"There." Dar edged out the door and held on to the railing as the rain pelted them. She spotted her father on the bow with Bud slung across his shoulders. "Dad!" she yelled, hoping he'd hear her above the storm.

His head turned her way and she saw the relief in his eyes.

"Go!" she hollered at him. "Get the h.e.l.l out of here!"

Two guards were headed toward the bow, struggling against the rain just as they were. Andrew took a step toward them, then shook his head and ran for the edge of the bow, gathering himself and leaping over the railing to plunge feet first into the water. He immediately disappeared beneath the surging waves.

Dar spotted the men dashing for her and Kerry. "Can you swim?" she yelled. "Kerry!"

Kerry hesitated, judging the shakiness of her muscles. Her body seemed to have recovered during the brief rest and she took a cautious breath. "Yes," she answered, knowing she had little choice at any rate. She grabbed the railing and held on, judging the distance to the water as the boat rolled. "I'm okay!"*313 Dar held onto her. "Go on. I'll jump after you when you're clear." She grabbed the back of Kerry's shirt to keep her steady as the boat dipped toward the water, then gently shoved her just as she leaped, pushing her well clear of the boat. Anxiously, she watched the waves, her heart in her throat until she saw a faint, pale blur break the surface.

Just as she readied herself to follow, a hand grabbed her roughly from behind. Dar whirled and found a pistol barrel in her face. Her reflexes saved her life as she twisted and her hand snapped up, smacking the gun to the side just as it went off. The s.p.a.ce was too close for fighting, but Dar managed to draw back her arm and punch the guard in the face, somehow evading his grasping hands. It didn't really stun him, but he blinked and paused long enough for Dar to push free and slam the cabin door in his face.

She grabbed a fending pole clamped next to the door and jammed it sideways, blocking the door shut as the guard inside threw his body against it, trying to get out. Shaken, Dar glanced at the water, the ocean's savage waves looking more and more friendly to her every single second.

Faintly, over the thunder and slap of the waves, she heard the sound of Andrew's watercraft engine roar to life. A sweet sound.

She grabbed the railing and prepared to leap overboard, when motion on the bow caught her eye. Two guards were there, one shining a blazing, handheld spotlight into the water. The light pinned Andy's small boat, and the second guard raised his rifle and aimed.

Dar heard the Dixie's horn sound a warning. She released the rail and bolted forward toward the bow instead, heading straight for the two guards. With a growl, she dove headlong at the first, hitting him at the knees and taking him down. Together, they crashed into the second and he stumbled backward, falling down and rolling across the pitch of the deck. He slid under the railing and hung there, his light falling down into the water with an unheard splash. Dar found the rifle clattering by her and she kicked it, sending it spinning over the side.

The guard who had held it jumped on top of her, pinning her to the deck and slapping her hard across the side of the head. "You're dead, b.i.t.c.h."

Dar felt the truth of that. She gathered her flagging strength and fought him, ripping one hand loose from his grip. Her fingers brushed against something hard and she clutched at it, pulling hard when she recognized the outline of a diver's knife strapped to his thigh. As he lifted a fist and aimed for her head, Dar pulled the knife free and drew her arm out sideways. Swinging it inward a hair's breadth before his fist arced for her face, she buried the blade 314*

in his side, feeling the harsh, ethereal sensation as the knife penetrated his clothing and entered flesh. His scream was a testament to her accuracy.

Dar arched her body, rolling to one side with all the effort she could muster. She managed to throw him off, and as he rolled one way, she rolled the other. The boat pitched as she was trying to squirm under the rail, she felt him grab her by the back of her jacket, and the next thing she felt was a sudden shock that rattled her whole body. Then it all went dark.

KERRY WATCHED ANXIOUSLY, her eyes widening. "Dad!"

She pointed to where she could see Dar struggling with the thug.

"Oh...oh, my G.o.d!" she screamed, seeing her partner go down as the man hit her in the back of the head. "Dar!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Andrew dove overboard, regulator already in his mouth, and mask already settled on his face. He paused to yell back at Kerry, "Take hold of that d.a.m.n rudder!" before he ducked under the waves and disappeared.

Kerry scrambled back and did as he had ordered, hauling the boat around and heading it back toward DeSalliers' yacht. "Son of a b.i.t.c.h. Son of a b.i.t.c.h. Son of a b.i.t.c.h!"

Behind her, the Dixie's horn went off again, three short blasts that sounded urgent. Kerry kept her eyes glued on the yacht in front of her, her heart almost stopped as she heard the yacht's engines fire. "No!" But as she watched, the big boat turned and started moving, heading away from them. Kerry felt like she was going insane. She gunned the engine of her watercraft, then abruptly slowed as she saw a head poke from the surface. "Dad!"

Andrew waved her on toward him, signaling urgently. "C'mon, girl. Move it!"

Her instincts in conflict, her hand shaking, Kerry directed the boat toward him, panic starting to overtake her. She slowed the raft, and Andrew reached for one of the grips and pulled himself over the gunwales and aboard with seemingly little effort.

He rolled over and came up next to Kerry, taking the tiller from her. "b.a.s.t.a.r.ds." He watched the boat draw away from them. "Ain't catching them in this thing," he said, whipping the watercraft around in a tight, vicious circle that nearly swamped the boat in the following waves.

"Dad, they've got Dar!" Kerry gasped out. "We've got to get her!"

"Ah know that." Andrew said, setting a course back to the Dixie. "Ah know that." He looked behind him, tension written clearly etched across his scarred features. "Mah G.o.d."

Kerry could only sit there, clenching and unclenching her*315 hands, her heart beating so quickly she could barely breathe. Every instinct was pushing her toward simply jumping overboard and swimming after DeSalliers' yacht; only the fragile remnants of her sanity kept her where she was.

Dar was gone. Helplessly, she started crying, one hand holding on to the boat and the other gripping her hair, wanting nothing else but to scream, and scream, and just keep on screaming.

"GO! MOVE! HURRY!"

Dar heard the noises and felt the motion, alarm sending a shock wave through her as she realized what had happened. She was lying on a hard surface inside the cabin of the boat, and she could feel rug under her fingertips as she started to move.

"f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h!"

Instinct made Dar roll out of the way, just as something whisked by her head and crunched into the fibergla.s.s wall. She got to her hands and knees, trying to keep her balance as the boat pitched in the waves.

"Ow!" Gregos, who'd missed her and kicked the wall instead, hopped backwards and fell down, unused to the motion of the boat.

"f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h! f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h! b.i.t.c.h!"

Dar shook her head to clear it and looked dazedly around at the cabin. DeSalliers appeared from the steps, staggering up them with an ice pack held to his face. He spotted Dar and stared at her. She stared back.

He dropped the ice and reached for a pool cue, the fury in his eyes showing he was beyond reason. Spittle flying from his bruised mouth, he went after Dar with the stick, swinging it at her head.

Dar really didn't process what happened next. She knew she was being attacked and her body reacted, ducking under the pool cue and spinning around to land a kick on DeSalliers' side.

"b.i.t.c.h!"

"Let me do that, boss." Gregos, face swollen from her earlier kick to his head, got up and grabbed for Dar. "I'll break her f.u.c.king neck." The boat lurched and he fell again. "f.u.c.k!"

Dar got to the side of the room and collected herself, a pounding headache causing flashes of light to obscure her vision.

She put her back to the wall and raised her hands in a defensive posture, as DeSalliers held on to a chair while the boat pitched wildly.

"They're comin' after us!" a voice crackled from the radio.

"Holy s.h.i.t!'

Unable to move, DeSalliers stared across the room at Dar. "I'm going to kill you," he managed to get out. "I don't care what it takes, if I hafta gut you with a f.u.c.king harpoon."

316*

Dar somehow managed to gather her wits. "What does that get you?" she asked, wincing at the rasp in her throat.

"Satisfaction," he spat.

"A prison sentence," Dar corrected. "Because they all know I'm here."

DeSalliers looked through the window. "We'll lose 'em. Then I'll dump your stinking body overboard. They'll never find it."

Dar straightened a little. "You'll never lose them."

DeSalliers laughed and spat out a mouthful of blood. "Your f.u.c.king girlfriend? Bet she's crying her eyes out."

Did she have a chance to talk her way out of this? Dar swallowed. Well, at least she was alive, and she had to do everything she could to stay that way. "What is it you want, money?"

"No." The man stared at her in utter hatred. "There ain't enough to keep me from killing you. I'd even take a rap for it."

Oh c.r.a.p. Dar started looking for a way out of the cabin. The boat was traveling at high speed, and jumping off would probably kill her, but- Above the sound of the storm, she suddenly heard a booming roar.

"Boss!" the radio screamed. "They're f.u.c.king shooting at us!"

DeSalliers grabbed the radio. "What? Get away from them, jacka.s.s!"

"I can't! One of the G.o.d d.a.m.ned engines is blown!"

Another booming roar and suddenly the window beside DeSalliers dissolved into a thousand shards of gla.s.s, which went flying across the cabin. Dar pressed her body against the wall and threw her arm up to protect her face.

"s.h.i.t!" DeSalliers shoved off from the bar and bounced into Gregos, grabbing the gun from his henchman's belt and heading in Dar's direction.

SOMEWHERE BETWEEN GETTING on the Dixie and finding a way not to collapse, Kerry managed to get herself under control and put a screeching halt to her runaway panic. She staggered across the pitching back deck as Andrew threw himself at the ladder, yelling to a very scared-looking Charlie up top.

Bud was lying on the deck, still out cold. Bob was clinging to the railing, his eyes as huge as baseb.a.l.l.s. "Oh my G.o.d," he was saying, over and over again. "Oh my G.o.d. Oh my G.o.d. Oh my G.o.d."

"Please shut up." Kerry went past him and into the cabin, her knees barely holding her as she made it to the bench seats and yanked them up. She grabbed the shotgun case and pulled it out, her hands shaking. Can I even load it? With impatient fingers, Kerry*317 shoved sh.e.l.ls into place and worked the pump action. Then she stood up and headed for the door, grabbing the frame as the Dixie heeled over and picked up speed. She went outside, stopping short as she almost plowed into Andrew.

He looked at her, his eyes flicking to the shotgun. "Ya'll wanna give me that there thing?"

"No," Kerry answered hoa.r.s.ely. "I know how to shoot it."

The boat bounced over the waves, the spray drenching both of them. "Figured you did," Andrew replied. "But Ah figure Ah got more practice at it." He held out a hand. "And Ah know what part of that boat to hit."

Kerry handed the rifle over without another word. She followed him as he went to the side rail and got up onto the edging, then moved around to the bow of the boat. The storm almost obscured the DeSalliers' boat, but Kerry could see it crashing through the waves ahead of them, and she hung on to the side cleats with both hands as she squinted into the rain.

Andrew went to the front rail and knelt on the deck, curling one arm around the metal and propping up the shotgun with his other.

DeSalliers' boat was much faster than theirs, Kerry suddenly remembered. "Dad! They can outrun us!" she yelled as loud as she could.

"Naw," Andrew yelled back. "Ripped the fuel line out of one of them engines." He glanced behind him with a tense, rakish expression. "Jest in case."

Kerry crawled up behind him and held on to the rail, willing the Dixie to go faster. Her insides were tied in knots, and she realized then, just kneeling there, that she had no idea if Dar was even alive. A soft sound emerged from her throat and she gripped the rails with both hands. "Oh, G.o.d...please, please," she begged in a whisper. "Please don't take her from me."

She wasn't sure if Andrew heard her, but when she looked up again, he was looking back at her, those quiet, gentle blue eyes so very much like Dar's visible in the light from the Dixie's windows.

"S'gonna be all right, Kerry," Andrew told her. "We're gonna get them."

Kerry felt tears welling up again. "I don't want to lose her," she managed to get out. "I can't."

The big man gazed back at her with compa.s.sion and understanding. "Me neither, sweetheart. Only kid Ah got." He turned back around and threw the gun to his shoulder, sighting down the barrel and squeezing the trigger in a move just that fast.

The gun discharged, hitting DeSalliers' yacht just above the waterline. It swerved, and in the light from the cabin he saw a silhouette, one he recognized. He pumped a sh.e.l.l into the chamber 318*

and shot again, blowing out the window. "Step closer, you piece of meat," he muttered under his breath. "Hope them fish are hungry."

DAR WATCHED THE muzzle of the gun as DeSalliers pointed it directly at her. She was out of room to run, and the door was on the other side of the cabin. Trapped. f.u.c.k.

"Take this." DeSalliers threw the radio mic at her. "Tell them to f.u.c.king back off, or I'm going to blow your f.u.c.king head off."

Dar caught the mic by reflex and held it, her finger brushing the b.u.t.ton.

"Tell them!" DeSalliers screamed. He pointed the gun at her head, balancing himself against the wall with his other hand as the boat pitched in the waves. "Now!"

In that moment, Dar understood that she was likely to die. She didn't believe for one second that DeSalliers would hesitate to shoot her if she called off the Dixie, and frankly, she didn't believe for one second her father and her partner would stop, even if she asked them to. So. Dar wondered what it would feel like, and hoped it would be fast. Then she reserved the pain in her heart for missing Kerry, and how sorry she'd be to leave her. G.o.d, how much that hurt.

"Tell them!"

The pain echoed through her. Dar whipped the mic back at him. "f.u.c.k you," she yelled back. "I ain't telling them s.h.i.t! I hope they run right over this piece of c.r.a.p, with you in it!"

DeSalliers ducked the mic and thrust the gun toward her, squeezing the trigger with a ghastly grimace.

Dar flinched reflexively, and brought her hand up in a futile attempt to protect her face, closing her eyes as she waited for the pistol to fire.

Click.

Dar stared past her hand at DeSalliers. He squeezed the trigger again.

Click.

Dar jumped forward and grabbed the gun, wrestling it from his grasp. "Stupid a.s.shole." She threw the gun from her with as much force as she could. "I'm gonna kick your stinking a.s.s."

He stumbled backwards but she was on him now, pouncing like a cat and grabbing him by the lapels. Kerry had done damage to his face, but Dar wasn't interested in disfiguring him. She went for his throat, her hands closing on it as she let out a roar of anger and dug for his windpipe.

"Aough!" DeSalliers grabbed at her hands, kicking her in the knees as he tried to get away. "Help!"

Dar kept her grip as the boat pitched wildly and they fell*319 against the wall, her shoulder smashing against the window painfully. She saw Gregos trying to get to his feet, but she kept on squeezing DeSalliers, hearing the gagging noises her adversary was making.

"Hang on, boss!" The bodyguard grabbed a chair and threw it at Dar.

As she sensed the motion, Dar turned them both and the chair slammed into DeSalliers' back. He screamed, best he could with his throat being compressed, and fell heavily against Dar.

She twisted and tried to keep her feet, but just then the boat leaned over radically, and she found herself, DeSalliers, and the guard all falling through the air and smashing against the huge window on the far side of the cabin. When it shattered, Dar felt the surface drop out from under them and then she smelled the sea and diesel, and thought she heard screaming.

Maybe it was her.

"THEY'RE SLOWING DOWN!" Charlie yelled from the bridge.

"Taking on water!"

"Bet your a.s.s," Andy yelled back. "Get this d.a.m.n thing nose up to the back of that d.a.m.n thing!" He put down the shotgun and pulled a large automatic from the pack at his belt, standing up and holding the railing as they closed in. "Teach them b.a.s.t.a.r.ds to mess with mah kid."

Kerry could see men running around over on the yacht, and two came up on deck, yelling in alarm as they spotted the Dixie.