Chapter 26 Cilla
CILLA
My teeth chattered as I slogged through the rapidly rising water.
Patch?
I couldn’t imagine how we weren’t going to sink with all the water coming in.
What the hell had happened?
I’d felt the boat list and a loud sound before it evened back out.
Had someone hit us?
I hurried up the stairs and out to the bridge deck. There was a boat headed our way with two women and two men waving me to the side to talk to them.
I should stay back.
Locke said to stay away from anyone other than him.
They were all in their twenties.
“Are you taking on water?” One yelled out.
“He’s trying to patch it,” I shouted back.
The boat glided up to the side of us. “Does he need help?”
The blond guy was poised to jump.
“No!” I held up my hands. “I think we’re going to be okay, but if you want to just...stay there for a few minutes to make sure?”
“We can do that.” The girl looked from me to her crew mate. “We’re here for the regatta. You too?”
I nodded. “Just a spectator.” I held up the SAT phone. “I need to call our friends.”
The girl nodded. “We’ll just stick by you.”
“Thanks.”
I sidled over to the left side of the boat, away from the sounds of the engine from our would-be rescuers. I kept looking over my shoulder as I dialed Bastian with shaking fingers.
“What the hell happened?”
“I don’t know.”
“Cilla?”
“Yeah. There was an explosion I think.”
“Fuck.”
“I need to give you my coordinates, I think.”
“Don’t worry, we’ve got them already.”
I frowned. “How?”
“The case we sent with Locke has a tracker. We’re already on our way to you with the chopper.”
“Chopper? Like helicopter?”
“Yeah. Jackson is fueling it up as we speak. We’ll be there soon, Cilla. Don’t worry.”
I blew out a breath. “Okay.”
I hung up and clipped the phone to my hip since it wouldn’t fit in my pocket. I went back to where the sailboat was keeping pace with us.
God, I should probably drop the anchor or something. I wound my way up to the captain’s station and looked over the buttons. I’d watched him do this a dozen times.
I could do this.
I looked for the auto button and turned it off, then throttled the boat down to a drift.
“We can help. Or you can come over here at least.” The woman from the sailboat called out.
Don’t get off the ship.
Locke’s words rang through my head. I ignored the woman and ran back down into the main living space.
“Locke, there’s a ship outside.”
I heard something inflate and suddenly the boat stopped listing.
I slammed into the wall, catching myself on the railing before I pitched down the stairs.
“Locke?”
“Stay on the boat. Did you call Bastian?”
“Yes, they’re on their way.”
“What do you mean, they’re on their way?” He stuck his head out of larger storage area.
“Something about a helicopter.”
“Fucking hell. Okay, I need you to help me with this foam sealer.”
“There’s a boat beside us.”
He shot a look at me. “How many people?” He nodded me to hold the inflatable tight to the irregular hole.
I pushed the edges closer as he used a quick action foam that grew right before my eyes.
“Four. All in their twenties.”
“Should be fine then.”
We worked together quickly. Me, holding the weird inflatable yellow thing and him with the sticky foam. By the time it was all sealed, we were both sweating.
He helped me out of the room and the sound of something humming had me stop him. “What’s that?”
“The pump. I’m trying to get all the water I can out of there.” He helped me up the stairs. “Get everything you need out of our side of the boat.”
I nodded and rushed down to the left side stairs to our bedroom. I grabbed my hard-shell suitcase and threw clothes in there as well as a few sets of shorts, underwear, and T-shirts for Locke.
My leg wasn’t happy with me by the time I hauled it up the stairs, but these were extenuating circumstances.
When I got topside, Locke was speaking with the regatta people. He had his arms folded defensively and his feet spread leaving him an imposing wall.
The blond guy who tried to board was mirroring Locke, but not exactly as impressive. He was gym fit and obviously monied, just like the rest of his crew. I stashed my suitcase and climbed to the upper deck. He lowered his hands to his sides and pulled me tight to him.
“Thanks for your help,” I said quietly as I ducked under his arm and wrapped mine along the small of his back. He smelled like wet cardboard and smoke, but I didn’t care.
“What happened?”
I opened my mouth but Locke spoke first.
“Crack in the hull.”
I glanced up at him. “Right. It was pretty scary.”
“We really appreciate that you stopped in to check on us.”
“Would do it for anyone, but I’m not mad to get a look at this vessel.” The friendly girl who spoke to me before was openly admiring the boat and Locke I was pretty sure.
Blond guy was puffing up his chest all the more.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Now that the adrenaline rush was gone, I was ready to fall down.
If it was another day I imagine Locke would talk boats with her, but he was as close to an immovable statue as I’d seen him since the hospital. Bodyguard mode?
“You sure you don’t want us to take you to the marina?”
“No, we have friends coming to help us out.”
“You sure?” The guy who hadn’t spoken up yet asked.
“We’re good.”
“Did you stop taking on water?”
Locke’s eyes narrowed. “The patch worked.”
“Right. Well, that’s good then.” He gave Locke a tight smile. “We’ll be off then.”
Locke’s arm tightened around me.
“Everything okay?” I asked when they were far enough out.
“Just too friendly.”
I tipped my chin up. “Too friendly?”
He shrugged. “They could just be gossipy, but I don’t know. I don’t trust anything right now.”
I glanced out at the boat. The quieter guy was still looking our way. I raised a hand to wave to him, and he seemed to startle before waving back.
“Maybe you’re right.”
He looked down at me. “Thanks for not getting in their boat. I know you were scared.”
“More scared to be without you.” I turned into him and wrapped both arms around him.
“Did Bastian say what their ETA was?”
I shook my head.
He brushed a kiss at my temple. “I’m going to check something.”
I followed him down to the bridge deck. He was coming out of the sliding door with a big black case. “Is that from Nyx?”
“No, Mason. He’s the tech guru at Kendrick.” He flipped it open and pulled out a small cube and tablet. “We need to go to the top deck for this, I think.”
I followed him back up, my thigh throbbed from all the excitement, but it was only a twinge.
He set the cube down on the smooth nose of the neck. He tapped on the tablet and suddenly it opened with tiny little machines that looked about the size of a large insect. “Are those drones?”
“Sure are. They are programmed to create a grid. I want to take a look at the boats around here and the marina. I doubt it will help at this point, but I’d like to record what’s around us and see if Nyx can find anything out of the ordinary.”
My breath caught as the drones lifted out and scattered into the sky.
“I’m assuming you got the name of the boat from our helpers?”
He grinned at me. “You gunning for a job with Leo?”
I laughed. “Hardly. I am exceptional with numbers though. Think he needs another analyst?”
“He always needs those.”
I’d said it as a joke, but the idea of it settled in my chest. I would need to start over whenever this ordeal was over. Would Locke even want me around still?
Pushing that thought aside, I peered over his shoulder at the screen. It was a surprisingly clear picture of the marina and the sailboats anchored around the island.
I didn’t know the first thing about it, but Locke seemed to know what he was doing. I left him to it and wandered over to the railing. Our little oasis was now smoke-tinged and damaged. Was it a freak incident or had the monster found us?
I rubbed my arms as a chill ripped through me even as the sun shimmered off the choppy sea around us.
The sound of chopper blades in the distance had me shielding my eyes and looking to the sky. An impressive black helicopter advanced on us. It stayed well up into the sky, the blades whipping the waves into a frenzy around us.
The doors opened and a black cord came down.
“We’re not going up there like that are we?” I shouted over the noise.
“We sure are.” The little drones careened around the boat thanks to the helicopter’s disturbance of the air. But they all filed into the little cube that Locke stuffed into his cargo leg pocket.
A man came zipping down the black rope. He wore all black with a backpack strapped to him that could fit a damn body. He dropped to the deck with a devilish smile. “You rang?”
Locke rolled his eyes. “Jesus, I know Leo must be worried about us if he sent you, Durant.”
“Cilla meet Dante Durant.”
“Pleasure is entirely mine.” The dimples and scruff were charm personified. His eyes were hidden behind mirrored aviators. He turned his attention onto Locke. “I’m going to look over the ship and get it to a dry dock for repairs.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Not a problem. I always wanted to see a regatta.” He gave Locke a salute and handed him the rope.
“What about our things?” I looked up at the bottom of the helicopter with dread. Heights had never been a fear, but I think it might have just been unlocked—right now.
“She’s got a suitcase full of our stuff on the bridge deck.”
“I’ll grab it. You get her situated.” Dante dropped his massive bag and took off to the lower deck.
“Me situated?”
He wrapped an arm around me.
“Don’t we need like a harness or something?” My heart tripped at his closeness and then situation.
“Not with me you don’t.”
“You’re kidding.”
He laughed for the first time all day. “I’m kidding. We’re sending the suitcase up first.”
I punched him in the arm.
He chuckled as Dante came back with my hard-shell suitcase. Locke did a few intricate knots on it then tugged on the line. The boat swayed a little and I was pretty sure the people on the water weren’t too keen on the helicopter hovering over all the boats.
My suitcase zipped up then a few seconds later a harness came down.
“Step in.”
Locke held the harness open for me and buckled it around me. He turned to Dante and bumped his knuckles. “Take care of her.”
“I’ll make sure she doesn’t sink.”
“Thanks man.” He held me close and tucked his foot into a strap.
“Wait. You’re not getting in—” I was cut off when Locke tugged on the line, and we started rising quickly.
“Don’t worry, baby. I won’t let go,” he said into my ear before he looked up at the two men waiting in the beast of a helicopter. He held out a hand and a massive guy with absolutely no neck hauled him up, then me. “Been a minute, Hulk.” He slapped his arm.
The massive man just grunted and gently unbuckled me. “You can harness in over there, Miss Priscilla.”
“Thanks.”
Locke nodded to Jackson in the front and got me situated before pulling on a headset. “Thanks, man.”
He put a headset over my ears, and the loud blades went quiet.
“Never a dull moment with you, Jordan.”
The helicopter suddenly pulled up, and my stomach returned to the boat. I gripped the arm rest between us. Locke covered my hand, and I shut my eyes as we took off.
The speed was as breathtaking as was the sudden altitude. I sat back as Locke and Jackson spoke about what happened. The big guy that Locke called Hulk sat quietly in the front with Jackson, his attention on the gauges and buttons in front of them.
“Look outside.”
I gripped his hand. “I’m good.”
He laced our fingers together. “Look.”
I glanced out the open doors and my stomach pitched again, but then my breath caught.
From up here the hundreds of boats seemed like toys.
The sails were a mix of pure white and rich colors along with names for the boats as well as companies that probably sponsored either the crew or the regatta itself.
But as we banked back inland I caught a whale breaching the water.
I glanced at Locke. The day had been filled with so much fear and joy that my system didn’t even know what to assimilate first. But when he gripped my hand, I concentrated on him.
On Locke and how he grounded me in the moment.
Even when I wasn’t sure where we were going from here.