Page 70 of The Summer Inn on Plum Island
“Wade, stop!” Dawn’s voice cut through the melee.
She was trying desperately to pull her brother away while sidestepping stray punches. Wade grabbed Ben by the collar and swung him against a wall. Dawn took that opportunity to jump onto her brother’s back, her arms wrapping tightly around his neck in a desperate attempt to pull him away from Ben. Her pleas were frantic, laced with fear and anger. She yanked desperately at Wade, locking her legs around his waist so he couldn’t swing her off.
“Get off me, Dawn,” Wade growled.
He tried to swing her off, opening him up to an assault from Ben, sending both of them sprawling backward. Wade instinctively grabbed onto a mast to balance himself and protect his sister.
Liam, backed by the Coast Guards, sprung into action. The Coast Guards, trained to be calm in any storm, moved swiftly to intervene. They pulled apart the combatants with firm, practiced hands, managing to restrain Wade and Liam, who struggled to get out of their grip.
Before Liam could get through the mash of bodies and extract Dawn, who was still latched onto Wade’s back like a backpack, one of the Coast Guards grabbed her and pulled her off.
“Don’t touch me!” Dawn yelled at the man who now had her around her waist, trying to be careful with her while she wiggled and flayed to get out of his grip. “Put me down.”
“Not until you calm down, Miss Vanderbilt,” the man said politely, and Liam could see he was struggling.
“Let go of her,” Ben hissed, breaking free of the men and restraining him. He lunged at the man who was holding onto Dawn, who looked like a wild cat trying to escape its confines.
“Ben, stop,” Liam intervened, stepping between a storming Ben and the poor man trying to hold onto Dawn.
Liam held his breath, waiting for the impact, but Ben dodged Liam and lunged at the man.
“Leave my sister alone,” Wade snarled.
He broke free, rushing forward to tackle Ben. The two giants plunged to the deck with a thud as Dawn turned and bit the guard holding her. The man yelped and dropped her. Liam reached out to grab her, but she slapped his hand away and jumped on top of Wade, smacking at him.
“Stop it, stop it,” Dawn yelled at her brother.
Wade spun, pushing her out of the way as he and Ben came to their feet. This time, Liam caught Dawn. His arm looped around her waist and pulled her toward him.
“Dawn, please don’t get in their way,” Liam warned.
“Let me go.” Dawn started to wiggle. “My brother’s being a hot-headed idiot.”
“I think there’s a lot of hot-headedness going on there that goes far beyond just what’s happened today,” Liam told her.
The Coast Guards switched to tactic B and went to break up the brawl without kid gloves, this time managing once again to restrain Wade and Ben as Liam’s phone rang. He fumbled for the device, trying to hang onto a surprisingly strong Dawn.
“Not now, Scott,” he muttered as he saw the caller ID flash across the screen. Scott had called him on video chat, so his face appeared as soon as Liam hit answer.
“What the heck is going on?” Scott said, hearing all the commotion.
“We found Dawn and Ben,” Liam said, struggling to hold onto a wiggling Dawn.
The Coast Guards were having the same battle as they held onto the two men, fuelled with years of pent-up rage.
“I believed in you, and you repay me by kidnapping my sister?” Wade yelled, pulling against the men and restraining him.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ben seethed back. “But like always, you rush headlong into things, not bothering to look left or right or who you knock over with you.”
“Me?” Wade’s voice boomed. “You were the one that dragged us into the mess because of yours and Bailey’s private war!”
“Uh…” Liam said as Dawn got wigglier. “Stand still, Dawn,” he whispered in her ear before returning to his conversation with Scott. “It seems we have a bit of a clash of the titans going on here.”
“I can hear that,” Scott said. “Turn me around.”
As Liam repositioned the phone, Dawn stomped on his foot.
“Ouch!” He winced.
