Safe Before Dawn by Linda Castillo

Author:Linda Castillo [Castillo, Linda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781488097584
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2007-02-15T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

Footsteps from above deck made the hairs on Lily’s neck prickle. Someone was on board the boat. At least two of them; she could hear them talking in low voices.

She swallowed a gasp when the doorknob to the cabin rattled.

“Damn thing’s locked,” said a male voice with a strong Bostonian accent.

“Kick it in like you did the other one,” said another voice. “Boss told us to find them, so we gotta search all the boats, not just the easy ones.”

“You sure this is the boat?”

“How do I know? Kick the damn thing in.”

The next thing Lily knew she was being pulled backward by Chase’s strong hands. A crash sounded in the general vicinity of the door. Then she was in the fore sleeping quarters. Next to her, Chase worked frantically to unhinge and open the deck hatch, his eyes never leaving the thin door he’d latched behind them.

The hatch sprang open. Chase looked at her. “I’m going through, then I’ll pull you through. Once we’re on deck, I want you to run. Don’t wait for me. Don’t look back. You got that?”

She looked at the small hatch, her stomach plummeting. “I can’t fit through there.”

He looked at the hatch, looked at her bulging abdomen. His mouth opened, but for a moment nothing came out. “Okay. Plan B.” He looked around wildly. “Hide. In a cabinet. Under a blanket. Whatever. I’m going to go up, circle around and ambush them.”

Unable to speak over the rapid-fire beat of her heart, Lily nodded her head.

Chase looked as if he wanted to say more, but another crash sounded from the cabin. The boat rocked slightly, and Lily knew the men were coming down the stairs and into the galley to search for them. If the men opened the door, they would find them both.

Giving her a final look, Chase heaved himself through the hatch. Panicked, she looked around for a place to hide. Several compartments lined the walls, but none of them were large enough for her to get inside. Realizing she had no alternative but to get under the blanket and pray it bought her a few precious seconds, she lay down and pulled it over her head.

The knob to the sleeping quarters rattled. “It’s locked, too,” said the man with the Boston accent.

“Kick it down. I’m going to the next boat.”

The door burst open. She heard heavy breathing, the rustle of clothing, a whispered curse. Minutes stretched like hours as he began checking compartments. In the next instant, the blanket that covered her was jerked roughly away. Gasping, Lily sat up and found herself facing a dark-haired man with large features and the deadly blue steel of a pistol.

“I’ll be damned,” he said. “Must be my lucky day.”

Lily caught a glimpse of a dark blur coming at her from behind the man. An instant later the man grunted and pitched violently forward. In the light slanting through the port window, she recognized Chase as the attacker. Relief mingled with shock at the sight of him in action.

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