“Then toss your weapons overboard. I’m sure you ladies won’t mind waiting out there where I can keep an eye on you. The sheriff’s department is on its way.”
As if on cue, a speedboat appeared at the lagoon’s outlet. At first, Lucy was relieved; this would be over and done with in a few minutes. But then she realized that the boat was a civilian one, similar to the flat-bottomed outboard Mateo’s uncle had used to rescue her earlier. And there was only one man in it, not the SWAT team she’d been expecting.
Gant.
Chapter 23
Shelly spotted Gant’s boat about the same time as Lucy but her reaction surprised Lucy. Shelly whirled, raised her pistol, and aimed it at her older sister. “You bitch, you sold me out!”
Hayden raised her own weapon but it was clear she didn’t have the heart to shoot her little sister. “Shelly, no. It’s over. Drop your gun.”
Gant revved his engine faster at the sight of a gun trained on his chief while Lucy grabbed the paddle and pushed-pulled the raft through the thick silt, aiming for the dive platform at the rear of the boat where she could climb on board.
As Gant roared into the protected water of the lagoon, the wake churned the mud and rocked the larger boat and Lucy’s raft, pushing Lucy back, maddeningly just out of reach.
Above her, silhouetted in the light of the open cabin door and Lucy’s Maglite, Hayden lunged for her sister. A gunshot sounded above the growl of Gant’s outboard. Lucy stopped paddling and risked standing, bracing herself against the side of the raft as the wake from Gant’s boat rocked it. She raised her pistol and aimed at the two women struggling on the deck. She was still a good six feet away from being able to board the boat, but close enough to shoot, if need be.
Shelly pushed Hayden back, hard, and Hayden flew over the railing on the opposite side of the boat from Lucy’s position.
Shelly straightened, holding a pistol. Gant shouted something but his words were buried in the noise of the outboard. He slowed, throttled down the engine to idle, drew a weapon, and stood.
“Drop the gun, Shelly!” Gant shouted. Shelly fired twice at him. He returned fire as did Lucy, but the rocking raft and aiming up at a moving target, all she hit was the side of the boat. Shelly vanished. Lucy wasn’t sure if Gant hit her or if she’d dropped to the deck for cover.
She glanced past the stern of the boat to Gant’s boat. He was slumped against the tiller, the boat pivoting in response, speeding up and aiming past Fleming’s boat, directly at her raft. The outboard whined as it revved up, fighting the mud and silt, bouncing once as it hit something—Lucy prayed it was a log or alligator or anything except Hayden who she had lost sight of once she went overboard.
The impact sent Gant reeling over the side, leaving the outboard racing out of control. It skimmed past the stern of Fleming’s boat and rammed the Zodiac, flinging the lighter raft into the air and upending it. Lucy half dove, half flew into the water, aiming away from the outboard’s propeller.
Except it wasn’t really water—it was a thick goo, more like quicksand than anything. Gant’s boat crashed into the boardwalk behind her, the Zodiac spun to a stop, turned upside down—the bag of money vanished into the mud and her Maglite gone with it, leaving her flailing, gasping, with only the light from Fleming’s boat cabin to orient herself.
The mud sucked her under before she had a chance to hold her breath. A nasty taste filled her mouth and she panicked for a moment as waves churned the water above her.
Calm, focus, Nick’s voice came in the dark. The memory of watching the crabs skitter over the mud and the alligator glide through it flashed through her. She stopped kicking, realizing that was only making things worse. The mud caught her feet, dragging her down.
She straightened, pulling her head above the water and hauled in a breath. It was like quicksand, she thought. The impact of the outboard crashing into the raft had left her only a few feet from Fleming’s boat. Spitting the foul grit from her mouth she performed a slow-motion combination of wading and swimming. The mud fought her, sucking greedily at her feet, taking her shoes, but bare feet were the least of her worries. Thankfully, she’d kept hold of her gun, but she needed to eliminate the threat that was Shelly and then find Gant and Hayden.
Her ears were clogged with mud but she heard splashing from the opposite side of the boat. Either Gant or Hayden—hopefully both—still alive. Above her Shelly was slamming around in the cabin, swearing, obviously unharmed.