Wicked Tempest: A Kate Waters Mystery (Kate Waters Mysteries Book 2) (30 page)

Nick had never seen Keith in police mode before. Though he didn’t have his gun anymore, he still wasn’t going to give up. He knew Keith well enough to know he wouldn’t quit so easily. He must have something else planned.

“Tell me, Andre,” Keith said. “What sucks more, having the statue stolen right out from under your nose or your five hundred grand?” He motioned his head to a blue-and-white leather bag he had set down on the rim of the boat.

Andre’s expression turned mad like a bull.

“You like playing the game, don’t you, Andre?” Keith said. “How much blood was spilled over that one?”

Andre slid his aim from Kate’s head to Keith’s. “Don’t cover your dirt with mine.”

A hot wave of fear ran through Nick. He hadn’t realized until then that he was in no better position than Kate or Keith, maybe even worse, because a woman at least gave leverage. Men were only in the way.

“Give me the money and the statue,” Andre said, “or all three of you are dead.”

Keith shifted backwards, slowly reaching for the bag.

“No!” Andre shouted. “He’ll get it,” and motioned to Nick to reach for the bag instead.

Nick walked over to the edge of the boat and picked up the bag.

“Set the bag down and open it up.”

Nick placed the duffle bag on the ground, bent over, and proceeded to unzip it.

“The girl isn’t worth both,” Keith said. “One or the other. You don’t get both.”

Nick stopped unzipping the bag, wondering if he had heard Keith right. He hoped his threat was for show, that he was kidding, but after everything that had happened, maybe Keith had finally crossed over, and no one but himself really mattered anymore.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Andre said.

“Keith…” Nick started to say to him, but Keith yelled back at him.

“Stay the fuck out of this!”

“I’d listen to your friend,” Andre replied. He pointed the gun back at Kate. “Now, open it up, show me what’s inside.”

Nick could hardly move and couldn’t imagine what Kate was feeling. Another car screeched into the parking lot. Car doors slammed shut and two people were walking fast-paced for the dock.

Keith shifted his weight to see around Kate and Andre. “Looks like we have more company.”

***

When the hard tip of Andre’s gun butted against Kate’s head, she was certain she was living out the last few seconds of her life. She thought of David, her sister, and mother, and what her father would do when he found out she was gone too.

The men argued and shouted, something about the statue and a bunch of money. She wondered how much Nick knew about the money and maybe even what had happened with Suzanne.

The sound of a car squealed in the parking lot and someone shouted behind her. The thumping of blood pounded in her head and she could only hear clips of what was said. Andre squeezed against her arm and yanked her back by her hair to the side of the dock next to a railing. She gasped and struggled to remain on her feet. Down along the dock, two people approached but she couldn’t focus her eyes. The world spun in front of her, blurring out the details with a kaleidoscope of dark shadows and bright light.

The man shouted again, and then she knew with a terrible ache in her heart who it was.

“I said I have what you want.”

That voice unmistakable. David. She centered on him. Fear bled through his expression, into the whites of his eyes and the slack of his jaw.

Andre pulled Kate toward him, keeping his position so he could see both David and Keith if they tried anything. His hand tightened on a wad of hair at the back of her neck. Another person followed behind David, a woman, and even though Kate only caught glimpses of her behind David, she knew it was Thea.

The gun pushed against her temple again. Andre glanced alternately between Keith and David like a cornered fox.

“Get back!” Andre shouted at David, aiming his gun on him. Oh my God, Kate thought. David halted at once and thrust his hands in the air to show he was unarmed. Kate wanted to scream. She and David had just barely made up, and now she might lose him again. She couldn’t take it anymore, and a yell rose up through her shaking body.

“Stop!” Kate screamed. She had to keep this situation from capsizing. She would have to make a move, protect David, and hope Keith was ready.  

Kate jerked her shoulders, and brought her elbow up to Andre’s arm with the intention of knocking the gun from his hand. The sound of a blast pierced into her eardrum and ricocheted across the water. A high-pitched ring burned in her head, thrashed around like a sharp needle. Time stopped, then accelerated, as if a chunk of it went missing. Kate saw David crouched on the dock, nowhere to hide.

Andre swung out and knocked Kate back. He still had the gun and had only lost his balance. He dragged Kate back and forced his gun on her again, but Keith was already charging at him, a fast blur of motion. Andre took aim and fired at Keith. Horror unfurled in Keith’s eyes. Then grit, anger, and shock. Andre’s gun fired a second time as Keith sprinted toward him. The second bullet struck him in the chest. Blood splashed out in a fan shape, and Keith jerked back and fell to the dock. Kate looked to Nick. Shock had twisted his face. He shouted out.

Andre seized Kate by her hair again and shoved her forward. “Get on the boat!” She clambered up the ladder as fast as she could, glancing back at David. He stood there, seemingly at a loss after what had happened to Keith. If David tried to run after her or stop them, Andre wouldn’t hesitate to shoot him and Thea. David had no choice but to do nothing if he wanted to keep her alive.

Andre locked his gun on Nick, who was still gaping in horror over Keith. “You’re driving.”

Nick untied the line and unfastened the loop mooring the boat to the dock. Andre stepped over Keith and snatched his duffle bag. He climbed up the ladder behind Nick, his gun still drawn.

David and Thea watched helplessly, each with a phone in hand.

“Go!” Andre shouted at Nick.

The boat roared to life, spitting a spray of water at the back. Kate held on to the railing on the side of the boat as they sped away into the black of night. She turned to Nick. He caught her movement in his periphery and glanced back at her. It was just the two of them, cornered in another life-threatening situation. Kate wondered if they could escape a third time. She had her own doubts, and by the grim expression on Nick’s face, he did too.

Much has Ran harried about me,

I am wholly bereft of beloved friends,

The sea tore the bonds of my family,

A powerful thread right out of me.

—
from
Sonatorrek,
by Egil Skallagrimsons

Wells searched the waters and the Riverplace Marina in the distance as he approached the Steel Bridge downtown. He saw the boats, but not their details. The lights shone on the water, dancing with bright color and shapes. Somewhere, Thea was down there, and she needed his help. Despite what he had done to her, she had called him when she needed someone the most.

A moving light on the water emerged from the rest, a sizeable boat traveling toward him with a cabin header and three large antennas. He wondered if it was the Dawn Maiden, and if so, who was in it and where was it headed? Wells parked at the foot of the bridge to get a closer look. His phone buzzed. He picked up.

“Jay, it’s Thea,” she said in almost a shout.

“Where are you?”

“The Riverplace Marina. A man’s been shot. We need an ambulance.”

“Okay. Did you find Kate?”

“Yes. Andre has her and another man at gunpoint on the Dawn Maiden. They just left, going toward the Columbia.”

So it was the Dawn Maiden. “I see it. I’m sending for help. I’ve got to go. Be careful.”

Wells hung up. As much as he wanted to tell Thea good-bye, that he loved her, and that he was sorry about the pants again, he didn’t have time for apologies or the last-minute sharing of feelings. The Dawn Maiden sped toward him, and he needed to act fast.

He called for an ambulance and requested River Patrol. They were upriver about a quarter of a mile and wouldn’t be at the bridge for another ten or fifteen minutes. Wells stepped out of his car and ran for a sidewalk that passed underneath the bridge. The Dawn Maiden was only about 200 yards out. He had to do something. He couldn’t wait.

The Dawn Maiden’s engine roared at a steady drone. Wells’ thoughts whirled around in his head as he grappled with what to do. He was too far away and the landscape too dark to take aim on Andre, and besides, he couldn’t risk hitting Kate or the other man, who he assumed was Nick Bratton.

Wells hopped over the boardwalk fence and up the ravine to the bridge’s pylons. Bright light from streetlamps overhead illuminated the dark waters and bank below. He climbed onto the railing to get a better view and identify the driver of the boat and the passengers when a thought came to him. He looked down at the water. It was only about fifteen feet below, but resembled viscous tar that smelled like rotting seaweed. With the Dawn Maiden approaching fast, he had no other choice.

“I can do this,” he told himself.

***

Light glimmered and stretched across the water, spinning black currents that Kate feared she would soon be sinking beneath. She traced her finger over the protection bracelet at her wrist, hoping more than ever that whatever goddess they had conjured at the river was with her now. She needed all the protection she could get and then some.

Andre ordered Nick to get them out of the city. While Nick drove the boat, Andre rummaged through Keith’s bags next to Kate. He had tucked the gun into his jeans at the waist, quick access when he needed it. She couldn’t believe he had shot Keith, couldn’t believe what had happened. A blade of guilt and regret cut into her. If she hadn’t moved, maybe Keith would still be alive, and she wouldn’t be on a boat headed into the unknown with Andre, but if she hadn’t made the first move, someone else would have. Someone like David. She had no doubts about their relationship anymore. She loved him and he her. At that moment, there was nothing else. That was all that mattered.

Andre told Nick to turn the lights off so as not to attract attention on the water. He shut off the starboard lights, but kept the LED lights along the floorboard of the boat on. They lit up the space just enough to see each other. Andre reached into the bag and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. Kate trembled, unable to imagine what he was about to do next. If he could shoot a cop, he was capable of anything.

Andre stepped over to the cabin door. “Stop the boat and come out,” he called to Nick.

Nick let off the gas and pushed the gears into neutral. The boat chugged back as it leveled out with the water. He stepped from the cabin and walked out to the stern where she and Andre stood. Andre aimed the gun at Nick. Kate shook uncontrollably. She couldn’t watch it happen again, not to Nick this time, and then, to be alone with Andre…

“Turn around so I can put the handcuffs on you,” Andre said to him.

Nick hesitated, passing Kate a nervous look. He appeared to be contemplating a decision in his head, as if reasoning through all the possible outcomes from one precise move. Kate couldn’t bear the thought of it going wrong—that what had happened to Keith would happen to him.

“Please, Andre,” she said. “Don’t do this. You have the statue, you have the money. Let us go.”

He swung his gun around to her. “Shut your fucking mouth.”

Her body cringed under the dark tunnel of the barrel.

“Okay, okay,” Nick said. “I’m doing it.”

He turned and wrapped his hands behind his back. Kate dropped her eyes, unable to watch Andre handcuff Nick.

When Andre finished, he spun Nick around and stared him in the eye. He towered over him, a good five inches and fifty pounds. He held up the key to the handcuffs. A devilish glint flashed in his dark eyes. “It’s too bad we lost the key, isn’t it?” he said to Kate. She frowned, not understanding what he was doing at first. ”I guess it fell overboard, huh?” He chucked it then over the side of the boat, laughing.

“Do whatever you want,” Nick said. “Just leave Kate out of this.”

Andre’s eyes went feral, wolf-like. “I’ll do whatever I want, to you and Kate.” He drew his gun again and swiped it back and forth between the two of them. “Maybe Nick better go get those keys. He’s going to need them.”

Sickness wetted Kate’s mouth as she realized what Andre was about to do next, and there was nothing she could do to stop it without taking a bullet herself.

***

Wells stood on the bottom rail of the bridge, gripping tight to the bars behind him. His hands sweated and his knees wobbled as his mind prepared them to spring forward. He watched the boat carefully, aligning himself with where he thought it would pass underneath, but when he set his position in front of the boat, it slowed and stopped abruptly.

The man driving stood up. He was only a silhouette in the darkness, but he was much shorter than the other man on board, and Wells remembered that height. The taller of the two was Andre, which meant Kate sat at the back. A pinch of pain tightened in his chest at the thought of something happening to her.

Andre reached behind himself, pulled something out of his back pocket, and held it up to the other man on the boat. In all his years of experience on the task force, Wells recognized immediately what that flash of curved light was—handcuffs—and by the shape of the shadow in his other arm, Wells knew Andre held a gun, pointed at the sitting passenger. Kate.

The other man turned his back, and Andre clipped the cuffs around his wrists. Before Wells had a chance to consider what he might do next, a sudden movement rocked the boat. Andre lunged at the other man and shoved him over the side of the boat. Kate screamed and Andre repositioned his gun on her. Panic shot through Wells.

No! Kate!

***

Kate shouted out as Andre pushed Nick overboard. She frantically searched the ripples in the water. His head bobbed up. Because he was handcuffed, he could barely keep his head above the water. Only his nose and mouth showed as he struggled to stay afloat.

“Shut up!” Andre shouted at her. He pointed his gun at her again, and this time, she almost hoped he would shoot her.
Just end it now
.

Kate peered out over the water. She wasn’t dead yet, and until she was, she had to do everything she could to save Nick. She kept her eye on where he had landed in the water. Along the shore, she spotted a large boulder and marked that as the location where he had fallen in at, so when given the chance, she could find him again. She couldn’t lose sight of him, but as she scanned the waters, she couldn’t see him anywhere. He had already gone under.

Andre sat in the driver’s seat of the Dawn Maiden and started the boat. Kate shuddered and fought to hold back her tears.

“It’s just you and me, babe,” Andre said to her.

Kate couldn’t look him in the eye, began to turn her head back to the waters where she had last seen Nick when a dark shape along the bridge moved in front of them. Kate peered more closely. Someone was up on the bridge, someone who looked ready to jump.

Andre hadn’t noticed the man on the bridge, otherwise he would have slowed or stopped the boat, or at least steered away from him, because as it was now, they were going to pass right underneath him. This was no coincidence. The man on the bridge had a motive, and Kate knew what it was.

The boat drew closer, and under the streetlamps along the bridge, Kate recognized the man’s features, his broad frame, dark hair, and blazer jacket. A wave of joy washed over her. The man on the bridge was Detective Wells. She glanced back at the waters where Nick had been. The ripples from the boat had long disappeared, and all that was left was the dance of city lights against its surface, their blinking shapes hiding anything that might be floating…or sinking, Kate thought. If Wells jumped into the boat, it would be enough to distract Andre and maybe her only chance to save Nick. She took a few deep breaths and readied herself to jump at the same time he did.

***

The Dawn Maiden powered toward Wells with giant wing-like sprays of water arcing out from the hull. His heart beat as if for escape. The darkness of the moonless night made it difficult to obtain a clear view of the deck of the boat, equipment that he might land on or railings he could fall on top of. Hurting himself at this point would result in deadly consequences for both him and Kate.

Wells inhaled a few deep breaths and timed his jump to land in the middle of the back of the boat, just after the cabin passed. It was also where Kate happened to be, which meant he could position himself between her and Andre.

Two more breaths, and then he would have to be in motion. Wells steadied his balance, released one hand from the bridge.

“Yes,” he said to himself. “You are going to jump off the bridge, land on your feet, with plenty of time to pull your gun on Andre.”

With the moment ticking closer, time slowed. It surrounded Wells like thickened gravity, drawing everything around him to a slow-motion animation. Waiting for the Dawn Maiden to pass beneath where he stood took so long, it seemed the boat might never arrive, and when it finally did, Wells gasped a deep breath, praying it wouldn’t be his last. Then, he jumped.