Page 47 of Island Homecoming

Nash swore, diving for cover as the man fired again. Hearing the guy take off again, Nash jumped up and followed. The only escape was the boat still tied to the old dock.

At least the gunfire had drawn the attention of the protection team and other law enforcement. The team closed in, cinching a tight circle around the man who was shouting and bargaining to reach the boat.

Jess and a couple of other guards were back on the dock, near the boat. At the commotion she turned to check out the situation.

And then Burrell grabbed her.What the hell?

Nash’s vision hazed red when he saw Burrell twist around, using her body as a shield to get on the boat. He pulled her weapon from the holster, aiming at the other officers as he backed toward the boat.

Nash couldn’t make sense of Burrell’s actions. All he could do was watch, helpless, as Kinney and Frasier moved in, negotiating for Burrell to release her.

He didn’t.

Where was the Coast Guard team? He ran forward, only to be held back by Caldwell.

“Don’t you dare interfere,” the chief warned him fiercely.

“What’s he doing?”

“Making a serious mistake,” Caldwell muttered. He radioed for law enforcement to search Burrell’s house and car immediately and gather any evidence they could find. “Looks like we found the inside man,” he growled.

Nash didn’t care about the case right now. He cared about Jess. Easing away from the chief, he looked for a route to help her.

Frasier and Kinney were frozen, unable to act as Burrell dragged her onto the boat. The bastard kept the gun to her head as she released the mooring lines so he could escape.

The boat engine sputtered and caught. Burrell pushed at the throttle and the boat started to pull away. Jess twisted, using the boat’s momentum to shove him back. When he fell, dropping the gun, she managed to leap off the boat. The engine roared, the boat lurched forward… and then it died, leaving Burrell stranded.

Nash darted down the length of the dock before anyone could stop him. Jess was there, shoving her hair back out of her eyes. He reached down and helped her up out of the water.

“You okay?”

“Great.” She coughed. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.” He didn’t mean it. He could go the rest of his life without another scene like this morning.

Nash flopped back on the dock, closing his eyes against the bright sunrise. She was alive. She was fine. And this time he was confident she was safe. He could hear her breathing. Hearing that sweet sound for the rest of his life might be enough to assure him she’d survived this.

Could she hear his thundering heart? He was pretty sure his pulse was shaking the dock.

“Did you tamper with the engine?”

“I had some time on my hands while we were waiting,” she said.

“Why do you do that?” He’d blurted out the query when he should be exerting some self-control. But common sense was beyond him right now. He kept right on talking. “It hurts my heart when you leap into the fray like that.” Her breath hitched and he propped himself up on an elbow. “Literally, Jess. I think my heart stopped.” He rubbed his chest.

“Well, it started again,” she pointed out. “You’re still here.”

“You could sound happier about it,” he muttered.

“I’m happy.” She flexed and stretched her hands, over and over. “And I didn’t exactly run into the danger. I was hauled against my will.”

“This time. You ran toward the guy with the knife.”

“True,” she admitted grudgingly.

“So why? Why do you do that?”

The dock groaned as she moved closer to him. He felt her warm body, her damp clothes. Didn’t bother to open his eyes, he just breathed in the fragrance that was all her. This might be the last time he was this close to her. And he couldn’t keep himself from pushing for what he needed most.

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