The pilot moved away from the small craft, but even then, the waves rocked the vessel enough to worry Val that it would tip. Without thought, Val removed the earphones and stripped his shirt over his head.
Understanding transferred from Rick with a look.
Val kicked off his shoes and removed his seat belt.
Rick handed him a chunky radio. Val assumed it was waterproof and held on.
Val felt the wind kick when Rick opened the sliding door.
“We’ll move closer,” Rick yelled.
Val estimated the height, knew his limits. If there was one thing living his life on an island had taught him, it was cliff diving. With his feet on the skids, Val pushed off, and sliced into the water seconds later.
Once he bobbed over the surface, he gave a thumbs-up, held the radio in his teeth, and swam to his sister’s side.
He was winded when he peered over the side of the boat. “Gabi? Tesoro?”
She moaned.
He hoisted himself on board, nearly pulling her into the ocean twice before he managed to climb in.
Seawater dripped on her as he leaned close to get a better look.
Her face was drawn, red, with dark spots under her eyes. She’d aged ten years in the week she’d been out of his sight.
Her lips were cracked and bleeding, her hair matted. “What has he done to you?”
Val lifted her arm, felt for her pulse, and noticed all the bruises. Some were angry and swollen. Others were yellow and fading.
She moaned again, but didn’t open her eyes.
“What do we have down there?” Val heard Rick through the radio.
He lifted the device, pressed the button. “Alive. Barely. She needs a hospital.”
“Do you see any explosives?”
Merda, he’d forgotten about that. He looked under the one seat and noticed a device stuck to the underside. He knew nothing about bombs, but assumed it was. “Yeah. About three inches in diameter, a few wires . . . a light.”
Val stroked Gabi’s brow as he spoke.
“I’m coming down.”
An eternity later, Rick was lowered in a harness. The boat barely handled the three of them, but Val countered wherever Rick stood to keep the vessel upright.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Rick laughed when he saw the explosive. He reached for it.
Val stopped him. “Careful.”
Rick pushed his hand away. “I built better shit in my teenage backyard.” He pulled two wires and the light went out. “Amateur. Alonzo might run drugs, but he knows squat about bombs.”
Val didn’t realize how fast he was breathing until that moment.
“Let’s get her out of here.”
Val followed Rick’s instructions and helped secure his unconscious sister to Rick’s frame.
Once they were ready to go, Val said, “Don’t come back for me. Get her to a hospital.”
“One step ahead of you, Masini. There’s a boat on its way to you now.” Rick reached into a pocket and handed Val his cell phone. “In case Alonzo calls you directly.”
“Got it.” Val kissed the top of his sister’s head. “Keep her alive.”
Rick winked, shot his thumb in the air, and was gone.
To say she was scared shitless would be an understatement.
Meg watched Val’s island sink away without any trace of anyone following. She considered her options. She could jump overboard and swim away, but outrunning a bullet was impossible. And swimming more than a few hundred yards wouldn’t be smart, not with her set of lungs. Then there was the fact that she had no idea if Gabi was safe.
Meg trusted Rick and Neil, knew of their abilities to track and to find. She had to bank on the fact that Alonzo and his shit-pot of men knew nothing about her friends.
How would Alonzo take a two-thirds shipment of goods? Would he shoot her on the spot, or negotiate a swap? Rick had alluded to the cost of each pallet. Close to a million dollars in its current state, triple that after it was refined.
“Where are you taking me?” she finally asked after the sight of Val’s island disappeared completely. Jumping overboard now would be suicide.
Could she shoot the captain and take over the boat?
Maybe if he was threatening her with more than a look. Cold-blooded killer, she wasn’t.
“You’ll find out soon enough.”
Asshole.
“How does it feel to know your friends abuse women?”
Stephan didn’t comment and continued to man his boat.
The quiet was killing her, so she kept talking. “Alonzo seemed like a complete putz to me. Too stupid to pull all this off.”
The captain shifted on the balls of his feet.
“I bet there’s someone else waiting to take delivery. Maybe even cut you out of the pie.”
Stephan’s eyes swung her way, then back to the horizon.
“How well do you know Alonzo anyway? I bet he’s not even Italian.”
“You talk too much.”
And you’re fidgeting.
“I’m new at this held against my will thing. Am I supposed to sit here and be scared? Is that what Gabi did?”
“Gabi wasn’t smart enough to be scared.”
That burned.
Sweet, innocent Gabi would never be the same. “You fixed her, didn’t you? No chance she’ll trust anyone ever again. You must be proud.” Meg bit out her last words.
“I never touched Gabi.”
“And that makes it OK in your head? Men can justify anything.” It was strange how anger took away the fear. With that anger came clarity and the ability to think.
A radio on the control panel offered static and then she heard a male voice. “Alpha to Beta, you there?”