away as they disappeared from the room. Weston finished packaging up the items and followed them out of the door, box in hand.
“Are you okay?” I asked Caiden. He was shifting restlessly, flexing his knuckles.
He nodded, then shook his head. “No. Yeah. Just a bit edgy after all this shit that’s happened. You wanna get out of here for a while? We can do a drive-by of the docks, see if we can see anything.”
“Sure.” I stood. “We could drive through town and pick up food for tonight on the way back. Maybe Thai?”
“Yes.”
Climbing to his feet, he held out his hand, and I took it.
NINETEEN
The oars dipped through the water with a soft splash as my muscles strained, moving us closer to the docks.
“I can’t believe we’re in a rowboat.” Winter’s quiet laugh cut through the night air, as she sat across from me on the bench seat. From his seat in the prow Zayde sat, silent and still, scanning the coastline with the night-vision binoculars my brother had given to us.
Yeah, I couldn’t believe we were in a fucking rowboat, either. Z’s mates had come through for us, so here we were, cutting through the water, hoping to get close to the docks without being spotted. Security was still tight around the docks’ entrance, so this way we could avoid detection. If we were lucky. So far, luck was on our side—the sky was clear, the moon providing a bright enough glow that we hadn’t needed to use lights and the sea was calm—it would’ve been suicide to come out here in a rowing boat in bad weather.
Weston had wanted to come with us, but there was no way I was letting him put himself in danger. I’d asked him and Cassius to go back to AMC instead, to see if they could get any more answers, while me and Zayde took the docks. I wanted Winter to stay out of the way, too, but my girl flat-out fucking refused, stubborn woman that she was. Consequently, my stress levels were at an all-time high; not only did I not know what kind of shit we’d find ourselves in, but I had to worry about her.
Other than that, we were as prepared as we could be—all armed and dressed in black. Yesterday and this morning, Z had taught Winter a couple of basic tricks with knives that she’d hopefully never have to use, because if anyone hurt her, I would fucking end them.
We drew closer to the docks, hugging the coastline, and Z tapped me on the shoulder, handing me the binoculars. Placing the oars down, I scanned the direction he was pointing, until I saw it. The Argo Navis, a nondescript, small cargo ship moored in its own berth, away from the other boats. I passed the binoculars to Winter and unpacked the drone, before rowing us closer.
Stopping a safe distance away, I turned on the drone. It hovered noiselessly in the air just above the boat, responding to the controls like a fucking dream. I’d spent yesterday getting to grips with it until I could handle it to West’s satisfaction, and now today I was putting my new skills to the test.
Winter leaned around me, passing the binoculars back to Zayde. Before we’d left, we’d agreed that Z would be the lookout, I’d commandeer the drone, and Winter would watch the tiny video monitor that connected to the drone’s camera, to see if anything jogged a memory.
Winter crawled across to my seat, the boat rocking despite her slow, careful movements, and I sat her between my legs. I slid my thumb forwards on the controller, and the drone shot off across the sea, while she held the video monitor. Angling my head, I leaned my chin on her shoulder, my face next to hers so I could see the screen as well.
She wriggled against me, and my dick decided this completely inappropriate moment was a great time to wake up, hardening against her ass.
“Sorry,” I breathed into her ear. “Can’t help my reaction to you.”
“I’m not complaining,” she murmured, her amused voice laced with heat. “We’ll do something about it when we get—” Her voice cut off as she suddenly leaned closer to the screen, and I followed her gaze, holding the controls of the drone steady. She pointed at the top right corner of the screen, where one of the little cranes that was used to lift the cargo off the boats was hoisting something into