Chapter 51

Running into Peach had been a miracle. He didn't know if Danika would survive alone with Ezra, but at least she had a chance with them heading out into open water.

Peach glanced around at the men and shook his head. "All of you will fit, but you guys aren't tiny. We won't be able to go as fast with all of you in the boat."

Griz took the lead. "Sharp, of course, then Apple and myself. The rest of you start looking for information on where this guy is staying and anything else you can find."

Sharp could see the men left behind weren't happy, but they all accepted their assignment. Peach was right. The boat wouldn't be able to hit faster speeds if they were loaded down. Before getting onto the boat, he gave Jay his keys.

Jay took them as he lifted his chin, angling his head to the marina office. "I'll go talk to the people at the marina and see if they can figure out the boat and the ID."

Peach nodded. "I'll give them a call and tell them you're coming."

They loaded into the boat, and Apple cast off the lines while Peach took the helm. Sharp moved to the front, his eyes scanning all the other boats for Danika. They were probably already out in the open ocean. As long as they were close enough to shore to pick up a cell signal, they could use their vessel finder application and locate the boat once they knew exactly which one Ezra had taken.

He glanced over at Griz who had his phone out, looking at the screen. His gaze lifted from his phone and he gave a sharp nod.

"What did you find?"

Griz's lips twitched up. "There are four boats out there. Two are too far away. I think I can tell which one it is, but I need confirmation."

"I spoke to the marina owner. He is working with the guys to find out exactly where the bastard went," Peach said.

Sharp turned to face Peach. "Thank you for doing this."

"You're welcome. I wouldn't leave you out here swinging at air. We'll find her and get her back."

They moved slowly out of the marina area and into the channel heading out to sea. He wanted to tell Peach to go faster, but there were rules for operating a boat in the channel and breaking those rules would only slow them down.

Once they were clear of markers, Peach opened the throttle, and they raced away from shore. Griz's phone rang, and he answered, his lips thinned.

"Thanks, man. That's what I thought."

"The ship is The Beast. It's the one I suspected." Griz moved to Peach to talk about headings and where they thought The Beast was going.

"It looks like it's on an intercept path with that other ship," Peach said .

Sharp turned to his friends, worry coursing through him. "What do you think they're doing?"

Peach shrugged. "Probably going to offload Danika to whoever those people are. Maybe they're traffickers."

Desperation filled Sharp. If traffickers got hold of Danika, he might never find her. "Shit."

Peach's presence was calming. If you didn't know Peach, you'd think he was shallow because his looks could rival any movie star in Hollywood. The look in his eyes showed his compassion even though he was in his hard-ass SEAL mode.

"It happens, but we're tracking them, and you have your guys on shore. I'm sure one of them is chatting with either the Coasties or the police or maybe both. We will find her, and we will get her back. Mark my words, no trafficker will survive laying hands on Danika."

Griz rubbed his jaw with his free hand. "I hope the police listen."

Peach knew how to handle the boat, so even with the choppy water, they weren't bouncing around. Also, they were all used to all sorts of watercraft, and a little chop to the water didn't bug any of them.

They'd only been on the water about fifteen minutes when Griz pointed ahead. "That's them."

Peach pulled the throttle back. "Their boat has slowed."

Apple moved to stand next to Sharp and handed him the binoculars he'd found on board. "Looks like the traffickers are approaching."

Sharp raised the lenses and looked through them, spying a boat about half a mile away. Real fear hit. The traffickers were in this for money. If they thought something would be taken from them, they would kill for it .

Apple turned to face the other way. "Looks like the Coast Guard is headed out."

Sharp turned and spied a much larger boat than the one they were in headed toward their position.

"This is about to get real interesting," Apple said as he turned back toward the boat holding Danika.

"What do you mean?" Griz asked.

Apple pointed at each of the boats as he spoke. "The Coasties, the human traffickers, and Ezra. We need to get Danika off that boat fast."

He was right. They needed Danika before someone decided to fire shots. It could all go disastrously wrong if people started shooting. He lifted the binoculars and studied the boat that hopefully still held Danika. He swore she was at the helm, but why wouldn't she be coming back toward them? Maybe she had no clue how to operate a boat. If she hit the kill switch, they might be dead in the water. He just hoped that the boat was the only thing that ended up dead.