Page 37 of All He Sees
"What about a warrant?" Ken asked.
"That's a gamble. It might take hours to get one," Nicky said. "And those girls could be in danger. We can't risk it."
They reached Onlooker. A ladder hung off the side. They climbed up, and Nicky was thankful her athletic shoes made it easy. Ken climbed up after her, then helped her onto the deck of the boat.
"Hello?" he called out. They both stepped onto the deck, which was a steel grating beneath their feet.
There were rough-looking characters milling about--gruff men with beards, who looked like they belonged at sea. One of them noticed Nicky and Ken and came over. "Hey, who let you on here?" he demanded.
Nicky held up her badge. No time to beat around the bush. "We're looking for Captain George Fischer. Is he here?"
"He's not seeing anyone," said the gruff man.
Nicky glanced around, studying the men on the boat. Was Nicky and Ken's presence causing any of them to look nervous? Maybe Fischer was in another part of the boat. She could work with that.
"We need to see him, now," she said.
The gruff man gave her a blank look. "I said he's not seeing anyone."
"We're not 'anyone.' We're federal agents," Nicky said.
The man snapped his fingers, and another man came to join him.
"What's going on?" he asked, roughly.
"We're looking for Captain Fischer," Ken said.
The second man gave them a look of disgust. "George is busy. He doesn't want to be bothered. I'd advise you to leave before George has you tossed off the boat."
Nicky was going to object, but the two men stepped closer to her, and she decided against it. There were two of them, and they were big.
"I would advise you against that," Ken said.
"You're no match for us," the man said.
Nicky stepped forward. "Are you threatening two federal agents?" She glanced at the docks, where regular people had taken notice of the commotion gathering on the boat. But Nicky had a bad feeling about this.
It looked like these guys weren't going down without a fight.
Nicky stepped forward, challenging the men. One of them reached for his gun, but Ken pushed him back. "Don't even try it."
"We're not letting you near George," one man warned.
Ken looked at Nicky, and she could read the look in his eyes. They were going to push their way through if they had to. She nodded, and he did too.
Nicky and Ken ran forward, diving into the group of men.
They were all larger then the two of them, but Nicky was fast, and Ken was strong. Nicky wasn't sure if she'd ever seen Ken lose a fight.
They stopped a few feet away from the man who'd drawn his gun, and Nicky spun around to take on a few of the men who'd circled in on her. She didn't know how Ken was faring, but she heard the sounds of a scuffle behind her, joined by some curses.
She was able to fight off half of the men, but the other half was headed toward Ken, and he was having a hard time with them.
Someone grabbed her from behind, and she felt her elbow connect with his gut. She kicked out and connected with his groin, and he groaned. She spun around, just in time to see one man wrestling to throw Ken off the boat.
"Walker!" Nicky shouted. She pushed away from the men accosting her and dove after Ken, just in time to see him fight back against his assailant. Ken flipped the guy off the boat, and he landed in the water with a splash.
Nicky and Ken met up as guys were still chasing them, but many stopped to see if their friend was okay. They dove toward the captain's den, which was at the back of the boat, running as fast as they could.
