Chapter 17 - The Boat Named Ava
The yacht sat offshore with its lights dark.
Emilio swam the last fifty yards.
Inside the guest cabin, Ava was tied to a chair.
Tessa stood beside her.
Emilio pulled Tessa into the shadows.
"Why?"
She shook.
"Voss owned my father's debt. He threatened to destroy him."
"So you terrorized my daughter."
"I thought it was paperwork and pressure. Then Calvin brought in Rowan."
Ava made an angry sound through the tape.
Tessa looked at her and started crying.
"She hates me."
"She should."
Emilio cut Ava free.
The cabin door slammed.
Locked.
Rowan's voice came through the intercom.
"You have six minutes."
The engine roared.
Gasoline fumes pushed through the vents.
"He's steering us into the fuel pier," Tessa whispered.
They crawled through a ceiling access panel.
In a storage compartment they found Calvin bound and bleeding.
"Apparently," he said weakly, "I became replaceable."
Calvin told them Rowan carried a dead-man trigger.
Emilio reached the bridge.
Rowan stood at the controls with a pistol.
"You killed Lucia," Emilio said.
"Voss ordered it."
The transmitter under Emilio's shirt carried every word to Pike.
Rowan raised the gun.
Marcus appeared behind him.
"Drop it."
Rowan fired.
Marcus fell.
Emilio charged.
They crashed into the console.
The trigger dropped.
Calvin kicked it overboard.
The yacht struck the outer pier.
Fire flashed near the stern.
Coast Guard boats closed in.
Rowan was dragged down and cuffed.
Marcus was alive.
Barely.
Then Rowan smiled through blood.
"You think Voss needs me?"
Emilio grabbed him.
"Where is he?"
Rowan nodded toward shore.
"Already disappearing."
Across the marina, a black SUV exploded.
May you like
It belonged to Rafael.
And no one knew whether he was inside.
