4. Nicholas

4

NICHOLAS

"Get me two speedboats, now!" I yelled at Chase.

I had no right to lose my shit with him, but Raven was out there somewhere, waiting for someone to help her. She wasn't one to sit by and let things happen to her, but she was surrounded by men who wanted to hurt her. There might not be a lot she could do.

Patrick walked over to me, a grin on his face. "Hey, man."

"What the fuck are you smiling about?"

"Oh, this?" he pointed to his face. "This is my game face."

"You don't look like you're ready to get to work."

"It's one of my charms. You'll learn that about me."

"Right now, the only thing I care about is getting Raven back."

"We will, but you need to chill. You catch more flies with honey."

"It's bees," I snapped.

He looked at me funny, which only pissed me off. "Are you sure?"

"Why would you catch flies with honey?"

"Well, because it's sweet."

"But bees like honey."

He nodded like I was an idiot. "Right, which means that it would be ridiculous to lure bees to you with honey. They'll already come."

"If you know honey will attract bees, why would you try something else?"

"Well…I guess you wouldn't. But I'm pretty sure the saying is flies."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to keep my shit together. "Tell me something, are you guys always like this?"

"Like what?"

"Obtuse. Irritating. Generally a pain in the ass."

"Oh, yeah, that's pretty much how it goes most days. Today's a bonus day, though."

"What made me so lucky?" I asked sarcastically.

"Well, A—you fell for a cat burglar. That's pretty damn funny. Hey, did you ever wonder why they call them cat burglars? I mean, did the first thief actually steal cats?"

I stared at him for a minute, unable to believe what I was hearing. "What?"

"Well, think about it. Cat burglar. I mean, that's pretty insane. Were these special cats? Maybe they were Persian cats and they were revered by the Gods or something. Either way, why would anyone steal cats? I could drive through the country and find twenty signs on the side of the road pointing to free cats. You must really love cats to need to steal them. Unless, like I said, they were really special cats."

"Patrick—"

"Then again, maybe it refers to the cats being the burglars."

"Cats being…burglars," I repeated.

"Right. Like…maybe they have those bandanas across their eyes like raccoons and they break into banks and shit to steal crap."

"Do you always have such…inane thoughts?"

He grinned at me. "Not at all. It just hit me, you know? And since we're sitting here waiting for speedboats, I thought, what better way to pass the time than to discuss the stupidest shit and get your mind off Raven for five seconds?"

"So, you were distracting me."

"Did it work?"

"Yes, now I want to shoot you instead of the man who took her."

"See? It all worked out," he grinned. He walked past me, slapping me on the shoulder. "Now you have something to talk to her captor about when we get her back. He'll wonder what the fuck kind of drugs you took. It'll be amazing."

"Or we can just shoot him and I won't interrogate him at all."

He sighed, shaking his head at me. "I guess, but Fox won't be too happy if you take away his fun."

Chase came running up just in the nick of time. "I was able to get two speedboats. Let's move."

I ditched Patrick and his stupid cat burglar debate, taking off after Chase. We raced through the marina to the docks at the far side. I snatched the keys from the man who was waiting for us, not even waiting for permission to go aboard. I was already pulling away from the dock as Chase and Patrick jumped on.

"What about the other boat?" I shouted as I broke all the rules about the speed limit in the wake zone.

"Jack is backing us up!" Chase shouted. "Did you find out which boat she's on?"

I shook my head. "There are only three yachts out there matching the description. One is headed north. One seems to be out for a joyride. But the third is headed south."

"How will we know if that's the one?" Patrick asked.

"If they fire on us, they're probably not friendly. We'll board them and take Raven back."

"Good plan," he clapped me on the shoulder.

I tried not to think about what might be happening to her as we made our way to the yacht. Rae sent me updated coordinates along the way, but not even the information would help ease the sinking feeling developing in my gut. If this guy was working with Zavala, chances were he was armed and dangerous. If we fucked this up, Raven could end up dead. But if we didn't get to her soon, she could be long gone. I might never see her again.

I couldn't get my last words to her out of my head. I didn't kiss her and tell her how happy I was that she was safe. I didn't hold her in my arms and cherish her. No, I smacked her ass for running from me. I asked her what the fuck she was thinking. And when she told me she was trying to avoid my anger, all I did was unleash more of it on her. I wouldn't be surprised if she never wanted to see me again.

"Hey," Chase said, squeezing my shoulder. "We'll get her back."

I had no doubt about that. I just didn't know if it would be in one piece. "There," I said as I spotted the yacht lights in the distance. It was nearly impossible to see in the early morning light. "Signal to Jack."

"On it."

We ate up the miles between us and the closer the yacht grew, the more I thirsted for the blood of any man who dared go near her. I felt the darkness wash over me. I hadn't felt it in a long time, and somehow, even without Fox beside me, it grew to unfathomable levels.

The crew from the yacht waved at us to slow down. They shot a flare as a warning, but I pushed on, never slowing. We were still a good distance away when the gunfire started. Bullets pinged off the front of the speedboat, shattering the glass of the windshield. I ducked but never slowed.

"I don't think they like us!" Patrick shouted.

"Then they're really not going to like us when I'm through with them! Take the wheel!"

Patrick took over and I reached into my pocket, grabbing a grenade and pulling the pin.

"Are you insane?" Patrick shouted. "You don't know where Raven is!"

I really wanted to blow their yacht up, but he was right. Until I found Raven, I had to put a pin in that plan. I quickly replaced it and grabbed the wheel from Patrick. As we came up alongside the yacht, I slowed just enough to get a look around.

"There!" Patrick shouted, pointing at the front.

"Raven!" I called out, watching as she dangled from the front of the yacht. With the waves from the other speedboat, it made it difficult to get close, but I tried as best I could.

Her eyes met mine and I saw the stark relief fill her face as she held on for dear life. Seconds passed, but time stood still for me as I examined every inch of her body. It felt like a lifetime since I last saw her—since I last touched her. And now I was within reach of her, desperate to kiss her and tell her what a fool I was for ever leaving her that night.

I swerved closer to the boat, but wasn't close enough. "I'm coming back around!"

I saw her nod as she adjusted her grip. Hitting the gas, I slung us around the yacht, irritated that it was so fucking long and would take forever to get back to her. Chase and Patrick fired at the men on the yacht, taking out anyone who wasn't Raven. Jack was headed right for us, his eyes wide as he motioned for us to move.

My eyes drifted to the yacht just as we turned the corner. I could hear Patrick and Chase yelling, but I couldn't believe what my eyes were seeing. A man on the ship was holding a rocket launcher, aiming it right at us. There was no time to swerve out of the way. Chase slammed into me, taking me over the edge of the boat just as the rocket exploded, tearing the speedboat apart.

We hit the water as the flames shot over us. Fireballs could be seen just above the water and I swam further away from the flames. When I popped up above the water, I knew the mission would fail. They were armed to the teeth. Men with machine guns fired on us. I had to swim further away, hoping to escape the sharp bite of the bullets.

Pain lanced through my leg as I swam, but I didn't stop, knowing it would be a death sentence. I could hear gunfire in the distance and turned to see Jack's team still battling with them, but it was clear they were losing. Whoever these men were, they were well-armed and didn't shy from killing anyone in their path.

"We can't get to her this way," Chase said, watching the men fire upon Jack's team.

"I'm not leaving!"

"Unless you plan on blowing up that yacht, we'll never reach her. We need a new plan!"

He was right. I hated to admit it, but we weren't as prepared as we should have been. I leapt at the chance to get her back, but their firepower was greater than ours. I couldn't risk throwing a few grenades at them and hurting Raven. I wasn't even sure where she was anymore.

"We have to regroup and try again when we have a better strategy."

A whistling sound tore through the air as they fired a rocket at the speedboat. I barely caught sight of Jack and his team abandoning ship just before it burst into flames. The heat of the explosion could be felt where we treaded water fifty yards away. For just a moment, I watched the boat sink into the ocean, and then I turned my gaze on the yacht. A man stepped up to the railing, his gaze shrewd as he stared at us. I didn't need to be any closer to realize that he was challenging us, daring us to come at him again. He knew he was powerful and had the manpower and weapons to wipe the floor with us.

He might be powerful now, but we would regroup, and when we were ready, we'd come at him hard and take him down.