Total pages in book: 217
Estimated words: 207224 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1036(@200wpm)___ 829(@250wpm)___ 691(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 207224 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1036(@200wpm)___ 829(@250wpm)___ 691(@300wpm)
“Why else?” I ask. Keep talking. We look more casual if we’re chatting.
“Because, Beau, babe, if we get pulled by the Coast Guard, they’re smelling my weed before they’re seeing the guns.”
“Are you saying you’d go to prison to save Danny and James?”
He laughs hysterically, looking back at me. “I wouldn’t be saving the bosses. I’d be saving myself, because I’m a dead man if we don’t make it back to the boatyard with these guns.” He takes one hand off the handlebars, relaxed. Good for him. I should have asked him for a puff of his joint. “It’s all right for you,” he says. “They won’t kill you, will they?”
Don’t be so sure. “They won’t kill you either. They like you.”
“They do?”
“They only have people they like work for them.” We stick to the coastline, moving at a reasonable speed. I can see the curve in the cove that’ll take us back into the bay. As soon as we’re around it, we’ll be able to see the boatyard. My heart slows for the first time, my muscles softening, and I sink into the padded seat of James’s ski. The water twinkles at me, the sun seeping through the rubber of my suit, warming me. It’s peaceful out here, despite the busy water today. But the Coast Guard seems to be keeping their distance, getting on with their training, because no one in their right mind would smuggle a small arsenal into the country in plain sight.
Not for the first time, I wonder why I’m doing this. And not for the first time, I can’t say with my hand on my heart that I’m not trying to prove to James that I’m not made of glass.
Beep, beep!
I startle and look back, seeing a boat tailing us. A Coast Guard boat. “Fuck,” Leon hisses, reaching into his suit and pulling out a small bag.
“What are you doing?” My galloping heart is back.
“I told you.” He pulls out a joint and a lighter.
“Leon, no!” I look back at the boat, waving an arm in the air, acknowledging them. “Hey!” I call, easy-breezy, my mind racing, trying to think of another way out of this. I will not let him go down for possession. “Can I help you?”
“You mind telling me what you’re doing, ma’am?”
I look at Leon. “I’m warning you,” I say through gritted teeth. “I’ll kill you myself if you light that joint.”
“What the hell else do you suggest?” He looks back, worried.
“Just give me a minute.” I stand in the seat, shading my eyes with my hand as I turn my shoulders and look back. “Just towing the new skis from storage for the boss, sir.”
He rests his palms on the metal railing along the side of the boat, looking up and down the skis. “Were you aware we’re training out on the water today? If people want to use the water, they’ve been asked to keep within the boundaries.”
“Oh?” I frown, playing dumb. It physically hurts. “I’m sorry, sir, we’re just doing what our boss asked.” And now I’m going to give him some crocodile tears and pray for the fucking best. I look at Leon, hoping he realizes this isn’t only for Danny and James. “Are we in trouble, sir?” I ask, forcing tears into my eyes.
His lips straighten, but I can see he’s thinking he hasn’t got time for this. “Make it back around the cove quickly before someone else stops you.” He takes off his cap and waves it, like run along now.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Leon whispers, eyes wide as he returns them forward, tucking his stock away. “Beau, babe, you just saved my life.”
“Stop calling me babe.” I start moving, slowly but surely, my heart not relenting. I make sure I keep my stare forward, not looking back, because I was always suspicious of anyone who looked back at me after I’d let them walk when I was a cop. Always.
But then I hear the building sound of an engine getting closer, and I look around instinctively, searching for the source. Nothing.
Then…something.
The loudest roar penetrates the air, and a jet ski comes from nowhere, zooming across the front of us, so fast, it’s a blur. “Shit!” I yell, frightened out of my skin, the spray hitting me, forcing my arm up in defense. I follow the white, foamy trail with my eyes, my ski rolling atop the waves that have been created, and stand in my seat, looking back, seeing the jet ski circle the Coast Guard, performing a few donuts, kicking up enough water to making it impossible to see the rider.
“Hey!” the guard yells, running to the other side of the boat, signaling to his colleagues.
Anger finds my veins and starts to burn them as I catch sight of the scroll down the side of the ski. But I’m not stupid enough to think it’s Danny on it. James couldn’t use his own because I’m on it.