Page 41 of Hidden Dane
The two thugs who’d pinned Henry down released him and jumped off the ship to the waiting craft below. The English people on board voiced their concerns. Ted leapt off the rail to the other boat’s deck.
Henry glowered as he eyed the retreating vessel. Brady squinted to see without his glasses.
Dane ran to the edge—as Ted’s vessel moved away from the ferry, his nemesis began to laugh and point at something tied up on deck. He grinned, giving his wrinkles more creases, and held up the jewels. “Uriel, look what else I have.”
Dane would know that blonde bob anywhere. “Emily!”
She looked at him with round blue eyes but didn’t make a sound—her mouth was covered.
He’d failed. He yelled, “Let her go. I gave you what you wanted.”
“Your girlfriend caused us all too much trouble.” Ted dipped his head and took a bow. “Good day, Uriel.”
His heart practically exploded in his chest. He’d failed Emily. He’d made the wrong choice. This was all his fault. She’d made him say that jewels weren’t important—he knew she had her own valuable necklace and earrings that would earn a high price.
If that was the goal, hopefully she’d hand them over and protect herself.
From the danger he’d put her in.
His temples throbbed..
Henry brushed off his jeans, his elbow on the rail. “You just handed over the crown jewels?”
He hadn’t realized that Emily had been kidnapped. On the other side of Henry, Brady nursed a sore arm, his face a mask of pain. Dane scowled and shielded his eyes from the sun to peer at the boat in the distance. Emily was getting too far away. “I thought I was making a trade for Brady—obviously, it was a distraction to get Emily too.”
“We’ll get them back.” Henry motioned toward a motorized lifeboat.
Good plan. He walked to the side and helped Henry untie the lifeboat and lower it as he said, “No, we get Emily back.”
Brady tried to help but winced when he grabbed the hard rubber., “That’s good to hear.”
Dane couldn’t stop staring at the boat. He should have jumped into the ocean, though he’d never swim that fast. His mind raced with all the terrible things that might happen as the three men lowered the lifeboat into the water. The crew approached with angry faces. The engines shook the ferry as it rumbled back on to complete its voyage. He’d let Henry handle any talking, as he told Brady, “This was all my fault. I shouldn’t have left her alone.”
His friend’s eyes watered slightly though he pretended to be fine.
“Brady, what did you hurt? I thought your arm, but, I don’t see anything…”
Brady lifted his hand and showed how his broken fingers listed at odd angles. “I’m going to have to work on speech to text software for the time being.”
“Stay here and deal with the authorities, Brady. Then get to a hospital,” Dane told him. He’d rescue Emily alone. But as Henry cleared the lifeboat with the crew another idea flew into his mind. If he succeeded in getting Emily back, then she needed to be safe. And if he needed backup, there was only one person who had the capabilities to assist. Dane held up his finger and took a step back. “I have to make a phone call.”
Brady stared at him in astonishment. “Who are you calling?”
He dialed, and the phone rang. Dane’s body tensed. Time was of the essence but so was backup. “Someone I should have called when Ted showed up at the nightclub with a gun.”
“Who?” Brady asked again as the phone clicked and Dane heard a quick intake of breath.
His biological father was smart and quick-thinking enough to get Emily to safety. “My father.” He cleared his throat and said in the speaker, “Michael—it’s Dane.”
His biological father’s voice was deep and hard to figure out, especially over the phone as he said, “Dane. It’s good to hear from you.”
The best thing to do was spit this out. Dane watched Ted’s boat get farther out of sight. Henry finished clearing the lifeboat with the officers and returned to work on the ropes as Dane said, “Emily’s been kidnapped. It’s my fault.”
“By who?” his father asked.
To sum up his life and the last few days in as few words as possible made his muscles tighten. He helped with the rope on the pulley. “Ted Vet San. He’s on a small boat heading back to Paris with her right now. I don’t know who’s paying him to steal jewelry Edmond left me in a security box, but they want the stolen British jewels my parents had in the bank. We intended to return the jewels to the British authorities and Emily wanted to come. But now Ted has those and Emily.”
Without bombarding him with more questions, Michael said, “We’ll meet you in France. I’ll figure out who the enemy is and how we can get Emily.”
