Without regard for the rental, he scrambled aboard his boat. His gaze locked on a smaller metallic blue vessel speeding toward the middle of the lake some twenty yards out at the same time overwhelming gas fumes assaulted his nostrils. Icy slivers of fear froze the blood in his veins. Gut instinct screamed for him to follow the boat but a low groan whipped him around.
His father stumbled up the steps from below deck. Blood trickled down along the side of his nose from a gash on his forehead. He waved wildly when he saw Trent, hollering as he lost his balance and fell to his knees.
Trent’s cell rang as he rushed forward. “Dad, where’s Halli?”
Greg Tomlin shook his head, surged to his feet and wrapped his arms around Trent. With a burst of unexpected strength, he drove them toward the side of the Scappare. Trent couldn’t combat the surprise momentum that propelled them over the railing into the water.
A deafening boom concussed his eardrums as the lake closed over his head. He fought his way to the surface and stared in stunned disbelief at the burning wreckage that seconds earlier had been his boat. Flaming pieces rained down around his head.
Halli!
The magnitude of what’d just happened rocked him to the core. Anguish made it impossible to breathe. Oh, God…Halli.
A desperate gasping sound broke through his shock. His father thrashed behind him, struggling to stay afloat. Two powerful strokes brought them together and Trent held his father’s head above water with an arm across his chest. He swam for the rental that’d floated far enough away, relatively undamaged from the explosion.
Trent secured his father’s grip on the boat and ruthlessly suppressed the crippling emotions coursing through his body. Blame. Guilt. Grief. Grabbing the side, he heaved himself up into the boat. A jagged gouge in the metal railing raked down his bare chest and stomach. Blood welled from the torn flesh as he turned to drag his father abo
ard, but he felt nothing.
The moment he fell into the boat, his father’s rough voice commanded, “Go, go! We have to catch them.”
Grief and rage collided inside Trent. “I don’t care about the money!”
His father frowned with his usual disapproval. “They’ve got Halli.”
Trent froze. He didn’t dare trust the flare of hope that suddenly burned in his chest. “You mean she wasn’t…?” He couldn’t even say it.
“No—they took her with the money.”
An instant flashback of the little speed boat left him dizzy. He shook it off and lunged for the driver’s seat. Fighting for every second, he started the rental and throttled to full speed the moment they cleared the sinking remains of the Scappare.
His father joined him at the windshield and they both searched frantically for the blue speed boat. Trent’s heart raced unbearably fast. The roaring wind stung his eyes as he prayed they wouldn’t be too late.
Chapter 25
Halli watched the Scappare grow smaller and smaller, yet across the bow, she saw Trent’s rental boat approach the cruiser. She debated standing to wave her arms, but the gun pointed at her chest was a compelling deterrent. With her heart pounding in her chest, she slid her hand into her pocket and pressed the send button on Greg Tomlin’s phone. Then she prayed Trent would figure out what was going on.
Lorenzo Roselli, the man Trent had described as a friend, also noticed Trent’s approach and spoke in Italian to the driver. Luca. Halli didn’t think it was a coincidence Luca was also the name of the Carabinieri officer Simone had recommended. She couldn’t believe the woman was in on this whole scam, just like Lorenzo. Worry ate her up inside for Rachel at the same time indignation simmered on Trent’s behalf.
Luca glanced back with a smug smirk. Halli quickly pulled her hand from her pocket before either of them saw what she was doing, but Lorenzo caught the sudden movement and frowned.
“Where are we going?” she shouted above the wind and whine of the motor.
Please, God, let him hear me.
“Do as you’re told and you’ll be fine.” Lorenzo’s fluent English and mildly comforting tone was contradicted by Luca’s stone-cold expression.
“Why are you doing this? Trent considered you a friend.”
Guilt crossed Lorenzo’s face, but it was Luca who answered. “The man has more money than he knows what to do with, while we work and serve…for what? We barely make enough to survive, let alone retire with. Believe me, carina, Renzo’s friend will not miss a measly million.”
It always boiled down to the money, didn’t it? God, she hated it. She drew a huge breath, set her jaw, and went over the facts in her mind. Rachel lay injured, in the hands of a conspirator. By all appearances, Ben had been shot, and she had no clue if he was alive or dead. Trent had no clue she was on this boat, and they were drawing farther and farther from sight.
Despair threatened, but she beat it back. Trent might not see her yet, but she trusted him to come after—
A sudden explosion from the Scappare eclipsed the brilliance of the setting sun. Trent’s cabin cruiser erupted into a ball of fire topped by black smoke. Halli gasped in shock as the sound of the destruction echoed across the water.
Her hand flew to her mouth. Trent!