Page 87 of The Library on Plum Island
“Are you okay?” Daniella repeated the question.
“Yes, I’m fine,” Alex said. “Look at the yacht.”
Daniella looked ahead and wanted to cry with relief when she saw Alex waving in the distance.
“What happened?” Harriet asked.
“Someone kidnapped me,” Alex explained the rest to them. “You two need to get out of here. The boat is rigged with explosives.”
“What?” Daniella and Harriet chorused in unison.
Alex stood staring at the red boat in the distance. “Please stay back.”
“No, we’re coming to get you,” Harriet said stubbornly. “You can jump onto our boat, and we’ll speed away.”
“It’s not that simple, Harry,” Alex explained. “We have the guy who rigged it tied up in the cockpit. He explained that the boat goes boom if the captain is away from the wheel for more than five minutes.”
“Are you kidding me?” Harriet hissed.
“I’m sure the Coast Guard will know what to do,” Daniella said.
“Can you send me Harley’s number?” Alex asked. “I have a favor to ask him.”
“Sure,” Daniella promised. “Please be careful.”
“I will,” Alex told her. “Harriet, would you mind if I had a private word with Daniella?”
“Of course,” Harriet said.
He waited for a few minutes and saw a tiny speck walk to the front of the red boat.
“I can’t talk for long as Malcolm and I have to figure a way off the boat,” Alex told her. “When I’ve hung up, I’ll call Harley and tell him about the boat. But I need you and Harriet to go back to Plum Island. I can’t have you so close to this boat if it’s about to explode.”
“Don’t you dare say that!” Daniella hissed. “You’re not going to die, do you hear me?”
“I’m hoping not,” Alex said. “But lately, I’ve learned that anything can happen, and I don’t want to leave things unsaid between us. This isn’t how I planned to say them, and I’ve given you the cliff notes versions.”
“Okay, but then I have something to say to you, too,” Daniella told him. “But you go first.”
“What you heard earlier between Harriet and me…” Alex was cut off by Daniella.
“Harriet explained everything to me,” Daniella told him and gave a soft laugh. “We’ve been trailing behind your yacht for a while and had to find something to talk about.”
“I love Harriet and always will. She’s my best friend, but my love for her is like my love for my sister and Dawn,” Alex confirmed what Harriet had said. “I don’t know how to tell you this without you thinking I’m a creep, so I’m just going to blurt it out.” He swallowed and ran a hand through his hair. “Daniella, I fell in love with you the moment I saw you packing a U-Haul three years ago.”
“Oh!” Daniella’s voice was soft and filled with surprise.
“I’ve tried to keep you out of my mind, but I couldn’t,” Alex felt relieved and petrified at finally telling her. “And if you don’t feel the same as soon as I’m off this boat, I can sign the divorce papers, and you and Emily will be free as I’ve just been told that Ron Jackson can’t hurt you or anyone ever again.” He took a breath. “I’m sorry I’ve had to tell you this way. I had a whole romantic evening planned.”
“Alex… I…” Daniella started to say as the line started breaking up.
Alex looked up as the sounds of propeller blades thudded through the air. His head turned toward the red boat as he saw a larger one approaching it. “Daniella?”
“Alex?” Daniella’s voice crackled through the receiver before the line went dead.
The helicopter sound got louder, and Alex looked up to the big bird hovering above him as a rope thudded onto the deck. In the blink of an eye, a tall, familiar-looking man dropped down the rope ladder and landed in front of Alex.
“Alex Blackwell,” the man dressed in a black and flat jacket with Coast Guard on it held out his hand, “I don’t know if you remember me, I’m Stanley Wells.”
