She dived in, pulling on her seat belt as she started the car, catching up to Paul and leaving the palace grounds before the gate closed after him, praying that in the darkness and confusion, no one would bother to stop her.
No one did.
Paul took a few corners quickly and Ruby did the same, praying for everyone’s safety, praying they’d recover the crown jewels. And what had Galen learned from his phone call to his brother? Something that had turned his face pale. Whatever it was, she prayed God would work that out, too.
Paul reached the arterial highway that cut through town and turned south.
Toward the caves.
But Ruby wondered if the Verrettis would still be there. Oliver had picked up the signal and called Selini, who’d talked to Galen, who’d run for the garage. Ruby had stayed out of sight, taken the car, followed Paul...it all took time. How much time? Enough that the Verrettis should be far from the park.
Her headlights illumined the inside of Paul’s car in front of her. She could see the outline of his hand holding a phone to his ear, watched him slow, wait for an oncoming vehicle to pass and then whip around in a one-eighty, heading north again.
Ruby slowed, waiting for cars to pass, praying for a break so she could follow Paul. Finally, thanking God for the Spark’s tight turning radius, she flipped a U-turn behind him and accelerated, desperate to find the vehicle she’d been following, as that was her only link to the trail.
More cars poured onto the highway as Ruby approached an on-ramp. She couldn’t see Paul’s car, couldn’t see anything but a sea of red taillights blurring in the darkness.
What now? Where should she go?
The Verrettis could be headed anywhere, but if they wanted to get out of Lydia, they’d most likely head for the airport or the marina. And given the level of security at the Sardis International Airport, Ruby guessed they’d make for the sea.
Lydia’s jagged coastline jutted out from Sardis at odd angles, the irregular lines exacerbated by the hills of the city. Ruby knew of at least three main roads that led to different parts of the marina. Which one should she take?
She topped a hill, paused for a stop sign, thought quickly. She didn’t know which road to take, wasn’t even sure she knew how to find her way through the tangled, narrow streets. There was a road that led downhill from the palace to the north end of the marina. She could find that one. It might be the least direct route, but at least she wouldn’t run the risk of getting lost and wasting more time.
Ruby steered the Spark north, praying the others were having more success at tracking down the bandits.
* * *
Galen stopped by the side of the road, his phone tight to his ear. “Do you see my headlights?” He checked the mile marker Adrian had named. He was in the right spot. Where was Adrian?
A heavily armored figure burst through the bushes helmet first and dived for the jeep.
“We’ve got to hurry.” Galen threw the vehicle in Reverse as his brother climbed in. “You’re sure you can recognize their vehicle?”
“Conversion van. Black. No plates. Let’s go.” Adrian drummed the dashboard impatiently.
Galen accelerated, hoping he’d made the right decision in taking the time to pick up his brother. The Verrettis could be anywhere by now—but only Adrian knew what they were driving. It was an advantage Galen needed, possibly his only advantage, since they’d tried switching to alternate radio frequencies only to find those jammed, as well. Not that he was terribly surprised. The bandits knew what they were doing.
He tossed his phone to his brother. “Call the last number dialed,” he instructed him. “Ask Oliver to set up a conference call. I have to drive.”
As they neared the city, Galen could see that traffic was thick. Of course, with Isabelle’s wedding that day, most of Lydia had swarmed the city to watch the wedding procession as it traveled from the cathedral to the palace for the reception. “It’s going to take forever to get to the marina.”
“Take the bypass. The exit’s right up here.”
Unsure whether Adrian had inside information from the phone, or if he was simply trying to avoid the congestion of the city, Galen took the exit. “Where are the Verrettis?”
“They’ve almost reached the marina.”
“Already?”
“Selini got the army to dispatch helicopters. It’s okay. We’re going to stay on top of them.”
* * *
Ruby was almost to the marina when a black van cut her off, forcing her to slam on her brakes and swerve to avoid hitting them. She recovered quickly, straightening the vehicle and continuing behind them.
Above, she heard helicopters swarming the air. Two? No, three.
The van in front of her slammed on the brakes and started backing up. Glad she’d opted for a familiar vehicle, Ruby threw the Spark in Reverse just in time to avoid being hit—again. She backed around a parked car and watched as the van pulled past her, the occupants gawking at the sky.
Recognition hit her full force.
The Verrettis.
Ruby ducked. Had they seen her? With her red hair she was instantly recognizable. When she peered up over the steering wheel again, half expecting to see Vince with a gun at her window, the van had turned and was headed down a concrete pier.
They were getting away!
Leaving the Spark, Ruby darted behind a truck and peered around. The Verrettis stopped their van at the end of the pier where a sleek motorboat waited. Darkness had fallen, but one of the circling helicopters shined a high-powered beam of light at the craft, enough for Ruby to make out Roxanne at the helm, gunning the engines as Milton and the boys leaped from the van in a jumble of bags and legs—too many legs for just three people.
Ruby recognized them with a sinking heart, about the same moment as the men in the open doorways of the helicopters above aimed their weapons but held their fire. The Verrettis had Milos and Timothy, using them as human shields to keep the gunmen above from firing. Roxanne threw the boat in gear and pulled away from the dock as the men jumped aboard.
Now what? The Verrettis were getting away with the crown jewels of Lydia and two of Galen’s brothers—who, Ruby was sure, they’d do away with once they’d served their purpose. Most of the boat traffic in the marina had come in to dock when the helicopters had showed up, but Ruby saw two royal guard jet skis shoot away from the south end of the marina. Paul and Sam? In the darkness she couldn’t be certain.
But one thing was perfectly clear. The Verrettis had no intention of stopping in spite of the helicopters that circled above them. And what were two jet skis against such a powerful speedboat? Even if they caught up to the craft and positioned themselves directly in front of it, the Verrettis would plow through them without blinking.
The guards needed a bigger boat. Something equally as powerful as the Verrettis’ boat, and equally as fast. Ruby recalled the boat Galen had borrowed from the royal guard two summers before when he’d taken her and Stasi out to view the falling stars. That boat was docked at the pier, bobbing at the moorings next to a thumbprint reader.
Would hers work on that thumb pad, too? Ruby didn’t hesitate. She drew up the flowing skirt of her gown so she could run unhindered down the dock, glad she’d opted for ballet flats instead of impractical heels. She reached the mooring and mashed her thumb against the print pad, praying for recognition and clearance as the thick weatherproof coating slowed the device’s response.
Green light.
She opened the lid, unhooked the cable that held the boat in place, grabbed the keys and hitched up her skirt a little higher as she climbed aboard, praying fervently, inaudibly, that God would keep her safe, protect Galen’s brothers, and bring the Bulldog Bandits to justice. Somehow.
The panel of instruments at the helm wasn’t the same as what Ruby remembered fro
m two summers before. It wasn’t the same boat, she realized. That boat had malfunctioned and apparently had been replaced. Ruby found the keyhole, found the one that fit it, stared at the throttle and tried to remember what Galen had said as he’d explained how to start the boat. Was it prime the throttle or disengage the engine? And something about a bilge...something?
She realized she’d been too focused on the charming bend of Galen’s eyebrows to listen actively to his words. Far in the distance now, the Verrettis sped through a gap between islands, helicopters swarming like seagulls, persistent in their pursuit but unwilling to strike.
“Throttle.” She placed her hand on the control piece, unsure whether she was supposed to push it now or after she’d turned the key. “Bilge...bilge...something.” She looked around frantically, wishing the instruments were labeled.
“Blower.” A deep voice spoke in her ear. Hands came round her on either side, familiar fingers cupped hers as they pushed the throttle forward. “You were supposed to stay at the palace.”
“Galen.” Ruby would have hugged him, but he had his hands full operating the controls. “And...Adrian?” She wasn’t completely certain which brother had joined them.
“Thanks for getting her unhooked.” Adrian nodded. “Saved us a step. We have to hurry. You need to get down and stay down. And find yourself a life vest. Things could get rough.”
Life vests weren’t difficult to find. Ruby strapped one on as instructed, not wanting to hinder their efforts in the slightest. Considering the bandits had Galen’s brothers, not even the crown jewels themselves seemed so important. There were lives at stake—Galen’s brothers’ lives. Why had they thought the jewels were so important that they’d willingly risked their lives?
The boat leaped faster over the waves created by the Verrettis’ wake, becoming airborne as it hurtled from breaker to breaker, slamming with jaw-jarring madness every time it smacked down. Finally Galen pulled close enough to steer smoothly through the channel the bandits’ boat had cut through the warm waters, and Ruby took advantage of the relative stillness to shuffle forward, gripping the grab rail, as she moved toward Galen and his brother, two life vests tucked under her arm. Both men, she could see, wore body armor, which would only weigh them down if they ended up in the water.
She shoved a vest at Adrian, who gave her half a smile and strapped it on.
Galen took one look at the vest and cringed. Given his injuries, putting on the vest would be a painful process. She shoved it over his head anyway, reached around him to clip the strap securely across his chest.
“What can I do to help?” She had to shout to be heard over the roar of the helicopters and the screaming engine of the boat.
“Get down!” Galen had submitted to the vest without fighting her, but he looked terrified at the thought of having her in the open next to him. “I have to get in front of them if I’m going to get them to stop!”
Ruby shuffled backward then, ducking low. She’d heard the snipers in the open bays of the helicopters sending precise volleys of bullets spraying across the Verrettis’ boat, probably aiming for the engine or the gas tank, but either the boat was made of bulletproof materials or their targets were somewhere beneath the hostages, because the bandits hadn’t even slowed down.
She stayed down, near the back of the boat where she’d be out of Galen and Adrian’s way, where the spray that splashed past the windshield doused her unabatedly, drenching her hair and her gown, chilling her with the cool night air that streamed against her arms and tore the pins from her hair.
Galen had steered free of the Verrettis’ wake channel. When Ruby peeked up over the side, she saw they’d pulled nearly even with the speedboat, its streamlined surface projecting forward with a long hull, the rear seating area inadequate for the six large figures in the back.
Beyond them Ruby spotted the royal guard jet skis, barely keeping up in spite of the bandits’ zigzagging evasive maneuvers, falling farther behind as the Verrettis increased their speed. When the racing boat swerved their way, Ruby saw Adrian perched on the gunwale, holding the wet guardrail with one hand as he extended his other arm for balance.
“A little closer, bro!”
The Verrettis didn’t seem to hear him. Roxanne was focused on steering through the maze of islands that loomed in the darkness ahead. Milton had his gun out, shooting at the helicopters that taunted them from above. Carlton and Vince struggled to keep their feet while training their guns on Milos and Timothy. Somewhere, probably under a seat or secure in a storage compartment, they’d tucked away the crown jewels, out of sight.
Galen looked, swerved until Ruby feared they’d ram the Verrettis’ boat, and corrected the other direction as Adrian lunged at Carlton, nearly missing the boat entirely but grabbing the bandit’s gun arm, knocking the weapon into the water as he swung his legs around and propelled himself into the crowded seats.
Vince spun toward him, gun first, and Ruby ducked, aware she was in the line of fire and still close to the other boat, though Galen had swerved away, gunning the engine to faster speeds, chopping through the copter-stirred waters.
When Ruby peeked over the gunwale again, she saw chaos on the other boat. Adrian had somehow disarmed Carlton and Vince, and though Milton waved his gun and cursed at them, between the bouncing boat and the tangle of Harris brothers, Milton didn’t dare shoot—not without risking hitting one of his own sons.
Adrian seemed to have an advantage, but Milos and Timothy were both handcuffed and therefore unable to help much, besides a few well-placed elbow jabs. One of the bulldogs had climbed up on a seat and barked furiously at the scuffling men. Ruby wished she could think of some way to help them. She looked around the boat, lifting the seats and ruffling through the dark storage compartments, finding little more than life preservers and blankets inside.
Her fingers hit something hard.
A fire extinguisher? Why not? Galen was slowly gaining on the distracted bandits. When he swerved close again, this time nearly clipping the bow, Ruby pulled the clip from the fire extinguisher, pointed the nozzle toward Roxanne and pulled the trigger.
A white cloud shot through the air, agitated by the copters above them, painting Milton’s back and Roxanne’s face with its spray.
Roxanne swiped at her face with one hand but pushed the throttled relentlessly forward as the boat sped through the cloud, enveloping the men at the rear, before the swerving boats veered apart, too far for the spray to reach.
Vince cursed and grabbed Milos. As Ruby watched, horrified, he shoved the handcuffed man over the rail into the open water.
Adrian shouted as his brother went under, unable to swim with his hands bound. Instantly, almost reflexively, Ruby grabbed the life preserver and threw it with all her might, but between her bulky life vest and the blasting wind off the boats, she couldn’t throw it far. It tumbled through the air, a circle of white against the dark sea, and hit the water far from where Milos had gone in.
Carlton laughed before turning on Timothy. Adrian got between them at the last second, but Vincent had his hands free again and helped shove the other brother overboard.
Hesitation flashed across Adrian’s face for only a second before he dived after his brothers.
Ruby grabbed the rail, unsure if she’d be of any assistance to them in her flowing gown. She could no longer see where Milos had gone in. How could she ever reach him in the darkness?
The distant drone of the jet skis changed pitch as the guards slowed the nimble crafts. They’d been falling progressively farther behind, the recreational vehicles simply not powerful enough to keep up with the speed boat. The guards circled round to where Milos and Timothy had gone in.
Ruby breathed a sigh of relief. Sam and Paul had gone back for the brothers.
The high-powered beam from a helicopter swept across the waves, illuminating the rescue behind th
em even as the boats sped forward, leaving the men behind.
“Now what?” Ruby screamed as she inched across the slippery deck toward Galen.
He grimaced, his face tight with pain as he fought to push the jarring boat to greater speeds. “I’ve got to cut them off. There’s a strip of underwater sandbars near the long island ahead. The tide is low. There’s a chance, if I can steer them that way, we could ground them on the sandbars.”
“Good plan. What can I do?”
“Distract them. If they see the sandbars, they’ll steer away. We’re almost past the islands now. Once they reach open water, they’ll be out of our jurisdiction.”
“I’ll look for another fire extinguisher.” The one she’d used was nearly empty.
“Good idea.” Galen swerved closer to the speedboat again.
“Anything else I can do?” She fought to control her shivering as the change in the boat’s trajectory blasted her with a fresh gust of cold wind.
“Pray.”
Ruby prayed hard and found one more fire extinguisher, then watched and waited for the right moment to use it. It was the last weapon she had. She couldn’t waste it.
TWENTY-TWO
Galen steered directly toward the nose of the Verrettis’ boat. They were coming up on the sandbars far too quickly, and unless they turned hard, they’d miss the sandbars completely.
And then what? Grateful as he was that Paul and Sam had stopped to pluck his brothers from the sea, it left him essentially alone against the speedboat. The helicopters had tried firing now that his brothers were no longer in the way, but with their chopping blades cutting through the dark sky, the pilots had to focus on staying clear of each other. They had yet to get close enough to the bandits’ boat to do any real damage.
A new sound echoed through the night, higher pitched than the roaring all around him. Galen ignored the pain that shot through him with every movement and turned to see what had made the sound.
Another boat, a black cigarette boat, faster and sleeker than even the Verrettis’ craft, steered toward them from the cover of the north end of the island.
Royal Heist Page 19