Page 28 of Turn the Tide
He chuffed out a half laugh. “She’s definitely that.”
“Who was your second call to?”
“Von Krainik. He was on the teams with me. Military contractor, based in San Diego.”
“Fancy.”
“Yeah. Don’t know where he is right now, but I figured he might have someone around here he could pull in to help.”
“You talk to him?”
“Another message.”
Crap.“Think he’ll come?”
Eric hesitated. “Someone will.”
“We’re not that far from the coast.”
“Too far to swim.”
“Yeah.”
He tightened his arms, hard, and leaned forward. “I want you to know, Zoe,” he whispered in her ear, “that I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”
She squeezed him back, sucked in a shaky breath, and nodded. “I think you’ve proven that, Eric Cooper. Beyond any shadow of a doubt.”
***
It didn’t take long for Zoe to pass out.
As carefully as he could, Eric slid up and out of the bag, which he zipped around her. He wanted to stay in that bag with her, share in her warmth—both literally and the figurative kind that made her so damned attractive. But he couldn’t relax. It was impossible to trust this quiet.
After the evening’s insanity, this felt a bit too much like the calm before the storm. Shit would go down here eventually. He could feel the anticipation, could smell it as clearly as the sea salt in the air. Those dudes weren’t playing.
Well, neither am I.
He made a quick check of their supplies—seventy-two hours’ worth of food and water, for one person. Had to make it last. The purification tablets were pretty pointless here, since there was no source of fresh water on this island. And he’d know. He’d spent enough time here as a kid to familiarize himself with every nook and cranny. Ten times over. He and Ford had preferred to have Dad dump them here so they could explore, play pirates and shit, while he fished. Alone. Which he obviously preferred, too.
Like father, like son.
But this interlude with this woman proved that wasn’t entirely true. He sought solitude, but he thrived with a team. Always had—on the rig, in the teams, even right now. Having her here made him feel part of something, gave him something to work toward. Saving her. It was a pretty lofty goal.
And one he planned to accomplish.
He set the towels out to dry, along with their wet things. After that, he pulled out his handgun and checked the clip.
They’d get out of here in one piece—as long as his message had gotten out. He had to believe that either Ford or Von would respond to his call, but… No. He couldn’t count on it. Not with Ford in Antarctica and Von… Lord only knew where.
He could potentially take on the five people from the platform on his own. Especially if two of them were scientists. Well, not if they were scientists like Ford. His brother was as tough as any of the guys he’d served with.
If reinforcements were called in, Eric and Zoe would be screwed.
He stepped out of the cave, turned, and took in the horizon. That rig was still going full blast, lights shining out across the water so brightly that it could probably be seen from space.
No way this operation was on the books, judging from the shit they’d done to Zoe. Pretty ballsy, considering. If they were trying to keep this thing dark, they could do a hell of a better job of hiding it instead of blasting—guns out, lights on, machines pumping like there was no tomorrow.
Eric squinted back toward the mainland. He could barely make out a glow from that direction, but from the shore, the platform might be invisible. And the Coast Guard would just assume the rig had been recommissioned.
