Emerald Fire. Monica McCabe

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СКАЧАТЬ hour, and that focus rarely strayed. Needless to say, she didn’t date much. Now and then she’d meet a guy she liked enough to stick with for a time, but it never lasted long before they’d start complaining about her lack of attention.

      Finnegan Kane, she couldn’t explain. It was an attraction that made no sense. She just met the guy, he rarely smiled, and his old-school alpha male attitude was annoying. She’d be better off ignoring his allure instead of kissing him.

      “He’s…interesting.”

      “Is that so?”

      She didn’t want to talk about Finn right now. They needed to focus on not being discovered by pirates.

      “Where did you meet him?”

      “Port Authority’s office in St. Lucia.”

      Her uncle used the binoculars Finn had left and scanned the grounds. He pointed to the left, and they started moving, keeping inside the tree line as Finn suggested. It made the going a little slower, but lessened the likelihood of being spotted as they made their way around toward the water. She refused to think of all the things that could go wrong because failure wasn’t an option. They simply had to succeed.

      Chloe dodged a palm leaf and came to a sudden halt right behind her uncle. He quickly crouched down, and she followed suit.

      A lone man stood fifty or so feet away. He was smoking, the red tip of the cigarette glowing in the dark as he puffed. He hadn’t heard them as he stared intently toward a small shed behind the big metal warehouse. She followed his line of sight. Through the dark, she could see a vague figure moving through a pile of derelict equipment and knew with certainty it was Finn.

      The pirate had spotted him, too.

      Alarm began to race through her bloodstream, along with a spike of adrenaline as the guy reached for a radio on his belt. Uncle Jon dropped the duffle bags, sprinted forward, and in one lithe jump, tackled the pirate. They rolled until her uncle landed on top, then a meaty thud sounded as her uncle’s fist collided with the other man’s jaw. The impact knocked him out cold.

      Chloe jumped into action and snatched the radio. Silence. The guy hadn’t made contact. She breathed a sigh of relief.

      “Hellfire, that hurt.” Jonathan shook out his hand. “I think I broke something.”

      Chloe shot a quick look around to assure they hadn’t been discovered. All appeared quiet, but what were they going to do with this guy now? He was a liability they couldn’t afford.

      Her uncle answered the question. “Help me drag him into the woods.” Together they pulled the unconscious man deeper into the shadowy forest.

      “There’s duct tape in Finn’s bag,” her uncle said as he began patting down the guy’s pockets. First he found a gun, then a wicked-looking knife. A pack of cigarettes he tossed into the woods, but he pocketed the lighter.

      Chloe fought against the sense of dread those weapons induced and grabbed the tape, pulled a strip, and ripped it with her teeth before slapping it over the guy’s mouth.

      Together they finished trussing him up, taping his arms to his body and wrapping his ankles and knees. She grabbed handfuls of broken branches and forest debris, piling it over top of him, then sent up a quick prayer, begging God’s help to keep the guy out cold for a good long while.

      They’d lost valuable time. She kept the radio, her uncle the pistol and knife, and they took off, moving faster now and aiming straight for the water. The going was rough. Foliage as thick and tangled as the Amazon jungle stretched all the way to the brackish shore. There was only a thin stretch of sandy beach, and they sprinted down the length before stopping just shy of the clearing.

      So far so good. No alarms had sounded and all remained quiet. Uncle Jon broke out the binoculars again, studying their next move. With a flip of his hand, he signaled to move, and she followed. The going was easier, but it came with a price. They were running in the open, their black clothing the only cover until they reached a small shed on the outskirts. From there, progress went in short sprints, from the shed to a pile of broken and rusted equipment, to an old boat, until the pier loomed close in front of them.

      “Where is everybody? In the dry dock?” she whispered. It looked all the world like they could just stroll down the pier undetected. It was long with a hard right at the end, like an upside down L. Five boats were moored, all of various sizes. The Emerald Fire was the crown jewel of the ill-gotten contraband. She floated proudly at the end of the pier, moonlight reflecting off her sleek lines and graceful hull.

      An unsettling wave of apprehension filled Chloe. Guttural shouts from the men in the warehouse sounded callous and mean. They didn’t sound like men who’d take the stealing of their property lying down. The fact that they stole it first wouldn’t matter. This would be a doozy of a fight.

      She scanned the perimeter, searching for any stray. There was nothing. No dog, squirrel, or pirate. It was almost eerie.

      For a flashing moment, Chloe wondered how Finn was doing. She hoped he was creating a massive bonfire because there was no way they were going to politely sail away from this place. Especially if their victim was now awake and managed to get out of his bonds. The alarm could go off any minute.

      They needed to get moving. There were fuel lines to cut and boats to disable before they even reached the Fire.

      “You ready?” her uncle whispered.

      Her heart had stopped beating when they’d trussed up the pirate, her nerves felt like sandpaper, and fear hovered just beneath the surface, threatening to explode. So, yeah, she was ready. “Let’s go.”

      They began creeping toward the pier.

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