Shadowed (8 page)

Micah hit the boat first, pulling himself up on deck and immediately scanning the
decks, corners, and recesses with his rifle. He waved them on, and within seconds
Nick knelt next to him with Colt and Logan by his side, their wet suits leaving growing
puddles on the deck.

Logan signaled that Nick and Micah should check the cabin while he and Colt took
the deck. They moved in perfect sync, the only sound the gentle lap of waves on the
hull of the boat. A cruise ship sat anchored farther in the harbor, and Nick hoped
no one lingered topside.

Nick followed Micah below, his senses alert for any sound or movement. The ship lay
in stillness. Too quiet.

“Cabin is clear.” Micah said, radioing the rest of the team. The two of them lowered
their guns and looked around.

Lush blue carpet blanketed the floor. A bed flanked one wall, adorned with cream
and gold coverings and pillows. Gold-filigreed trinkets sat throughout the room,
and leather armchairs made up a small sitting area. Plush and lavish. Nick had to
agree with their intel. Janus enjoyed comfort and had expensive taste.

“Maybe we missed her.” Micah broke the silence, still studying the room. He approached
a small desk sitting below a circular window and glanced through a few papers, careful
to leave them undisturbed. “Maybe she stayed in a cushy hotel tonight or is enjoying
a late night in Yalta drinking Ukrainian booze.”

Nick approached the desk and immediately stilled. Lying on top of the letters and
papers was a note written on thick, cream-colored stationery. The precise Russian
lettering told Nick more about their target than the room ever could. His face drained
of color as he read.

“Hawk, what is it?” Micah looked harder at the papers.

Nick picked up the stationery and turned it toward Micah.

Micah stilled, his brown eyes scouring Nick's face.

“It says, ‘Catch me if you can.' Someone ratted us out.”

Glass broke as a bullet whizzed through the window, embedding in the cabin wall
opposite them. Nick and Micah immediately hit the floor as their radio erupted with
Colt's shouts. “Shooter! Man down, man down.”

Logan
. Nick's stomach sank. Kill the shooter, then get Logan
home to his family.
He issued instructions to the men on the Zodiacs. “Jay, T-Brown, see if you can get
eyes on our shooter. One shot through the portside cabin window.”

“Three shots on the bow,” Colt shouted. “I think it's a sniper, but he's an awful
shot.”

Sniper. Nick's own trade. He pushed his body up enough to catch a small glimpse of
the cruise ship anchored just inside shooting distance. He should have known. He
pounded a fist on the carpet.

“T-Brown, get eyes on the top deck of that cruise ship. Take this jerk out so we
can get off this boat. Jay, radio HQ. Tell them we need surgeons available as soon
as we get back.”

“Hawk.” Logan's voice shook over the radio, but Nick's heart leapt knowing he was
conscious.

“Hang in there, man. Let's get off this boat.”

“Grab anything we can hand over. We need more intel on Janus . . . ” Logan sucked
in a breath. “We need more to catch her.”

“On it.” Micah began pulling the mail and paperwork from the desk, then opened the
drawer.

“Hurry, Bulldog,” Nick hissed as he crouched and moved toward the door. Another bullet
whizzed through the window. This guy was clearly shooting blind. It made Nick's blood
boil. He hated getting shot at. He wished he had his sniper rifle in his hands. Payback
would be brutal.

“There might be fingerprints.” Micah grabbed a few pens and papers, shoving them
in a waterproof bag and then stuffing them next to his chest before refastening his
wet suit. He beat a path to the door on Nick's heels.

“We've got company,” Colt shouted over the radio. “Speedboat coming from the west.
I got eyes on three, all fully armed.” Shots echoed from above, and Nick and Micah
clambered up the stairs, stopping to appraise the situation.

“On deck,” Micah called over the radio.

“Jay, T, we need y'all. Forget the sniper. We gotta get out of here.” Nick swallowed
his anxiety as he scanned the darkness.

Another round of bullets sprayed the boat, right above where Nick and Micah crouched.
Sitting ducks with one wounded and a trigger-happy, inexperienced sniper. Not ideal.

“All right. That's enough of this.” Micah looked to Nick. With a nod, they rounded
the deck, firing back at the speedboat now beginning to circle
The Jupiter
.

Nick shouted over the roar of the speedboat. “Colt, you and Logan get to the stern
and let's get off this boat. We'll cover you.”

“Hawk, take port, I'll get starboard.” Micah and Nick split and began firing. As
the speedboat circled closer, Nick identified one driver and two shooters. The driver's
blond hair glinted in the moonlight, probably Eastern European. Nick couldn't make
out his face. The shooters both had caps pulled low over their faces, and their dark
clothes blended into the night. Nick took careful aim and sent one flying over the
deck and into the sea spray.

“One down.”

Colt appeared, Logan slung over his shoulders, his steps quick and measured on the
thin trail between the cabin and the boat's edge. “Hawk, help.”

“Cover us, Bulldog.” Immediately Micah appeared at his side, firing shots. The second
gunner went down.

Nick grabbed Colt, steadying him, and then helped him lower Logan to the floor. A
nasty hole gaped in Logan's calf muscle, blood still oozing from the wound. Logan's
face was pasty, his eyes unfocused. Nick noticed Colt had already tied a tourniquet
above the wound.

Jay's voice sounded over the radio, almost shattering Nick's ear drum. “Get off the
boat! Incoming.”

Colt swore as the speedboat barreled toward
The Jupiter
. Micah fired as Colt and
Nick dove off the side, pulling Logan with them. From underwater, Nick heard another
splash as Micah joined
them, then they dove as deep as they could. The water lit
up around them, and debris began to fall past them. Even with the currents, the heat
seared the back of Nick's neck as he and Colt pulled Logan farther away, Micah swimming
next to them.

Within seconds of surfacing, the Zodiacs pulled up next to them. Micah climbed over
the side and then reached for Logan.
As Nick helped Logan from the water, he noticed another gash in Logan's leg where
a piece of metal from the boat had embedded during the explosion. He slid over the
side and immediately turned to examine Logan's wound.

Jay swore as he watched from the other Zodiac. Colt quickly pulled himself into Jay's
raft and began scanning the area

“Stay with us, man.” Logan coughed up water and Nick knew a moment of panic for the
kids, Kim, and the baby on the way.

“T, get us back, now!”

They sped away, leaving the remains of a yacht and speedboat crackling in the Black
Sea, a crew of law enforcers, Nick assumed, approaching from shore. Bile built in
his mouth. She'd outwitted them. Again. It was time to get to the bottom of this.
They would get home. And they would get answers.

Chapter 9

K
AYLAN COULDN'T WAIT
to get off her feet as she entered her house and tossed the
keys on the bar. The guys had been gone for four days, and she'd just gone to check
their house and get the mail. Everything was as she left it. “I guess ole Mrs. Buckner
finally croaked,” Megan said as she stirred pasta in a pan on the stove.

“Megan!”

“It is what it is, Kaylan.”

“That's sad. We didn't get to say good-bye.” She sank onto a bar stool, her feet
sore from her rotation. This month they had her stationed in a hospital, creating
meal plans for different patients. She loved the nutrition aspect, but she was ready
to finish the internship, take the dreaded registered dietician exam, and become
Kaylan Richards, RD.

“I went by at the beginning of the week and took Mrs. Buckner some soup. She didn't
look so good. Real pale. Barely able to move on her walker.” Megan glanced at Kaylan.
“It's kind of sad her family didn't take care of her. They would have thrown her
in a shabby nursing home and never thought twice. I'll miss going over there to watch
Wheel of Fortune
when I take her dinner.”

Kaylan nodded, thankful for the small glimpses of compassion
she saw in Megan. Her
friend was tough out of necessity. Life had dealt her some rough blows. Megan had
lived in the house for a year before Kaylan moved in and had visited her ailing grandmother
for a year prior to inheriting the house. Mrs. Buckner had been friends with her
grandmother, and Kaylan knew Megan had grown more attached to their elderly neighbor
than she let on.

“Guess we will have a new neighbor soon.” Megan smirked. “I'm guessing we'll take
her cookies? I think your Southern hospitality is rubbing off on me.”

Kaylan laughed and allowed the full brunt of her Southern accent to color her words.
“Stick around, darlin'. There's more where that came from.”

“Oh, wow. Shoot me if I start talking like that.”

Kaylan hopped off her stool and began to pull ingredients from the cabinets. “Not
a chance. I'll have you saying ‘y'all' in no time.” She held up two bags. “Since
you are making pasta salad, I think I should take cookies to this dinner tonight.
Should we make chocolate chip or M&M?”

“You're in the mood for chocolate.”

Kaylan snuck a small handful of M&Ms. “Always. So what'll it be?”

“Chocolate chips.” Megan turned off the burner and drained the water over the sink.
She preheated the oven, and the two moved around the kitchen in perfect sync, sneaking
handfuls of chocolate until the cookies were in the oven. Their next-door neighbor,
Nina, had invited them over for one of her monthly “Pick-a-Little, Talk-a-Little”
dinners and tea. She liked to get the ladies on the block together once a month to
gossip and eat. She was on neighborhood watch and took her job very seriously. Megan
had refused to go to dinner until Kaylan accepted for both of them. They had an hour
before the festivities began.

Megan hopped onto the kitchen counter. “The dough is the best part. We should just
take that.”

“Oh, so true.” Kaylan licked the spoon before placing it in the sink and running
the water.

“Where's lover boy been lately? Haven't seen him in a few days.”

Kaylan didn't take her eyes off the spoon. “Work got crazy. Both of our hours have
been all over the place this week.” She shrugged. “We'll figure it out.” She knew
she wasn't exactly lying, but she wasn't telling the whole truth either. For a moment
a longing for Sarah Beth hit her, and she physically ached. She never would have
had to lie to her, even about Nick being gone. She winced.

“Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise?”

Kaylan forced a smile. “Everything's fine. What about you? I haven't seen Lance lately.”

“That ended last week.”

“You haven't even been together for two weeks.”

“Flings are easier, Kaylan. Nothing serious, no strings attached. Just fun and then
done.”

Kaylan shook her head. “That doesn't sound very fun to me.”

“Yeah, I'm sure. From what I can tell, you have a perfect family, perfect boyfriend
even if he is military, perfect friends, and a perfect life. You wouldn't know what
it's like to move from place to place every year, your mom out of your life and off
with some guy, your dad too consumed with his job in the military, promising face
time then never showing up. You wouldn't understand . . . ” She stopped short, her
face filling with pain and anger. She quickly lowered her gaze, her dark hair falling
to hide her eyes. With a sniff she lifted her head. “Forget it.”

Kaylan watched Megan for a few moments, her heart racing. She knew what she had to
do, but it was the last thing she wanted to share.
Lord
,
please. Anything but that.
I can't talk about that.
She waited, hoping the urgency would pass. She'd rather
face the barrel of a gun than talk about what happened to Sarah Beth. Not yet.

But Kaylan couldn't shake the stirring deep within her. Kaylan could tell Megan why
Jesus loved her, or she could be honest,
risk showing Megan the most vulnerable place
of her heart and what God had done. She could acknowledge that she still didn't understand
the why, but she knew where her hope came from and because of that she could live
a life full of joy. She wasn't there yet, but one day she would be.

Kaylan hopped from the counter and grabbed Megan's hand. “Come with me.” Megan pulled
her hand free but followed Kaylan to the bookshelf in her room that held photos of
her and Sarah Beth over the years. She handed one to Megan, taken in Haiti.

Megan glanced at the framed photo in her hand and then back at Kaylan. “Okay, I'll
bite. Who's this?”

“That is my best friend in the world. And this is also a big reason my life isn't
perfect.” She grabbed another frame housing a photo of her and Sarah Beth trick-or-treating
as third graders. Kaylan was dressed as a scarecrow and Sarah Beth as the Tin Man.
It seemed appropriate. In the end Sarah Beth really did have the biggest heart of
all. She'd encouraged Kaylan to live joyfully. Kaylan could never thank her enough
for that.

Kaylan sank onto her bed and patted the spot next to her. “I know you think I've
lived this charmed life, and in reality, I have. It's been incredibly sweet and incredibly
blessed. Up until a year ago I lived in a safe bubble of family, friends, and college.
Life was good.”