traced footprints in the sand that led to the water. A small watercraft probably took them out to that boat,” Viper was saying. “There were three sets of shoe prints belonging to two women and a man. And they left around thirty minutes ago.”
Flipper raced out Swan’s back door and after putting on his night-vision eyewear, he stared out at the ocean.
“Intercept with our boat,” he shouted over his shoulder to the others. Quickly dropping to the sand, he began removing his shoes, T-shirt and pants, leaving his body clad in a pair of swimming trunks.
“Don’t try it, Flipper. The boat’s too far out,” Mac said. “It’s too dangerous for anyone, even you.”
Flipper glanced up at them while putting the waterproof military belt that contained combat gear around his waist. He then put a pair of specially designed water goggles over his eyes. “The woman I love is on that boat and I have no idea what they plan to do, so I have to try. Even if I die trying.”
Without saying anything else, he raced toward the water and dived in.
* * *
Horacio had tied their hands before forcing them into a small boat, which carried them out into the ocean to a much bigger boat. Now they were sitting idle in the waves.
Swan wondered why. She glanced around and noticed that, other than the lights on the boat, there was only darkness. They were so far from land she couldn’t see the lights from the homes where she lived anymore.
As if Horacio realized she was trying to figure out what was happening, he said, “I’m waiting for the rest of the gang, then we’ll decide what we will do with the two of you.”
What he said didn’t make much sense. “Will someone please tell me what’s going on?” Swan asked, getting angrier by the minute. None of this made any sense.
“I’ll let your cousin go first since Jamila has a lot of explaining to do,” Horacio said, grinning.
Swan turned to Jamila, who was sitting on a bench beside her. “What is he talking about? Why does he keep referring to you as my cousin?”
At first Jamila didn’t say anything. In fact, it seemed she was refusing to meet Swan’s gaze, but then she finally met Swan’s eyes and said, “Because we are cousins, Swan. My mother is your grandfather’s youngest sister.”
“My grandfather?”
Jamila nodded. “Yes, Lawrence Jamison is my uncle. I knew for years that Uncle Lawrence disowned your father but I didn’t know why until I was much older. Then I thought the reason was downright stupid and told the family what I thought. Everyone else in the family thought the same thing but were too afraid to stand up to Uncle Lawrence.”
Swan didn’t say anything. She was still trying to dissect the fact that she and Jamila were related. She’d known from her father that Lawrence had a sister and another brother. That was all she’d known.
“When I turned twenty-one and finished college, I decided to come find you. Uncle Lawrence didn’t like it but I told him I didn’t care. I’m one of the few who stands up to him. He said the family would disown me if I came here.”
“Yet you came anyway,” Swan said.
“Yes, I came anyway.”
Swan glanced over at Horacio. He wasn’t saying anything and didn’t appear to be listening to what they were saying. Instead he stood at the bow of the ship looking through binoculars as if he was searching for someone. He’d said they were waiting for another boat with the gang and Swan couldn’t help but wonder who the gang was.
She wanted to ask Jamila how much she knew and why they were being held hostage but figured that although Horacio was pretending not to listen to their conversation, he probably was.
Swan glanced over at Jamila. “Why didn’t you tell me who you were when you first came into my shop that day? Why did you keep it a secret all this time?”
“Because I knew how my family had treated you and your mother. I figured the last thing you’d want was to meet a relative from that side of the family. I decided to let you accept me as a friend and then later I would tell you the truth that we were cousins.”
“Now isn’t that a touching story?” Horacio said, strolling back over to where they sat.
“Yes, it is touching,” Swan said, defiantly lifting her chin. “Why are we here?”
He smiled. “You’ll find out soon enough. And I hope you’re not holding out any hope that your SEAL boyfriend will be coming to rescue you because he won’t.”
“Why do you keep saying David is a SEAL when he’s not? He was in the military once but he was never a SEAL.”
“Sounds like you’ve been conned by him just like your cousin here was conned by me,” he said as if it was something to brag about. “Your lover boy is a SEAL and he was sent here to get the goods on you. Whether you know it or not, you’ve been his assignment.”
Swan shook her head. “No, that’s not true. I don’t believe you.”
“I don’t care if you believe me or not but it’s true. I only found out today what he’s been doing and why he was sent here by naval intelligence.”
Naval intelligence? Swan glanced over at Jamila, who said, “I don’t know whether what he’s saying is true or not, Swan, but he told me the same thing tonight.”
“Why would naval intelligence suspect me of anything? It doesn’t make sense.” And more than that, she refused to believe David wasn’t who and what he said he was.
At that moment, they heard the sound of a boat approaching. Horacio drew his gun and pointed the flashlight toward the oncoming boat. He put his gun back in place. “Hold on to that question, sweetheart. The person who will explain everything just arrived.”
Swan kept her gaze trained on the boat that pulled up beside theirs and saw two people onboard. Both of them she knew. What in the world...?
She watched in shock as Rafe and Rosie came aboard. She was so focused on staring at them that she almost missed the third person who also came on board.
She gasped in shock when the person said, “Swan, you look well.”
Suddenly losing her voice, Swan couldn’t do anything but sit there and stare. There had to be some mistake. A very big mistake. There was no way the person standing before her was a part of this craziness.
No way.
She finally found her voice. “Georgianna? What are you doing here? What is this about?”
Flipper reached the boat and attached himself to the ladder on the side. Lucky for him, no one had thought to pull it up. Taking slow, deep breaths, he pulled air into his lungs while ignoring the pain in his arms and legs. He didn’t want to think about just how far he’d swum, but like he’d told his
