Page 13 of Heart of Stone
Ace climbed down into the inflatable with his two men. Occasionally, he brought different men with him. We never bothered to learn their names because it wasn’t necessary. This was a business deal, not a tea party. Only one of the men with him looked familiar, he was an older guy with skin weathered by days at sea and a tattoo of a giant squid on his forearm. We’d always just referred to him assquid. There was something about the set of Ace’s shoulders that didn’t seem right. The man was as confident as a fucking rooster in a flock of horny hens, but today his rigid posture looked forced.
Colt leaned over the stern and lowered the rope ladder as the inflatable boat bobbed up and down over the uneven tide like a car on a roller coaster. Even with the battering the small boat was taking, Ace sat like a pillar of marble, smooth-faced and stiff.
As they made their way across, I lifted my binoculars and looked over at the other boat. As always, Ace had left two crew members behind. One was familiar, a goofy looking guy who always wore a yellow beanie pulled tight over long, dark hair. The other guy, who stood right next toyellow beanie, wasn’t anyone I’d ever seen before. I knew Ace went through crew members pretty fast. He was quick to get rid of them if they lost their nerve easily or were unreliable, but this new crew overhaul seemed more than usual.
Ace’s boat, a slick overhaul on a fast Sundancer, lifted up and down on the choppy current. Aside from Ace’s unusually severe posture and the new crew members, everything seemed normal and quiet. But just as I lowered the binoculars, my eyes glimpsed something that shouldn’t have been there. I lifted them again and focused on the Sundancer. From the corner of my eye, I could see Ace and his men getting closer to theDurango. I squinted through the binoculars and waited for the stern of Ace’s boat to dip down with the rough sea. The bow went up and the wave rolled beneath it until the stern dropped. I hadn’t been imagining it. There was a small motorboat tied off on the far side of the Sundancer.
Adrenaline pumped through me. As badly as I needed to jump into action, I couldn’t let on that I knew something was up. Even though they were only twenty feet away, I casually swept my binoculars toward the inflatable boat. The man behind Ace had a gun in his back.
I held two fingers up to the pilot house, our signal to let the person in the captain’s chair know that something was up. “Colt, be alert.” That was our verbal cue to be ready to pull a gun.
I motioned for him to step back from the stern. I reached behind and pulled the gun out from under my shirt but kept it out of sight. Colt did the same. I glanced back to the pilot house. Slade was already coming down the steps. We hadn’t had an incident like this yet while running cargo forRincon, but we were ready and we knew how to avoid making things worse by looking alarmed or ready to fight.
I knew without looking back that Slade had positioned himself behind the nets near the cargo hold. One thing was for sure, I was already in a pissed off mood and these yahoos cutting into my work day and most importantly my profit was making my mood that much worse. My patience was thin, and I was ready to split some fucking skulls in two.
Ace’s face was the first to peer over the stern. His new, unwanted sidekick was right behind, trying hard to keep his gun out of view. Ace shot Colt and I a look that let us know trouble was on the rope ladder behind him. I decided I didn’t need more than one unwanted visitor on theDurango. It was time to pull the rip cord on this clumsy-ass heist.
As the guy was busy pulling himself over the side of the stern with one hand, while still trying to conceal his weapon, I stomped to the back of the boat, drew out my gun and leaned over. My hunch had been right. The second guy, squid, had just put his hands on the rope ladder. He had his gun still, which meant he’d double-crossed Ace. He was obviously even dumber than he looked.
“Permission to come aboard denied,” I said as I pointed my Smith and Wesson directly at him. With a gun barrel staring straight at him, it took him a second to put together what I’d said. He retreated back into the inflatable while I kept my gun pointed at him.
Ace held up his hands. “Guess I don’t need to tell you guys that this asshole behind me has a pistol jammed in my back.” Ace looked at Colt and me, and the glint in his eyes told me that he trusted us to get him out of this messand deal with the pirates any way we saw fit. And with my mood, that wouldn’t be a problem.
The guy behind Ace glanced my direction. He looked uneasy but determined. “Let him come up or I put a bullet in this man,” he snarled.
I shrugged. “Go ahead. He’s nothing to us, and when your human shield falls to the ground, I’ll have a clear shot at your head. Works for everyone.” I motioned toward Ace. “Except him. Sorry, dude.”
Ace nodded. “Nope, perfectly understandable. Just make sure to get a clean shot. I wouldn’t want him to get away with just a massive brain injury or some bullshit like that.”
Our casual, macabre conversation was making the fool with the gun more nervous. He shoved Ace forward with his pistol. “Then move toward the cargo hold. I’ll collect what I came here for and be on my way.”
Colt nodded slightly at Ace, letting him know he should move toward the cargo hold.
“Keep a gun on squid man down in the inflatable,” I told Colt. He moved to the stern and I followed Ace and the gunman to the hold. In order to see down in the hatch, they had to circle around and stand directly in front of the nets, which was the plan.
“Open this up,” the guy demanded. As I stepped forward, Slade walked out from behind his hiding spot. The deck creaked beneath Slade’s feet just as he raised his gun arm. The gunman had better reflexes than I would have given him credit for, especially in his agitated state. He swung his arm and knocked Slade’s gun clear. My brother was infamous for moving like fucking lightning in a brawl. He grabbed the man’s shirt and shook him hard enough that theasshole stumbled back and fell into the nets. Somewhere in the stumble, his gun went off. The loud shot and the searing pain in my shoulder were almost simultaneous. I grabbed my arm. Blood trickled through my fingers, but I could tell instantly the bullet had only grazed me. Ace, no longer captive, swung around and kicked the man’s arm so hard, I could hear the bones in his wrist crack. His gun bounced on the deck, and Slade grabbed it.
Colt was the first to notice that I’d been hit. “Hunter, what the hell?” He stared down at the puddle of blood on the deck.
“Just a flesh wound, I think.”
“You’re leaving a big mess on my clean deck.” Slade walked toward me. “Guess I better check to see if you’re going to live.”
“Hey, Ace, do you care if I make your raft into Swiss cheese?” Colt called from the stern. “His buddy is heading back to your boat. It would be fun target practice.”
Ace waved his hand. “Be my guest. I’ve got another one.” With his attention diverted, the gunman took the opportunity to kick Ace’s feet out from under him.
“I’m fucking done. Excuse me, while I escort this piece of shit off our boat.” I strode right past Slade. Ace was just pushing to his feet with the same rage in his expression that I was feeling.
A rally of gunshots behind me told me Colt was shooting holes in the inflatable raft. The guy scooted back as if a man eating tiger was stomping toward him. His foot tangled in a net, and as he lost his balance, I grabbed him with both hands. He tried to beat off the hold I had on him, but it was a pretty pathetic attempt. My arm hurt like hell as I clutchedthe guy’s shirt and dragged him across the deck. He fell to his knees and couldn’t get his feet under him. He grabbed at my hand, but there was no fucking way he was going to free himself. My week had been shitty, and this guy had decided to jump aboard the wrong boat.
“No, wait, no” he pleaded like a worm on a hot, dry sidewalk. I lifted him up by his shirt collar and waistband and tossed him overboard. His arms and legs splayed out to the side like a flying squirrel, and he belly smacked the water with a grunt.
I turned around to my audience.
“Feel better now?” Colt asked.
“As a matter of fact, I do.”
