Chapter 28
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S he couldn’t get enough breath. Her lungs felt like they were starved for oxygen, and her chest hurt. She didn’t have time for a panic attack. She had to relax and think things through, but she felt foggy with fear. Every step they took down the dock meant they’d be that much closer to being sold like cattle or taken out to sea to die. She should have had the guts to go in and talk to the police. She’d let her fears interfere with her life again.
The distant sound of the car alarm kept going and going. Her purse and ID were in the car. The guy at the gate would recognize her picture, and someone would come.
*
Frustration and fear whipped through Tucker, threatening to choke him. How long did it take to scan a key card at the gate?
A family of four was at the gate. The two-year-old was crying, and mom set aside the heavy bag she was carrying to pick up the baby. Denotti handed Tucker the scuba tank and reached for the bag. “I’ll get that for you,” he said with a smile.
Tucker had seen Denotti’s moves before.
The woman’s cheeks flushed, and she smiled back at him. “Thank you so much.”
They passed through with the family without issue.
“I’ll meet you down the dock ASAP,” Denotti said, trapped in carrying through with the ruse.
“I can take it,” the husband said. “You two obviously have a scuba trip planned.”
“Yeah,” Denotti said.
The guy took the bag. “We don’t want to hold you up. It’s getting late.”
“Yeah, it is.”
When the family turned away, Tucker passed the tank back to Denotti, and they jogged down the dock. They practically sprinted past a family dressed for dinner coming around the corner and looked down the length of the dock. The group was almost to the cabin cruiser. They set the tanks down and slowed their pace to a fast walk, closing the distance between them as quickly as they could without drawing attention. “I’ll take pretty boy,” Denotti said, already reaching for his weapon.
“Got the big guy,” Tucker said, doing the same. “Remember they may have a guy on board.”
They were within twenty feet of the group when Tim turned to look behind him. He reached for his gun.
As one, Tucker and Denotti broke into a run.
Denotti held a bead on Tim. “Draw it and give me an excuse.”
Tucker advanced toward the big man holding Brynn’s arm. “Let her go. It’s over.”
“I could break her arm.”
Heat flared in Tucker’s face as rage flowed through him like lava. “And I could put a bullet in your brain.”
The man shoved Brynn away toward him.
Tucker pulled her behind him. Keeping his weapon trained on the guy, he said. “Get down on your knees.”
The big guy did as he was told and folded his hand behind his head.
The cabin cruiser’s motor started, and the boat began backing out of the berth.
“Go! I can cover them both.” Denotti yelled.
Tucker swore, ran down the narrow strip of dock between the vessels, and leaped onto the deck. A wild shot came from a guy at the controls and hit the edge of the aft bulkhead, making a divot in the fiberglass. Tucker dove for cover and eased his way up on the molded steps leading to the flybridge where the other controls were. The boat shuddered as the motor shifted into neutral.
Tucker quickly climbed onto the flybridge and crossed over the overhang that stretched the boat’s width, creating an awning that shaded part of the deck below. He tucked his pistol in the back of his shorts, then eased down the side, hanging by his fingers until he found the narrow edge of the side of the boat with the toes of his shoes. He pressed himself flat against the exterior wall.
Tucker watched for the shadow of the gunman as he stepped out from beneath the awning and pointed his gun upward, obviously searching for a target above. The guy moved away, his attention focused on the steps to the flybridge, and Tucker peeked around. The man pivoted around the molded fiberglass wall of the steps, leading with his pistol, then climbed the steps.
Tucker eased around the narrow ledge, stepped down onto the deck, and entered the cabin. He went to the main steering and controls. Looking through the windshield, he judged the boat had drifted away from the dock about forty feet. Bracing his feet, he shoved the gearshift forward for a burst of speed, then jerked it back into neutral. The momentum of the burst of fuel to the engines shot the boat toward the dock. The vessel hit the structure. The man atop screamed as he flew through the air, over the dock, and into the water of the empty berth on the other side.
Rid of the third man and concerned about the damage he may have done to the vessel, Tucker turned off the engine and, drawing his gun, rushed below into the cabin.
The galley was empty, but a figure huddled beneath the table mounted on the floor. He looked up. Despite how battered and bruised his face was, Tucker was relieved to see Ahmad alive.
Tucker grabbed a knife from the galley and cut the rope holding his arms around the post. “How did you get here, Ahmad?”
“We made another voyage to Mexico, and I followed Tim again. When we got back, Tim asked me to go eat with him. When I got into the car with him, he jabbed a needle into my leg and injected me. When I woke, I was here on the boat, and the men took turns beating me.”
“Are there women on board, Ahmad?”
“Yes. The man, Forrest, had one of them in the cabin. He raped her.” Ahmad rested his head against the wooden post of the table as though he were fighting to stay conscious. “There are also two inside the wooden structure beneath the bed and one inside the bench where they eat. They have been drugged to keep them quiet.”
Tucker grabbed his phone and called Denotti who answered with, “The calvary is here—finally.”
“Send them aboard and tell them we need medical help. There are four women who have been held captive and drugged, and one has been raped. Ahmad is here. He’s been beaten. Tell them to hurry.”
“Try not to move, Ahmad,” he said as soon as he hung up.
“I would like some water.”
Tucker rushed to get it and returned with a cup filled from the refrigerator just as the first deputy rushed down the steps into the cabin. He grabbed the man’s arm and repeated what Ahmad had told him about the women. The men began searching the interior and found the first woman inside one of the benches. When one entered the sleeping berth, the woman there began to weep and speak rapid Spanish, begging to be taken home.
Tucker held the cup so Ahmad could drink. After several gulps, he rested his head back against the cushion of the bench.
“Is Bryant involved in any of this, Ahmad?”
“No. Only Tim and the other men. But they have used Bryant’s yacht to gain access to women. They have kidnapped many from Mexico, and others who have been on board for parties.”
“I called your father, Ahmad. He lit a fire under the police, and they’ve been searching for you.”
“When it grew dark, they were going to dump me at sea,” Ahmad rasped. “Then they planned to transport the women to the drop site.”
“Do you know where that is?”
“I do not know the exact location, but it is north, just past La Jolla.”
Tucker rose again to get a cloth and wet it. “You’ve been very brave, Ahmad. Your father will be very proud of you.” He pressed it to the other man’s forehead and face. When the EMTs entered the boat, he rose to make room for them. “I’ll come to the hospital to check on you, Ahmad.”
The man’s eyes closed, and he didn’t answer.
Tucker looked to the EMT. “He’s extremely dehydrated.”
“We’ll get some fluids in him and treat his injuries. He may have internal bleeding and may require surgery.”
“What hospital?”
“The Trauma Center at Scripts Mercy in Hillcrest.”
Tucker nodded. He climbed the steps to the deck. When he stepped out on the dock, Denotti, Brynn, and Jess were there waiting.
Denotti stuck out his hand as soon as he reached them and brought him in for a shoulder bump. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen anyone climb around on a boat like a spider monkey, then propel the bad guy off the roof by driving into a dock. That was a beautiful maneuver, but the damage to the boat isn’t pretty.”
Tucker turned to look at it and grimaced. “At least it isn’t sinking. What happened to the guy I shot off the roof?”
“Some security guys with the marina dragged him out of the water and handed him over to the cops.”
Tucker approached Brynn, took her into his arms, and held her tightly. “I’m sorry I had to leave you.”
“You did what you had to do.” She clung to him for several minutes. “I was so scared for you.”
He smoothed her hair. “I was for you, too.”
She brushed at tears as they streamed down her cheeks. “Those women will go home to their families, and you found Ahmad.”
“He’s in bad shape, Brynn.”
Her arms tightened around him. “You’ve given him a chance—which is more than he had with those bastards.”
That was true. But he still felt partially responsible and wondered if he could have done anything differently.
A man with tanned skin and dark hair approached and flashed the badge on his belt. “I’m Detective Hernandez. I need to interview you individually about what happened. I’d like to do it here on-site before you leave. I’ll want a more in-depth interview with each of you later at headquarters, but I just need a brief overview for now. If you’ll come with me, we’ll get it over with quickly.”