11. Sydney
CHAPTER 11
SYDNEY
“You can’t leave me here.”
When I woke up this morning, I never imagined I’d be begging a stranger—especially a grumpy one—to take me with him on his boat. Apparently, all sense of pride flies away when it comes to life-or-death choices.
I can’t call Mom and Dad. They’re too far to help, and it would only worry them. I can’t call my brothers. They’d end up in the middle of this mess with me.
“I can, and I will.” He snorts and turns toward the boat as though he’s just going to leave me here on the dock.
I’m desperate, so I grab his callused hand. “Don’t go without me. They’ll kill me.”
He doesn’t answer. He stares at our linked hands, where I look incredibly desperate. Time to say the words every human loves to hear. “You were right. They followed me to the parking lot of the police station. I couldn’t even get out of the car, and then they chased me through town. Fletcher told me to come to you.”
His eyes flare at the mention of Fletcher’s name, and I don’t think it’s helping my cause.
“Please take me up the bay.”
“No,” he practically growls and tries to push my hands off his wrist. He doesn’t know I can be a stage-five clinger when I want to be. I have a heck of a grip.
“I’ll pay you.”
He pauses and looks at me. “Do you have money? I don’t take any other form of payment.”
“Well, not right now…” It’s a little hard to explain, spur of the moment, that I’m about to be a multi-millionaire—if I can find where the money is stashed.
“Good luck, kid.”
He turns to walk away, but I hang on. He walks down the dock, trying to shake me off, but I cling to his rock-hard forearm as he drags me along. My tennis shoes thump over each board until they finally catch, and I trip forward to the ground. I still don’t let go of his arm.
“Has anyone ever told you how annoying you are?” He stops and looks down at me.
I’m lying on the dock, looking up at the definition of annoyed.
He reaches his free hand over and pries my hands off, finger by finger.
“You’re like a damn leech.”
I shake my head. “I have a very strong will to survive.”
He grasps my wrists and drops to a knee beside me on the rough wood dock. “One question. Why me? I’m practically a stranger to you.”
Now that he’s asking such a pointed question, it’s not like I can give him a great explanation. So I give him the one I have. “Bodie sent me to you.” He doesn’t budge, so I continue. “I feel safe with you.”
His eyes narrow, and he presses his lips together. “Do you feel safe because Bodie said you should?”
“Strangely…no. That simply sealed the deal.”
The muscle that runs up his jaw ticks twice. He smells like Old Spice and the salty sea. Luckily, he’s not a fisherman, so there’s no lingering fishy smell.
“Crap.” He stands abruptly and tugs me with him. “I will get you out of port. Then, you do what I said and find a big city police force with the resources to help you. Better yet, I’ll have someone I trust come help you.”
I try to throw my arms around him and hug him, but since he’s still loosely holding my wrists, it ends up being awkward as I press myself against his chest, him pushing my arms down right as I step forward. My hand is pressed into a very southern region, but he still has a firm grip on my shoulder.
I try to jump backward, but now our arms are tangled up.
“Oh, jeez. You’re a hugger too.” He quirks a brow as I leap back, ready to die of mortification and never hug anyone ever again.
A flash of movement behind his shoulder catches my attention. It’s a black SUV pulling down by the boat ramp. They like to ignore the signs that it’s for offloading only.
“They’re here,” I whisper as I watch a couple of men jump out of the SUV. Recalling the fairly empty parking lot I left the rental car parked in by the campground—they could have spotted it crossing the bridge.
The men are standing at the edge of the parking lot next to the fish cleaning station. Luckily, they haven’t seen me yet. They’re busy staring at the floating hotel at the far edge of the dock, where a few customers are exiting.
The Viking surprises me by hugging me to his chest, lifting me off the ground, and moving close to the boat. He lifts me over the side as he steps in.
It takes me a second to realize that he’s shielding me from their view as he makes his way to the staircase and bends down, setting me on my butt on the ground. “I’ll get you out of port for a little bit, but no promises beyond that. Hopefully, they didn’t see you when I lifted you in, or we’re both dead. Now go hide in the cabin.”
“Thank you.” I gasp as he releases me and hurries back on deck. I stay crouched next to the stairs, careful to keep out of sight in case someone notices me. I do the belly crawl inside the cabin and carefully shut the door.