Chapter 51

AS WE SWAMalong the side of the New Hope to the diving ladder, the sounds of Hope’s yelling from the upper decks reached us. We’d dived deep from the back of our vessel, popping up just once in the dark between the boats to breathe. The threat of Hope seeing us and firing into the water made my jaw lock with terror. I pulled my gun out of the back of my pants and put it on the deck in front of me as I got to the top of the ladder. I hoped that if I needed it, it would still work. I didn’t know how it would react to the saltwater.

The cold seized everything, made every muscle hard as stone. I stood shivering on the deck as Tox climbed out. We were near a dark, cluttered galley. Our socks squelched on the polished wood. We listened to the voice above us, her footsteps on the floor. Tox was sniffing the air. He went to the pantry and pulled open the door. Leaning against it was a heavy man in a white business shirt. Tox checked his pulse, but he was long gone, his whole body a sickening purple.

“Water safety guy,” Tox said. He pushed the limp body back into the pantry and shut the door. “Probably caught on to her.”

We crept around the back of the galley and up the stairs, stopping when we were high enough to look across the deck to the bridge wing. Jenny was on her belly now, unconscious. She seemed to be breathing. There were no open wounds on her that I could see, adding hope to my theory that the gunshot earlier had been a bluff. The compressor she was tied to was hanging halfway out over the side of the boat, its small wheels spinning. I could see Hope’s leg by the entrance to the bridge. She paced, wandering over to Jenny and then back to the helm, never leaving her alone for more than a few seconds.

“We’ll come up the other side,” Tox breathed. “Get her from behind.”

“We should split up in case she lunges for the compressor. I’ll go up this side.”

My partner’s eyes glittered in the dark. He nodded and checked the magazine in his gun. We were set to go until Hope’s voice rose in pitch and volume, stopping us in our tracks.

“Where are the occupants of that boat?” she screamed.