Page 126 of Nowhere to Hide
I turned away from her and tried to claw back my emotions.
“Hey.” She gripped my shoulders, then wrapped her arms around my middle, pressing her cheek to my back. “Please talk to me.”
“You don’t need to worry about it.”
“Don’t do that,” she whispered.
I broke her hold on me and picked up the mic. “Base, do you have any spots today?”
It took a minute, but the radio crackled to life. “Turn to channel seven please.”
I flipped the channel. “Knot On Your Liferequesting to come in for refueling.”
“It’s a tight day, captain.”
“I don’t care.”
The voice came through again. “11:15 at slip 27-E.”
I repeated it back and dropped the mic. That didn’t give me much time.
“Locke, you can’t just?—”
I whirled around. “You’re here with me to stay safe. I’m keeping you safe.”
The worried tears dried instantly as anger flashed. “I don’t get a say.”
“Nope.” I pushed by her and went down to our room to change out of my bathing suit. I grabbed my wallet and checked my cash. Fuck, I’d need to find an ATM too.
She thundered down the stairs after me. “I can call Stone and ask what’s happening.”
I pulled on cargoes and a T-shirt. “Don’t, Cil. You don’t want to know.”
“I have a really good imagination. Don’t you think that’s worse?”
I grabbed my docking papers for the boat and went back topside. I needed to figure out where the slip was and maneuver through the ridiculous number of boats already on the sea.
She didn’t follow right away, but showed up with a pair of sensible shorts and a tank with tennis shoes a few minutes later.
“You aren’t coming this time.”
“The hell I’m not. You can’t leave me alone on the boat and you know it.”
I fisted my hands at my sides and strode out on the lower deck.
“You can’t leave me in the dark.” She grabbed my arm. “You can’t,” she said again on a broken whisper.
Annoyed at myself, I hauled her in and wrapped my arms around her. I laid my cheek against her hair and breathed in her beachy citrus scent. It calmed me down a fraction. “You have to stick close. No excuses.”
She blew out of a breath. “All right.”
“I’ll tell you when we’re on the open water.”
“Oh, you will.” She turned away, pulling a ball cap over her wavy hair.
Knowing I had to face reality sooner or later, I pushed it away. The terror was far too close to me, I couldn’t make her carry it as well.
I prepared the boat for docking, concentrating on weaving around the day trippers who didn’t know the rules of the waters. Frustration strung tight between my shoulders like rubber bands about to snap. Every boat seemed too close. The laughtercoming from the people in town to party was like fiberglass under my skin.
