Page 75 of Velvet and Valor
“I was as subtle as could be given the circumstances.”
“Jax’s buddy on the force says there was over ten million dollars in damage.”
“You’re one to talk.” He pulls to a stop on the gravel road leading to the shipyard.
“Are you sure you don't want me to pull closer? That’s half a mile walk, maybe more.”
“Nah, I’m good. It will give you time to get out of sight and then work your way back around.” I square my shoulders as the wind whips up the waves on the pacific. “I’ll see you soon, hopefully.”
“Don’t worry. I got your back.”
He pulls away. The pickup truck follows him. I curse under my breath as I turn to walk toward the shipyard.
Fuck. He’s going to have to give them the slip before he can possibly return and back me up. That will take time.
For now, I’m completely on my own.
17
JUNE
The wind shifts direction, making it easier to control the yacht. The engine has been smoking for several minutes now, and about half the instruments just flash at me. I guess I’m lucky it still works at all after the rogue wave washed over it.
I inch my way back toward the marina, a task made easier now that I’m no longer fighting the waves. But the engine keeps smoking worse and worse, and I’m losing power by the second. At last, I manage to eke the yacht into the marina’s artificial cove, but that’s all the engine has to give. I start drifting toward the dock.
I’m no sailor, but I’ve seen enough movies to know I need to throw a mooring rope to anchor the boat in place. Of course, seeing it done and doing it yourself are two different things. Then I notice that the yacht’s rear deck is only about a foot from the dock.
One badly-timed, stumbling jump later, I’m struggling up to my feet and sighing in relief. I can’t believe how good it feels to be on solid ground, so to speak. At least it’s not moving constantly.
Now that I’m not in immediate danger, I start to realize my other discomforts. Like the fact I’m soaked to the bone with sea water. Already it’s starting to leave a white, cakey layer on the driest parts of my clothes. I get a whiff of my hair and it makes me want to gag.
I see theGo For Brokeyacht bobbing serenely in its spot at the marina. I’m tempted to try and go aboard, to see if I can find Axel. But I quickly reconsider that plan. I’d better go see if his friend Dane is still around before I go poking about on the yacht.
I’ve got to tell him what I found out from Ricky, about what Moorcrock has been after this whole time.
On my way back to the marina, things started to fall together slowly. First, it was just a flash of my collision with the woman at the airport terminal. After that, the puzzle pieces started to really click. The way she scurried to gather her things from the pavement before she realized she was bleeding. The horror in her eyes when I passed her a napkin to wipe the blood away. The way the behemoth’s eyes fell to the scarf and briefcase in my hands before he pushed me into the car.
I don’t know how I didn’t see it before. They were so desperate to pry my case from my hands, and I never put two and two together. It wasn’t my briefcase at all. It was the couriers. I was sure of it, even if I hadn’t opened it since all of this started.
I was willing to bet my life that the goods everyone was willing to kill for, were sitting snuggly in the case at the beach house, just waiting to be found.
It’s too bad my cell phone is somewhere out in the Pacific Ocean. I could just call Axel.
When I exit the marina, I don’t see Dane or his car. I try asking the security guard for help.
“The big guy with the shades?” The guard’s face scrunches up in a frown. “He left up outta here about half an hour ago.”
I curse silently, looking around the parking lot as if I’m going to glean some clue as to his whereabouts.
“What about my fiancé?” I ask, referring to Axel. “The man I went into the marina with. Have you seen him?”
“Oh yeah,” he replies. “He left a while ago, too. Seemed to be in a hurry.”
“Did he say where he was going?” I ask.
“Nope, sorry,” he said. “He left in an uber, though.”
Now I’m stranded at the marina with no phone, no money, and no way to get a hold of anyone. I go to ask my friend the security guard for more help, but he’s not in the booth. Curious, I walk around the side and see him on his cell phone.
