Never had Ryan felt more inadequate. He was a white-collar agent, not SWAT, not a military guy. But dammit, he wasn’t leaving Max or Eve with that madman. “We have to get on board.”
“We’re faster, we’re almost there. If they slow down, I’ll land.”
* * *
Gabriel found Eve unconscious in one of the staterooms. He knelt by her side. Her face was bruised and cut up, like a razor burn. “Baby, Eve, honey, wake up.”
She moaned, tried to open her eyes. She murmured, “I’m so sleepy.”
She was alive. He hugged her close to his chest.
“Daddy.”
“I’m here.” Eve was lethargic and limp. The bastard had drugged her.
The boat was picking up speed, getting back to the Scout was impossible now. The only way they were getting out of this mess was to take Colter down.
“I’m going to take you to Max.”
“Max? Max is here?”
“Yes, she came with me to get you. She’s in the crew area. Can you walk?”
“Yeah.” She got up, but her legs buckled.
Gabriel didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t take her out into the unknown, and while the yacht was big, it wasn’t that big. Someone might see them.
“Okay, okay. Stay put. I’m going to find Max and she’ll come here and stay with you. Okay?” He laid Eve back down on the bed. Dammit. He didn’t want to leave her. But Colter would be back.
Colter will come back.
He had the element of surprise, right? Colter might know that they were on board, he could have tortured or bribed the crew for information, but he didn’t know where.
“Second thought, I’m going to stay here.” He searched the room for a weapon, anything to use, but found nothing.
He clenched his fists. Nothing was going to happen to his daughter.
* * *
Phillip despised incompetent staff. “You were told to wait for me and then we would leave for Nova Scotia. Why you felt the need to bring on strangers, call the Coast Guard? Now they’re pursuing us. Go farther out. Go faster.”
“I told you, sir, the captain did it on his own.”
“Who else is here.”
“Just Johnny. He’s solid, I swear. A mechanic. He knows this boat inside and out.”
Phillip nodded to Vance. “Find Johnny, stick with him. Rene, I’m counting on you to keep this boat moving, understand?”
“Yes, sir. We’re at twenty knots. I can get another four, maybe five knots.”
“Do it.”
“The helicopter can stay with us.”
“Who has more fuel?”
“We do, sir.”
“He’ll turn back soon. Just keep moving! Whatever you do, do not stop this ship, understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
Colter left the pilothouse. He didn’t want to panic, but this hadn’t gone as he had planned. He considered that maybe he shouldn’t have run with Eve—with his daughter—but after he shot the man in Revere’s cottage, he feared that someone had identified him. He was right, someone had, and now the police were going to be hunting him like a fucking animal.
He would find a way to get out of this. He was smart, he was successful, and he had money. He would figure it out. He just needed time to think!
* * *
Ryan listened to the pilot talking to his commander who was on the boat behind them. The Coast Guard was equipped with antimaterial guns that could take out the engine of small, high-speed boats without killing anyone on board. It should, in theory, work on the yacht. Barring that, they wanted permission to rappel on to the deck and board the vessel. Ryan understood bureaucracy—he was in the FBI, the king of bureaucracy—but when they needed to act, they had to have the authority. He knew the Coast Guard was doing everything humanly possible, but they still needed their orders.
“Well?” he finally asked the pilot.
“They’re discussing the situation. They know what’s at stake and they’re coming up with a plan. Just hold on, Maguire. We’ll get there, but we need to be smart about this.”
Protocols. Ryan’s fists clenched.
They were running out of time.
* * *
A door opened in the outside hall and Max was ready to bolt.
“Max!” a low voice said.
Gabriel.
She slipped through the door and he closed it behind her. All the shades were drawn, no one could see in.
Max immediately was at Eve’s side. She looked like she was sleeping, but when Max took her hand she moaned, “Max.” Her voice was slurred and almost too quiet to hear.
“What happened to her?” Max asked.
“Colter drugged her. She’s in and out of consciousness. What’s going on out there?”
“I haven’t seen anyone. The Coast Guard helicopter is circling, but they haven’t landed—I don’t think they can at this speed. I saw their boat a few hundred meters behind. I don’t know what the maximum speed is for the Coast Guard or what they’re driving out there, but they’re not gaining.”
“We need help.”
“They know. I’ve been texting Ryan when I could, I just don’t know what he got and didn’t get.”
“If we can take out Colter, we can take back the ship. He has three people for sure—himself, one of the crew, and a big thug.”
“Vance DuBois. I met him at the resort. How do we take him out? And there might be more than three people.”
“Surprise. But I can’t leave Eve alone.”
“I’ll stay with her.”
“I hoped you’d say that. Lock the door behind me.”
“Stay here with us. We can hole up here until the Coast Guard can mount a rescue.”
“We don’t know when that’ll be! If they can even board before Colter kills someone else. Didn’t you hear the gunfire?”
“Yes, but—”
“I’m right.”
“Listen to me, Gabriel. If you can get to the pilothouse, you can take over the ship. Slow us down so the Coast Guard can board.”
“Or better, go to the engine and sabotage it. I know a thing or two about boats.”
She smiled. Good, he was thinking things through, not acting on emotion alone.
“Be careful, your daughter needs you.”
Max searched Gabriel’s eyes, hoping he wasn’t going to do something stupid. But she saw reason and marginally relaxed.
Gabriel kissed Eve on the cheek, then left.
Max locked the door behind him and sat with Eve. She took her hand and squeezed. “It’s okay, Eve, help is on its way.”
Eve groaned. “Daddy.”
“He’ll be back soon.”
“Max? That man says he’s my dad. He’s not, is he?”
Max had promised Eve she would never lie to her. She couldn’t lie now. “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “But it doesn’t matter who your biological father is. Gabriel is your dad. He always will be.”
Eve sighed. “Okay.”
“Shh.” She heard someone walking by her door, try to open it.
“Eve, you’re making this worse for yourself.” It was Colter. “Let me in right now or I swear, I’ll punish you and you’ll never betray me again!”
Eve yelped, then bit her tongue.
“Shh,” Max murmured and held her sister tight.
* * *
Phillip had not locked the door. That meant someone—Gabriel Truman, the bastard—had found Eve. If he thought a simple lock could keep Phillip from his daughter, he was mistaken.
He walked down to the adjoining suite, but out of the corner of his eye saw something—
A fire extinguisher came at him. Only because he’d seen the movement was he able to shift, and his shoulder—his injured arm—took the brunt of the blow.
He screamed and discharged his weapon, but it didn’t hit his target. He fired again and the bullet hit Gabriel in the arm.
Gabriel lunged at him, knocked him to the deck, wrestling for his gu
n.
Phillip’s self-preservation instincts kicked in. He pinched his fingers into the wound on Gabriel’s arm and the man screamed, but didn’t let go. Gabriel kneed him in the balls and Phillip saw black for a moment, then felt his head being smacked on to the deck. His gun skittered away. Gabriel went after it.
Dazed, but determined not to let this bastard win, Phillip reached for the fire extinguisher. Gabriel was crawling toward the gun. Phillip hit him on the back of the head with the heavy metal canister. Gabriel collapsed. He tried to get up, then collapsed again.
Phillip spat a wad of bloody spit on him and hit him again, then picked up the gun. He was seeing stars, but he had won.
He shot Gabriel in the back.
“Good riddance.”
He didn’t see the helicopter until it was too late. A sniper aimed and fired three times, hitting Phillip with each bullet.
* * *
The Coast Guard boarded the ship and Colter’s accomplices gave up without incident. Ryan searched the boat and found Max and Eve in a stateroom. Eve was unconscious and Max was cradling her like a baby, her body protecting her in case there was a threat.
He was relieved. She was safe. Alive. “Max.” His voice cracked.
She looked up at him. “Ryan.” Max had been crying. Her face was wet and red and full of pain. Ryan couldn’t imagine this woman, Maxine Revere, ever being vulnerable, but in that moment she was. He knelt next to her. “Eve? Is she—”
“She’s okay. Colter sedated her. She didn’t see.” Fresh tears streamed out.
“Oh, baby, you saw what happened?”
“I heard the fight, barricaded Eve, looked out, hoping to help, but Colter shot him in the back. Is he—?”
Ryan shook his head.
The sobs came then. Ryan sat next to Max and held her and Eve. Held them both close. Grateful that they were safe, that Eve hadn’t seen her father murdered in cold blood.
“Max, Eve is going to need you now, more than ever.”
Chapter Thirty-five
Hundreds of people came to Gabriel’s funeral—so many, that the church was filled to capacity and dozens of people stood outside. The sky was gray, as if mourning the loss of a good man with occasional fat drops of water hitting the ground as the gods wept.
Max sat in the front with Eve on one side and David on the other. He’d been released from the hospital the day before, but he still looked pale. He would be flying back to New York tomorrow morning, where his ex-girlfriend had surprisingly agreed to come out with their daughter.
Tragedy sometimes had a way of bringing out the best in the worst people.
Ryan sat on the other side of Eve, who sat straight and stared at the picture of Gabriel she had chosen—his military service photo, him decked out in his dress blues. The minister knew Gabriel and his family and said nice things about him. When Eve went up to speak, Ryan took Max’s hand.
Eve stood at the pulpit and, after a final look at the photo, turned to the crowd. “I don’t know how long I can talk. But my dad was my best friend. He raised me when my mom left me. He took care of my grandma when she got sick. I was five when she died, but he read to her every night, and sometimes I would sit in the door and just listen. Dad had a great voice. It was quiet and deep and even though he didn’t talk a lot, he knew how to tell a story.
“Dad taught me everything that is important to me. Sailing. Caring for others. Being a friend. He taught me that doing the right thing is not always easy, and that even when we do something wrong, forgiveness is always waiting for us. I love him. I’m going to miss him.”
Tears streamed down her face. She looked at Max and Max nodded. Max couldn’t stop crying. She rarely cried, but for some reason this week—almost losing David, losing Gabriel, watching Eve struggle with her grief—had taken a toll on her.
“Thank you for coming to say g-g-good b-b-bye to my dad.”
Beth Henderson walked up and wrapped her arms around Eve, led her back to her seat. Max took Eve’s hand, and Eve turned to her and sobbed into her shoulder.
Garrett Henderson informed the assembled mourners that the reception would be at the resort restaurant. The minister closed in prayer, then handed Max the urn of ashes. She already knew that Gabriel’s will had asked that he be cremated and his ashes taken to sea. Eve had asked Max to take her out to do it. To put her dad at rest.
* * *
Max couldn’t sleep Friday night. She sat in the kitchen of the Truman home while Eve slept upstairs, playing with a tea bag and hot water. She didn’t feel like tea, but she hadn’t really known what to do, so had made some. The process relaxed her, as it had years ago when she and Eleanor would make a pot of tea and sit in the garden.
She and Eve had been worn out by all the mourners. Beth Henderson and her husband Gary had cleaned up after all the guests had left. Max didn’t know what she would have done without them—probably would have hired a team of people who didn’t care about her, about Eve, about what had happened to Gabriel Truman.
David limped in and sat at the table across from Max with a sigh. “I just got off the phone with Brittney. She and Emma will be in New York Sunday morning. They’re going to stay for a week.”
“That’s good. Really good.”
“Partly. If Brittney and I don’t kill each other.”
“You have more restraint than you give yourself credit for.” She reached over and took his hand. Max wasn’t an affectionate person, but she needed to touch David, confirm that he was okay. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am that you’re going to be okay. You scared me.”
“Now you know how I feel when you go off and put yourself in danger.”
“I’ve never been shot.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Okay, but that was before you started working for me.”
“It could have been you.”
“I know. It should have been.”
“Don’t say that.”
“I have to rethink some things. My decisions no longer just impact me.”
“They never have.”
“This is different, David.”
“I know it is.”
She sipped her tea; it had grown cold. She pushed it away because she didn’t really want it.
“I may have to stay,” she said.
“You’ll do what’s right for Eve.”
“How do I know what’s right?”
“You always do.” He let out a chuckle. “Max, you’ve always trusted your instincts and your judgment. Don’t second guess yourself now—not when it matters the most.”
“Staying or going to New York needs to be Eve’s decision,” Max said after a moment. “And I can live with either one.”
“How are you doing knowing what happened with your mother?”
“I don’t know exactly what happened, but I’m certain Colter killed her. The FBI is bringing in a forensic team to go over Colter’s property with a fine-toothed comb. If she’s buried there, they’ll find her body. If not, I will assume he did something else with the body. But she’s not alive.”
“I wasn’t specifically talking about her death. More generally, everything that she did. It’s a lot to take in. If you want to talk—anytime—you know I’m here.”
“I know. And I love you for it, David. You’ve been so supportive of me and this quest to find the truth. Now that I know? Well, I know the facts but I still don’t understand why. Maybe I never will.”
“You should take Dr. Kincaid up on his offer to visit. He has a knack for putting complex situations into perspective.”
“He does. And maybe I will, but I have Eve to think about. Where I go, she goes, at least for a while. I want her to feel safe and comfortable.”
“Gabriel Truman did a great job with her,” David said. “She’ll be okay. Just like you. If there’s one thing I have learned about Revere women: you’re the most capable people I know. If Eve is half as strong as you, she’ll be just fine.”
* * *
Max and Eve left early Saturday morning to take Gabriel out to sea. Just the two of them. Ryan had offered to join them, but Max told him she needed to do this alone. With her sister.
They hadn’t talked much over the last week. There was so much to say, but there had been so much to do. The Hendersons had taken over feeding them, making sure there was enough food for Max and Eve for the rest of the year, it seemed. All day people came by the house, paying their condolences. Telling stories about Gabriel. Confirming to Max that he had been a good man. Eve was quiet, she was humble, and she hadn’t cried since the funeral.
Max didn’t know where to go from here. She had never faced a situation like this. She prided herself on always knowing what to do and when to do it, but now? Did she stay here, in Cape Haven, and raise Eve? Did she insist that Eve come with her to New York? Did she ask Beth Henderson to care for the sad teenager who had just had her world crushed?
“Here,” Eve said and slowed the boat. They were on the Emily. Eve had told Max that she and Gabriel had renovated the boat together. One sentence, then nothing.
But that one sentence told Max everything she needed to know about the relationship between Eve and the man who raised her.
“Where are we?” Max asked.
“About a mile past Fisherman Island. Dad and I used to come out here sometimes just to watch the big ships come in under the bridge. Or go a little farther out, to where we couldn’t see the land, and sit. It felt like we were the only people in the world. We didn’t have to talk—my dad didn’t talk a lot. But we didn’t have to, you know? And sometimes, he would tell me stories. About his dad, a fisherman. His dad was never happy, except on the water. I think my dad was the same way sometimes.”
“There is a true peace out here on the ocean,” Max said. “Especially on a day like today.” It was cold but clear, endless blue and green, the waves gentle but constant.
“I miss him,” Eve said. She held the urn tight against her chest. “I don’t know what to do.”
Max didn’t know what to do, either. The answers that always seemed to come to her so easily weren’t there. She was fumbling around in a world she didn’t understand.
“We’ll figure it out,” she said.
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