Chapter 27
Lev was happy when they finally reached the coast. With Reyna’s belly full, they focused on finding a boat. They drove up and down, looking at the homes and surveying the areas before stopping at a store for boating stickers.
To his surprise, Reyna easily picked a man’s pocket, taking out a couple of banknotes before tapping him on the shoulder and giving the wallet back to him.
“What?” she asked with a grin. “We didn’t need it all.”
“We will need to stock the boat with some items.”
She lifted the money. “We’ll have enough.”
With her scarf and hat still in place, they walked into the store and found the stickers for the boat. Then they got some bottled water and other necessities. They barely had enough cash to cover it.
Lev eyed everyone to see who was watching them and who wasn’t. They kept their heads down to make it difficult for the cameras to catch a view of their faces. No other Saints made themselves known. Lev wasn’t sure if there weren’t any in the area, or if they had been ordered to pull back.
Either way, it worked for him and Reyna.
Back in the car, they made another couple of passes along the coast to narrow down the house choices to two.
“I like the Sunseeker,” Reyna said as she pointed to the boat tied to a dock.
“How big is she?”
Reyna shrugged. “It’s a Tomahawk 41 with a fiberglass construction, two engines with a cruising speed of twenty-two knots per hour, and a max speed of thirty-three.”
He raised his brows when she looked his way. “Really?”
“I almost bought a Sunseeker. I love boats. And to answer your first question, she’s forty-four feet. We’ll have plenty of room.”
All Lev could think about was hoping that he didn’t get seasick again, but he knew he would. Reyna’s love of the water was obvious. He liked it, too. He just didn’t feel the need to be on it. Looking at it was enough for him.
“Then the Sunseeker it is,” he said.
They pulled over, and he checked the time. It had been two hours, so he turned on the phone and waited five minutes to see if Callie would text. When she didn’t, he turned it back off.
“What was that?” Reyna asked.
“I’m having Callie hack into this phone and erase all of the owner’s info so no one can track it.”
Reyna smiled. “That was smart. I missed a lot while I slept.”
“You needed it.”
“And now I need to get to the boat.”
He frowned, not liking her words. “What are you thinking?”
“I swim to it while you wait for me down a few miles like we did last time.”
Lev was shaking his head before she finished. “We do this together. Besides, what are the chances that the keys will be in the boat?”
“You don’t intend to break into the house to get them, do you?”
“If I have to.”
She pressed her lips together. “It’s daylight. We can’t do that.”
“Why not? Look around? It’s the middle of the week. People have already left for work. The house should be empty.”
“What choice do we have?”
“None,” he replied.
Reyna nodded, her gaze on the house. “If we can get to the back of the house without being seen, we should be good. It’s getting over the iron fence that concerns me.”
“Your idea of swimming sounds good.”
She cocked a brow. “Does it now?”
He laughed. “I’ll swim to the back and get in from the water. Then I’ll unlock the house and let you in.”
“What about this car? I don’t want to walk up to the house.”
She had a point. Lev thought about it a minute before he came up with another plan. “I’ll unlock the house, then swim back and get in the car. I’ll then drive you to the house where you can go inside and get the boat ready while I ditch the car.”
“And you swim back out to me?” she asked skeptically.
“Yep. Then we take the boat.”
Reyna touched her wounded side. “Since I’m all but useless, I think it’s the best plan. I hate that you’ll be doing most of the work, though.”
“I’ll be quick. I saw a house a few hundred yards back that had access to the beach. I’ll use that to get into the water. Until then, we need to move the car.”
She pointed behind them. “I saw a place that’ll be perfect.”
He turned the vehicle around and drove to the abandoned store and parked in the back. Lev gave her a quick kiss and made sure the guns were within easy reach for her. Then he headed down to the beach. He rotated his injured shoulder, hoping that it wouldn’t hurt too badly when he tried to use it.
Lev kept an eye out for others as he walked to the water. He took off his shoes and hid them behind some rocks before he walked into the water and started swimming.
The water was cold, and his shoulder hurt like a son of a bitch, but he didn’t stop. He clenched his teeth together against the chill and put his face in the water. Others were swimming, so he didn’t look so out of place. As hot-natured as he was, even this was a bit much for him.
He looked up often to gauge his distance to the boat. Lev was breathing heavily by the time he reached it and the house. He swam up to the dock and peeked over the boards to make sure no one was out back. Just as he was about to climb the ladder, he heard a child’s shriek.
Lev ducked back down just as a toddler came running out into the backyard, followed by a woman. The sound of something breathing heavily made Lev frown. When he looked up, he saw a large dog standing on the edge of the dock looking down at him.
The dog barked, his tail wagging. Thankfully, it wasn’t going after him.
The dog continued to make noise, so Lev lowered himself back into the water.
No sooner had his head gone under than the woman, now holding the toddler on her hip, walked over to the dog.
She said something to the animal and tugged on its collar.
Finally, the dog relented and turned around.
Lev broke the surface of the water and listened as the trio walked farther away from him. He could hear the woman talking as they walked into the house, but he didn’t understand her. He was about to look for another home and boat when he heard a jingle that sounded like keys.
He peered over the edge of the dock and saw the woman and toddler walking to the garage. It wasn’t long before the car started and they drove away.
Lev looked around to see if anyone was watching him. When the coast was clear, he climbed up the ladder, water sliding off him. He kept his head forward, but his gaze swept the area from one side to the other. A quick check showed him that the house didn’t have an alarm. However, it did have a dog.
Said animal was standing at the glass door, tail wagging, watching him. Lev stared at the pooch, and he could’ve sworn the dog smiled at him.
“You going to bite me?” he asked.
The dog barked and backed up, his tail still wagging.
“I don’t have time for this,” he mumbled.
It didn’t take him long to pick the lock. The moment the door was cracked open, the dog’s snout was there, sniffing and licking him. Lev opened the door wider and scratched the dog behind his ears.
“Good boy,” he murmured.
Lev slipped inside then walked straight to the front door and unlocked it. After another rub for the dog, Lev hurriedly retraced his steps and dove into the water to swim back to the beach. He slipped on his socks and shoes. He was shivering by the time he reached Reyna and the car.
“Your lips are tinged blue,” she said with a smile.
He grunted as he started the engine. “That water is fucking cold. How the hell can anyone stand it?”
She chuckled. “It’s what they’re used to.”
He checked the road for oncoming cars before pulling out. “They’re crazy.”
It took only a few minutes before he pulled up to the house and looked at Reyna. “It’s open. There’s no alarm. But there is a dog. He doesn’t bite.”
“That’s good news. I’ll be quick,” Reyna said as she grabbed the bags of supplies and the boat numbers. “You be safe.”
“Wait,” he called. Lev removed his shoes and socks again and handed them to her.
Reyna winked at him and turned away, but he saw the wince on her face. She was still hurting, and no doubt would be for a while.
He waited until she reached the front door before he turned on the heater and drove away to ditch the car. Lev was just beginning to thaw out some when he hid the vehicle and made his way to the beach once more.
Lev hated the way his wet pants, now cold, stuck to his legs. He ignored it and waded into the water to make his final swim.
Reyna hated the weakness of her body that caused her to make several trips because she couldn’t carry as much as she normally would. And following her each step of the way was the most precious dog she’d ever seen.
“You’re such a sweetie,” she told him, giving him lots of love.
On her first trip with the bags with food, the boat numbers, and Lev’s guns, shoes, and socks, she quickly looked over the boat.
It was semi-stocked, but not nearly what would be needed for their voyage. There were places they could dock and fill their stores, but the less they had to do that, the better.
With her mental note in place, Reyna went back into the house to look for the boat keys.
She found them near the back door, hanging on a hook.
After slipping them into her pants’ pocket, Reyna located a reusable grocery bag.
She went through the kitchen pantry and fridge, taking everything that she could.
When the bag was full, she brought it to the boat and unloaded it before making a third trip.
That jaunt included some clothes she’d found washed in the laundry room. She didn’t know if they would fit Lev, but anything was better than wearing the same items for weeks at a time.
After that, she went through the house, wiping down anything she’d touched to obscure her fingerprints, as well as locking the front door. She kept the towel in her hand as she walked to the back. The dog tried to go out with her.
“No, buddy, you can’t,” Reyna told him.
She bent over, ignoring the pain, and gave him a good rubbing before she slid the glass door closed, locking it with the dog inside. With the bag of clothes in hand, she turned to the boat.
Her wound was hurting, and she was becoming fatigued, but she was determined to get on the vessel and find Lev.
Reyna’s hands shook from the pain and nausea that had set in while she was untying the boat from its moors.
It took her a couple of tries to get the key into the ignition.
She started up the engine and looked back at the house where the dog was barking and pawing at the glass. She gave the animal a wave.
She caught sight of Lev swimming toward her and made straight for him. It worried her how slow he moved, but she knew it had more to do with the cold water than his wound, though she was sure that had something to do with it, as well.
Thankfully, he looked up as she slowed the boat to pull up alongside him.
He treaded water until she stopped. She put the engine in idle, and as she turned to go to Lev, she jerked to a stop because she thought she heard the retort of a rifle.
Lev then climbed up into the back unharmed, and she thought it must have been her imagination. She met him with a towel and a smile.
“We did it,” she said.
He grinned and wrapped the towel around himself. “Let’s put some distance between us and the Saints.”
Reyna didn’t need to be told twice. She returned to the wheel but pointed at the bag behind her. “There are some clothes you can change into.”
She gunned the throttle, propelling the boat forward. The more they moved away from Norway, the better she felt. But she knew it was temporary. The Saints would find them.
When she couldn’t stand it anymore, she sat in the chair and kept the boat at a steady speed. It wasn’t as fast as she wanted to go, but she didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention to them either.
After thirty minutes, Lev came up beside her and held out a plate of food. “You need to eat and rest. I can handle this.”
She looked over his face. He didn’t appear to be as seasick as he’d gotten the last time. She didn’t want the food, but she had to build up her strength.
“Thanks,” she said and took the plate as she got to her feet.
She stayed with him, sitting behind him as he took the wheel. After the first tentative bite, she realized she was famished and devoured the rest of the food.
Lev’s chuckle caused her to raise her head to look at him. “What?” she asked.
“I can fix you some more. I didn’t realize you were that hungry.”
“Neither did I,” she replied with a smile. “This is fine for now. How are you doing?”
He shrugged. “So far, so good. This boat is huge. I had no idea they could be so luxurious.”
“This is a smaller one. Wait until you see a big one. I’m surprised Sergei never had a yacht.”
Lev shook his head. “Sergei did his business at the docks because it was accessible, not because he liked the water.”
“I can understand that.”
“But you like the water.”
She grinned as she looked out the window at the dark waters of the sea. “I don’t love it like some people, but I enjoy being on the water. The longest I’ve been out is a week, so this should be interesting. I might go stir-crazy.”
“Oh, I’m sure we can come up with some activities to keep you entertained.”
Reyna saw the desire in his eyes and nodded. “That could be fun.”