“Rachel!”
Her stroke faltered and she stopped, spinning in the water to find her dad looking down at her from the bow of a large speedboat. “Rachel!”
“Dad!”
“I’m coming to get you.” He turned to the driver. “I need a blanket!”
The motor cut and a ladder appeared over the side. In spite of heavy arms and chattering teeth, she swam over to it. And then her father clamped a hard, yet gentle, hand around her wrist and hauled her into his arms.
Linc climbed onto the ship and gripped Chloe by her upper arm. “You okay?”
She shivered and nodded.
Two helicopters buzzed overhead. Other law enforcement, including the Coast Guard and Marine Patrol Officers, surrounded the vessel while others cleared the area around it. The girls were being transferred to another boat, traumatized, but safe.
“I’m okay, but we’re not done.”
“How many?”
“Two women for sure and another big dude with a big gun.”
More law enforcement swarmed the boat.
“Why don’t you let us take it from here?”
“Oh no. I’m not missing out on this. And besides, I know where they are.”
“Which you could tell me.”
“Which I can show you.” She explained the plan, the cold forgotten as she talked. “A line going this way, and officers covering the other side. We’ll meet at the room I locked the two women in.”
Linc shot her a dark look, then spoke into a microphone that she knew was connected to other agent and officer earpieces.
Her fingers gripped the butt of the gun she’d taken from Thelma. “How’d you find me? Hank? Is he okay?”
“Yep. And he’s fine. An officer saw him bolt out of the Tahoe and thought there might be trouble. He went in, found the mess you made in the office, and called it in. We put two and two together and headed this way.”
“Thank God.”
Linc frowned. “You’ve been through a hard thing, you need to get off this yacht and we’ll take it from here.”
She shook her head as adrenaline pumped a mixture of fear, anticipation, and determination through her veins. “I’m seeing this through to the end.”
With a final scowl and a sigh of resignation, Linc motioned for her to precede him. She led the way around the side of the boat with Linc behind her and more agents following him.
Although she couldn’t see them, she knew another line of law enforcement walked parallel to her. They reached the room and she found the door unlocked. “I locked it when I left,” she whispered to Linc.
He nodded. “Open it.”
She reached for the knob and the gunshot sent her to the deck.
Blake finally forced himself to let go of Rachel, but cupped her face. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” She huddled under the blanket.
“Hold on a sec. Sit here.” He led her to the bench seating in the back where she’d be warmer and sheltered from the wind. Turning, he called, “What’s happening? Is Chloe okay? The other girls?” They were far enough away that Rachel would be safe should bullets start flying, but close enough for him to see something was going on.
“They’re in the process of looking for the other suspects on the ship. All the girls are safe and headed toward shore. We’re staying back here out of the way since we’ve got your daughter on board.”
Blake nodded. He got that, he did. But the staying put chafed. He wanted to be there, to make sure Chloe was okay and out of harm’s way. But since he couldn’t be, he slipped back to sit beside Rachel. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, surprised she didn’t pull away. “What were you doing swimming?”
She shivered and pulled the blanket tighter. “I had to do something. Anything. I th-thought I could swim to shore and get help. I thought if I got h-help and s-saved everyone, you would . . .”
“What? I would what?”
She whispered something and he strained to hear. “What was that?”
Rachel looked up at him. “Love me.”
He gaped. “Love you? Rachel, I love you with every fiber of my being!”
“But I’m not yours!” Her cry wrenched his heart. “My own mother didn’t want me. Why would you want a child who doesn’t share your blood?”
“I’m your father. I was there when you were born. I’ve loved you since the moment I saw your tiny little red face. And we’ll come back to that. But tell me, how did you find out?”
“There was a letter in your desk. I found it. My mom offered you custody six months before she died and it had a lot of details in there, including the fact that she should never have married you and she should have had an abortion.” Tears slid down her cheeks.
Blake leaned his head against hers. “Aw, Rachel, I was working undercover when that letter came. Your mom . . .” He hesitated, not wanting to say anything negative about her mother, but feeling like she deserved to know the whole truth.
“Tell me. I can take it.”
“Your mom knew I was undercover. I told her if she needed to get in touch with me, she had to go through my supervisor. I gave her his name and contact information. She never sent that through him. I found it when I got home. By then she was dead and you were mine anyway.” He shifted to make sure she had a clear view of his eyes. “If I had gotten that letter in time, I would have moved heaven and earth to have signed the papers that were all drawn up and just waiting. After your mom died and I came up for air from the undercover assignment, I went and signed those papers anyway.”
“But you didn’t have to. You already had me.”
“I didn’t want there to be any doubt about where you belonged.”
“Because of my grandparents?”
He sighed. “Yes. And no.” A pause. “Mostly yes.”
“But they didn’t want me either. I mean, they like visiting and sending me cool gifts, but they don’t want a full-time kid cramping their travel plans.”
“Well . . .” What could he say? She was right. “Look. Mull on all of this while I try to find out about Chloe.”
She nodded. “You really wanted me.”
“I really did.”
Chloe had waited with the rest of the team, silent and still. After a good sixty seconds with no more shots, she rolled and looked back at Linc. “Where’d that come from? Is everyone okay?”
Linc gave her a thumbs-up. “No one was hit. Sounded kind of muffled.”
“I think it came from the room. Ready?” She stood.
“When you are.”
She twisted the knob and shoved the door open, staying well covered by the wall. When no shots followed, she signaled to Linc she was going in. He placed a hand on her shoulder and rounded the doorjamb with her.
Louise sat in the chair holding a gun. The man whose name Chloe never learned lay on the floor bleeding from the chest. Weapon aimed at Louise, Chloe crouch-stepped to the side. “Police! Put it down.”
The woman stared at the floor.
“Put it down! Now! I’m not kidding! Now!”
The weapon finally landed with a soft thud. Chloe moved in and scooped the gun away. Another officer took the woman to the floor and cuffed her. When he lifted her to her feet, Chloe stepped in front of her. “Cass or Maria?”
“Maria.”
“What happened, Maria?”
“He killed Cass. She came out of the bathroom and he just shot her. I knew I was next, so I moved fast and killed him first.”
Chloe flicked a glance at Linc. “Check the bathroom.” The chair had been moved from the door.
Linc opened the door. “She’s here.” He knelt and reached in. Chloe figured he was checking a pulse. “Dead,” he said.
Chloe’s hand started to shake. She stumbled to the nearest chair and slumped onto it. “That’s it. That’s all of them.”
“I’m a Deputy US Marshal. Let me through.”
Blake’s authoritative order snapped her head up. She stood and walked over to him. He wrapped an arm around her and she leaned against him, almost unable to process that she and the others were safe. “Neal, from the museum, was the ringleader,” she mumbled against his chest. “He was in charge. I think. At least on the boat. But I think he was reporting to someone else.”
“Who?”