he was due to depart and snuck on board. Savanny came with because I thought I might actually wind up on another island, and I didn’t want to leave him alone too long. On board, the galley was stacked to the ceiling with these long, black boxes. They had these—I don’t know?—old-fashioned looking padlocks attached? Almost like the kind on school lockers.”
Flint smirks. “Just like the ones when you were in seventh grade?”
“Close. Thing is, King Heron doesn’t use anything like that. We use insulated ice boxes for fresh fish, shrimp, anything we pull out of the sea. And those boxes weren’t for fishing gear, either. That’s what Ray tried to tell me they were when he found me. I knew he was lying and told him so. We argued. Then I heard the other people, men who weren’t part of the crew, demanding to know what the hell was going on. He grew frantic, snarly, and told me he was making this run to keep us safe. Keep us alive.”
“Bastard,” Flint snarls.
“Obviously, I didn’t believe one word of it, and I told him so. But he was angry, almost panicked, said I shouldn’t be there, that I was going to ruin everything.” Needing a second, I pause, sucking in slow, deep breaths.
“Then what happened?” Flint asked.
“He grabbed Savanny and marched away, threw him in a little closet. When I went to get him, Ray pushed me in the closet, too, and locked the door. He told me to shut up if I wanted to live.”
I have to pause, taking in the fury on Flint’s face. The man looks like he’d tear the whole world limb from limb if anyone dared hurt me.
“Go on,” he orders.
“I fought back but stopped yelling when I heard the other voices. I wanted to hear what they were saying, but it was muffled. I only caught bits and pieces. Something about the boxes. Then Ray grew quiet. They started asking him questions about some kind of charges they’d found. I think they meant a bomb. They were convinced Ray put it there. He swore he hadn’t, he’d never do anything to hurt their business, and then the closet door was ripped open. They found me.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. Men I’d never seen before. Two of them, quiet and angry and rough-looking. They said they were going to kill me in front of Ray. One of them held a gun to my head. Ray kept saying I didn’t know anything. I said the same. I truly thought they’d pull the trigger on us both. But eventually, they dragged me up on deck, released the dinghy, and threw me in with Savanny. I started the engine, figured I’d go get help or something, I really don’t know what I was thinking; I wanted to get away ASAP, and just as I thrust the throttle forward...I heard something else land in the boat. I turned and just knew it was the bomb. I didn’t have much time, so I grabbed Savanny and dove straight into the water.”
Flint keeps watching me through the conversation, his eyes wide, bleeding concern.
Shrugging, I add, “That’s the last thing I remember before waking up here, not knowing anything.”
“Shit. These men, would you recognize them if you saw them again?”
“Yes.” An idea needles me. “Actually, I think I can even draw them...”
“Let’s go downstairs and have some coffee,” he says, tossing aside the sheet.
I crawl to the edge of the bed, halfway forgetting what I’ve suffered. I have to bite my lips together at the sight of his long, lithe, muscular body. Corded muscle ripples around the black boxer briefs he has on, all tanned skin and ink and scars stretched over a body meant to turn every woman on the planet into a hot mess.
He looks at me, holding out his hand. “You sure you’re okay? It’s a hell of a lot to process, I’m sure.”
“We’re cool!” I sputter, grabbing his hand and climbing off the bed.
Sweet Jesus. If only hashing bitter memories and bad guys were my only worries. Then I wouldn’t have to work to unglue my eyes from Hercules.
We hurry downstairs. I find a pencil and some paper while he brews coffee.
By the time I’m done and look up, I’m disappointed. At some point while I was busy drawing, Flint went to his room to put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.
Bummer.
“I sent Cash a text. He’s on his way,” he tells me, taking a long pull off