Chapter 4 #2
The white buildings with red shingles at the Coast Guard station came into sight.
Her gaze followed the long piers they’d passed as they entered Lake Michigan.
At the end of one pier was a red lighthouse.
She remembered taking a couple of photos of it with her phone before they peeled off to the south.
She only knew it was south because Cap had informed her and her friends of that.
They were too far. She’d missed the spot.
“Emma, are we too far? Do we need to turn around?” Cap asked.
“Yes. It wasn’t this close to the Coast Guard station.”
The ringleader groaned and looked frustrated. The last thing she wanted to do was annoy him. He lifted his hand and made a circular gesture to the man driving the other boat that they were going to turn around.
Then, he fixed his gaze on her. The heat of it practically burned her skin.
“Listen, lady. I’m done fucking around. You’ve got about five minutes to figure this out.”
She looked back at her friends, and Preston, who lay on the deck, and also at Jonathan, sitting on the bench seat.
These people relied on her. A lump rose in her throat. Their lives depended on her. She needed to figure this out.
Cap spun the boat around.
She shifted her gaze over the rolling waters of the lake. It had been flat calm when they’d passed through here earlier, but now there were little rolling waves. A couple of other boats were off in the distance. Nobody was close enough to hail for help. What could they do anyhow?
Cap maneuvered the boat slowly and then looked at her. “So, you said I was going fast before you tossed the bag. And that I had been traveling for a few minutes. What did you mean by that? A couple of minutes, five minutes, ten minutes?”
Her eyes watered, and she worked to choke down the obstruction in her throat.
“Cap, I really don’t remember. It all seemed to happen so fast. We exited the canal. You started driving faster. Preston was running around doing stuff. The girls and I were just enjoying the ride. And then I tossed the bag.”
“Okay. Let’s just take a second and think about this.”
He stopped the boat.
“What are you doing? Why did you stop? We…”
“Listen, if you want us to find your drugs, she needs to think, and pressuring her isn’t helping,” Cap cut the man off.
The man pinched his lips shut. He probably figured out that Cap was right, but it didn’t stop the vein on his right temple from pulsing.
“Emma,” Cap said, drawing her attention.
“Yes.”
“I’m going to duplicate the speed that I normally travel in this area. Perhaps you can try to duplicate what you thought and felt before you tossed the bag?”
“What do you mean?”
“Go through the same thought process you went through as we traveled. Don’t rush it. Just let the thoughts come naturally. Maybe we can find the spot using that method. Let me know when you brought yourself to toss the bag, thought-wise.”
She nodded. That made some sense. Still, she felt frazzled. Inside, she could hardly contain herself. Externally, her hands shook, and her weak knees were about to let go.
Cap’s look was solid, and she held his gaze, hoping to soak up some of his confidence and strength.
His gaze intensified and communicated support.
If there was anybody on this earth who could get them out of this mess, she knew it was this man.
This fishing captain. How could that be?
He fished for a living. What did he know about this kind of stuff?
Yet he looked in control. He projected strength, even though he was up against three men with guns.
Even more impressive, was that he probably knew he was on his own.
She, her friends, and Jonathan were of no use to this guy.
Maybe Preston would be, if he weren’t laid out on the deck.
Cap reached over and placed his warm hand on her shoulder. “You’ve got this.”
She nodded, barely holding herself together.
His touch reassured her. What she’d give right now to fall into the security of his embrace. She was sure he would protect them at any cost.
Where in the hell did that thought come from? Earlier, at the fish-cleaning station, she had wanted to slap his smug smile off his face; now she wanted to hug him.
Cap hit the throttle. The boat jerked and threw her back into the task at hand. They moved fast.
Okay, Emma, think.
She closed her eyes and tried to duplicate her thoughts and feelings as Cap suggested. Looking didn’t work, so maybe feeling it would be the way to go.
Keeping her eyes closed, she began to think the same thoughts she had before she tossed the bag. Her hands gripped the dashboard for support.
She thought about how much she’d thought she had loved Jonathan. She recalled their courtship and the proposal she had thought was heartfelt. Her heart had felt so full.
Then sadness set in as she recalled being dumped two weeks ago and having to undo all the wedding plans.
She’d worked so hard to ensure every last detail was perfect, only to find out the groom was the imperfect piece.
The scent of her burning dress assaulted her nostrils as strongly as it had done earlier in the day.
She was such an idiot for falling for Jonathan, and knowing what she knew now, she was even more embarrassed for having been taken for a fool.
She dug her fingernails out of the dashboard and placed her hand over her aching heart, convinced the pain would never go away. But the pain went away, and it quickly transitioned to anger.
Anger. White hot anger. That’s what she’d felt when she tossed the bag.
“Stop. Here. Here’s where I tossed the bag!” she exclaimed as her eyes flew open.
Cap cut the throttle. The boat surged forward, then back, and when it stilled, she looked at the shoreline. That was of no use, but if she went on feeling, this was the spot.
Now all that remained was to find the bag before anyone got killed.
Emma swallowed hard. Would any of them live long enough to care?