Chapter 11
Zoe’s hands gripped the gun tightly as Heath shimmied down the ladder and vaulted onto the luxury boat. The gun was warm from Heath’s hands, but it felt dangerous. The amount of damage it could do to a person…
She squeezed her eyes closed at the memory of Ali hunched over, blood spilling everywhere.
She’d shot a man.
A man who hadn’t hurt her.
A man who had captured and was hurting Heath.
And she still didn’t know what Heath had done.
For the first time during this whole debacle, she felt truly alone. Heath was on another boat and as he restrained the man on board, the boats drifted apart.
She exhaled slowly. Now wasn’t the time to panic. Not after everything she’d already gone through.
He would be back for her.
He’d promised.
She glanced around the wrecked cabin, her gaze only briefly touching on the dead man on the ground before moving on, her body shuddering. She gritted her teeth against the nausea swirling inside her. He’d just been doing his job.
She wanted off this boat.
The three men on the deck were talking, but she couldn’t hear their words. They were planning something, and she didn’t want to be on the boat when they came to an agreement.
She scanned the panel, looking for an off button or switch, and spotted a key. She turned it and the hum of the engine stopped. But the lights also went out.
Quickly she turned the key back a click, and the lights came on.
She rolled her shoulders, trying to shake out the tension.
If she had any skill with a gun, she’d go down there and separate the guards, or fire warning shots or something, but she was more likely to kill them by accident.
Her gaze roamed the rest of the deck as Heath disappeared into the cabin of the other boat.
Half of the boat was in shadow and half was brightly lit, which made it difficult to see in the dark areas.
Was that movement?
She stared hard into the shadows, but nothing moved.
Could she shift the spotlight around? Surely there must be some way of doing it from the inside and Heath didn’t need the other boat illuminated.
She scanned the console and found a lever which looked like it would do the job. She swung the light away from the luxury boat and towards the shadowy side of the deck and spotted Kamran creeping along the side carrying a machine gun.
He glanced up and grinned.
How the hell had he got free?
Zoe’s heart pounded as he ran along the deck towards the ladder. Obviously he’d seen Heath get onto the other boat. Her hand fumbled for the hailer Heath had used and she searched the luxury deck for him, but he wasn’t there.
“Darius, I need help.” She winced at the loud volume.
Kamran didn’t stop. He made a beeline for the ladder and started to climb. Zoe glanced at the other boat but still didn’t see Heath.
She swallowed hard, shifted out of the direct line of the doorway and took cover next to the cupboard. She kneeled in place, hands braced around the gun like Heath had shown her, and waited for the man to enter the room.
The light tap, tap, tap of hands and feet on the metal ladder were like drumbeats issuing a war challenge.
What if Heath had run into more enemies on the other boat?
What if he hadn’t heard her call?
Was she going to have to shoot someone else?
Her stomach heaved at the thought, but she swallowed it down.
The door handle squeaked as it turned.
Bang!
Zoe flinched at the noise and the resulting thud that followed.
“Zoe!” Heath’s voice.
Her pulse still vibrating, she peered up out of the window. Heath gestured her down.
She waved to show she understood and carefully got to her feet, moving over to the door to check the scarred man’s location.
He lay at the bottom of the ladder, his head a mess of blood and brains. Obliterated. Horror rose up, and she stumbled away and vomited the contents of her stomach, tears leaking out of her eyes.
She’d never seen anything like it. The movies always made it seem cleaner, a bullet hole in the front of the head. They never showed what the back of the head looked like.
Though her stomach continued to heave, she had to move, had to get off this boat.
She checked the other guards on deck. They were staring towards the base of the ladder.
Reconsidering any plans they might have had.
She checked on Heath, who was now behind the steering wheel and bringing the luxury boat alongside.
Time to get out of this nightmare.
On her final sweep of the cabin, she spotted the key still in the console and slid it into her pocket, plunging her into darkness, but the lights on the smugglers’ boat gave her a guide.
She climbed down the ladder, leaping over where she thought the mess of blood and gore was, and hurried to the opposite side of the boat to where Heath was pulling the boat up.
The smuggler on board lurched to his feet and Zoe stumbled back, but then Heath was there. “Grab the rope.” He tossed her the rear rope, and she awkwardly grabbed it.
“We’re going to do a swap. Him onto the navy boat and you over here,” Heath continued. “Jump over.”
With pleasure. She awkwardly climbed onto the deck of the luxury boat, further away from Heath and the prisoner, and sank to her knees.
Heath supported the man over the side onto the boat because his hands were tied behind his back, retrieved the rope and then hurried to her. “Are you all right?” His hand was warm, but right now she was cold inside.
Still, she nodded. “Can we get away from here?”
“Yeah. Head into the cabin when you’re ready. It’s clear.”
In moments Heath accelerated into the darkness, putting distance between them and the nightmare.
Zoe stayed where she was, curled into a ball as the boat bounced over the waves.
Safe.
She was safe even if those men were dead.
The blood and mess of Kamran’s face flashed across her mind, and she blinked rapidly, trying not to heave again.
Had they deserved it?
The thought shocked her, but she took a minute to consider all that had happened since the navy boat had stopped them.
They were doing their jobs, arresting Heath for who knows what he had done.
Was Heath actually the bad guy here?
They had strung him up like they were going to torture him, but that could be standard procedure in Iran.
She hugged herself as she looked up at the cabin. Heath’s silhouette was just visible amongst the glow from the dials in the room.
What did she know about him?
He was Australian special forces. But that didn’t make him incorruptible.
He was well-prepared.
He had a kind heart to go after the children when his mission was to get the embassy personnel out of Qatar.
But he’d done something to make him a wanted man in Iran. Something that made the men who had arrested him positively gleeful at seeing him.
Then he’d shot them without hesitation.
But he had been protecting her.
She exhaled a shaky breath. Her gut told her he was a good man, but for her own peace of mind she needed confirmation.
Carefully she got to her feet and glanced up. Heath was looking out the window. She waved and pointed to the cabin, hoping he would leave her alone. Someone had to steer the boat, and they weren’t far enough away from the navy boat for comfort yet.
He acknowledged her with a wave, and she felt his eyes on her until she passed into the cabin.
She didn’t turn on any lights, didn’t want to become a spotlight in the dark. But she could make out a few large shapes that indicated a table and bench seats.
She glanced out the window, but the navy boat still bobbed in the water behind them, not moving in any direction.
Zoe sank into a chair and pulled out her phone. A couple of bars. As she unlocked it, she noticed the message she had written earlier had been sent.
There was one person who could answer her questions about Heath.
She dialled Dobby’s number.
“Hello?” Part barked greeting, part suspicion.
“Is this Dobby?”
“Who’s this?”
Definitely suspicious. “My name is Zoe Yelton—”
“Where’s Joker?”
“Steering the boat—”
“What happened?”
She huffed out a breath. “If you stop interrupting me, I’ll tell you.”
Dobby grunted out what might have been a half-laugh. “Go ahead.”
“We were stopped by an Iranian navy patrol,” Zoe said. “Heath was arrested by Ali and Kamran. Do you know who they are?”
“Yeah.”
“I convinced Ali to let the children continue to Qatar, but he wanted me as leverage.” She exhaled.
“The boat was attacked by smugglers and we had to shoot a couple of people.” She didn’t actually know how they factored into the story.
She didn’t want to mention Heath had shot Iranian navy personnel over the phone in case they recorded these kinds of conversations.
“We’re now on the smugglers’ luxury boat and I think we’re heading for the UAE. ”
“What happened to the smugglers?”
She shuddered. “One of them is on the navy boat. I’m not sure what happened to the rest if there were more.” But there were likely to have been a few.
“Did Heath ask you to call me?” Dobby asked.
“No.” She hesitated. “I, uh, wanted to ask why Heath was wanted by the Iranian authorities.”
“I can’t tell you that. It’s classified.”
A little relief seeped through. “It was part of his role as a special forces soldier?”
A pause. “I can’t confirm or deny that.”
She bit her lip. It sounded like that was the case, but she still wanted reassurance. “What I’m asking is, was Heath justified in… what he did to escape from the men?”
“Heath would never hurt an innocent.” The words shot out instantly. “He’s more likely to get himself injured if it’s a choice between them and him.” Dobby’s tone was gentler now.
Heath had stepped between her and his captor the second he was free.
“You’re safe with him,” Dobby said. “He will do everything he can to get you back to Australia safely.”
Zoe exhaled. “Thank you. I just… after everything that’s happened… I wanted to make sure.”
“I promise you, you’re with one of the best men I know.”
Tears welled in relief, and her voice broke. “Thank you.”