Page 50 of Kai
“Get down.” He flattened on the ground. “We’ve got company.”
Chapter Seventeen
Kai
Sprawled on my belly, my body pressed against the red soil of the island’s highest ridge, I scoured the sea with my binoculars. Sure enough. There it was. Out on the channel. A fast boat, like the one the mercs had used to access the lighthouse, loaded with armed tangos.
“Is it them?” Cece asked from her spot, grazing my shoulder.
As I studied the RHIB, the sun reflected on glass, and a flash of light told me someone scouted the coast in our direction. The turds hadn’t even bothered to click a solar flash shield on their lenses. Idiots. I’d made sure my shield was on tight.
“It’s them.” I handed her the binoculars. “Do you remember everything we talked about?”
“Yes.” She took a quick look, then returned the binos. “There are a lot of them.”
“Affirmative.”
Coming up the hill, I’d had a talk with Cece about what she would do if the enemy approached. I’d prepared her as best I could. I had to give it to her. She was holding it together. No panic. She’d made the water crossing and the steep climb without a single complaint.
I’d been torn between leaving her behind and bringing her along. The fear I spotted in her gaze had persuaded me to keep her close to me. She’d feared being alone, trapped in a boat surrounded by water, and me, abandoning her.
As if I’d ever do that to her.
After the conversations we’d had, I sensed the grieftrapped inside her as if it was my own. I was familiar with grief. I recognized it in her eyes, in her voice. Although she hid it well, at times, she’d been close to tears. I couldn’t leave her behind. My job was to protect her from everything, and that included herself.
I didn’t know what to do about her. She’d built a fortress around herself. She didn’t let people in. I walked a fine line between gaining her trust and getting shut out. The only advantage I had was our physical attraction. So, I’d relied on it to make my first approach. I hadn’t lied when I said I felt relief at her rejection. I felt safe, even smart, backing away from whatever this was. I also felt like a coward.
But even in the unlikely event that things changed, if down the road she’d take me up on my offer, I understood she could inflict some serious pain—on me, but worse, on herself.
The fast boat angled closer to the coast.Head in the mission, Marine. I’d have to sort out the rest later.
“Here they come,” I warned.
Cece lay on the ground next to me. The roar of the motors neared the east side of the island. The RHIB’s motors labored hard as the boat leaped over the waves. Its hull hit hard in between. I had to give it to the fuckers. They were thorough, coming all the way out here, skirting the dangerous cliffs, and challenging the deadly currents that would smash them to pieces if their engines went down.
When the rumble quieted, I lifted on my elbows and peeked again. The boat sped along the coast, rounded the north side, and got lost beyond the cliffs before it reappeared and started down the west side.
Crawling on my knees and elbows, keeping low to the ground, I wormed my way to the opposite side of the ridge, where a crest of rocks offered concealment. Cece followed me. The watercraft slowed down and cruised south toward the reef.They were flirting with death and didn’t even know it.
I worked the binoculars, cranking up magnification to get a visual on my enemy. They wore black combat fatigues, but no rank or insignias. That’s when I spotted the black cowboy hat and the huge motherfucker who wore it, holding it down against the wind with his hand.
“Fuck this,” I murmured. “Looks like Booming Voice survived his visit to hell.”
“How is that possible?” Cece squinted toward the boat. “He got beaten up and shot. Then he fell into a fucking blowhole.”
“Roaches are hard to kill.” This fucker proved the theory.
Homing in on him, I registered a broad face, his now crooked nose, and his brick-like jaw. Nothing comely about this fucker. Magnifying the glasses, I spotted the bruises around his eyes. His movements were stiff. I bet a collection of injuries hid beneath his clothing. We had something to do with that.
Since he’d failed at his first objective, it made sense he’d gotten his ass and his crew all the way out here. He was looking for redemption in his boss’s eyes. Too bad. He wasn’t gonna get it, not with me standing between him and Cece.
“What if they find their way into the cove?” she whispered, even though there was zero chance that the mercs could hear us all the way across the island.
“The reef is a deadly maze, and the way in is almost impossible to navigate for most people,” I explained. “On the off chance they try to force their way in, I booby-trapped the entrance to the cove and the cove itself with enough explosives to blast their boat to hell.”
She tossed a surprised glance in my direction. “When did you do all this?”
“As soon as we arrived at the cove, while you were sleeping.” I glanced at my screen and checkedSerenity’s internalcameras. The catamaran floated on the placid waters, empty of life and invisible to the eye. Thank fuck, the shield was holding.
