Page 83 of The Summer Inn on Plum Island
“The dinghies are usually at the back of the boat.” Lila wiped her cheeks. “Near the back where that flat board is.” She pointed down to the back of the boat. “There.”
“Let’s get there and see if we can find one,” Dawn said.
“There,” Harper said. “I’m sure that’s the one I saw them trying to throw off the boat?”
“How did you see that?” Dawn asked.
“Uh…” Harper and Lila looked at each other. “We were going to try and escape as they didn’t tie us up.”
“We were going to jump into the sea and swim,” Lila told her their plans. They looked at each other nervously. “But as we snuck out we saw the two people who’d brought us in here fight with a duck man. We didn’t know what happened after that. There was a splash, we heard footsteps, and rushed back into the cockpit.”
“So the two of you were trying to escape?” Dawn gaped at the brave teens.
“Maybe we should escape now, because none of us know how to steer this thing,” Lila suggested.
“And you can yell later.” Harper frowned. “The dinghy even has a motor.” She changed the subject as they rushed toward the small craft that would become their life raft.
“That’ll do,” Dawn said, breathing a sigh of relief although she wasn’t quite sure what to do with the thing. She was sure they’d figure it out. “Come on. We can do this.”
“Do you know how to use a dinghy, Aunt Dawn?” Harper asked as the three of them went to the lower deck near the swim platform.
“I guess we’re going to find out,” Dawn said with a tight smile. “Ready?”
Lila and Harper nodded. They helped Dawn push the heavy dinghy into the water. Dawn held the ropes while the girls jumped in.
“Here goes nothing,” Dawn muttered before jumping onto the smaller vessel.
She was about to attempt to figure out how to start the motor when Lila took charge of that.
“Uncle Finn taught me,” Lila said. “I guess we can go back in the direction we came from?”
“We couldn’t be that far from the shore,” Dawn said, trying to estimate how long they’d been on the water.
“The boat seemed to be going quite fast,” Harper pointed out.
They all turned and stared in disbelief as the yacht seemed to pick up speed on its own.
“Can we go any faster?” Dawn asked, swapping places with Lila to steer the dinghy back the way they came. At least the way she thought they came.
The superyacht sailed into the distance, and Dawn, Harper, and Lila went in the opposite direction. They were on the dinghy for about ten minutes when the sound of the explosion ripped through the air, and all three of them turned to stare in horror as the superyacht was engulfed in flames.
CHAPTER 14
Liam pulled his SUV into the chaos of the Summer Inn Hotel parking lot, alight with flickering lights of police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances scattered like pieces on a game board.
“What on earth?” Liam breathed, his voice tight with tension as he quickly exited the vehicle.
Scott and his wife Tracy, freshly fetched from Boston, hurried alongside Liam as they navigated through the sea of first responders. They approached Wade, who paced beside a gurney, rushing towards a waiting ambulance.
“Wade!” Scott’s voice cut sharply through the clamor, attracting his brother’s immediate attention.
“Scott? Tracy?” Wade glanced over, recognition flashing across his face, though his expression remained fraught with anxiety. He kept pace with the EMTs, his concern etched into his tired, strained features.
Catching up, Liam, Scott, and Tracy noticed Ben on the gurney, his features obscured by an oxygen mask, his body immobile. Wade finished instructing the EMTs with a strained nod and turned to his siblings and Liam.
“What happened to Ben?” Liam’s voice was edged with worry.
“Give me a minute,” Wade said and turned to Ben. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, buddy.”
