All the slips were occupied, the boats tugging restlessly against their moorings. Chase was just about ready to give up on finding a slip when he spotted an empty one next to a good-size tug. Ever watchful for the harbormaster, Chase quickly parked the boat, cut the engine and then jumped onto the dock to tie the moorings to the cleats.
Once the boat was secured, he opened the hatch and stepped into the below deck cabin. He threw off the jacket and hat. There was no sign of Lily.
Worry trickled through Chase in the instant before he spotted the forward sleeping quarters. Heart skipping, he strode to the tiny room and ducked inside. Something warm and jumpy ran the length of him when he saw Lily. She lay on her side with a blanket pulled up to her shoulders.
In the dim light coming from the galley, he could just make out the lines of her body. The soft, pale glow of her face. Her dark eyes and full mouth. Her womanly curves. The round shape of her swollen belly. For several seconds he stood there, staring at her, uncomfortable with the emotions tearing through him. He knew he should turn away. Make some calls. Try to figure out what the hell was going on.
But his legs refused the command. He couldn’t stop staring at her and thinking about all the intimacies they’d shared. He’d never experienced such passion before in his life. Standing there, he couldn’t deny that he wanted to touch her again.
He’d never seen Lily as vulnerable. She was opinionated and vocal, one of the most capable women he’d ever known. But lying there, sleeping, carrying his child, she looked incredibly vulnerable.
Scraping a hand over his jaw, he turned away.
Her voice stopped him cold. “Chase?”
He didn’t turn to face her. Gripped by emotions he hadn’t felt for a very long time—emotions he didn’t want to feel—he took a deep breath and told himself they would pass. Damn it, they would.
“What’s going on?”
It was a question he couldn’t ignore, even if he didn’t know the answer. She deserved to know what was happening. At least he could tell her as much as he knew.
Slowly, he turned. She was sitting up with the blanket pressed to her breasts. Most of her hair had come loose from the ponytail and cascaded like curly red strips of silk around her shoulders. In the past, she’d always hated her hair, threatening to color or straighten it. Chase, on the other hand, had always loved it just the way it was, as soft and bright and fragrant as sunshine.
He studied her, loving the way she looked at this moment, and he wished he could capture this image of her and emblazon it onto his memory. “We’re safe for now,” he said in a thick voice.
“Who are those men and what do they want?”
“I don’t know. I’m going to make some calls, see if I can get some answers.” He started to turn away. “Go back to sleep.”
But she was already scooting off the edge of the small bed. “Like I can sleep.”
He knew it was silly, but he stepped back when she stood. He’d been close to Lily a hundred times in the months they’d been together. But he didn’t want her close to him now. He wasn’t sure what he’d do. Something stupid, more than likely.
“You were doing just fine a moment ago.”
Because he didn’t want to make a mistake he’d regret, he left the sleeping quarters and strode to the galley. Pulling the security guard’s cell phone from his belt, he sat at the small table, punched in the number for Ben Parker and waited.
The FBI agent picked up on the first ring.
Chase didn’t waste any time. “They found us at South Station.”
“How did they know you were there?”
Something uncomfortable pinged in the back of Chase’s brain. How had the men known where to find them? Ben was the only person who’d known where they were.
“Good question,” Chase said.
“You sweep yourself for transmitters?”
“I checked my clothes.”
“Kind of haphazard, Chase.”
“Yeah.” He paused, troubled by the suspicions leaching into his brain. “I’ll figure it out.”
Ben continued. “Look, I got a call from Ethan—”
“He okay?”
“He’s worried about you. Said you were talking and the line went dead.”
“Sons of bitches ambushed me.”
“You okay?”
“We’re fine.” Keenly aware that Lily was standing just a few feet away, listening, Chase lowered his voice. “These bastards have pulled out all the stops, Ben. They’re gunning for us big time.”
“You still going to come in?”
Chase hesitated, some obscure little voice warning him to trust no one. “Did you check with Fort Leavenworth?” The military prison administrators would have been able to tell Ben if Liam Shea had been released or escaped.
“He was released last summer.”
“Damn.” Liam Shea now took front and center on his list of suspects. He’d made an explicit threat. The modus operandi fit his style; he was an expert on anything electrical. Chase couldn’t think of anyone else who might be holding a grudge and held the power to orchestrate these kinds of ambushes.
“Anyone else come to mind?” Ben asked.