All Tied Up

“Buying a boat had advantages. Mobility for one. And for a few bucks a year, I pay someone to do general maintenance.”

If Constantine had been anyone else, Nicole would have asked if the person maintaining the boat could betray him. But she knew very well that Constantine would never let that person know his real identity. Not when she suspected this boat was his escape route in times of trouble.

He opened a cabinet and pulled out a couple of telephones and various other items that went into the bag. Ammunition, she thought. “The boat allows me to disappear if I need to,” he commented, confirming what she’d been thinking. More times than not, he did that—finished her thought, answered a silent question. After a few days, she almost expected as much. He continued, “And it would have been the perfect escape if not for this storm.” Moving to a closet, he pulled a rain slicker off a hanger. “Catch.” He tossed it to her.

She snagged the shiny black jacket, noting the puddle of water around her feet. The ocean had drenched them far worse than the rain in the woods. At this rate, she would end up permanently shivering.

While she slid the oversize jacket into place, and rolled the sleeves up so they were manageable, Constantine strapped a shoulder holster around his body and shoved a Glock inside. He covered the weapon with a rain slicker matching the one she now wore.

Next thing she knew he was by her side, crisscrossing a small satchel over her chest and shoulder. He patted the bag. “Now you need a gun. Don’t try to fire in this wind unless you absolutely have to.”

“Like I would fire otherwise.”

Displeasure flitted across his features. “I know how big you are on justice and doing the right thing. But out here in the field, a willingness to use your weapon can save your life.”

She would have been irritated about being lectured to on other occasions, but this time, the warning settled hard in her stomach. She could do this, she reminded herself. She was tough.

Resolve taking root, Nicole drew herself upright despite the roughness of the boat’s movement. “I know. I’m no fool. I’ll shoot if I have to. I think I’ve proven that.”

“I know you aren’t a fool,” he said, his taut voice taking a gentler note. “But shooting tires and shooting a person aren’t the same. It can be hard for the most experienced people to pull the trigger. You can’t hesitate.”

Right again, of course, and she knew it. “I’ll shoot if I have to.”

He studied her a moment longer and inclined his head, apparently satisfied with her reply and already back in action mode. Grabbing his bag, he pointed to the stairs. “Let’s roll. I’ll go first to be sure we’re clear.”

A few seconds later, they were back outside, and the weather had worsened. The rain had started, and the wind was even stronger than before. Constantine jumped to the docks and offered Nicole his hand, which she tried to accept, but with the wobble beneath her feet she couldn’t quite connect with his palm.

Suddenly a scream ripped through the air, and Constantine retracted his hand, reaching for his gun. Nicole grabbed the boat railing with a solid grip.

More screams, this time more intelligible. “Help! Help!”

Nicole’s adrenaline spiked into overdrive, her eyes searching in desperation for the source of the cries. Her gaze scanned the area, spotting a woman on the deck of a boat, several spots down from the Adiós. The woman was at the railing, struggling with a life preserver, steadying herself a second before she shoved it over the edge.

Hair blew in Nicole’s eyes, slapping at her cheeks and brow, as she tried to see the reason for the woman’s fear. She leaned down, looking beneath a sail and honed in on the water, where she saw a man struggling against the rough waves.

Oh, God. He was going to drown. She turned to Constantine and screamed his name, pointing out what she’d seen. He maneuvered closer, ducking down for a visual. A curse followed. Obviously he had managed to see what she did, his expression grim. He seemed to weigh his options, before turning to Nicole and reaching for her. “Come on.”

Before Nicole could catch her breath, he had a hold of her and she was lifted from the boat onto the dock. The instant her feet hit the ground, he had her hand, and they were running, water and wind smacking them hard.

Seconds later, Nicole and Constantine climbed onto the woman’s boat. She ran at them, frantically pleading, “Save him! Please save my husband.”

Constantine handed Nicole his gun, dropping his bag on the ground.

Fear squeezed her heart. The water was insanely dangerous, the wrath of Mother Nature much worse than Carlos and Alvarez put together. “You stay alive, damn it!” she shouted, her gut churning much like the ocean.