by KB Winters
Good to know. I hurried away, not risking listening for more details. No matter how badly I wanted more information.
I was looking over my shoulder, and mentally clocking the explosives, and didn’t hear when a second set of footsteps joined mine on the deck.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
I whipped around and found myself staring up at a giant of a man, dressed in all black, and wearing a dark grin on his ugly mug.
I reached for my gun but it was too late. My time had run out.
Chapter Fifteen
Melissa
“Jackson, please, settle down and go back to sleep.”
I was on the verge of begging. Jackson was frantic, running around the room, trying to get out to go find Chase. “Mom, where is he?”
“He had to go get something at the hotel. He forgot something, okay?” I hated to lie to him but Jackson was in an all-out panic, desperate to know where his new friend was.
“We should go help him look!”
“No, no,” I said, reaching for him and putting him back on the bed. “You’re going to settle down and go back to sleep. I’m very sorry that mommy had to wake you up in the first place.”
“But, Mom—”
“No, Jackson. Please, baby, go to sleep.” I could hear the sharpness to my tone and hated myself for it. My sweet boy was concerned for his friend, a trait I appreciated, but considering the circumstances—I couldn’t take anymore objections, questions, or arguments.
I was fried.
The roller-coaster of an adrenaline ride had been raging for days on end and I was about to fly off the tracks altogether.
“I wish Daddy was here…”
Screech. Boom. Crash.
There it went.
The last car, right off the tracks and into the ocean.
Tears stung my eyes as I sank down to the bed, no longer able to hold up my own body weight. “Jackson,” it came out like a plea, a frantic whisper.
“What, Mom? Don’t you wish Dad was here too?”
What the hell was I supposed to say? No, darling, actually I wish your father was hanging from his feet over a tank of man eating sharks and ready to go for a dip.
Chase—the man I was falling for—was out risking his life to keep us safe from men that had been hired by your father.
No. Those were truths I’d never be able to tell him.
“Mom?”
I looked at Jackson. “Honey, it might be awhile before you see Dad again, okay?”
“Why, Mama?”
I drew in a quick breath. “Your father has some things he needs to do and those things might take him a long time.”
Jackson looked puzzled, his little brow knit together. “At work?”
“Yes,” I replied, nibbling on my lip. I glanced out the window. Where was Chase? We needed to get going. I couldn’t do this alone right now. I needed him to swoop in and tell Jackson some story or promise him a new adventure. Something to distract the small boy who was dead set on learning a horrible truth.
Jackson stuck out his lip, resorting to pouting since I wasn’t giving him the answers he wanted. I’d try again in the morning. At the moment, my thoughts were too scattered and chaotic to make sense of it to myself, let alone my five-year-old son who only knew ten percent of the truth of our situation.
“Come on, sweetheart. Lie down and try to rest.”
He lay down but his lip stayed set in an angry pout.
“That’s better. Now, get some sleep and we’ll talk about this in the morning. Okay?”
Nothing.
I stroked his hair back and smiled down at him. “I’ll make blueberry pancakes.”
A tiny smile took the place of the grouchy expression he’d been wearing and I smiled down at him. “That’s better.”
I scooted to the edge of the bed, ready to go up and see if Chase needed help, but before I could say goodnight to Jackson, an explosion broke the silence and the entire ship shuddered and rocked. I was pitched off the edge of the bed, stopping myself with my arm against the wall before I fell to the floor. Jackson bounced but was safe in bed. His eyes flew open wide and he burst into tears, absolutely terrified. I hurried to wrap him in my arms as he wailed.
What the hell had just happened?
My stomach clenched and unclenched so hard I thought I might throw up my dinner right there on the spot. Where is Chase? Where the fuck is he?
“Baby, stay here. No matter what! Promise me that you’ll stay here,” I stared down at Jackson, my hands trembling on his shoulders.
Jackson cried harder and I kissed his forehead. Every piece of my heart ripped to shreds as I left him screaming and crying. I bolted up the stairs and looked in the direction of the sound. Beside us, a few hundred yards away, a small boat had burst into flames. People popped up from the other boats like groundhogs and panicked screams swirled through the gulf. In the distance, sirens rang out, piercing through the noise.
I couldn’t tear my eyes from the boat as a million questions rattled my mind. Where is Chase? Does he know what’s happening? Did he set the fire? Whose boat is that?
And the big one, louder than the rest.
Where is Chase? Where the fuck is Chase?
* * * *
Continued in On The Run Book Two releasing on July 15, 2016.
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Acknowledgements
Thank you! I love you all and thank you for making my books a success!! I appreciate each and every one of you.
Thanks to all of my beta readers, street teamers, ARC readers and Facebook fans. Y’all are THE BEST!
And a huge very special thanks to my wonderful PA, Silla. Without you, I’d be a *hot mess! I’m still a hot mess, but without your keen sense of organization and skills, I’d be a burny fiery inferno of hot mess!! Thank you!
And a very special thanks to my editor, Tina Rucci (who sometimes has to work all through the night! (*See HOT MESS above!) Thank you for making my words make sense.
Copyright © 2016 BookBoyfriends Publishing LLC
About The Author
KB Winters has an addiction to caffeine, tattoos and hard-bodied alpha males. The men in her books are very sexy, protective and sometimes bossy, her ladies are…well…bossier!
Living in sunny Southern California, the embarrassingly hopeless romantic writes every chance she gets!
You can connect with KB on Facebook and Twitter!
Or stop by her website at KBWinters.com!
On The Run
The Elite Se
ries
Book 2
By KB Winters
Copyright © 2016 KB Winters
Published By: BookBoyfriends Publishing LLC
Copyright and Disclaimer
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 KB Winters
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of the trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Dedication
This book is dedicated to the brave men and women of our armed services who put their life on the line everyday to protect our freedom.
Thank you for your service.
~ KB
Chapter One
Melissa
What was paradise, had quickly become hell.
The white sands, crystal waters, sunglasses, bikinis, and fruity drinks with umbrellas were the perfect ingredients for a magical, tropical vacation by the sea. Under any other circumstances—it would’ve been pure perfection.
But my paradise had been ripped to shreds ten minute before.
In the aftermath of the explosion that rocked all the boats in the harbor, I paced frantically below deck, stalking from one end of the boat to the other and then back again. I tried to keep my face expressionless and not let Jackson see me sweat, but inside, I was losing it. I had no idea what had happened. Were we in danger? Were Henry’s men still on their way? Did they know what our boat looked like? Had they been trying to blow us up and got mixed up? Had the bomb that was meant for us, actually just cost someone else their boat? Or even their lives?
The thoughts were too dark to hold on to. I pushed each horrific one away as soon as it flashed through my mind. My stomach churned and I had to take long, deliberate breaths to keep myself from throwing up all over the floor.
“Mama?” I turned and saw Jackson, my five-year-old son, standing in the doorway of the cabin we shared. “Are you all right? What’s happening?”
I wish I knew.
“Hey, baby. Go back to bed. I’m going to go upstairs for a minute. You have to stay here,” I said, my voice firm, unyielding.
Poor Jackson, did Henry try to kill our baby as well?
I would rather die than see any harm come to my son. He had to stay hidden—away from the chaos.
He nodded and I repeated, “Jackson, you have to stay in the room. Please, promise me.”
“I will, Mama. I promise.”
My heart crumbled and I pressed a long, hard kiss against his forehead and led him back to bed. Once he was tucked in tight, I shut the door, wishing it had a lock, and then crept up the stairwell to the top deck of the boat. I hung back in the shadows and sucked in a sharp breath at the scene unfolding on the docks. The small, Cabo harbor was a sight to behold. The huge explosion that had burst thought the quiet night had everyone in town on red alert. The scene played out in front of me like something from a violent movie—a chaotic swell of action and noise. The docks were flooded with uniformed men and women who were shouting to one another over the roar of the fire. Even from where I stood, I could feel the heat radiating from the boat as it burned bright in the darkness. The thick smoke brought tears to my eyes and my lungs ached.
God what a nightmare!
Another group of rescue workers were looking to help any injured people and keep any looky-loo’s from getting anywhere near the other boats docked in the harbor.
Beyond the dock, the sandy, moonlit beach was masked by the lick of flames raging from the burning boat in the harbor. The soft lapping of the tide was drowned out by frantic screams and the sound of emergency sirens as rescue teams arrived on the scene.
It was all background sounds to me. My mind was only zeroed in on one thought. One purpose.
Finding Chase.
I covered my nose and mouth with my hand and stooped over to crawl to the edge of our boat. I squinted through the hazy smoke-filled air and scanned back and forth like one of those cat clocks with the shifty eyes. I combed back and forth, back and forth, praying silently that a familiar set of broad shoulders would stand out in the chaos. I couldn’t leave Jackson on board by himself—I couldn’t take him out, either. It was too dangerous. But it took every fiber of my being to keep myself rooted in place.
Anxiety ripped through me in massive tidal wave rushes. There were so many questions rattling around in my head, and all it did was conjure up more fears. My stomach churned as my eyes continued darting up and down the dock, stopping to assess each figure and face. No one appeared to have seen me from my hiding place in the shadows. They were all consumed with the emergency at hand.
And I was going to keep it that way.
If any of the rescue teams knew I was on a boat so close to the blast and the raging fire, they’d insist I leave and then Jackson and I would be sitting ducks. For all I knew, Henry’s men had set the explosion to draw me out from my hiding place. A large crowd full of panicked people would be the perfect place to attempt a kidnapping.
Or worse—murder.
In all the chaos, no one would notice a woman with her child being escorted away from the crowd.
I shuddered at the thought. No. I was staying put and waiting for Chase to come back to me. He’d know what to do. Besides, if I left, how would he ever find me again?
Unless…
No. Hell no. I wasn’t going to go there. He was a Navy SEAL for God’s sake. He was fine. He was safe. He had to be. He was probably down on the docks, weaving through the throng of townspeople and tourists trying to get back to the boat.
“Mama?”
I whipped around, my heart leaping into my throat, and spotted Jackson standing in the doorway that led to the stairs. I wanted to scream at him for breaking his promise and going against my wishes, but seeing the terror in my sweet son’s eyes broke my heart and all I could do was reach for him. “Come here, sweetheart. But shh.” I pressed a finger to my lips before opening my arms to him. It occurred to me that it was a pointless gesture. No one was going to hear his scared, tiny sounding voice over the panic. “Why are you up here?”
“I got scared…I heard a loud noise and I couldn’t find you.”
My heart shattered like a firework, the pieces fluttering to the ground between us. I squeezed him tighter to my chest. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Mama? What’s happening?” He tried to step up onto his toes to see over the side, but I pulled him down beside me with a gentle tug on his wrist.
“I don’t know, baby, but we need to stay here and stay hidden.” I brushed his hair back and a lump swelled in my throat. I bit back the tears, refusing to break down in front of him. I needed to be strong for him.
It was the least I could do, considering everything was my fault.
No, it wasn’t my fault that my soon-to-be ex-husband, Henry O’Keefe, was a maniac on a homicidal power trip. But as I glanced down at the mess on the docks, I couldn’t fight back the thought that if I’d just done something different—neither one of us would be in this situation. I’d be miserable, but as long as I did what Henry asked, he would have let me live. Jackson could have continued living in blissful ignorance of the strain between his father and me. At least, for a while longer.
And Chase…
Chase would be on a beach, with a drink in one hand, and his beloved paperback in the other.
I squeezed my eyes tight against the accus
ations and self-hatred.
“Where’s Chase?” Jackson asked, his voice still soft and close to my ear as he snuggled against me.
“He went to get us some supplies, baby. Then, when he gets back, we can go. Okay?” It was the dozenth lie that I’d told him since we’d left California. I hated the way each one felt.
He’d forgive me someday.
I turned and looked over the side again. The fire on the boat appeared to be finally contained and the first ambulance that had arrived on the scene had fled into the night. The second one waited on standby. That had to be a good sign. Right? If there were more injuries, they would’ve called in more paramedics and ambulances, wouldn’t they? I clung to the hope that the situation wasn’t as dire as it looked from my vantage point.
But what if Chase was inside the first ambulance? What if he was on his way to the hospital now? Injured and unable to get in touch with us and tell us what to do. Where to go. Where to hide. I winced at the thought, hating the way my heart careened recklessly inside my chest. What was I supposed to do without him? I didn’t know how to drive the boat and I couldn’t trust anyone else to do it for me. On top of that, I didn’t know where to go, even if I could hire a captain for the boat. Chase was not only my protector, but he’d been the brains behind the escape as well. Without him, I’d go around in circles and eventually wind up as a sitting duck.
Then there was the most terrifying question of all. Did Henry’s men find us? Did they have Chase? If they did, I had to find them. I had to figure out a way to convince Henry to let Chase go. Unharmed. But how? I didn’t have anything Henry wanted anymore.
I looked down at Jackson and my stomach clenched into a tight ball. Jackson was my only leverage and I’d never let him go. I’d die first.
If I lost Jackson, I might as well let Henry put me out of my misery. There would be no coming back from such a blow. I wouldn’t have anything left to live for.