Caught in the Crosshair (3 page)

“A guy I knew is lying dead back there on the beach. You’re the connection. I plan to find out why.”

She located a shorty — a suit made for warm water dives. She looked up in time to see Jaden unzipping his jeans, shedding them not more than a second later.

Her heart stuttered, heat climbed up her throat. She diverted her gaze to the pile of equipment in front of her, ignoring the impulses heightening all her senses.

“I don’t have a bathing suit,” she said quickly. A little too quickly.

“You have the next best thing.”

Surely this complete stranger didn’t think she’d strip down to her bra and panties right in front of him? “I don’t think so.”

“In the water, your clothes will turn to lead weights in a matter of minutes. I have no idea how long we’ll be swimming. But I’m certain of two things. Stay here and you’ll die. Wear those and you’ll drown.”

His shirt was crumpled on the floor. His muscled chest glistened from the light rain.

“Fine. Then turn around at least,” she said stiffly, before turning to face opposite him as she heard a zip.

“Nothing I haven’t seen before, sweetheart.”

Feeling more vulnerable than she wanted to admit, she slipped off her pale green tank top. The tiny hairs on the back of her neck pricked as she slid her skirt down past her hips and turned just in time to catch Jaden boldly staring at her.

The breath stalled in her throat as she stepped out of her skirt. Her heart thudded against her ribs. Not just because of the unexpectedly provocative stare, but because of the way he looked at her, like she was Helen and he’d just won the Trojan War. She’d never seen a gaze so full of secrets and promises, never seen eyes turn that dark. They’d deepened practically to the color of a night sky.

“I told you not to look.”

He grinned a devastating little grin, said nothing.

“Besides, how do I know you’re not working for one of those jerks who’s trying to get my brother killed for his territory?”

He stepped closer, using his body to crowd her against the side of the boat. “You really think I’m the kind of man who does other people’s dirty work?”

She jolted at the nearness of his voice. He was so close now she could smell the woodsy scent of his aftershave. For the first time she was keenly aware of just how tall he was. He had to be at least six-three, maybe more. Standing this close to her, he nearly dwarfed her frame at five-four.

“No.” She didn’t think that. If Jaden Dean had dirty work to do, he did it for himself.

It was high noon. The temperature was warm and humid, causing clumps of her long hair to cling to her neck. She pushed it away and drew a breath, craving fresh air, but only succeeded in piloting in the scent of him. Musky and male.

Her heart beat too fast in her chest. “I don’t know what kind of man you really are.”

“You don’t need to.”

“If you’re trying to scare me,” she said, “it won’t work.”

“I suppose you’re not trembling, either.”

Frustration shot through her, because damn it, he was right. Refusing to give an inch, she shot back, “I’m cold.”

“Try again.”

With trembling fingers, she zipped her shorty and then struggled to buckle her buoyancy control vest. Thank God he’d turned back to the pile of equipment, no doubt searching for anything useful. She needed a second to pull it together and calm her rattled self.

“I never could figure this thing out,” she said, hating how uneven and shaky her voice sounded.

“Tighten it here,” he said, moving closer, his tone dropping an octave lower.

His finger brushed across her stomach causing heat to swirl low in her belly. “Should be snug across the belly but not too tight under the arms.”

The wind wound through his tight black curls.

Lauren slipped on her weight belt, followed by her tank, ignoring the sensations igniting her nervous system from his slightest touch. He was dark and dangerous, and he’d just saved her life. Her body was simply reacting to that.

“I don’t know anything about you aside from your name.”

“No. You don’t.” He tanked up without breaking rhythm; his gruff tone suggested they were done talking. “If you want to stay alive, you’d better follow me.”

She clutched the overnight bag.

“You can’t swim with that.”

Panic widened her eyes. “This is everything I have. There’s no more. I told you, I don’t bring this and my brother’s dead. I have to —”

“You bring it, game over,
you
die.” As if to punctuate his sentence, Jaden picked up his gun and fired off a round into the water, emptying the chamber, and then tossed the clip overboard before securing his gun back inside his shorty.

“What are you doing?”

“Bullets on a Glock and water don’t mix,” was all he said. Then came, “And I’m serious about losing the bag.”

Lauren flinched as she set it down, cleared her throat, and positioned herself on the edge of the boat preparing for the backward spiral into the water. The sound of a boat engine roared in the distance. Panic gripped her. They were getting closer.

If they got the money, would they kill Max?

“Hold on.” She grabbed the fire extinguisher, tied it onto her piece of luggage, and tossed it overboard. “That might buy Max a little more time if they find the boat.”

Jaden winked approvingly, and her heart stuttered. She shouldn’t care what this man thought.

She took her seat on the edge of the boat again. Normally, the water in the Caribbean was like glass, providing a clear view to the sand below, but the storm-churned seas had her diving in blind. Glancing down deep where the blue water darkened, she said a silent prayer nothing scarier than men with guns waited down there.

Jaden looked capable of handling any situation that might come up under the surface or otherwise. That was comforting. The notion she felt comforted by the presence of a complete stranger with a gun struck Lauren as odd.

“Stick close by me.”

He fell backward, motioning Lauren to follow, looking half unsure if she would. She did and found herself on a rocky bottom inside of forty-five feet. He turned and navigated her through a gully.

Blackness loomed overhead.

When they’d swum a great distance, thumbs up, Jaden gave the signal to ascend.

Lauren surfaced, and immediately a gale blew her backward. She spit out her regulator, gagged on seawater. The roar of a boat engine sending waves of panic rippling through her.

“Must be a thirty-knot wind,” Jaden said, kicking his feet hard to stay afloat. “Sound travels further. The boat isn’t as close as you think.”

A six-foot wave churned, swelled, washed over Lauren, and then pushed her back under. She broke the surface again and immediately searched for any signs of life on top of the waves. Nothing.

No doubt about it, they were lost at sea. Waves broke over her head. Rain came down in buckets dropping visibility to a few feet.

“What’s going on?” She had to shout to be heard over the howling wind, terror vibrating her tone.

Jaden raked his fingers through his hair. “We’ll figure something out.”

The skies darkened by the minute, and the swells rose to unbelievable heights. They were too high.

Lauren whipped from left to right increasing the splash. Her expression grew increasingly desperate.

“Are we lost?”

Panic welled in her chest, causing sharp stabs of pain with each beat of her pounding heart. She scrambled to keep her head above water.
Breathe
. The long, slow breath she took in caught in her throat, causing her to choke on thick saltwater as it scorched her lips. She battled fatigue and stiffening muscles. Water sloshed overhead threatening to pull her under with the wave’s sheer force. Fighting against the onslaught of foam and whitecaps, she craned her neck left and right.

Someone or something had to be around.

And the seas? Angry. Bitter. Pounding out Mother Nature’s version of a wild temper tantrum.

Muscles stiff with fear made it increasingly difficult to tread water. Scared, she could do nothing but struggle to keep her head above water. If she died, who would help Max? They had no real family. It had been the two of them against the world, until she learned what he was getting into. From that day on, she’d been all alone.

“They’re going to find us and kill him,” she shouted. Her stomach cramped as she felt the burning, metallic taste of vomit in the back of her throat. Trying to hold position near Jaden, she turned to meet his focused gaze.

“No. They won’t,” he said.

“How can you be so sure?”

“I’m good at what I do. Trust me. He won’t die. Once we make it back to shore, we’ll meet up at the safe house. I’ll gather my team, and we’ll figure out who has your brother and where.”

“We won’t make it. I hear the boat. It’s only a matter of time before those jerks find us.”

She felt an arm wrap around her waist before being pulled toward Jaden, the heat from his body warming her as he pressed her body against his. “The rain will kill their visibility. They won’t find us if we keep swimming.”

Rolling, dark clouds swelled overhead.

“Inflate your BC,” he said. His voice was controlled, providing a small measure of comfort while Lauren was freaking out.

“Right.” Good idea. Her buoyancy control device would make her float, keeping her on top of the water without her wasting valuable energy. Lauren located the knob and squeezed the inflator button a couple bursts. She pushed her legs forward, flattened her back, and allowed herself a moment to get her bearings.

“I probably shouldn’t even care. I mean, I know what he is.” She didn’t respect her brother. How could she? But he hadn’t always been like that. There was a time when he’d been her salvation, her protector.

Why couldn’t she save him back?

“He was my hero when were kids. He saved me from a lot of … bad … things.”

Jaden’s expression changed. His pupils dilated as though he was suddenly very angry. “He saved you from things or people?”

Compared to young Max, Superman was just a silly-looking guy in a cape. “People. It’s the reason I came.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll get to him. I promise.” Jaden’s hand went up, his expression set with more determination than ever. “The direction of the wind should blow us ashore —”

“Which way is that?”

Jaden pointed, seemed sure of himself, but how he could tell was anybody’s guess.

“It looks too far. And the current is tugging us out to sea.”

Too weak to move, all Lauren could do was watch as Jaden pulled a knife from its sheath. After cutting the line, he took one end, and using a bowline, attached the line to a clip on his buoyancy control device. He moved to Lauren and tucked the other end of the line through the buckle of her vest.

“This way we won’t get separated.”

A sinking feeling swelled inside Lauren’s stomach causing her muscles to heave at the sound of the word
separated
. The thought of the words
at sea
next to it was even worse. Especially when Max needed her most. If she’d had any idea he was in this much trouble, she wouldn’t have hesitated to help him.

At least her wetsuit, although nothing more than a short sleeved shirt and shorts made of a thin layer of mesh, provided some measure of insulation against the elements. But without the sun, even seventy-degree water caused a chill to goose bump both of her arms.

Jaden set his jaw. “We can swim at right angles to the wind to bring us closer to shore.”

“How far is it?” Lauren wasn’t sure she wanted the answer to that question. The chilly wind was already causing a reaction in her body. Her nerves were shot.

“Hard to tell.”

Maybe he didn’t want to say.

“I need you to trust me. We’ll be okay.”

Trust him? Trust a man with a gun who’d forced her out to sea? A man who made her body quiver with the mere brush of his hand?

To be fair, he had kept them alive so far. He’d rescued her from the grip of a cartel member. He seemed determined to help her find Max. He’d lost a buddy today. She could risk a little trust.

“Drop your weights,” he said.

“What?” She was already scouting for a rescue boat. There had to be one. She listened for a plane or helicopter through the howling wind. Nothing. Just the distant roar of a boat engine.

“Your weights. Let them go,” Jaden said, his voice was milder and more reassuring.

Right again. They’d make it harder to swim against the current.

Taking the lead, Jaden placed his facemask back on and folded forward.

Lauren did her best to keep up, allowing some slack in the line, but careful not to create drag. After nearly twenty minutes of swimming, a waterspout bobbing up and down in the surf caught her attention. She tugged on the line to get Jaden’s attention. “There. Look there. A boat.”

Jaden stopped swimming and turned. The wrinkle in his brow and tension lines across his face shot a warning to Lauren.

Were they good guys or bad guys in the boat?

Icy fingers of panic squeezed around her chest like an invisible band.

Another light drizzle had begun, and it became immediately clear the boat was pushing toward shore.

After a few minutes, the sky seemed to dump truckloads of rain, causing her to completely lose sight of the vessel. A fresh wave of anxiety hit.

What ifs assaulted her.

What if Jaden would have been able to overtake the men in the boat?

What if he could take command and drive them back to shore safely?

What if they just lost their only chance of rescue?

Out here, they had nothing but angry seas.

“Can you still see it?” Lauren tried to stop her voice from shaking. Ripples of chilling current ran from her skin to her core. She’d been so focused on doing whatever it took to find shore and save her brother that she’d totally forgotten where she was.

This was the deep, home of the great white, the hammerhead, and who knew what other species of shark. She was in their territory now. Small and fearful, she was an easy target. “We’re going to die out here. They’ll kill Max for sure.”

“You’re going to be fine,” Jaden said moving closer through the water until she could see every line of his face and his strong hand could reach out to her. “Let’s take a minute to rest.”