Page 73 of Forged in Secrets

Craig turned to grace, brushing a hand over his coily black hair. “Katie is here,” he said. “She’s probably still asleep. She’s okay.”

“For now,” Jade muttered under her breath.

Katie was alive. That was something.

Grace sent up a silent prayer of thanks and leaned back in her chair, trying to figure out what her next move was going to be.

BEN

Ben pushed his sunglasses up on his nose as they raced along the coast, the spray of water salty against his lips.

“Can we go any faster?” Asher called out, his voice barely audible over the rushing water and the roar of the speedboat’s engine.

Patrick glanced over his shoulder, shaking his head. “Not if we want our fuel to last.”

Ben sat back in his seat next to his twin, picking at the scratched cream leather with a fingernail. The boat wasn’t much to look at, but he wasn’t exactly going to complain. As it turned out, Connie’s son was not only a solid security guard, but an excellent captain. He’d assured them that they were going to make it to Playa La Pesca with time to spare.

Ben felt a vibration in the pocket of his shorts. Gabe was calling, probably looking for an update.

“Ha,” Asher called out, grinning. “This one’s all you, bro.”

Ben rolled his eyes and answered the phone, turning up the volume as loud as it would go.

“You might wanna text,” he said before Gabe could say hello. “It’s a little loud here.”

“Why? What are you doing?” Gabe asked, shouting to be heard.

He glanced over at Asher, who mimed locking his lips and throwing the key over the side of the boat. Ben shook his head.

“I know where Grace is right now,” he said. “She’s on a yacht, and we’re going after her before they make it to the drop point.”

“Are you two out of your minds?” Gabe snapped. “Youdidn’t think to, I don’t know, talk to me before just taking off?”

“We had to act,” Ben said. “Grace gave us a major clue.”

The engine’s growl grew louder as Partrick coaxed it over a patch of choppy water.

“I’ll explain when I can hear myself think,” Ben yelled into the phone.

“This isn’t the plan! Let me handle this!”

Ben gripped the phone more tightly as droplets of water peppered his skin. “Did you get any new info about the swap since we talked?”

For a moment, the other end of the line was silent.

“No,” Gabe admitted.

“So all we know is that the kidnappers are expecting the Hintons to come by land,” Ben said, needing to shout a little less as Patrick eased the boat through less turbulent water. To his right, along the horizon, he could see the coast rushing past. Surely they had to at least be in Mexican waters by now.

“Correct,” Gabe said.

“So they won’t be expecting us by boat,” Asher chimed in. “We’ll be able to see what’s going on. Best case scenario, we can extract Grace and apprehend her captors. Daddy Hinton saves some money. Everyone is happy.”

“Worst case–” Gabe started.

“Worst case,” Asher continued, “You have the two of us nearby as backup. And besides, what if Katie is with them? We can’t just bring Grace home and abandon her.”

“So much could go wrong,” Gabe said at last. “I don’t like it, Asher. Can’t you ever just stick to the plan?”

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