Page 67 of Forged in Secrets

“It’s Friday, I guess,” Asher observed with a shrug as he hurried along next to Ben. “There are probably a ton of locals joining the party.”

Ben barely heard him as he continued to rush toward the jetty. He crossed his broad arms over his chest, resisting the urge to start shoving the drunken revelers out of his way. The bonfires were burning again, bright and fierce, competing with the gleam of the moonlight as the spring breakers danced.

He stopped before he reached the jetty and turned, taking off along the shoreline as quickly as he could without breaking into a run. Asher glanced back over his shoulder at the party they were leaving behind before catching up to him.

“It’s gone,” Ben said, coming to a stop and pointing out at the Gulf as he caught his breath. “It’s gone. I knew it would be.”

Asher pulled a face. “Bro, you seriously need to tell me what you’re even talking about.”

He turned to his twin, trying to calm his racing heart long enough to explain himself.

“Grace and I noticed a yacht anchored out here when we first arrived.”

“So? I’ve seen a bunch of them here. Probably manned by rich kids who want a more private party.”

“It was huge. At least three times the size of any of the others. And it had almost all of its lights off.”

“Look, man, I still don’t–”

“It had a name on the back. I didn’t see the wholething, but it started with an ‘L’,” Ben said in a rush. “It started with an ‘L’, and now it’s gone.”

Asher only looked more puzzled.

“We know there’s a Lumeneer II,” Ben added.

“The sailboat Jade visited? Wasn’t that a dead end? I thought you talked with her father and he confirmed that she and Katie were free to borrow it while they were here.”

Ben shook his head in frustration. “He did. But what if there’s another ship here that Lumen owns? What if that’s where Katie and Grace are being held? It was huge, man. Way big enough to be a floating prison. You’ve never met Jade, but believe me, I wouldn’t find it hard to believe that she’d kidnap someone, with or without her father’s help.”

“That’s reaching, man,” Asher said, sounding almost apologetic. “I know you’re worried about Gracie, we all are, but it’s not like you to take a shot in the dark like this. Jade sounds like a world-class turd, but that doesn’t mean she’d kidnap someone.“

“Look, it’s worth looking into,” Ben pressed. “We have exactly zero other leads right now, and I’m not about to just sit around here and hope that the kidnappers hold to their word when the ransom money is paid.”

“Are we at least gonna call Craig Gorsky and rattle his cage?”

“We can’t,” Ben said firmly, stepping out of the way as a couple holding hands sauntered up the beach beside them. “We can’t risk tipping him off if there’s even a one percent chance I’m right. We can’t risk him moving Katie or Grace if they’re on that boat.”

“I’ve looked into Gorsky myself,” Asher protested, rubbing at his temples as he followed Ben away from the water. “He’s no slouch in the tech biz. There’s no way he’dbe dumb enough to use a corporate-owned vessel for a kidnapping.”

Ben paused for a moment as he considered this, reaching down to shake sand out of one of his sandals. “Grace thought that the huge yacht was kind of strange at the time, but had Jade not lied to us and snuck out onto the Lumeneer II, we probably would have never given it any further thought. And like I said, Craig may not be in on it at all. Jade doesn’t seem dumb, but she is nothing if not arrogant. If she’s involved, she’s probably making a lot of her plans as she goes along, just assuming we won’t figure her out.”

Asher shrugged. “Admittedly, meeting near La Pesca makes a lot more sense if the kidnappers are traveling by water.”

“Exactly what I’ve been thinking. Let’s go,” he said, turning to cut across to the nearest road. “I know just the lady we need to talk to.”

CHAPTER

TWENTY-SEVEN

BEN

The Ocean Rodeo Marina was barely a mile away from the beach, but the fifteen minute walk still felt like an eternity. Asher was walking painfully slow as he attempted to text Gabe an update on their plans.

“Can’t you just call him?” Ben asked in annoyance after having to stop and wait for him for the tenth time.

“You could,” Asher challenged, holding out the phone in his direction. Ben held up his hands, warding him off.

“Point taken.”

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