Suddenly, all she could picture was the shark from JAWS hooked onto the end of the line, seconds away from dragging her into the sea and biting her in half.
“Take it!” She yelled at no one in particular. “Somebody take it!”
Romeo looked momentarily startled by her outburst, but he was quick to shove the flare gun into Mia’s hands and grab the rod and reel from Cami. She breathed a sigh of relief as soon as she was no longer attached to what, in her mind, had to be a mammoth shark, and waded quickly through the surf onto the safety of the beach.
“Aren’t you about as useful as a rubber beak on a woodpecker?” Doc observed after coming to stand next to her.
She scowled at him. “You know what? I’m starting to envy people who have never met you.”
He chuckled. “Oh, come on.” He nudged her. “You thought you hooked into JAWS, right?”
She hated being so transparent. Transparent and ridiculous, because of course she hadn’t hooked a great white.
“Wrong.” She shook her head. “I’ve just never fished before. I didn’t want to be the reason we starved to death.”
He snorted. “You reckon that explanation would work on your home planet of Horseshitia?”
See? She fought a grin. Smart-alecky. Soooo smart-alecky.
She glanced over to see if, indeed, he was broody too. But she got distracted by the way the late afternoon sun glinted in his green eyes. And for some reason, she was suddenly reminded of the fun they’d had the night before, all the flirting and teasing and joking.
Despite wanting to kill him at various times that day, she could still admit...
It really is too bad I don’t mix business with pleasure.
Chapter 14
4:28 PM...
“Shit!” Robby paced the length of the boat after Carter motored them farther away from the little island. “They saw us.”
“No, dude,” Kenny grumbled. “They probably saw you and the sun glinting off the lenses of the field glasses.”
Kenny turned the word probably into prolly. But what really got Carter’s goat was the use of the phrase field glasses.
Kenny used military lingo because he fancied himself a soldier even though the U.S. Army had rejected his application twice. The first time because Kenny had a juvenile felony conviction for selling meth. And the second time because Kenny had such bad credit that it affected his potential security clearance.
Truly, Kenny Smith was a piece of work. But he was Carter’s piece of work, especially when it came to their current situation, and so Carter bit back the sarcastic comment sitting on the tip of his tongue.
“I told ya to put those fuckers away,” Kenny continued chewing Robby’s ass. “But once ya got a look at that black-haired dude, ya haven’t been able to keep your eyes off him.”
Carter rolled his eyes. Kenny thought the biggest insult was to question another guy’s sexuality. Truly, the man still lived like it was 1995.
“So what if they saw us?” Carter said to mollify Robby and shut Kenny up. “It’s not like we’re going to respond to the flare and go get them. At least not yet.”
After they’d determined the one bastard was armed, they’d decided their best bet was to wait until after dark, sail as close to the island as they dared so that the engine noise didn’t reach the shore, and then jump in and swim the rest of the way. They would sneak up on the unsuspecting group under cover of night and wait for Mia to separate herself on a walk or on the way to take a pee break. Once she was alone, Kenny would slit her throat. After that, the plan would remain the same. Cover up any blood evidence, swim her body out to the speedboat, and then weigh down her corpse and dispose of it on their way back to Key West.
If Carter was being honest, he liked this option better than any they’d come up with yet. As much as he’d convinced himself those flying with her were simply collateral damage—and hell, the U.S. government used that excuse plenty—he’d never really been able to wrap his mind around offing three innocents.
“Yeah,” Robby insisted, dragging him from his thoughts. “But now they know we’re here.”
“They know we were here,” Carter corrected. “If we can’t see them, they can’t see us. They’ll assume we missed the flare and moved on.”
“I still think we’re wasting time,” Jane said with a huff, adjusting her hat when a gust of wind tried to tug it off her head. “We have a gun. They have a gun. But we have the advantage because we have the element of surprise. They’re never going to think a boat motoring up to the island is filled with people looking to kill them. They’ll think they’re being rescued. Kenny can take out the one who’s armed first. After that, killing the others will be like shooting fish in a barrel.”
Kenny lifted an eyebrow. “I do like shooting fish in a barrel.”
“No way.” Robby shook his head. “It’s too risky. What if you don’t kill the gunman? What if you only wound him and he has time to draw his weapon? I didn’t sign up for getting shot.”
“Robby’s right,” Carter agreed. “Plus, this way we don’t have to kill anyone but Mia. The one we’re really after.”
“But if we leave the others alive, don’t you think they’ll wonder what happened to her?” Jane pressed. “Don’t you think they’ll wonder how and why she vanished off an island in the middle of nowhere?”
Carter shrugged. “They might wonder. But there won’t be any way for them to figure it out. We’ll make sure of that.”
“And the plane?” Jane persisted. “If we leave them alive, they might want an investigation into what happened to it. Ever think of that?”
Carter had thought of that. “It’s too deep to dive out here. What? You think they’re going to convince the Key West police department to spend cash on a submersible to come out here and take video of the wreckage?”
Jane crossed her arms and frowned—Carter ignored that his two best friends stared at her cleavage—but she didn’t offer up another excuse.
“Good.” He dipped his chin. “Then we’re all agreed?”
None of them had time to answer him before the radio tuned to the Marine Emergency channel came to life. The voice sounding over the airwaves was low and a little tinny, but otherwise as clear as a bell. “Be advised all ships sailing in Hawks Channel or the Straits of Florida. An amphibious aircraft, body color blue and white, has been reported missing in the area. Four people on board. If anyone has seen the aircraft or signs of the aircraft, please report in. Over.”