Chapter 4

Chapter

Four

KATO

T he woman kept catching my attention, drawing my eyes again and again. Nova. What a beautiful name. I’d never felt such an intense longing to be close to a woman before. It was obvious Beck was feeling the same. I seemed to gravitate closer toward her without thinking. But there was no time to worry about it now.

When she threw her head back, laughing at some stupid crap Beck was spouting, I couldn’t drag my eyes off her. I found myself smiling, even though I wasn’t in on the joke.

“Enough. Let’s get this done so we can get the fuck out of here before Trent comes back. We don’t want to engage his full team without back-up,” Will said. “We’re sticking together. I didn’t realize how big this damn boat was and how many freaking rooms it had. I’ll contact the island and let them know we need a full sweep. Stay safe, Nova. Close this after us,” he said while opening the door a crack and making sure the coast was clear.

“Wait. You’ll want a master key. The captain and Trent are the only ones who have them,” Nova said. “Most of the crew is gone, but the ones that are here haven’t been horrible. Some even treated me kindly.”

“Okay, we’ll head to the captain’s quarters and wheelhouse first. Let’s go.”

My brothers and I changed back into our mudskipper forms for ease of sneaking up on the thugs. Nova let out a breathy, “So cool.”

My dorsal fins fanned out, and I jumped high into the air. I noticed Beck doing the same. Nova giggled. “You guys are adorable. Be careful.”

“Enough!” Will barked through our mind link. “Heads in the game, for fuck sakes.”

We obediently followed him to the door and slipped out. Nova closed it behind us.

“I don’t like leaving her alone,” I admitted. “Let’s get this done quick.”

Following the plan, we made our way to the upper deck of the ship, skirting around any guards we came across. Once we’d located the wheelhouse, we listened at the door after finding it locked.

“Beck, change to human and knock,” Will directed.

After Beck pounded on the door, heavy footsteps thudded toward us while he ducked around a corner. The door swung open, and Kato and I slipped inside, then changed into our human form. Before the man had the chance to turn around, Will had him in a sleeper hold. Once he was out, we let Beck into the room.

“Holy shit.” I whistled while shaking my head. “We’re going to need him to get us out of here. This is way above my paygrade,” I said as I took in all the dials, buttons and monitors.

“Let’s find the master key, take his cell phone and lock him in his quarters for now. We’ll worry about that later,” Will said. “I’ll wipe the security cameras after we’ve got control of the yacht.”

We moved quickly as a team, Beck was checking out the security cameras while Will and I searched the room until we found what we were looking for. I checked that the coast was clear, and we hauled the unconscious man to his room next door. Using what was on hand, we cut up the bedsheets, tied him up and gagged him.

“He’s good. Let’s get a move on. Something is telling me we need to get a move on,” Beck said.

“He looks like he’s about my size. I’ll stay human from here on. Just let me throw on some clothes,” Will said.

In another couple minutes we were on the move again, Beck and I back in our mudskipper forms. We found the first guard sitting on a sun lounger. Once I’d snuck up behind him, I changed back to human and had him in a choke hold before he had the chance to react. Once he’d passed out, Beck took his weapons and tossed them to Will. His cell phone went overboard. Glancing around, I tried to find something to tie him up with.

“This would be so much easier if this was a kill mission,” I muttered under my breath.

“No killing,” Will replied. “I’m going to find some rope or zip ties.”

Once Will returned, I swiftly immobilized him, covered his body with a nearby throw to conceal the fact that he was tied up, and changed back to my mudskipper form. The next guard was so busy watching TV that he didn’t have a chance. He was put to sleep the same as the others. The one after that caught us trying to sneak up on him, so Will stepped up and punched the guy with a perfect uppercut, knocking his ass out.

We had the rest of the guards knocked out and tied up in a surprisingly fast amount of time. Good thing these guys weren’t good at their job. And never mind the information we’d come to retrieve, the ship held all the evidence Roy would need to put Trent away for a very long time.

Beck and I got dressed in some borrowed clothes we’d found in a laundry room and then we rounded up the crew. They behaved surprisingly well, probably out of fear, as we gathered them together in one of the large lounge areas. We were lucky that they were running bare bones, so we didn’t have more people to worry about.

Beck dragged the captain in. He struggled to get away, earning a cuff on the back of the head from Beck. He shoved the man onto a lounge chair and then removed his gag.

“Just sit there and shut up,” Beck said.

An older woman, about fifty, raised her hand and when Will nodded at her, spoke up. “What are you going to do with us? Are you going to kill us?”

I was surprised at how calm she was. The others shifted warily at her words.

“Again, no harm will come to you,” Will replied.

She glared fiercely at Will. “Where is Nova? Is she okay?”

“She’s okay,” I jumped in to reassure her, glad that at least one person on board seemed to care about her.

“Then why isn’t she out here with us?” Her stare didn’t waver. “I’d hoped you were here to help, but obviously not. If you hurt her, I’ll?—”

“I’ll go get her. You can see for yourself that we haven’t harmed her,” Beck said.

At Will’s tight nod, he took off at a jog. I hated to admit it, but I’d feel better after laying eyes on Nova to make sure she was okay. I don’t know what it was about the woman, but something told me fate had brought us all together.