18. Tyler
I gripped Indiana to my chest as sobs wracked through her body. Her sorrow seeping into my bones was as raw as her warm tears dripping onto my neck. Gliding my hand over her hair, I wanted to say that everything would be okay, but I would be lying. Her father’s death was just the beginning. Flames leaped up from the lower deck as if celebrating that Indiana’s boat wouldn’t survive this night either.
Wesley appeared amidst the flames. Just like Old Smithy, his death could have been avoided.
My bullet had killed Wesley, and I had to live with that for the rest of my life.
Wesley gave me the bird, his signature parting wave goodbye, then vanished in a puff of smoke.
Indiana will not die in a puff of smoke.
I will protect her.
We will survive this.
As if rejecting my vow, Rhino shuddered around us, and the full scuba tanks secured in a cage at the back clanged together.
“Indiana, we need to move.”
Nodding, she eased away from my shoulder. As she wiped tears from her eyes, smudging black soot across her cheeks, her gaze fell to her father’s bloody body at her feet.
She swept her gaze from her father to the inferno destroying her boat.
“Rhino.” Her voice cracked.
“We can’t save her now.” I hated that I needed to say that. “We need to abandon ship. What can we use to help us?”
She shook her head. “The raft is fucked.”
I nodded. The drone had shredded the front of the rubber raft to pieces.
“And we can’t contact anyone.” Her shoulders caved even more. “And I don’t have any flares left.”
I was a beat off asking how the fuck that was possible, but I reined it in. How didn’t matter.
I scanned the equipment room, resisting glancing at Old Smithy as I searched for something we could use to escape. The room was chaos; nothing stood out as helpful.
“Indy,” I murmured, pissed off that there was no time for her grief, “I need your help.”
A blast erupted from the other side of the equipment room wall.
“Shit! We need to get out of here.”
“This can’t be happening.” Her voice was barely audible above the roaring inferno. She was a statue of despair with her eyes fixed on the flames that were stealing the only life she’d ever known. I wanted to hold her and help her keep it together as her world splintered apart.
I gripped her arm. “Listen, we need a plan. Your dad wants you to live, Indy. Help me figure this out.”
“Dad loved this boat.”
“Rhino is gone! Your dad is gone.” There was no time for delicate reassurances. “If we don’t act now, we’ll be gone, too.”
She blinked slowly; her gaze fixed on the leaping flames. I knew the stages of grief. I’d lived through them myself. But if we didn’t move now, we were both dead.
“Indiana!” I snapped. “Where are the lifejackets?”
She flinched, and her amber eyes snapped into focus. Her gaze darted around the equipment room like a wild animal caught in a trap.
The deck beneath our feet shuddered.
“This way,” she yelled and dashed out the equipment room doors like a gazelle in flight.
I shut the equipment room doors behind me, and as I chased after her, my neoprene booties rubbed against the backs of my ankles.
The inferno was like an alien creature, covering the old deck timber with greedy flaming fingers. At the edge of the equipment room, we turned the corner and scanned along the deck. Fiery orange tendrils licked the walls, reaching for the roof of the equipment room. We sprinted along the side deck, and the air was both hot and reeked of burnt oil.
Bullet holes pockmarked the deck in jagged lines.
Did I destroy that drone?
It had fallen from the sky, but I’d thought that once already, and it had proved me wrong.
I followed her past the hut, and when she sprinted onto the bridge, she released an agonized cry.
“Fucking hell!” She squeezed her temples like her brain was going to explode.
The benches were ripped to shreds, and the front windshield had disintegrated into a million tiny pieces that covered everything. Every piece of equipment was destroyed.
“The life jackets, Indy!” I gripped her wrist. “Where are they?”
Her expression twisted into despair as she yanked away shattered chunks of a cupboard door and pulled out a life jacket.
She held it up, and my brain nearly imploded. The jacket was full of bullet holes.
She dropped the jacket and yanked out another one. It was worse than the first.
“What do we do?” Fear sharpened her question into a blade that cut straight to my soul. She darted her gaze out the shattered windshield. “We’re in the middle of nowhere. Without lifejackets, we won’t last long out there.”
Another blast erupted from the opposite end of the boat, and the floor shuddered beneath our feet.
The fucking fire wasn’t waiting for us to make our next move.
Indiana clutched the bench. Her eyes filled with absolute terror. “We’re going to die.”
“Listen to me.” I gripped her shoulders. “We’re going to live. I promise you that.”
She squinted at me. “I bet you’ve said that before.”
I did a double-take. It was like she’d reached into my mind and stolen a fucked-up memory from the moment that nearly ended my life.
“Yes,” I growled, “and I’m still here, aren’t I?”
She didn’t need to know that the kid I’d promised that to didn’t make it through that gunfight.
“Come on.” I yanked her out of the bridge.
Ash fell around us, and at the back of the boat, flames leaped into the evening sky.
Rhinoreleased a shuddering groan as if furious over the flaming attack, and the floor tilted below us.
“Fuck!” I yelled. “We’re sinking.”
“No. No. No!” Indiana cried.
A buzzing noise cut through the cacophony, and I snapped my gaze out to the ocean. A tiny red dot wobbled in the air against the darkening backdrop. A spray of bullets slammed into the railings, casting sparks into the air like mini fireworks.
“Run!” I screamed. “Into the hut!”
Pumping my arms and legs, I chased after Indiana as she streaked ahead of me. The fucking wetsuit was like a straitjacket, and the boots were like cannon balls on my feet.
The bullets thumped into the deck behind me, wild and erratic.
Maybe I’d ruined its sights. The drone dipped wildly, then darted upward like the person controlling it had keeled over backward.
Smoke stung my eyes, and the heat contained in the wetsuit smothered me. Rhino jolted beneath us like the hull had been hit with an undetonated torpedo. Indiana stumbled but pushed off the wall, then darted into the hut.
With every step, I fought for a plan. We had to get off Rhino but jumping into the ocean made us sitting ducks for that fucking drone.
But Rhino is sinking. We’re out of options.
There had to be something. It was my job to save Indiana.
Think! Fucking think!
A guttural cry of twisting metal carved through the chaos and the tilting deck made it fucking clear we were running out of time.
I sprinted into the hut. Indiana stood next to the shredded kitchen cupboards, and her breasts heaved beneath her bikini top as she sucked in air.
The beeping hard drive was like a countdown to our imminent demise.
“What do we do?” Her terrified expression tore out my heart.
“I’m working on it.” I yanked open the kitchen cupboards, and the door crumbled into chunks in my hand.
“What are you looking for?” she yelled.
“I don’t know yet.” I yanked open another cupboard beneath the bench and swept out pots and pans and a broken scuba mask. The wetsuit was suffocating me, but I didn’t have time to take it off. I was going to need it again soon anyway. No way was I jumping overboard without some protection. Sweat streamed down my face, mingling with the soot that smeared my skin.
A fire extinguisher.
“Yes!” I tugged it from the back of the cupboard.
Indiana’s wide eyes filled with hopelessness. “It’s too late, Tyler. We can’t save Rhino.”
Bullets thumped into the rear of the hut.
“Get down.” I dropped the extinguisher and dove onto Indiana. We crashed onto the coffee grounds all over the floor.
The bullets were erratic, convincing me that whoever was driving that thing no longer had full control over its weapon or its flight ability. Its vision may not be obstructed, though. We needed them to think we went down with the ship.
“You okay?” I asked.
Her face was smeared with soot, and her chest heaved. “No. That fucking thing is pissing me off.”
I pushed up from her, and my gaze snagged on the broken mask. “Our scuba gear!”
I stood and helped her up.
“What about it?” Her voice trembled like the deck beneath our feet.
“We have no choice but to get off your boat, right?”
The floor beneath us jolted into a treacherous slant. Indiana stumbled, but I caught her arm, steadying us both. Rhino wailed, and with a giant crack, the back wall of the hut split in two, allowing the final rays of the setting sun to spear into the hut.
I gripped Indiana’s wrist, pulling her gaze to me.
“We need whoever is driving that drone to think we’re dead. So, we’ll get the scuba gear, and hopefully, without the drone seeing us, we’ll jump overboard. Okay?” I said with conviction that I didn’t feel.
“Okay. Yes.” Her amber eyes grew hard with determination.
“Good. We need to move fast before the equipment room goes under.” My words were clipped as if the weight of our time restraint pressed on my throat.
Indiana’s gaze locked with mine, and I could see her mind turning.
“Let’s go.” I grabbed the fire extinguisher, hoping I didn’t need to fight that fire to get our scuba gear. Or worse, that the scuba tanks weren’t destroyed in those explosions we heard.
The beeping hard drive pierced my brain as if the asshole behind the drone was daring us to defy him.
I marched to my backpack and pulled out the device. “I’m not leaving without this.”
Whatever was on that device was the reason we were attacked. The contents would either kill us or save us. Confirming the plastic seal was tight, I unzipped my wetsuit, nestled the device next to my chest, and zipped up again.
Indiana wrestled with the sleeve of her wetsuit, her movements jerky.
“Here.” I stepped to her. “Let me help.”
She stilled and looked so feeble I wanted to crush her to my chest and just hold her until the real Indiana emerged again. She allowed me to guide her hands into the arms of her wetsuit, and working together, we manipulated the unruly neoprene into place.
I moved to her front, and as she sucked her lips into her mouth like she was trying not to cry, I glided her zipper up over her breasts. The wetsuit clung to her curves like a second skin, and her surrender to me showed just how shattered she was.
But I needed her. I couldn’t do this without this incredible woman.
I cupped her chin, tilting her gaze to mine. “We’ll be okay. We’ll get through this.”
Despite the worry darkening her eyes, and the soot and sweat on her face, Indiana was still so beautiful. My stupid heart longed for me to kiss her.
“Hey . . . you with me?” I asked, choking back my untimely urges begging to be heard.
She cupped my cheeks and pulled my lips down to hers. Her lips were soft, but her kiss was desperate, like she believed this moment would be the last thing she ever remembered.
I cupped her neck, pulling her closer, and our tongues glided together.
A warmth fluttered from my belly and swirled around my heart, and I never wanted to let her go. But the goddammed beeping inside my wetsuit claimed my thoughts, and I wanted to rip the fucking thing away from my chest and toss it overboard.
Way too soon, she broke our kiss. “There’s more of that when we can breathe again.”
A grin claimed my mouth which was so out of place with the chaos shuddering through my brain. “Then let’s get the fuck out of here.”
I squeezed her hand, and she clutched my palm to hers. Somehow, that said so much more than our brief kiss.
Fighting her own smile, she glided her tongue over her lips as if tasting me again, and fierce determination returned to her amber eyes.
“On my go,” I said. “We’ll sprint back to the equipment room. Okay?”
She nodded. “What do you want me to do?”
“Stay behind me and keep an eye out for that fucking drone. I shot it a couple of times, so I think its aim is off, but I don’t want to test that theory.”
“Me neither.” The steel in her eyes confirmed battle-hardened Indiana was back.
Gripping the fire extinguisher, I hid behind the wall next to the exit and peered outside. The glow from the setting sun barely colored the western horizon, and millions of stars dotting the evening sky confirmed we were heading into night.
Giant flames danced along the rear deck, casting as many shadows as they did light.
“Go.” Crouching over, we hugged the wall as we ran.
I split my attention between the sky, searching for the red pinprick that revealed the drone’s location and the inferno ahead.
Rhinolisted further, and I imagined water gushing into the cabins below and destroying everything Indiana and Old Smithy had kept in private. Rage blazed through me. They were good people. They didn’t deserve this bullshit.
Clenching my jaw, I vowed that I was going to find the fucker behind this attack and tear him to shreds.
The angle of the deck grew more precarious with each step. The stench of burning rubber and charred timber overpowered everything else.
As we neared the rear deck, I paused beside a giant metal stump that looked like a knuckle bone and turned to Indiana. Golden flames danced in her eyes.
“You ready?”
“Yes.” The conviction in her voice matched her steely expression.
I pulled the pin from the fire extinguisher, and setting the pace, I ran next to the wall of the equipment room, spraying thick foam onto the flames devouring the money scattered at our feet. I turned the corner, and the fire roared as I fought to show it who was boss.
When we burst inside the equipment room, Rhino groaned like a beast beneath us.
I shut the doors, and as heat licked my back, I stepped away from the metal door.
The chaos of the equipment room had multiplied in our absence as equipment succumbed to the shift in gravity. Vests, fins, and masks were scattered among the mess. Thankfully, the tanks were still contained in their cage.
Amidst the mayhem, Old Smithy lay crumpled in a pool of blood. His body had slipped toward the fishing gear as if his favorite rod wanted to send him a farewell.
Indiana collapsed beside him, and her hand shook as she rolled him onto his back and cupped his weatherbeaten face. “Oh, Dad.”
Her voice cracked, and her raw pain sliced through the smoke-filled air.
“Indy. We have to go. There’s nothing we can do for him now.”
“I know.” She stood, and her amber eyes swam with unshed tears and something else: a fierce determination to live through another life-altering event.
“You know what?” Her tone was surprisingly steady. “Going down with the ship would have been exactly what Dad would have wanted. Rhino is the perfect coffin for him.”
“Good.” I kissed her cheek. “Then let’s ensure he gets his other wish—that you live.”
Her lips formed a wobbly smile. “Okay.”
Shoving away pieces of equipment, we pulled together all the dive gear we needed as outside the metal doors, the fire raged like a monster was clawing at our backs.
“Tyler,” Indiana yelled over the sounds of splitting timber. “We may need more than one tank.”
“Okay. How do we do that?”
“If we toss the full tanks overboard, they’ll sink straight to the bottom, and we can fetch them when we get down there.”
“Good idea.” I tugged one of the tanks from the cage, and as she dragged it to the door, I hauled out a second one. “Let’s get our gear ready before we dump these.”
As we put our kits together, the metal doors screeched as if fighting the scorching heat.
Indiana tested my kit, making sure I’d done everything correctly. With a nod, she scooped a spare tank into her arms. “Ready?”
“I’ll go first?—”
“Go!” She burst open the door and took off.
Cursing at her through the crackling fire, I gripped the tank and chased after her, running over charred hundred-dollar bills and chunks of burning debris.
At the side railing, she hurled the tank overboard without pausing. I did the same. After the initial splash, our tanks sunk into the abyss, ready for us to find them later.
Provided this plan worked.
Rhinolet out a colossal groan and her ass dropped away. I grabbed Indiana as we tumbled sideways, crashing into the railing that bordered the lower deck.
“She’s going, Indy! We need to run.” Gripping her hand, I pulled her toward the equipment room.
As the angle of the deck became a monstrous force, water gushed over the dive deck, smothering the flames. Dense smoke and an evil hiss added to the chaos.
Now it wasn’t just the fire that was a beast at our backs, it was the ocean hungry for destruction.
We ran into the equipment room, and as I tried to block Indiana’s view of Old Smithy’s body jammed against the other door, I lifted her integrated dive vest with the attached tank onto her back.
Rhino lurched beneath us. Water crept across the floor.
We had seconds, maybe less.
Fighting gravity, she helped me into my gear. Her movements were frantic yet precise. Tears mingled with soot on her cheeks, but her hands didn’t tremble. Not this woman. Not Indiana Smith. She was wild and untamed, yet strong. She’d also shown me a vulnerability that twisted something deep inside me.
I would give my life for her.
But I hoped it didn’t come to that because I wanted to have a whole lot more of her.
We pulled our masks over our heads, down to our necks, and grabbed our fins.
“I’m shutting these doors behind us,” she yelled over the noise. “I owe Dad that.”
“Okay.” There was no point arguing. “Let’s go.”
“Bye, Dad, I love you.” Her tone was filled with sorrow that hit me harder than the bullet that Wesley shot into my back.
She yanked open the door.
The floor buckled and timber cracked, opening a massive gap in the deck like a giant had sliced a sword across the charred wood.
We used our shoulders to shove the searing hot doors shut, and I used my elbow to bang the locking mechanism in place.
I grabbed Indiana’s hand, and as smoke clawed at my throat, I stumbled over charred chunks of timber. Battling the angle of the floor and the weight of the tank on my back, I dragged Indiana with me. The roaring fire chased us as I clutched my fins in one hand and Indiana’s palm in the other and scrambled toward the side of the boat.
Flames licked at our heels as if greedy for one final taste.
Once at the side railing, the angle of the boat and the weight of the tanks on our backs made it impossible to climb over the top.
“This way.” Taking the lead, Indiana gripped the railing, and as she shuffled along to a gap in the railing, I peered along Rhino’s deck toward the bridge. It was like looking into the flames of hell, and I hated that the decimation of her boat would be the last image Indiana would have of her beloved Rhino.
At the railing opening, she stood on the edge. Tears spilled down her cheeks.
“Jump on three,” I said, desperate to save her from the nightmare.
“Three.” Her chin quivered as she stepped off the side.
“Shit!” I wrestled my fins over my booties, pulled my mask onto my face, put my breather in my mouth, sucked in a mouthful of air, and jumped in after her.
The beeping device added a stressful rhythm to my racing heartbeat as I descended into the darkness, searching for her. Her flashlight flicked on, then off.
Kicking my fins, I swam to her and as we swam side by side escaping the chaos, I hoped the ocean was the only witness to our escape.
When the beeping in my wetsuit stopped, Indiana halted swimming and rolled onto her back.
Copying her move, I turned to face Rhino’s surrender to the inferno. The orange glow was surprisingly beautiful as flaming debris rained into the ocean and sank past us like it was hailing red hot coals.
I reached for Indiana and clutched her trembling hand in mine.
She gripped my palm like I was her last connection to the world.
Then a thunderous explosion ripped us apart.