Page 87 of Pucker Factor

“Which is?” I asked, still confused by this whole thing.

He scoffed, rolling his eyes at me. “Obviously, we have to take out the next ship,” he said, pointing off in the distance.

I turned and cupped a hand over my eyes, shielding them from the sun. It looked like a freighter ship, but I could be wrong. “And what exactly are we doing with them?”

“It’s this really awesome plan,” he grinned. “You’re gonna love it. Scottie’s gonna drive the boat—”

“Sorry, I’m gonna what?” Scottie said, eyeing Fox like the crazy man he was.

“You’re going to drive the boat and we’re going to lead that freighter out to—”

“Again, what?”

Fox sighed loudly. “You know, if I could just get through my explanation before we have any more questions…”

“Yeah, I’m still stuck on the part where you said I would drive the boat.”

Fox looked at all of us, twirling his finger by the side of his head as he mouthed,He’s crazy. “Look, I get that you don’t like to be the pilot. You get airsick. But we are firmly planted on the ground in the ocean. It’ll be okay.”

Scottie shifted his feet, looking at me, then IRIS, then back to Fox. “But I don’t know how to drive a boat.”

“Sure you do,” Fox laughed. “It’s just like riding a bike. Or flying a plane.”

“It’s nothing like riding a bike,” Scottie said.

“Yeah, I’m with him on this one,” IRIS jumped in. “I’m pretty sure there’s more to steering a boat than just peddling really hard and balancing.”

They continued to bicker. Meanwhile, I looked back at the ship approaching. Whatever we were going to do, we needed to do it now. The ship was closing in fast.

“—about you?” Kavanaugh asked. “You were in the Navy!”

“A Navy SEAL,” Fox snorted. “We didn’t actually learn how to drive a boat. We swam around them all stealthy and shit.”

“Then what the fuck are we doing here?” Red snapped. “I was perfectly fine on that raft, away from cartels and people that want to kill us.”

“I should have just stayed on the island,” Max sighed, leaning against the side of the boat. “I was happy. I had my hut. I had plenty of booze. And there was a woman named Lolita that frequently called me Raúl. I’m not sure why, but she gave great head, so I didn’t question it.”

IKE whistled loudly, getting our attention. “See, this is the problem with all of you. There’s a ship coming for whatever reason that only he knows,” he pointed at Fox, “and instead of finding a solution, you’re all arguing about it.”

“Then what’s your idea?” I asked.

“It can’t be that hard to start this boat and get the hell out of here,” he said, marching over and flinging open the door where the captain was driving earlier. I followed him in, purely out of curiosity. He frowned as he stared down at all the controls. “It can’t be that hard.”

“You already said that.”

Sarah was the next to join in, staring at the panel like it would suddenly light up with information. “Maybe there’s an instruction manual?”

“For driving the boat?”

“Well…why do men never want to ask for instructions?”

“Because this isn’t something you learn to do from a piece of paper!” I shouted.

“Whoa, calm down,” Max said, walking over to me and resting his hands on my shoulders. He started massaging them, easing the tension from my body. “Ain’t no big deal. You probably just have to push this handle thingy.” He pushed it forward, but nothing happened. “Huh, I really thought that would work.”

“Maybe there’s a key to turn it on,” Red said, looking all over for it.

“Or a Go Button?” Kavanaugh suggested.

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