25. Grayson
CHAPTER 25
Grayson
W e hit the water hard, but I kept a firm hold of Clementine and Harvey.
The last thing I wanted to deal with when we got out of this mess was how pissed-off she would be if I let her father bob off away on the waves.
I could hear gunshots peppering the water and I took a deep breath and dove under. Both Clementine and Harvey started struggling in my arms, but I ignored that and started pumping my legs toward where the boat was.
Finally, all my aquatic training was coming in useful.
The current was choppy and strong, but then, so the fuck am I.
In a few strong strokes, I was at the boat, and I popped up, rolling Clementine over the edge and into the bow. Then I gripped the side with one arm and hauled Harvey over. He was still hanging onto that goddamn suitcase, and I quickly shoved him in as he landed on his head with a satisfying thump.
Clementine was there, grabbing me and trying to help me into the boat.
“Get over here, Dad!” she hissed.
“I’m trying,” Harvey grunted. “There’s just so goddamn much of him!”
“Just get out of the way!” I warned him in a low tone as I swung my leg over the side and quickly started the boat.
There was so much adrenaline pumping through my veins I barely even noticed my shoulder, but I knew it was going to hurt like a bitch later.
As I swung the boat around, I heard a motor start behind us, and I knew it was Rocky and his men giving chase.
“Get down!” I ordered Clementine and her dad, and she obeyed me.
“You get down, too!” she hissed at me.
I couldn’t really crouch any further down over the wheel and still drive the boat.
“They’re shitty shots,” I said, but somehow that didn’t seem to reassure her.
Most of the shots missed us, but a few hit the outside of the boat. Their boat was sleeker and faster than ours, too.
Shit.
If I didn’t do something, they could overtake us and run right over our bow, slicing through the metal and sinking us.
“Hang on tight, sweetheart,” I ordered, and like a good girl, she did.
Twisting the wheel suddenly, I spun the boat around and jammed on the gas, going backwards and ramming Rocky’s boat.
I knew it would knock them off balance, so as soon as it hit, I was over the prow, and into the other boat.
The first guy was already staggering at the impact, and it only took a well-placed elbow to the skull for him to fall senseless out of the boat.
Unfortunately, the second guy was still upright, and swung a pretty good punch right across my jaw.
Their boat was rocking hard and I dodged his other blow, jabbing him sharply in the ribs.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rocky pulling something with a metallic glint from his pocket.
Shit
Then my heart practically stopped as Clementine leaped into the boat and swung at Rocky with the suitcase.
“Get down!” I yelled at agony, desperately headbutting the man behind me as I heard his skull crack, then I charged forward.
What if she got knocked over into the harsh choppy water?
What if he turned that gun on her ?
My hands were around Rocky’s throat before he had even made a full turn toward her, and in my rage, I tightened my hands together, smashing his windpipe as he let out a whistling rattle, then I jerked on his throat and I felt his neck snap underneath my fingers.
The boat tipped and I lunged for Clementine, sweeping her in my arms as it began to fill with water.
“Put that goddamn suitcase down!” I said harshly. “I don’t give a shit about $50 million dollars. I only care about you.”
Her teeth had begun to chatter, and I held her tighter against me.
“My precious girl,” I kept saying over and over, my hands tangled tight in her long hair. “You didn’t stay in the boat. You could have been hurt!”
“He was going to s-shoot you, Grayson,” she said through chattering teeth, and my heart leaped with a fierce, wild hope.
I tightened my arms around my love and leaped into the other boat with Harvey and we watched silently as Rocky and the other two corpses disappeared down forever to the fathomless blue depths of the sea.