Safe Before Dawn

by Linda Castillo

  The other man tried to defend himself, but he was no match for Chase. Several well-placed punches and the man crumpled.

  Chase’s attention flicked to her. “You okay?”

  “I am now.” She looked past him toward the cabin door. “What about the other guy?”

  “Out cold.”

  She glanced down at her would-be attacker. “Who is he?”

  “I don’t recognize him.” Frowning, he bent and quickly rifled the man’s pockets. “No wallet. No ID.”

  “By design?”

  “More than likely.” Chase smacked the man lightly on the cheek several times to rouse him. “Wake up, jackass,” he snapped. But the man didn’t stir.

  Cursing, Chase grabbed him beneath the shoulders and dragged him up the steps onto the deck. “Start the engine,” he said over his shoulder to Lily.

  Her legs shook as she climbed the steps. In the darkness, she saw Chase lift the unconscious man, cross to the gunwale and dump him unceremoniously onto the wooden dock. Turning, she searched the instrument panel for a key to start the engine, but her hands shook violently.

  She jumped when two strong hands came down on her shoulders.

  “Easy,” Chase said from behind her. “It’s just me.”

  “I can’t find the key,” she blurted.

  “I’ve got it.” Moving to her side, he tilted his head as if to get a better look at her, his expression intensifying. “You’re shaking like a leaf.”

  “I’m scared,” she admitted. “That was really close.”

  “I know.” He turned her toward him, made eye contact. “We’re going to be okay.”

  At the moment, Lily didn’t think anything would ever be okay again.

  “Why don’t you go below deck and get some rest?” He punctuated the words by looking over his shoulder. “We have to get out of here. Judging from the way things are going, there are more where those two came from.”

  She followed his gaze, incredulity rising inside her at the thought of some faceless, nameless person sending more gunmen. “When will this nightmare end?”

  He twisted the key and the engines rumbled to life. “When I end it.”

  Lily watched him traverse the impossibly narrow side deck to the fore deck where he slid a knife from his belt and slashed the moorings. He looked her way as the boat came free. “Get that last rope, will you?” he shouted.

  Glad for something to do, Lily headed toward the aft deck. As she reached for the rope attached to the cleat, she spotted two men twenty yards away on the dock, walking toward them. “Chase!” she whispered. “Over there!”

  The next thing she knew, Chase was beside her. He brought the knife down on the rope, severing it with a single slash. “Get below deck.” Not waiting for a response, he took her arm and ushered her toward the cabin door.

  Lily swung open the door but didn’t go inside. There was no way she could hide out below deck and leave Chase to face this alone. At the very least she could keep watch. It would be only a matter of seconds before they were spotted.

  A few feet away, Chase darted toward the bridge, where he slid behind the instrument panel. She could see the men walking the dock, eyeing each boat they passed. She knew the moment the taller man spotted them. He stopped dead in his tracks and pointed.

  “They’ve seen us!” she said to Chase.

  “Hang on.” The engines revved as he backed the boat from the slip. He glanced over his shoulder where the men had broken into a run toward them, then jammed the throttle forward.

  Lily grasped the safety rail next to the control console just as Chase gunned the engine. The Bertram shot away from the slip like a racehorse out of the gate. Water spewed high into the air. Chase hit the trim with the heel of his hand and the vessel smoothed out.

  A gunshot sounded over the roar of the engines. Lily glanced toward the newcomers, saw them stop at the edge of the dock, weapons raised. The boat was thirty feet out and moving rapidly away from the dock, but there was no way it could outrun a bullet.

  One of the men fired off two shots in rapid succession, one of which ricocheted off the outrigger inches from her head. Clinging to the safety rail, Lily watched him line up for another shot while the other man spoke into his cell phone and gestured wildly.

  Chase took the boat toward the channel, but Lily knew it was only a matter of time before the men came after them.

  In moments the dock faded away. Just as she turned to go below deck, the unmistakable sound of an engine sounded behind them. Already, the men had found a boat.

  “My God, they’re coming after us!” she shouted to Chase.

  He glanced over his shoulder and cursed.

  “How did they get a boat so quickly?” she asked.

  “Same way we did,” he said. “Stole it.”

  A high-pitched zing zipped past her ear.

  “Get down!” Chase shouted.

  Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

  A volley of bullets slammed into the starboard side of the cabin and the window. Plexiglas and fiberglass exploded, raining down shards on her. The boat lurched. Lily glanced up to see Chase cut the wheel hard to the right. She lost her balance, made a wild grab for the bridge ladder but missed. Terror arced through her like lightning as she reeled backward toward the gunwale. All she could think was that she was about to be flung overboard.

  “Lily!”

  Chase’s voice cut through the jumble of fear. A scream tore from her throat as she lunged toward the bridge ladder and grabbed the bottom rung with her right hand.

  “I’m okay,” she called out.

  “Hang tight!” he shouted. “Don’t move!”

  Lily hung on for dear life as he swung the boat left in an effort to avoid another volley of bullets. Unable to make it below deck, she clung to the ladder and prayed they survived the ride.

  * * *

  CHASE TOOK the Bertram out of the marina and into the seaport channel, its hull slicing through the water at a dangerous speed. Channel traffic was heavy for this early-morning hour. It seemed more than one boater had taken to the water to ride out the massive power outage, where they had all the comforts of home thanks to engines and batteries.

  Chase made the turn and entered the main harbor, but only a fraction of his attention was on outrunning the bastards behind them. He couldn’t get the image of Lily clinging to the ladder out of his head. She’d come very close to going into the water. She’d come even closer to getting shot. The thought of her being hurt, or worse, filled him with a cold, hard terror he’d never before experienced, even in all the years he’d been with the military and Eclipse.

  He didn’t like what that told him about his frame of mind. The bottom line was he was letting his emotions get in the way. A mistake he’d seen many a good man make—and pay dearly for in the end, either with his own life, or someone else’s.

  Chase wanted to blame his lack of clarity on fatigue or adrenaline or maybe even his lack of communication and tools. He wanted to blame it on anything but the truth: his feelings for Lily and the child she carried.

  He tried not to think of that as he shoved the dual throttles forward as far as they would go and headed north. He could see Logan Airport to his right, the Water Transportation Terminal to his left. Twenty yards behind him, a fast-approaching vessel told him they weren’t making much headway.

  He pushed the Bertram as hard as he dared, until the odometer needled well into the red zone. But the yacht was no match for the smaller vessel zigzagging through the water twenty yards away.

  “They’re following us!”

  He glanced to his left to see Lily standing at the bridge ladder, clinging to a rung. More than anything, he wanted to stop and make sure she was all right. He wanted to touch her, take her into his arms and promise her that he would keep her safe.

  There was no time for any of that.

  Chase used every nautical skill he’d ever acquired to outrun the speedboat. He thought he heard gunshots, but the sounds were drowned o
ut by the roar of the wind and the scream of the engine. A dozen boats appeared ahead, stopped and bobbing in the choppy water. Red and blue strobes flashed, and he realized they’d encountered some kind of police blockade. He could hear a voice booming over a loudspeaker, but he couldn’t make out the words. Did the blockade have something to do with the kidnapping of the vice president?

  Chase made a sharp turn toward the New England Aquarium. Beyond, he could see the low profile of the Long Wharf Marriott Hotel and Christopher Columbus Park. Knowing they weren’t going to be able to escape on the water, Chase headed toward the park.

  If he and Lily could disembark safely and he could get his hands on a car, they would be home free. No one could outdrive Chase Vickers. He could lose them in the chaos and traffic then drive Lily to Shane’s house in New Hampshire. From there they could put their heads together and try to figure out what the hell was going on.

  Chase didn’t slow when he entered the hotel marina’s no-wake zone. Twenty yards from the dock, he cut the engines and cranked the wheel hard to the right. The Bertram slipped sideways through the water. Chase saw the pier approach at an alarming rate of speed. Old tires were chained to the concrete piers as bumpers. Hopefully, the rubber padding provided by the tires would be enough to keep the impact from breeching the hull.

  “We’re going too fast!” Lily shouted behind him.

  “Hold on!”

  Chase jumped from the bridge to the deck. Lily spun toward him, terror registering in her eyes. A glance at the dock told him they would impact in just a few seconds. Wrapping his arms around her, he pushed her to the deck just as the big boat slammed into the pier.

  Fiberglass crunched as the pier tore into the starboard hull. The impact knocked him hard against the live-bait well, but he rolled and was able to use his body to protect Lily.

  Abruptly, the vessel went still. Chase jumped to his feet and looked around. His legs were shaking. He glanced down, saw Lily on her hands and knees, and guilt stabbed him like a dagger.

  “Easy does it.” Bending, he set his hands on her shoulders and gently helped her to her feet. “Are you all right?”

  Brushing flyaway hair from her eyes, she raised her eyes to his and jerked her head once. “That was some parking job, Vickers.”

  “Miscalculated. Came in too fast. Guess I’m getting too old for this.”

  An emotion flashed in her eyes, but it was gone so fast he wasn’t sure of its meaning. He glanced over his shoulder at the mouth of the marina. He saw the men in the speedboat fifty yards out. He could hear the engine idling down.

  “Let’s get out of here.” Stepping onto the gunwale, he took her hand and helped her onto the dock. “We need a car.”

  “Do you know someone in the area?”

  He shook his head. “Might have to borrow one.”

  “What’s one more felony on top of a dozen others?” Glancing back at the damaged Bertram, she choked out a laugh. “Remind me not to ever let you borrow my car.”

  “Spoilsport.” Spotting the low profile of a well-known waterfront hotel, he took her hand. “Come on. There’s a parking garage not far from here.”

  They left the dock and crossed the asphalt to the grassy plain of Christopher Columbus Park. Chase felt exposed being out in the open. Every couple of seconds he looked over his shoulder.

  Hand in hand, they crossed Atlantic Avenue. Chase was keenly aware of Lily’s hand, small and warm within his. Midway down the block, he spied a six-level parking garage.

  “This looks like a good place,” he said.

  “What about the security guard?” Lily pointed to a windowed booth where a lone attendant read a book.

  “That’s why they make back doors.”

  “I was afraid you were going to say that.”

  Chase was familiar with the garage; he’d parked here once or twice before, when he’d had business downtown. It was always packed with vehicles. The key was going to be finding one that was unlocked. People were so damn security conscious these days.

  They crossed a quiet side street to an exit where a row of three mechanical arms stood in the down position. Ducking under the farthest arm, Chase led Lily to the rear of the garage where he went from car to car, checking each for an unlocked door.

  He tried six cars before finding one that wasn’t locked. The four-door Toyota sedan wasn’t his vehicle of choice; he much preferred good old-fashioned American engineering and a gas-guzzling, muscle-car engine, but it would do in a pinch.

  “No keys,” Lily pointed out. “How do we start it?”

  He couldn’t help it; the way she’d used the word “we” made him grin. Standing there in her scrubs and swollen belly, she did not look like a car thief. “That’s the easy part.” He opened the passenger door for her. “Hop in and belt up.”

  Lily settled herself into the passenger seat. Giving the parking garage a final sweep, he opened the driver’s side door and went to work on the ignition wiring beneath the steering column. “I never liked these foreign electronics.”

  “Makes stealing a car so inconvenient,” she muttered.

  Just then, the starter kicked and the engine turned over. “Ah, that’s my girl.” Chase slid onto the seat, strapped in and put the car in gear. “Next stop, Shane’s.”

  Chase didn’t want to go there. He didn’t want to be indebted to his half brother. After what Shane had done to him eighteen years ago, Chase didn’t care if he ever saw him again. But he would have to put the old hurts of a ten-year-old boy aside. With Lily’s life at stake, neither of them had a choice.

  “It’s out of the city,” he said. “You’ll be safe there. And it will give me the chance to get to the bottom of this.”

  “Must be our lucky day.” Lily had reached into the console. Smiling, she pulled out a cell phone that was plugged into the cigarette lighter charging.

  “Looks like I picked the right car, after all.”

  The words were barely out of his mouth when he noticed the glint of headlights ahead. A car coming up the ramp at a fast clip. Too fast to be just another parking-garage patron.

  “I think we’ve got trouble.”

  “Is it them?”

  “That would be my guess.”

  The roar of an engine filled the garage. Tires screeched against the concrete floor as the car sped around the corner. It would be upon them in seconds.

  “Here they come.” Chase rammed the car into gear.

  Lily stared at the shifter in horror. “Why can’t we just duck?”

  “If we don’t get out of here now, we never will. Hold on.” Praying he could get past the jammed streets, he floored the accelerator.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Lily was no fan of speed. She much preferred slow and steady and the assurance that she would get to her destination in one piece. Chase, on the other hand, didn’t seem to know anything but one speed when it came to any vehicle equipped with an engine: fast. For the first time since she’d known him, they were in full agreement.

  The Toyota jumped out of the parking space so fast she was thrown against her seat back. Headlights came at them from the right. Chase spun the wheel left. Tires screeched as the Toyota slid sideways. The next thing she knew they were zipping along the up ramp at freeway speed.

  A glance over her shoulder told her the driver behind them was no slouch when it came to speed, either. The car seemed to appear out of nowhere, gaining on them at an astounding rate.

  “They’re catching us!” she cried, torn between wanting to get away and wanting to slow down.

  “Not for long.”

  At the top of the ramp Chase jerked the wheel hard to the right. The vehicle fishtailed, its left rear quarter panel slamming into the concrete barrier wall. The instant the tires grabbed purchase, he gunned the engine and they flew up to the next level.

  “What are we going to do when we reach the top?” she asked.

  “We go down and pray there’s not another car in the way.”

  That
left a little too much in the hands of Lady Luck for Lily’s taste, but she didn’t have time to voice her concerns. Chase took the car up another level, around another turn, tires screeching, engine revving so fast she thought it would blow.

  By the time they reached the top, the car pursuing them had fallen behind, but only marginally. Chase kept his eyes on the rearview mirror and drove like a madman. An instant before they began their descent, he reached into the waistband of his jeans and pulled out a pistol.

  “Take this,” he snapped.

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Put your hand out the window and fire off a few shots.”

  Lily stared at him, incredulous. “I’ve never fired a gun before in my life.” But she took the gun.

  Chase already had her window lowered. “We just want to slow them down.”

  The weapon felt cold and deadly in her hand. Lily turned in her seat. Chase made a sharp right turn, throwing her against the safety belt.

  “Do it,” he said. “Now.”

  Lily was right-handed, but she couldn’t get a good angle, so she turned in her seat and put the weapon in her left hand. No time to aim. No time to think about repercussions. She pulled the trigger. The retort and the kick startled her so much she nearly dropped the weapon. But she didn’t. Gripping it with a hand wet with sweat, she fired off two more shots. Chase accelerated down the ramp, his eyes flicking from the rearview mirror to the garage ahead.

  The vehicle behind them spun left and then right, coming to an abrupt stop crossways on the ramp.

  “Got ’em,” Chase said.

  Even though the men pursuing them meant them harm, the thought of shooting another human being made Lily feel sick. As if realizing the route her mind had taken, Chase glanced her way. “You shot the engine block,” he said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I saw the smoke. You did good.”

  Unable to hold the gun any longer, Lily dropped it onto the floor at her feet. She felt nauseated. Felt like crying. Simultaneously, anger coursed through her. Because anger was safer than falling apart, she held on to it for dear life.