The Rachel Scott Adventures, Volume 1 (17 page)

S
hawn edged cautiously around the back of the home. He studied the area, watching for any signs of movement. Seeing nothing, he continued toward the beach. Whoever swam ashore was now lying motionless on the sand. He heard a boat motor and some shouting just a short distance away. Fingering the knife in his pocket, he made his way to the figure. As he got closer, he realized it was woman, with blonde hair. Something was familiar about her.

He looked around again before moving closer. The woman moaned softly, and he could see that she was seriously injured. Shawn glanced back to the house but didn’t see any movement. What had happened to Andy and their pursuers? How did this woman figure into the equation? He didn’t remember seeing a woman in the boat with the shooters, but then again, he hadn’t gotten a good look as he ran for his life. She didn’t seem to be part of the island’s security crew, though. Her dress was more casual—definitely not a uniform.

“Hey, are you okay?” Shawn stepped closer. Her leg was bleeding and her head was turned to the side, so he couldn’t see her face. Shawn walked around and knelt down beside her.

The woman continued to moan. It sounded like she was trying to say something. “Ammmer. Ammmer.”

He pushed a piece of blonde hair off her face. “What did you say?” Her blue eyes stared directly at him as a sense of confusion came over him. She looked just like—

“Aunt Stephanie!” Amber cried out as she crashed down beside Shawn.

Shawn fell back in surprise. “What? What’s going on here?” He looked from Amber to the woman lying in the sand and back again. “I told you to stay inside!”

“It’s my aunt. Oh my gosh, she’s hurt.”

Shawn’s mind was reeling. So many questions went through his mind. Most importantly, what was her aunt doing here?

“Aunt Stephanie, how did you get here?”

“Boat. Looking…for…you.” Her breath was ragged.

Shawn ripped off his shirt and used it to make a tourniquet to wrap it around her leg. He was stunned to see that her calf was almost shredded to bits. Muscle and cartilage were ripped away, and only stark-white bone was left. It looked like she’d been attacked by a small shark or barracuda. Her skin was pasty, and she’d obviously lost a lot of blood. He wasn’t sure if she had any other injuries.

“Who’s looking for me? Mom? Dad?” Amber held her hand.

“I…love you. So sorry…I left you…all…alone.” Stephanie’s eyes rolled back into her head.

“What? What do you mean?” Amber couldn’t make sense of what her aunt was trying to tell her. “I love you, too. Please stay with me.”

Shawn felt for a pulse, but it was faint. He shook his head at Amber as tears fell down her cheeks. This felt like a bad dream to her. Nothing made sense.

“She’s lost some blood and has a faint pulse. Do you think you can help me carry her up to the house? I saw a first-aid kit in the bathroom.”

Amber nodded her head.

Shawn looped his arms under Stephanie’s and gently lifted her up. “Grab her legs. Gently. Watch out for her injury.”

They carried Stephanie up to the house and laid her on the sofa. Shawn grabbed the first-aid kit and properly attended to her wound while Amber put a cool cloth on her aunt’s head.

“I just don’t understand what is going on here. I haven’t seen my aunt in over a year.”

“She looks just like you,” Shawn commented.

“My mother and aunt are twins. That’s why I ran out to the beach. I stepped out onto the balcony to get a closer look and I thought it was my mother.” Amber started to cry again. “This is just all so surreal.”

Shawn lifted Amber’s chin up. “Listen, you have to hold it together if we’re going to make it out of here. We’ve done all we can for your aunt right now. She needs medical attention.” He tucked a blanket around Stephanie. “We need to leave her here and go find help. Ready?”

Amber wiped away her tears and nodded. She leaned over and gave Stephanie a kiss on the forehead, then followed Shawn out the door.

“M
ike, it’s a call from the Coast Guard.” Drake handed the ship’s radio to him. “They just got a distress call from a boat near Asylum Harbor.”

Mike had coordinated with the Coast Guard when they headed to Asylum Harbor. He was upset with Rachel for putting herself and her team in a precarious position. He took the call as Drake listened in.

The voice on the radio said, “A man identifying himself as Vance Pearson called in about five minutes ago. He said he’s on a search-and-rescue mission with Rachel Scott. He reported shots fired at Cabana Cay.” The Coast Guard gave him Vance’s last coordinates.

“We’re headed that way,” Mike said. “What’s your ETA?”

“Seventeen minutes” came the reply.

“We’re less than a half hour out. Please update us when you arrive.”

Mike handed the radio back to Drake.

“Great. Just what I feared—Rachel’s on the island and she’s in trouble.”

Andy opened the throttle as far as it would go. He didn’t have to look behind him to know the cruiser was about to overtake him. He secured the gun in his pocket and dove off the boat. The water was shallow, as he had expected, and he swam as close to the bottom as possible. He didn’t dare come out of the water until he was a few feet away from the beach. Andy heard the other boat come around looking for him. He confirmed his Glock was still there and then quickly ran toward shore.

Not knowing which way Shawn and Amber had gone, he looked for footprints. He’d given Shawn pieces of neon-green ribbon to leave as markers when he got to shore—something he’d learned during armed forces special teams training. The trick would be finding small ribbons in the dark on a huge island, even if it was only half the size of Asylum Harbor. Keeping an eye out for the security guards, Andy stealthily made his way in the direction he thought Shawn must have gone.

From studying the map of the island, he knew that a main house faced the beach about a hundred yards from where he now stood. A few hundred feet down the beach were four smaller cottages. Andy had heard that a well-known millionaire owned this island and used it exclusively for his friends and family. What he didn’t know was if any of the island homes were now occupied.

He had to work fast. The security guards would be all over him soon. He approached the house from the side and looked for signs that Shawn had been there. A multitude of palm trees and other tropical vegetation surrounded the house—good cover while he checked out the home. It looked vacant—no lights, no noise. So far, so good. Except, where was Shawn?

He saw a side gate that he assumed led to the back of the home. Hanging from the gate latch was a neon-green ribbon. Bingo. Now the question was, were they still here? Two sets of footprints led up to the side door. Amber and Shawn were probably together. He felt better knowing they’d both made it safely to shore.

He decided to check the perimeter of the home before going in. Andy walked around toward the deck and spotted two people running down the beach. He crouched under the deck to give him cover as he assessed the situation. It was Shawn and Amber. Just as he was about to go help, a silent shot whizzed right past his ear.

Andy looked around but couldn’t figure out where the shooter was. He watched as Shawn and Amber ran off in the distance oblivious to the fact someone was trying to shoot them. He didn’t want to give his position away and alert the shooter, so he waited. There—in the cover of darkness—one of the security guards reloaded his gun. Andy couldn’t see if anyone else was with him and he didn’t know how many guards had been in the boat. He didn’t think he could get off a good shot at this distance, so he decided to wait for them to come closer.

The guard hesitated and then looked toward the beach. Andy held his breath as the guard walked within five feet of him and made his way down to the beach. Andy pulled his gun out and debated whether he should take the guard down now or wait till he got closer. He didn’t know if anyone else was with the guard. Just as Andy decided to follow, another guard burst through the palm trees and ran toward the beach. He watched as the guards conversed before taking off after Shawn and Amber.

Satisfied that no one else was coming, he took off after the guards.

“W
hat are we going to do?” Amber asked. A cramp had developed in her side and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. She didn’t know how much longer she could hold up.

“I don’t know yet.” Shawn noticed she had slowed down some. “Come on, we need to put some distance between us and the guard.”

Amber tried to pick up her pace. Instead, she stumbled and fell flat on her butt, hurting her ankle again.

Shawn turned around and helped her up. “What happened?”

Amber winced as she tried to put weight on her ankle. “I don’t think I can walk on it anymore.”

“Amber, we have to go.” Shawn looked around. He was sure the guard was right behind them. It worried him that he couldn’t see him anymore. He didn’t want to walk straight into an ambush.

“Just go without me. I can’t do this anymore, Shawn.” Amber started crying. “Just go.”

Shawn grabbed her at the elbow. “I’m not leaving you. It’s not an option. The house is just a few feet away.” He softened his tone. “Come on, Amber. You do can this. We’re really close.”

Amber took a deep breath and leaned on Shawn. They slowly made their way to the back of the beach house. With every step she took, a sharp pain shot up her leg. The pain reminded her of the time she’d gotten a hairline fracture doing a cheerleading stunt. If she could cheer an entire game with a broken ankle, she could walk a few hundred feet with a sprained one.

The beach house looked to be at least twenty-five years old. It was made of concrete block and painted a bright yellow. Next to the house was a gazebo with a bench. It was covered in plumeria vines but afforded a view of the water and the trail to the main beach house. Shawn made Amber sit on the bench while he checked out her ankle. It was starting to swell. As he removed her shoe, a pocketknife fell out.

“Where did you get this?”

“At the other beach house. I found it in the kitchen.”

Shawn studied the pocketknife before handing it back to Amber. He didn’t know how many of the security guards were on the island and if Andy had reached shore or not. It was hard to come up with a plan without knowing those specifics. And since the island seemed to be without phone service, hiding until they could find help was probably their best option. A pocketknife and kitchen knife weren’t the best protection until then.

“Let’s see if we can find better weapons,” he said, helping Amber to her feet. “This way. We’ll try the side door and see if it’s unlocked like the other house.”

Amber leaned on Shawn as they made their way around to the side. As soon as they rounded the corner, they came face-to-face with one of the security guards.

“Stop. Not another step.”

Shawn put his hands out. He recognized the guard as one of the guys who’d witnessed his beating back on Asylum Harbor. Shawn studied him closely. The guard looked nervous and unsure of himself. He hoped that worked in his favor.

“She’s got a hurt ankle,” Shawn said to the guard as he pointed to Amber’s leg.

The guard glanced down to her leg and shrugged. “Don’t care.”

Shawn looked around but didn’t see anyone else. Where were the other guards?

“Let’s take a walk down to the water.” The guard held his gun steady at Amber. “No funny stuff. You try anything, she dies.”

Shawn pulled Amber close to him and she put her arm around his shoulder. “Lean on me,” he whispered in ear.

The guard took tentative steps toward them. “I should have killed you when I had—”

Before he finished his sentence, they heard a pop. The guard fell face down on the sand, dropping his gun. Amber screamed as another dark figure stood in the shadows.

“It’s Andy.” Shawn held Amber close to him. “It’s okay.”

Andy walked out of the shadows where Amber could see him clearer.

“That’s the second time you saved me.” Shawn walked over to the dead guard and picked up his gun. His heart was pounding a mile a minute. “Thanks, bro.”

“Not a problem.” Andy stepped over the guard’s body. “Are you guys okay?” he asked Amber.

She nodded her head. “Think so.”

“How many more guards? Do you know?” Shawn asked.

“I don’t know. I already took out another one. He was waiting in the shadows behind this one. Snuck up on him and put ’em in a sleeper,” Andy said. “I saw you guys at the other house and was about to meet you down at the beach when I heard him sneak up on you and take some shots. I hid near the deck and he never saw me. I followed him and his partner down to the beach and they led me to you.”

“Good job. I owe you one.” Shawn pointed over to the cottage. “If we can hide Amber in the house someone, then we can go after help. Instead of waiting for them to find us.”

Andy thought this over while Amber shook her head.

“No, please don’t leave me alone.”

“I think Shawn’s right. It’s much safer for you to hide while we take out the rest of these guys.”

Amber looked up at the house and considered her options. She noticed movement on the deck. “Shawn!” she screamed, pointing at the deck, but she was too late.

Several things happened at once. It was all so fast Amber wasn’t sure what happened until it was all over.

The gunman shot off a round, and Andy hit the ground, a red spot blossoming on his chest. Shawn pushed Amber aside before a second shot rang off. He fell over into the sand, blood pouring from his shoulder.

Amber stood frozen to the ground with terror. She closed her eyes and waited for certain death.