Page 85 of Guarding Bristol

“We’ll check the security footage.Are they still heading out to sea?”

“Affirm.Gavin and Decker just arrived on scene.”

“Good.Do you still have a visual onSea Siren?”

She turned around and looked through the binos again.The shooters were speeding inSea Siren’s direction.The boat was much smaller and faster and must have had a more powerful engine because it was gaining ground fast.

“I can still—” She stopped, her insides freezing.

“Cassie?What do you see?”

“Smoke,” she answered, heart slamming in terror at the dark plume rising from the stern.“Sea Siren’s on fire.”

Chapter Thirty-Two

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The sound of her ownharsh breathing filled the sudden, eerie quiet.

What the hell was happening?The shooting had stopped.There were no more voices.No more sounds of another boat nearby.Just the wind and waves battering this one.

Where was TJ?Her kidnapper had told her he had come for her.She thought she’d heard his voice before.

Her thoughts scattered when she noticed a strange smell.An acrid, chemical smell.

Smoke.Something was on fire.

The rush of terror gave her a burst of renewed urgency.With her fingers bleeding, she finally managed to pry the knot she’d been working apart enough to put some slack in the rope around her wrists.

She yanked her aching arms up and down and back and forth to get free, desperate to escape.The toxic smoke was already thickening in the air, filtering in through her hood.She coughed, kept her eyes shut to protect them.

One last hard jerk, and the ropes gave enough for her to slide one wrist free, then the other.Her shoulder joints hurt as she brought her hands up to grab the hood and tear it off.Opening her eyes to slits, she got her first look around the interior.The air was hazy with smoke, the dark color telling her it was probably from oil.

Unable to spot her glasses through the haze, she shoved to her feet, ripped the tape from her mouth, and rushed for the short set of stairs that led topside.The boat rolled hard to the right before she reached the deck.She grabbed hold of the metal railing to steady herself, moved up the last two stairs, and crouched there in the hatchway to take a cautious look around.

The deck was deserted.She was the only person still aboard.

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