Redeeming Her SEAL (ASSIGNMENT Caribbean Nights #9) - Kat Cantrell Page 0,43

the docks two feet below the sidewalk. Rachel oofed as she landed on top of Audra, then rolled to her side, breathing heavily and cursing a blue streak.

But the car missed them, careening toward the other end of the marina.

“Maniac.” Rachel spit and blood came out with it. “Lucky I didn’t lose a tooth.”

Audra jumped to her feet and threw out a hand. Whoa. A wave of dizziness broke over her, and she wobbled to the edge of the dock to grab onto something solid. And then craned her neck as if she could actually spy the license plate of the maniac through her double vision.

The car had vanished. She extended a hand to help Rachel to her feet.

“That was close,” Rachel commented with a touch of venom as she adjusted her glasses, which had fortunately not fallen off.

“Stupid tourists. Can’t handle their alcohol and an unfamiliar rental at the same time.” Audra rubbed her hip and checked to be sure no blood seeped through her dress. It was ruined regardless, as was her nice evening with Rachel. Just peachy.

Her body was going to ache later, which fit her suddenly morose mood. She had to spend some time thinking about how in the hell she was going to get Jared to lift the injunction. And how to reach out to Charlie when it felt like she’d already done that. Wasn’t his silence enough of a clue that he was still a flight risk?

Maybe it was a lost cause. But her heart refused to accept that.

Charlie banged on Audra’s door and then thought better of the amount of force he’d put behind it. A woman who had just endured harm probably wasn’t going to answer a crazed pounding against the one barrier between her and unknown threats.

But the crazed pounding had made him feel better.

“Audra, it’s me,” he called as he knocked a touch more reasonably and waited. And waited. Then swore. “Open the door! Please.”

He fished his phone out of his pocket and texted her: I’m at the front door.

Nothing.

He tried again: of your apartment.

She was in there, wasn’t she? It was—he checked his watch—eleven o’clock at night.

He’d have gotten here sooner, but Evan had called to give him the rundown on the incident at the marina while en route to bring Rachel home, which had taken forever. Probably neither of them had expected Charlie to be waiting at the dock so he could commandeer the boat for an immediate return trip to Freeport since Miles and Jace had the other boat, but there was no way in hell Charlie was letting another second go by without making sure that Audra was okay with his own two eyes. And then he’d had to gas up the boat. Also had taken forever.

He stabbed at her number on his phone screen again and listened to it ring until voice mail picked up.

She might be inside hurting. He cursed again. Evan had an ass kicking coming for leaving Audra alone and not dragging her to the hospital.

For that matter, would it have been so difficult to put her in the boat and bring her back to Duchess Island with him? He got that Audra had a head harder than a coconut and that she had insisted Evan and Rachel could go on home. But the woman didn’t weigh more than a sack of potatoes. Charlie had picked her up lots of times. Evan had no excuse for not bodily throwing the woman over his shoulder and—

“Charlie.”

He whirled. Audra stood behind him in short shorts and a T-shirt, arms crossed. Behind him. Not inside the safe apartment where she should be.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, and his opinion of her intelligence—which had previously been pretty high—took a nosedive. “It’s late.”

“What the hell do you think I’m doing here? And yeah, I’m aware of the time. Are you? Clearly not, if you’re wandering around a busy port town. Alone.”

He crossed his own arms in kind so he couldn’t pull her into his embrace. The things he had to say weren’t conducive to putting his hands on her right now.

Not given how his entire body buzzed as he drank in her red hair blowing in the slight ocean breeze and those amazing bare legs. When would the simple sight of her stop whacking him so hard?

“I’m fine. You didn’t have to come all the way to Freeport. You could have called.”

“I did.” He held up his phone, still clutched in his hand in case