Authors: Katie Reus
He pounded his fist on the middle of the steering wheel. The loud blast of the horn startled him. Now wasn’t the time to lose it. No, now years of training and living in the jungle would pay off.
Hunter guessed Davis wanted to know how much he’d told the DEA about his dealings. Saltz hadn’t been privy to everything so maybe that would give him bargaining room. Hunter still didn’t know why Saltz was working with Davis, but his guess was money. A man only betrayed his country for a few reasons. Family was one. Money was usually the other.
His tires spewed up gravel and dust as he sped into the parking lot. Keeping his sunglasses on, he got out of the vehicle and scanned the marina. The sun hung high in the cloudless sky, creating a blanket of warmth over the chilly day. Everything looked so
normal.
Music sounded from somewhere in the distance. Probably someone enjoying margaritas and grilling out on their boat.
Gritting his teeth, he made his way toward one of the docks as Davis had instructed. He followed the directions until he stood at the back of a forty-eight-foot coastal cruiser.
“I’m here,” he shouted, even though he guessed one of the men was watching out for him.
The wooden hatch opened and Saltz stepped out onto the back deck. Hunter had to control his rage.
He held his arms out. “I’m unarmed.”
Saltz pursed his lips together. “We’ll see about that. Step down.”
Doing as he asked, Hunter glanced around to make sure no one had followed him. If Saltz or Davis even smelled a trap, they’d simply kill everyone. Connor had called him on his way here and alluded to the fact that he might track him, but when Hunter threatened to cut off a certain part of his anatomy, he’d backed off. Or at least Hunter hoped he had.
As if reading his mind, Saltz said, “I hope you came alone.”
“How do you live with yourself, man?” Hunter held his arms out so he could be patted down. Even though he’d done as they asked, they would search him. They’d be stupid not to.
Saltz sheathed his weapon and took a menacing step toward him. “Try anything stupid and they both die.” He patted him down, starting with his legs. “To answer your other question, pretty soon I’ll be living on a warm sandy beach with enough money to last ten lifetimes.”
“So it is about money?” He turned, keeping his arms outstretched as the other man continued frisking him.
“It’s always about money.”
“How long have you been working for Davis? Tell me you didn’t know about what happened six years ago.”
“I don’t work
for
him. We’ve done a few deals together. And hell no, I didn’t know about your and Davis’s relationship. I wasn’t lying when I told you the first time I’d seen you was here. I thought you were dead.”
“Then why the hell did you even go to Connor about me after you knew I’d been working with Davis?”
“Because
Connor
sent me to see you. If I came back with nothing after our first meeting, he’d have sent someone else to see you and then he’d have known something was up when I lied about not having any information. I thought I could kill you before you made a deal…whatever, man. What’s done is done.”
Hunter changed tactics. “What kind of partner is Davis if he kept you in the dark about me until he needed you?” It was a slim possibility, but if he could cause strife between Davis and Saltz, he’d work any angle he could.
Alan shoved him in the back a little too hard. “Like I said, we’re not partners. Inside now.”
When he stepped down into the cabin, he lost a couple years of his life. Against one of the built-in couches, Jonathan sat in Alexis’s lap, his face buried in her neck. Her face was drawn and pale, but more than fear in her eyes, he saw anger. Raw, unbridled rage.
Next to them Davis sat inches away with a gun pushed directly into the side of her head.
“Glad you could join us,” Davis muttered.
“You okay?” Ignoring the other man, Hunter spoke directly to Alexis.
She nodded slightly. What looked like the beginning of a purple bruise spread over her left cheekbone. Instinctively, he took a step toward her, but Saltz thrust a gun into his spine.
“I don’t think so. You sit over there.” With a shove, he forced Hunter to sit on the opposite side of the boat on the couch facing the others.
A bolted-down coffee table sat between them, making it impossible to try to use it as a weapon.
Saltz disappeared back through the hatch, then a few seconds later the engine roared to life.
“Where we headed?”
Davis raised his eyebrows, but didn’t respond.
Okay, he’d try another tactic. Purposely keeping his eyes off Alexis, he stared at Davis and tried again. “Why didn’t you just walk away? We’d both gotten what we wanted.”
His shoulders lifted in a shrug, but the gun never wavered. “I couldn’t chance it. I was about to retire.”
“Yeah, and now you’re gonna be on the run for the rest of your life. Why don’t you let them go, Davis? They mean nothing to you. You’ve got me. If the Feds or DEA ever catch up to you, you’ll prove you’re somewhat decent by letting them live.”
Davis grunted and shifted in his seat, but didn’t respond.
It had been a long shot, but Hunter wanted to exhaust all options. Scanning the cabin, he looked for anything he could use as a weapon, but almost everything was bolted down. Finally he risked a glance at Alexis. She stroked Jonathan’s hair and murmured something too low to hear.
He couldn’t be sure of the exact time but eventually the boat moved slower and slower until it was simply coasting. The curtains were drawn shut on the windows so he couldn’t see where they were. They hadn’t been travelling long enough to get very far out in the ocean to avoid other boats. A flare of irrational hope surged through him that they’d been stopped by the Coast Guard, but he hadn’t heard a bullhorn or siren.
That was when it hit him. They were either being taken to one of the thousands of deserted islands surrounding the Outer Banks or they’d driven up the coast to a deserted stretch of land. Both were good places to hide a body. Also good places to torture someone and not worry about anyone overhearing. And they wouldn’t bother with torturing him. No, they’d start with Alexis. God only knew what that sick monster Davis would do to her.
He gritted his teeth so hard he was surprised he didn’t chip a tooth. He had to get Alexis and Jonathan away from them. If a man didn’t escape during the first few moments of capture, the chances grew slimmer and slimmer that he ever would. There would only be one opportunity to do this right. When the engine died, his muscles tensed. This was it.
Saltz popped his head through the opening. “We’re here. You come up first, Hunter.”
His body and brain were in complete battle mode, but he did as the other man said, forcing his movements to remain calm and natural.
Once on the back deck he saw what looked like an abandoned summer home. Okay, so they weren’t at one of the islands, but looking at the geography, he guessed they’d gone quite a few miles up the coast. There were communities in the northern Outer Banks cut off from main roads and only accessible by water or ATVs. This could be one of them.
Surrounded by a cluster of dense woods, the home was right on the water. And there wasn’t another residence visible in either direction.
“Don’t even think about it.” Saltz’s voice cut through his thoughts.
With a gun in one hand, Saltz held on to the dock with the other as Davis exited with Alexis and Jonathan. “Watch them,” Saltz ordered as he cautiously maneuvered to the front of the boat.
When Saltz grabbed the rope to tie off the vessel, he had to put his gun down. It was the only opportunity Hunter needed. And he had to make this count.
Davis was more intent on getting off the boat and not paying attention to them. Hunter spared a quick peek and Alexis and mouthed the word “run.” Understanding flared in her eyes and she nodded. Using all his body weight, he rushed Davis, slamming the man’s head and upper body onto the dock. Davis’s body flopped once, then was still, suspended between the boat and dock.
“Now!” Hunter shouted at Alexis.
That was all she needed. She practically tossed Jonathan onto the dock before jumping up herself.
Out of the corner of his eye he watched Saltz try to jump from the boat to the dock, so he shoved against the structure, pushing the half-tied boat away. Saltz faltered, then missed his grip, but he gained his footing and didn’t fall in the water as Hunter had hoped. His gun slid across the bow, just out of reach. Saltz dove across the front, but the water shifted, sending his gun further away.
Hunter couldn’t afford to turn around and see if Alexis was gone. Keeping his eyes on the other man and using the railing, he shimmied down the side of the boat, trying to get to Saltz before he reached his gun.
He wasn’t fast enough. Just as he reached the front, Saltz clasped his weapon, rolled on his back and fired once.
The shot clipped Hunter’s shoulder, sending him flying backward. Instinct kicked in and he grabbed the railing, preventing him from falling overboard. It was as if someone had lit a grenade and shoved it into his shoulder. Pain ricocheted through his entire body. He’d been shot once before, but that didn’t make the aching any less painful. Nerve endings flared to life, screaming through his system, begging his brain for relief.
“Don’t make me shoot you again,” Saltz growled as he stood up.
“Go to hell,” he spat out.
“Fine, have it your way.” Saltz shook his head and tucked his gun away.
Confusion intermixed with his pain. What was he doing? Hunter watched as Saltz looked at something over Hunter’s shoulder and before he could contemplate trying to turn around, more pain and then blackness engulfed him.
Chapter 14
“Come on, sweetie, I need to put you down for a second.” Alexis dropped Jonathan to the soft earth and tried to catch her breath. Though she worked out and ran regularly, it wasn’t as if she did it carrying a forty-pound backpack.
“I can run too.” The first words he’d spoken since they’d escaped. And he sounded almost defiant. That little stubborn streak was back.
She didn’t have time to consider how great it was he was talking again. They couldn’t wait around to be captured and killed. “Okay, let’s go. You stay behind me.” She’d rather keep him in front of her, but there were too many protruding branches and holes in these woods.
Their shoes crunched over the fallen leaves and undergrowth as they continued racing through the forest. Guilt gnawed at her that she’d left Hunter, but she’d seen that look in his eyes. The look that said “save our son.”
She pushed the emotions down and focused on doing just that. Glancing behind her, she was relieved to see Jonathan keeping up. Their pace slowed a little, but she maneuvered through the thick trees, trying to stay on even ground. She didn’t have her cell phone, and she had no clue where they even were, so as of now, her mission was to find help and some form of communication. When the trees started thinning, her heart leapt. They must be close to some sort of civilization.
“Mom, look!” Jonathan bounded up beside her as they neared a clearing.
She saw it before he pointed. It would be hard to miss. A pale blue, two-story house with white trim sat in the middle of a field. Two white rocking chairs sat empty on a big open porch. And there was a satellite dish attached to the roof.
Looking at Jonathan, she bit her lip. She hated to leave him all alone, but she didn’t want to drag him into another horrible situation. This house was in the middle of nowhere. How did she know what kind of people lived there?
Risking a peek behind them, she couldn’t shake the fear curling through her body. Various scenarios raced through her mind.
She bent down so that she was eye level with Jonathan. “We’re going to see if we can find help here, but if I tell you to do something, you do
not
question me. Do you understand?”
He nodded.
“No, I need to hear you say it.”
“If you say run, I run, right?” He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked at her expectantly.
“That’s absolutely right. Can you walk or do you want me to carry you?” Dirt smeared his face, but she didn’t bother wiping it away. She could only imagine how awful she looked. Maybe the owner of the house would take pity on them.
He slipped his small hand into hers in response. After scanning the field for any other signs of life, they took a few cautious steps out into the open. When it was apparent no one was around, she picked up her pace.
As they neared the steps of the back porch, the screen door opened. A petite, older woman with graying hair stepped out and immediately Alexis’s fears subsided. She didn’t look like a crazy axe murderer.
“Oh my, look at you two.” The door slammed behind her with a thud. She rushed down the few steps until she was only a few feet in front of them.
Jonathan clutched Alexis’s hand and stepped behind her.
“We need help.” She didn’t know what else to say.
“I can just imagine that you do. How’d y’all end up all the way out here?” Her soft, southern accent soothed Alexis.
She ignored the question. “I need a phone.”
The woman paused, then smoothed her hands over her sweater. “All right. Wait here.”
She disappeared inside but was back moments later with a fully charged cell phone. Alexis’s heart jumped. “I don’t even know how to thank you—”
She waved a dismissive hand in the air. “Make your call. We’ll talk in a moment. Come in and have a seat.”
Jonathan followed her directive to one of the rocking chairs where he collapsed against a plaid cushion. Taking a seat next to her son, Alexis dialed the number Hunter had made her memorize after Connor had arrived at the beach house. She couldn’t stop her knees from shaking.
“Connor here.” He picked up on the first ring.
“It’s Alexis.” Blood rushed so loudly in her ears it was hard to hear anything else.
“Oh my God. Tell me you’re all right.”
“For right now, yes. I don’t know where we are, though.” The woman had already retreated back inside so she couldn’t ask her.