Page 52 of Wayward
“Not cynical, practical. I’ve always been practical.” Haley turns to face Dante.
Dante tilts up her chin and gives her a quick kiss. “Hmm, you say potato, and I say pommes dauphinoise, but sometimes I just want a French fry.”
“I don’t understand you. But I love you.” Haley kisses the tip of his nose.
“Love you too.”
“Take the love fest down below. Wait, belay that. We have thirty minutes. Be prepared to dock.”
Dante laughs. “What do you think I was going to do?”
“I understand you completely,” I say. Because I’d have the same thoughts he’s having now.
“Never thought you didn’t.” Dante disappears below with Haley. But Calvin doesn’t move.
“I think we should go to the resort.” He looks up at me. It’s an odd perspective. “I don’t know why, but I trust Turner.”
I nod. “I agree. But we’ll still see what the traffic is like when we dock. If the marina’s too full, we could ditch the boat near a beach and swim in.”
“I’d rather not be walking around in wet, tight black clothing at midnight in a city we don’t know. This might be a trap, but I believed Turner when he said that the Zambranos have an in with people in the city. It will be a hell of a lot easier to slip away if we come into a port and not a random beach that might not have services anywhere nearby,” Calvin says.
“Yeah. You’re right.” My eyes are on the horizon. The big island is coming into view. Lights are twinkling in the distance, and there’s a haze of light pollution above it. Not like Miami, but it’s a big city for sure.
The port’s quiet, being close to one a.m. I’ve shut the motors way down. There are a few small boats on the way into port, fishing. The boats bob up and down. The fishermen have set up bright pink and orange lights under the boats. You don’t have to speak Thai to know one of them has caught something. He yanks on the pole. His friend has the net at the ready. A large squid thrusts up on the end of the line and into the net. There’s a pang in my chest. I miss fishing. I slow down more.
“This looks good.” I yell down. “Zane, Calvin, come get the fenders.” They hustle up on deck. Haley, Dante and Easton crowd the stairs. Turner was right. There are three empty slips. Zane jumps onto the dock and takes the line from Calvin. Dante’s up and working lines too. We’re tied off, and I turn the engines off. “All clear,” I say to Easton and Haley. A marineattendant is strolling slowly down the dock as I grab the key and toss it into the map pouch below the wheel.
“Sam,” Haley says, tapping my shoulder. “We need to go. We need to go now!”
“Move!” Zane yells.
Chapter 23
Dam
Haley
There’s a boat whipping around the corner of the marina. A wake surges to the sea walls. One of the night-fishing guys wobbles back and forth while the other one has slid into the harbor with his plastic tub of catch with him. His friend is waving his fist at the boat. Oh, no.
I grab Sam’s arm. “We need to go. We need to go now!” It’s not the same boat we passed a while back, the one with Ed’s guards hanging off the side. This is the speedboat from the boathouse, full of Thayer’s men, Ed’s men, not sure it matters anymore. We need to get out of here.
“Move!” Zane takes my hand and pulls me onto the dock. “Let’s go, Little Bird. Everyone else will catch up.”
I’m matching Zane stride for stride. It’s not the first time I’ve run for my life in a marina. But the last time was because I had twenty minutes to find a decent bottle of rosé before the primary’s mother-in-law lost her shit. It felt like life or death, but it wasn’t anywhere near it. That’s a lifetime ago. I’m not sure I can even relate to the girl I used to be.
“Slow down,” a marina employee yells at us. He’s waving his hands downward like a grandfather at a public pool.
I run by him. “Sorry,” I shout over my shoulder, but I don’t stop running. I don’t even change my steps to a fast walk. Dante, Sam, Calvin, and Easton are behind us and quickly catching up. The dock bounces under our thundering feet. It’s a big marina, but Thayer’s slips are close to the harbormaster’s house. The gate, of course, is closed. Not only is it closed, but it’s a six-foot-tall chain link barrier.
Zane puts on a burst of speed and passes me. He stops at the fence and holds his hands out for me to step into them. “Up and over, Haley. Let’s go.”
I want to tell him no, I’ll climb it myself, but that will take more time. I quicken my pace and run at the fence. My foot lands in his hands and he gives me a good boost. I grab the top bar of the fence. The metal rattle of the chain against the poles rings in my ears. Clutching the top rail, I hoist my leg over the other side and jump to the ground. I jumped off the living room platform on the island more than once, and this wasn’t as far. But I land wrong, with a crunch. Grimacing, I push up from the crouch I’ve landed in. “Shit.” I clutch my leg but keep hobbling forward. Two buildings make an arch in front of me. One’s the harbormaster’s house, and the other has a shuttered window, a snack bar. A few more feet and I have to stop.
Zane lands next on the ground behind me. The fence rattles behind us as the other guys come over. “You okay?”
“Yeah, yeah.” I take another stride. I just need to walk?or rather run?it off. “I’ll be fine.” It’s the same ankle I twisted back on the island. A tender shuffle forward and pain shoots up my calf and down my foot. It’s more of a rocking hobble, but I’m moving.
Zane’s dark eyes soften at me. “Haley,” he groans and takes my hand.
