my heart does a little jump when he winks at me.

I give him a small smile, appreciating his effort to cheer me up.

But then I remember my sister is probably dead.

I look back at our joined hands and just try to fucking breathe.

“She wasn’t on the boat!” Ava shouts through the radio into all our ears, making me nearly jump out of my seat. “Kathryn wasn’t on the boat!” she says again.

“Jesus,Jones. Turn it down a notch. Are you sure?” Sebastian asks. I’m suddenly sitting straight up in my seat and squeezing the life out of Colton’s hand, needing to hear her answer.

“I’m sure. The Coast Guard just confirmed the death count at five. They haven’t released the names yet, but all casualties weremale.Leena, Kat could still be alive,” she says.

I choke out a laugh, my tears streaming down my face again, but this time I wipe them away. My eyes shoot over to Colton and I repeat the words.

Kat’s alive.

She wasn’t on the boat.

I quickly turn, finding Sebastian and Luke’s expressions full of the same relief I feel right now. I know immediately how much this was weighing on them too.“You’re our family, which means Kathryn is too,” Luke had said to me.

She’s alive.I want to jump into their laps and cry I’m so fucking happy. Maybe they’ll get to meet her after all.

I want them to meet her.

“Holy crap, I think I’ve got something,” Ryan says, and we all go quiet, staring at the radio as if that’ll make him talk faster. “I went back to check the cameras at the two marinas we hacked. I pulled up the timestamp from right around when the yacht exploded. It’s not a high quality picture, so I couldn’t be sure until it got closer, but there’s definitely another boat. One leaving the wreckage. You guys, I fast-forwarded the footage to real time. It looks like it’s heading toward the eastern marina now.”

We’re all silent, staring in shock at one another. It’s Sebastian who finally speaks up, “Fisher, I think we need to make a pit stop at a marina.”

“You got it, boss.”

I smile, holding on tight as he tips us toward our new course.

—

“Talk to us, Chen,” Luke says as the pontoons touch down in the water. We rock with the waves as Sebastian opens the side door and Colton moves us closer to the dock.

“White cabin cruiser, black stripe. It just pulled into the boathouse, but I couldn’t see how many were onboard,” Ryan says warily.

“Copy that,” Sebastian says, hopping out of the chopper and tying us to the dock.

I stare out, quickly finding the boathouse. Chances are, whoever is in there, is probably the same someone who just blew up a yacht to cover up Kathryn’s whereabouts. Which means they might know where she is. It frightens me, knowing the lengths they’re willing to go to hide what happened.

Or maybe the Coast Guard is wrong. Maybe they just haven’t found her body yet.

My heart aches at that thought, so I push it away.

I just have this horrible feeling that time is running out.We have to find her.

“Alright, gear up.” Sebastian hops back inside, dragging a large weapons case into the middle of the floor and throwing it open. I join him, choosing a pistol I’m familiar with and a couple of magazines to go with the one I’m already carrying.

“Not you,” Colton states firmly.

I glare at him. I’m not backing down on this. I want to find my sister, yes, but I want to have their backs even more. After thinking I’d lost Kathryn, and who knows, maybe I still have, I can’t imagine how I would feel if I lost one of my men.

“I thought she was dead, Colt. Don’t make me sit here wondering if you are too,” I say, looking between all of them.

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