Chapter 13

Alexis turned her back to Seb as she yanked off her t-shirt, a soft snap letting her know she'd broken a thread. She swore under her breath as it joined the capris on the sailboat's deck. The designer t-shirt was probably worth a whole week's paycheck. She couldn't worry about it when she might not live long enough to wear the outfit a second time.

Seb was already zipping up his wetsuit as she slipped her feet into hers and worked it up her legs. Thank goodness Maxwell had put their gear on board the boat and had made sure the diving tanks strapped to the side were full.

"I've spotted them. We need to move it. They're coming in at full speed, hoping to catch us unaware," Seb said, pointing to the dots on the horizon before he tossed her an underwater wrist slate from his gear bag. "I've got an extra one."

Alexis strapped it on and finished gearing up as he checked the tanks and attached them to the buoyancy control devices. She looked out across the water. They only had seconds before the boats entered the cove.

"Antoine underestimated Leo. He expected to take him by surprise," Seb said, as he handed her a BCD.

He reached into his gear bag, pulled out his gun, and placed it in the waterproof pouch across his chest. Alexis had already placed the algae sample and USB drive in the waterproof bag attached to her snorkeling belt. She'd decided they would be safer in her capri pockets than left in their room for Xenia to find.

"My money is on Leo's men. He wasn't bragging when he said his men were better. It's why we've used them," Seb said as he slid a wicked-looking knife into the sheath on his calf.

Alexis hoped Seb was right. She did up the last strap on the BCD and popped the regulator into her mouth as the boats entered the cove. A man hanging on the top of the windshield on one boat pointed in their direction. The drivers gunned the engines, their roar echoing across the cove. They'd been spotted.

Seb hesitated and then opened a storage compartment opposite the diving tank rack. He pulled out a flare gun.

"In case we need to signal for help," he said as he put it in the pouch across his chest.

He placed his regulator in his mouth and then sat beside her on the gunnel a few feet away. He pointed to her, indicating she should lead. Alexis responded with a thumbs-up to let him know she understood and brought her knees to her chest. Then they both back rolled into the turquoise water.

She led the way, pulling hard at the water and kicking with all her strength as they swam along the sandy beach. There was nowhere to hide in the crystal-clear water. The boats' engines thundered underwater as they sped toward the dock.

They only had seconds to reach the safety of the Mangrove roots twisting in the water like bars in a cage. Alexis spotted the shadows from the trees marking the end of the beach, spilling onto the cove's sandy bottom. The boats roared past them. They'd made it.

She swam past the thick clusters of Mangrove roots, watching for the rowboat wedged among them as if it had sunk and Leo hadn't bothered to dispose of the boat. Isandro had said it was toward the end of the thirty-acre island.

So was the floatplane. They could lead the men in the motorboats straight to Leo and his family. Alexis prayed they'd be airborne long before she and Seb reached the underwater passage to the cave. She knew nothing about guns, but she was sure submachine gun fire would rip the plane and the people inside apart.

Motion in the water ahead caught Alexis's attention. This was a complication they didn't need.

There was no mistaking the wide, blunt nose. Only two stripes, barely visible along the over fifteen feet length of the tapered body, marked it as a mature adult.

The tiger shark headed straight for her.

She moved to face the shark head on and stopped, hoping Seb trusted her enough not to interfere. She needed to take care of the shark quickly.

Within seconds, Alexis was staring into the shark's eyes. Maintaining eye contact, she reached out her gloved hand. She pressed down on the top of the shark's head, turning it toward the open water in the cove.

As the fifteen-hundred-pound fish turned, Alexis pushed her body over it. She dragged her hand along its back as it swam away from her into the cove.

She watched the shark until she was certain it had lost interest in her, and it didn't have friends. Notoriously aggressive, Tiger Sharks rarely attacked divers, but only a fool would take their eye off the shark.

Seb swam to her side, and they continued to follow the Mangrove roots along the ocean floor, watching for the rowboat. The engines on the motorboats had slowed to a soft purr. They'd reached the dock, and the men were splitting up.

Seb pointed to the roots in the water ahead. Alexis understood. He wanted to assess their position and observe the men Antoine had sent. He stopped beside an opening in the thick gnarled roots that tangled together at the surface. She slipped into the hollow. Seb pressed close beside her.

They barely fit in the space. It would be difficult for the men in the boats to spot them, but they could see the boats clearly from their vantage point.

Five men ran across the beach toward the path that led to the house. Xenia had obviously described the layout of the island. The boat with two men screamed back to life and headed away from the dock to the other side of the island. A man in the remaining boat was pulling on scuba gear as the boat left the dock, turned in their direction, and slowly made its way along the beach. The two other men in the boat scanned the water in a grid pattern, looking for them. The scuba diver sat on the gunnel and when the boat stopped, he fell backward into the water.

Seb removed the regulator from his mouth and motioned for Alexis to do the same.

"We're too far from the underwater passageway," she said. "We can't outrun the boat."

Seb nodded in agreement as they watched the men. "The minute the guy in the water spots us, they'll be on top of us. We could try to move out to the deeper water, but these guys aren't amateurs like the guys we encountered on Garden Key. They'll be watching every inch of the clear water in the cove."

"There's a bigger gap in the roots to my left." Alexis had spotted it as she'd risen to the surface. "The roots facing the water are heavy with barnacles and oysters. They should be thick enough to hide us. We'll be too far down in the water for the guys in the boat to spot us. If we remain perfectly still, the scuba diver may not see us."

If he did, submachine gun fire would rip them apart. Not a pleasant thought, but it was the best chance they had.

Seb peered around her. "It will work. The scuba diver will watch the water ahead of him and the roots near him. He won't expect us to burrow further in. You make your way in first."

Alexis put her regulator back into her mouth and sank into the water. She backed into the opening, pressing her body against the roots to give Seb enough room. He barely fit.

They waited, motionless, in the small enclosure. Alexis tried to relax, but it was impossible. The roots stabbing into the sandy ground made it feel more like a prison than a hiding spot.

They heard the engines before they saw the boat through the spaces between the roots. The boat passed by them first. The men aboard examined the surrounding water. Alexis noticed they also monitored the water further out in the cove, permanently eliminating the possibility of escaping into the deep water.

A few minutes later, the scuba diver appeared, scanning the water ahead, and the thickly packed Mangroves beside him.

Alexis froze as he approached their hiding spot. His head turned in their direction, giving the tangled Mangrove roots concealing them from view only a cursory glance. He was paying more attention to the reef fish maneuvering the maze along the ocean floor.

The guy didn't believe they could hide among the densely packed roots. Alexis couldn't think of any other reason for the behavior that was out of sync with the vigilant men on the boat.

Seb worked his way back to the space at the surface of the water, and Alexis followed. The boat continued up the island's coast. They hadn't solved their problem, they'd only postponed dealing with the men.

"We can follow them, but if they turn around, we risk being seen by either the diver or men on the boat," Alexis said. The breathtakingly clear water surrounding them was a liability that was impossible to eliminate or control.

"We'll need to take care of the men," Seb said, his eyes fixed on the boat. "We start with the scuba diver."

"The men on the boat will see us. In case you've forgotten, they're armed with submachine guns. I'd rather wait until they're almost at the end of the island and head back to the beach. We could hide on the island."

"There's a firefight going on, and all I have is a Glock and a knife." A burst of submachine gun fire emphasized his statement. "I'd sooner work out a plan to take out these guys."

Alexis turned and looked at the Mangroves behind her. They could climb along the roots to stable ground, but they'd need to ditch their fins, and they'd be in plain view of the men in the boat if they shifted their gaze to the island.

"Or a distraction," Seb said, grinning. "The scuba diver is their weak link. He's too lax, figuring we'll be easy to spot. We need to catch up to the boat."

"You have a plan?" Alexis asked, getting the uncomfortable feeling their chances would be better on the island.

"We'll swim close to the bottom. The men are looking ahead and out into the cove. They've only glanced back twice." Seb's smile grew wider. "They think they're herding us like cattle. They're in for a surprise. This should be fun."

She stared at Seb. When she'd helped Finlay in Paris, she'd learned that Seb's and Drake's definition of fun differed greatly from hers.

"Follow me. Stay close to the roots," Seb said, as he reached for his regulator. "When all hell breaks loose, swim past me and don't stop until you reach the rowboat. Follow the underwater passage. I'll be right behind you."

Alexis was certain she'd have preferred facing the guys with the submachine guns on the island.