Page 19 of Lethal Deceit

She coughs in my face, shuddering in my grip as her eyes flicker open and she sucks in a gulp of air.

“Just relax. You’re okay,” I say.

Her body goes limp, and she lets me start my slow crawl back to the jetty.

When I’m a few feet away, I look up and see two men silhouetted. Given the size of the second man, it’s obvious who decided to join the party.

Caleb.

As I swim closer with my arm locked around Samantha’s chest, Caleb extends his hand, ready to grab her. “We don’t have much time,” he says.

I grunt a reply, too focused on getting her out of the water. “Keep her upright.”

He nods, his face grave in the searchlight. “Roger that.” His hands snag on her clothing, and he yanks her up onto the boat.

As I haul myself up the ladder, another face appears. Jake’s talking to the owner of the boat in placating tones. “…emergency, we’ll intercept the cops and let them know how helpful you’ve been to our investigation.”

Investigation? Who is this kid? I don’t know what other lies he’s telling, but I don’t have time to care. Not when I have a drowning victim coughing up bay water and shivering.

“She needs to go to the hospital,” I say to Caleb.

Samantha shakes her head vehemently.

As I accept a towel from him, Caleb lowers his voice. “I agree. Not an option. We lost sight of the boat, but they left us a message.”

I frown, yank my jeans over my wet boxers, and grimace at the sensation. “What message?”

He mimes slicing his throat. “Owner of the boat.”

Samantha groans behind us and croaks out a name. “Juan.”

As the owner steps inside the cabin, Jake gains our attention. “We need to get out of here. PD are about two minutes away.”

Samantha tries to get up but collapses on the deck. Without thinking, I pull her upward and into me. She staggers, but when Caleb grabs my shoes, she lets me guide her off the boat and back onto the jetty.

Caleb hooks his arm under her, and we half drag her down the jetty until Jake points out the obvious. “Faster to carry her.”

With no time to draw straws, I defer to Caleb, who hefts her in his arms and stalks off down the jetty as if she weighed no more than a sack of potatoes.

I glance at Jake as we pick up our pace so we can go ahead of him. “You saw me check in with the dockmaster?”

He laughs. “Silas told us to watch your back. And Caleb figured you’d save us the legwork.”

Something tells me they already knew who was moored at each slip, but I let it go, too concerned about Samantha’s condition. I skirt around Caleb, hurry past him to the Jeep in the parking lot, and open the back door. “She needs a medical assessment,” I say.

Caleb nods and eases her into the backseat. “Jake? Get us out of here. I’ll call Axel and see who we’ve got in the area.”

Jake gives him a clipped nod then slides in behind the wheel again. When Caleb takes the passenger side, I climb into the back so I can fasten Samantha’s seat belt. I reach across her, and she shrinks back, pressing her spine against the door. Even with minimal lighting, it’s apparent she’s terrified of me.

Not a response I’ve ever had to deal with after I’ve saved a life.

“Can you reach your seat belt?”

Her response is weak, almost pathetic. “Yes.”

With trembling fingers, she pulls it taut, and I click mine into place just as Jake floors the accelerator.

I glance over my shoulder and catch the flash of blue and red lights as they speed into the marina carpark. A knot of guilt wedges in my gut that I’m not going to be there to help explain. Not that Icanexplain. I’m about as clueless as I was when Reese and Verity showed up on the plane and saved my life.

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