“Okay,” she agreed.
Theo took her hand and led her down an overgrown path into the mangroves. It had rained during the night and some of the ground was soupy and wet, but they were careful where they stepped. Theo used a stick and some brush and tried to erase any partial footprints left behind as they made their way to the dock.
Whitney didn’t like running away from anyone, especially from a dirty law-enforcement officer, but these were desperate times, and desperate times called for desperate measures. She smiled to herself, remembering Jake Riley, her team leader in the Marshals’ unit, teaching her patience in various situations over the last few years. It had been a hard lesson to learn, but one she had desperately needed. Jake’s smooth Southern drawl mirrored his lifestyle. He was slow and deliberate, but extremely thorough and paid quite a bit of attention to detail. He often caught things that she missed with her headstrong and forceful attitude.
Her smile disappeared. Wasn’t she running in her personal life, too? And unlike the situation with the drug dealers, in that context, it was a problem. After all, hadn’t she come to the Keys just to avoid considering the news the doctor had given her just last week? She hadn’t wanted to face the diagnosis or to admit that her life had been changed forever by a few short sentences the doctor had delivered after reviewing all of her latest tests. Funny how her future had changed so quickly from one of hopes and dreams to one of bitter disappointment in the space of just about five minutes.
Now wasn’t the time for self-evaluation or recrimination, but she acknowledged that, sometime soon, she would have to sort through all of these feelings.
As they pushed the kayak into the water, Whitney jumped in the front seat and Theo took the seat in the back. He grabbed the paddle and immediately started steering the vessel toward the water trail that led deeper into the mangroves. It was hard to see, but he was doing an amazing job, and she was so thankful that he was sticking by her.
Suddenly they heard voices approaching and Theo quickly maneuvered the boat behind some brush and stopped paddling. There was no place to go. The water lapped quietly against the side of the kayak, but seemed to be booming in her ears, even though she was praying urgently that the men up on dry land couldn’t hear it.
Dear God, please don’t let them find us.
Whitney pulled out her weapon, prepared to defend them but unwilling to start the confrontation if a gun battle wasn’t needed. She had agreed to working in a dangerous profession and the moment she had signed on the dotted line and become a US Marshal, she knew her life would sometimes be in peril.
But Theo was a scientist by trade. She did not want to put him in any more jeopardy or to risk his life if it wasn’t necessary. The more she got to know him, the more she liked him. He had left the medical profession for some reason, yet he hadn’t hesitated when his doctoring skills were needed to help someone in pain. Theo had also refused to abandon her, even when violent men with guns were chasing them and leaving her to her own devices would have been the easier path to take.
“If we find out you’re lying, you’ll be explaining yourself to the captain. He won’t be as friendly as I’ve been, I can promise you that.” The voice was deep and menacing, and it was one Whitney didn’t recognize.
Mark answered, and she could hear the strain in his tone. “Look, I’ve already told you. We came back from setting up our snake traps, and the boat was tied to our chickee, just like it is now. We haven’t even been on board to see if there’s any paperwork in there that says who left it here. If it belongs to those people who reported it missing, like you said, then take it with our compliments. We just want to get back to work.”
“You’ll go back to work when I say you go back to work, do you understand?” The Coast Guard officer’s voice was angry.
“Yeah, I get it. But I can’t help you find someone that is probably long gone from the area that I don’t even know. We mind our own business here. We’re only interested in doing our studies. You’ve seen our permits. We haven’t done anything wrong.”
The voices trailed off and they could tell Mark was leading the man to the small hut where Whitney had slept. They waited and, after about ten minutes, they heard the two men tromping back toward the chickee and the way they had come. Her heart continued to beat against her chest and her muscles were tense, ready to spring into action if needed.
Whitney and Theo waited a bit more, and finally heard two boat motors start up. The noise seemed deafening compared to the silence that had permeated the mangrove during the night, but eventually the motor noise seemed to dissipate and Whitney felt sure that the Coast Guard officers had gone, taking the drug dealers’ boat with them. “I want to check and make sure John and Mark are okay. I’ll be back.” She kept her voice low, just in case she had misread the situation. “Can you get the kayak back to the dock?”
Theo nodded and maneuvered the small boat back where they’d started. Whitney jumped out and headed off down the trail, staying as quiet and inconspicuous as possible. It didn’t take her long to get to the beach by the bay and she hid behind a stand of bushes and trees, trying to get a glimpse of the two scientists. She caught sight of them rather quickly.
They were repacking some of their boxes in the chickee, and both were fine. She even heard Mark laugh at something John said. They seemed to be having a playful banter back and forth between them. Both the Coast Guard boat and the boat she and Theo had arrived in were nowhere to be seen.
A wave of relief flowed through Whitney and she said a silent prayer of thankfulness. John and Mark had helped them, and she was glad they were fine and had suffered no ill effects from the Coast Guard search party. She turned and hurried back to the dock where Theo was waiting, ready to navigate through the channels until they could find the help they needed to end this nightmare.
Theo didn’t say a word when she returned, but his brow creased and there was a question in his eyes.
“They’re fine,” she reported quietly, still not wanting to make any more noise than necessary.
“Glad you checked,” he responded, his voice equally low. He had tied the kayak next to the dock and was standing nearby, stretching his legs.
What little supplies they had were still in the backpack and already stowed in the middle section between the two seats. They had filled up their water bottles the night before with some of the water John had graciously shared, and Whitney reached for a bottle now and took a drink. Then she stretched a bit, as well, trying to get the tightness out of her muscles that the adrenaline was causing. A moment later she got into the front of the kayak and Theo followed suit, settling in the seat in the rear. He glanced at the markers and started paddling, heading into the twists and turns of the mangrove trail.
* * *
A couple of hours later Theo was still carefully guiding the kayak down the creek. The small waterway was lined on both sides with a web of mangrove branches and leaves, and the watercourse widened and shrank as they traveled, changing slowly as they went deeper into the park to having more and more solid land around them.
They only had one paddle, so he had promised to take turns and let Whitney paddle some later, but for now, he found himself relishing the quiet as the Everglades came alive with the morning light. Birds were chirping, and cicadas and crickets were singing. And while he knew danger was only a short distance away, he couldn’t keep himself from enjoying the environment around him. He glanced at the water and saw fish both big and small darting from under the kayak as his strokes sliced the water.
Thoughts of his daughter came unbidden to his mind. She would have loved to see these fish. For her fifth birthday, she had insisted that all she’d wanted was a goldfish, and her wish had been granted. They had already replaced the poor creature twice because his little girl kept overfeeding it, despite the many lessons they had given her in how to take care of the fish. It was all because of that movie they
had downloaded that had the little clownfish. After seeing that, all his daughter had talked about was fish and the ocean. And how, when she grew up, she was going to work on a boat so she could see fish all day. His wife had even gotten her a new comforter and pillow set imprinted with several clownfish playfully darting around the sea anemones on the ocean floor.
Theo smiled at the memories, lost in thought. They had been planning a trip to the aquarium in Atlanta, but had never made it. Not before that awful day that had robbed him of his precious little girl forever...
“This place is like a giant maze. Are you sure we’re going the right way? There’s another marker, but it’s green instead of red like the last few.”
Whitney’s words brought him into the here and now. He suddenly realized he had been paddling in silence for quite a while, lost in his memories. They had been bittersweet, and left his heart tight with pain. He had lost so much...
He tried to push the thoughts aside. He could not change the past and, if he wasn’t careful, he wouldn’t have much of a future, either. He glanced over at the marker she was pointing at. “No, I’m not sure. I don’t know why that one is a different color, but I didn’t see another way to turn, so it seems like we should keep going forward.”
Whitney shrugged. “That makes sense. I sure wish John or Mark had given us a map, but I doubt they even had one with them. I don’t think they even use one anymore.” She glanced at the sky. “I think a storm really is coming, despite the models the brothers were talking about that showed it going out into the Atlantic. It rained last night, but the air is still heavy, and the wind is picking up. I think more rain is on the way.”
“You’re probably right,” Theo agreed. He’d noticed the sky himself and was starting to worry. Dark clouds were on the horizon and heading right for them, and a definite breeze was starting to pick up from the south, just as Whitney had noticed. They hadn’t passed a single building yet or anything resembling a ranger station, and Theo was hoping he hadn’t accidentally gotten them lost somehow.
That made him nervous because there was no place to take refuge if a storm came upon them. And even if they did find shelter, they didn’t have the luxury of waiting somewhere for a few days until the weather improved. They had to keep pushing into the park until they found help. The Coast Guard team had already found their boat, and it was fairly obvious which direction Whitney and Theo must have gone to escape. If the Coast Guard captain was dirty, as they suspected, he no doubt would report his findings to the drug dealers, who would quickly have the park exits blocked, if they didn’t already have them covered. Theo felt like a giant net was closing in around him.
He had no illusions about what would happen to them if they were discovered. The drug dealers would kill them both. Whitney had seen too much, and they wouldn’t know what she had told Theo. They would take him out, too, just to cover their tracks.
Theo tried to focus on the positive aspects of the trip, and watch Whitney as she energetically took in the scenery around her. She had turned to face him several times so they could talk now and then, and her features had filled with wonder and delight as she’d noticed the birds, flowers and foliage of the Everglades. That same delight had quickly turned to revulsion and fear at the sight of several alligators and one snake that they had passed on their journey. He had repeatedly assured her that they were safe in the kayak, and she seemed to believe him, for the most part.
Theo enjoyed watching her reactions. Whitney was a wonder, and he was still trying to figure her out as she continued to surprise him. He had never been around a person that was so vivacious, and her vibrant personality was like a tonic, slowly healing him from his past. His wife had been a wonderful lady, and he’d loved her deeply, but her introverted personality had been reserved and quiet, much like his own. Whitney was the opposite and, although he hadn’t sought her out, he had to admit, he was enjoying their time together, despite the trepidation that kept creeping up his spine whenever he thought about who was chasing them and why.
Would they survive this ordeal? At this point, Theo wasn’t even sure they would make it through the day, but he had to admit, he felt more alive than he had in months.
He was so deep in contemplation that he didn’t even hear the canoe approaching them from behind.
ELEVEN
The first bullet hit the front of the kayak, mere inches from where Whitney was sitting. She pulled her weapon and instantly turned, seeking the shooter. The sound of the shot was still echoing across the marsh grasses when the second shot was fired, and she ducked instinctively, leaning as close to the kayak’s top as she could, her weapon still out and pointing toward the source. The only problem was, she couldn’t see who was firing at them.
The kayak shimmied in the water as Theo also leaned close to the boat, but there was really no place for either of them to go.
“Put your hands up!” a deep voice ordered. “Now!”
A seed of dread started growing in Whitney’s stomach. She didn’t need to see the villain to know who was after them. She recognized that voice. It was the same deep voice of Lopez’s short companion—the guy who had tried to shoot her on the tour boat when this whole adventure had started.
She and Theo both slowly raised their hands and their eyes met. Whitney tried to instill hope in her expression, but their situation suddenly seemed very bleak. She was still holding her gun and Theo still grasped the paddle in one of his raised fists. But there was really nothing they could do to defend themselves against this latest threat, even with those weapons available to them.
If she took a chance and fired her weapon now, it was likely that Theo would get shot in the cross fire, so using the gun wasn’t really a viable option. Adrenaline started pumping through Whitney’s veins and she kept herself alert, waiting for a chance to act. Were the drug dealers going to kill them right here and now, leaving their bodies for alligator bait? The thought was a chilling one and she immediately started praying as she stretched to get a better view of the pursuers.
It was hard to see the men that were approaching them because of the angle of their kayak in the water. To make matters worse, the sun had disappeared and given way to rain a short time ago, and the misty weather further obstructed her view. The rain started coming down a little stronger, and their kayak turned a bit since Theo had quit paddling.
The canoe that was following them suddenly came into view and, just as Whitney had dreaded, she saw the short man with the deep voice in the front seat of the boat about forty feet behind them. To her dismay, Jose, the man she had tied up on Theo’s island, sat in the back of the boat and was paddling, despite a bandage tied around his upper arm from where she had shot him. The man she’d dubbed “Shorty” was holding an automatic pistol at them. It was hard to tell, but Whitney thought it looked like a .45—a very lethal gun that had a lot of power.
“Don’t move an eyelash,” Shorty commanded as the canoe came forward and eventually knocked against the hull of the kayak.
She considered fighting them—canoes tipped over pretty easily, didn’t they? The only problem was, she was deathly afraid of going into the water herself, and didn’t want to take a chance of sporting an alligator bite like John’s on her own arm. She noticed that Theo seemed to be considering a fight, as well—after all, he still had the paddle in his hand. Their eyes met and she shook her head, almost imperceptibly. He got the message and relaxed his arm.
Whitney hoped she wasn’t making a giant mistake by allowing the drug dealers to get so close to them, but she had decided to just wait and bide her time for a better opportunity to escape. She trusted her instincts, but gritted her teeth in frustration and fisted her hand, hating the helpless feelings that were rolling over her.
The canoe got close enough that Shorty was able to reach over to the kayak, and once he did so, he yanked the gun out of Whitney’s hand. “You’ve led us on quite a chase, but it’s ov
er now. I hope you enjoyed your little boat ride, because it was the last one you’ll ever get to take.”
He motioned with her gun at Theo. “Keep paddling, buddy. Go straight ahead. I want to get out of this rain, and there’s an empty ranger station about a half mile ahead. Just follow this waterway. And remember, we’re right behind you and I’ve got my weapon pointed right at your pretty little girlfriend if you make any sudden moves.”
Whitney raised an eyebrow. Again with the girlfriend comments? She glanced up at Theo and noticed he had a small, almost imperceptible smile on his face, as if he could read her thoughts. Despite everything that was happening to them, he could still find something to smile about. She liked that about him. She brushed the rain off her face and turned back to the front of the kayak as Theo slowly put the paddle in the water and started pushing them forward.
Thunder suddenly boomed above and Shorty’s deep voice sounded behind them. “This is no pleasure cruise. Put some muscle into it and let’s get out of this rain!”
* * *
Theo didn’t have a plan. He glanced up at Whitney as he bent forward and really pulled the paddle through the water. He hoped she had figured some way out of this mess. Her back was straight, and with the rain plastering her clothes against her skin, it was easy to see that her muscles were tight and ready to spring into action. He knew she was like a powder keg inside, despite her calm and nonthreatening exterior. She was well trained, and he knew she saw things that he would miss even on his best day—things they could use to their advantage if just given half a chance.
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