“What if…” She held onto a grip bar and braced her legs apart as the Desperado picked up speed. “What if his mother is dead? He doesn’t think she is, but there’s a chance. I don’t know what this Seb Antonov is capable of.”
“You can ‘what if’ all kinds of things, but there’s no point until we know more. Raul says he didn’t hurt him, so that’s a good sign.”
Silent, she gazed out the spray-flecked window of the wheelhouse. Between the scrum of sea salt on the plexiglass and the darkness of the night, she could barely see a thing. Weren’t boats supposed to have lights? Maybe he’d left all the running lights off so they wouldn’t be spotted.
“What if he’s following us?”
“He’s not following us, at least not in a boat. I have instruments here and they say we’re the only craft within a five mile radius.” He tapped one of the gauges on the dashboard. “You really should give the ‘what if’s’ a rest. You can drive yourself crazy.”
“Yes, Captain,” she muttered.
He snorted, then turned his big body sideways and reached a hand to her. “Come here.”
“Will you consider it mutiny if I don’t?”
“Yes, and I’ll maroon you on an island with nothing but bad coffee.”
She slipped her hand in his and let him tug her to his side. “Listen, Lulu. I just wanted to say…I really respect what you did. I mean, it was nuts and probably illegal. There’s international boundaries and trafficking laws and God only knows what else. And you really should have gone to Maya if you didn’t trust me. But Raul thinks you’re an angel sent from Heaven to watch out for him.”
“I’m not an angel. But no one else was going to help Raul. That security head was probably bought off. He was all alone. I…” Emotion clogged her throat. “I know what that feels like.”
He tightened his arm around her, and she let herself release some of the tension she’d carried with her from the cruise ship. She relaxed against him, giving him the weight of her body. The boat leaped over a wave, and a bit of spray splashed across the window. It was just the two of them, alone on the vast dark ocean.
Except for the runaway kidnapping victim down below.
Was that a kiss he dropped onto her head? Her mother used to do that too. For a moment, grief threatened to overwhelm her, the way it occasionally did, a wave crashing over her and turning her tear ducts into waterfalls.
“I would like some more details, if you can manage it.” Tristan’s deep voice steadied her. “Did you tell the security chief about Raul and that you thought he’d been kidnapped?”
“You want to know how much of what I told you on the beach is true.”
“Yes.”
Fair enough.
“A lot of it, but not all,” she admitted. “I left out Raul. I did recognize Antonov from a crime show, just as I said, although I thought of him as Mr. Bad Guy. I went to the security head about him. He shut me down. I didn’t realize at that point that Raul was connected to him. Raul came to all my shows but he always had a guard with him. I assumed he was the child of someone important. Obviously he couldn’t speak freely in front of his guard. But after my Singing in the Rain performance, Raul overheard Antonov ranting about me recognizing him. So you know what he did? He mimed the basics of the situation story to me during my pantomime class! The guard didn’t notice a thing.”
“He’s an amazing kid.”
“He really is.”
She was so grateful that Tristan saw that too, instead of assigning Raul the label of problem-to-be-solved.
“So you didn’t tell the security chief about Raul?”
“No, because I couldn’t trust him at that point. He’d already dismissed me when I told him I recognized Antonov. I suspected he was on the take.”
A large swell lifted the boat, then plunged them into a valley made of dark water laced with white foam. She gasped and gripped the edge of the dashboard. “Are we okay?”
“This?” Tristan laughed. “We’re getting some real ocean swells now, that’s all. They get twice as big once you get past Far Point.” He used his sleeve to clear a spot on the window, then gestured ahead of them, at something that apparently was land, though she wouldn’t swear to that.
“That’s a point?”
“Yes, it marks the end of the Lost Souls Wilderness land mass. Past that is open ocean. But don’t worry, we’re not going there.” He moved his arm to point at another indistinguishable piece of darkness. “We’re going there.”
“What is it?”
“It’s called Del Rey Lagoon.”
She tilted her head to look up at him. His smile curled at the corners of his lips, and she got a glimpse of the playful boy he must have been once upon a time. “You have a lagoon named after you?”
“Yup. I named it myself. I used to take my little skiff all through these inlets and bays and tidal lagoons. I found one that the mapmakers missed and claimed it for myself. I know it seems impossible that there’s anything on this earth that doesn’t show up on maps, but you’ll see for yourself tomorrow.”
“You didn’t notify any mapmakers, I assume, selfish boy?”
“Nope. It’s literally not on any map. I’m sure I’m not the only person who’s ever been there. Once I found the remains of a campfire, and figured it was a hiker who stumbled across my lagoon. I looked it up on Google Earth once and it just looks like it’s part of the forest. You’ll see.”
She snuggled against him. “It seems I chose the right boat to trespass on.”
“The Desperado takes care of its own.” He peered ahead into the murk and made an adjustment in their direction. “Which brings me to my next question. How the hell did Raul get on the boat—and stay on it—without me knowing?”
“Well.” She bit her lip, hoping this part of the story didn’t ruin their newfound mutual respect. “Remember when Fidget landed on me?”
“Yes.”
“Raul climbed onto your boat first and he was right next to me. I shoved him aside so whatever was coming over the side wouldn’t hit him. I’d already told him to hide as soon as we got onboard, so that’s what he did. He crawled into a tote. Then when we were helping Fidget, he climbed out of the tote and hid under some oilskins. He just kept hiding. I found him after you went up on deck with your sleeping bag. I got him some food and water and told him to stay hidden while we figured out what our best course of action was.”
“You wanted to leave Lost Harbor.”
“I did. But he refused. He kept saying he liked this boat and we should give it a chance. He swore he’d stay hidden in case Mr. Bad Guy was lurking around. After your truck blew up, I was terrified. That was a message from the kidnapper warning me to back off. At least that’s how I interpreted it. I knew we had to tell the police, but first I wanted to get back and make sure Raul was still safe. I didn’t want him to be alone anymore, not with that man out there. My next step was going to be tell you, then Maya Badger.”
He throttled down the engine as they passed a looming dark hulk that must be an island. “I still don’t understand why I didn’t hear him, or the two of you talking. I always hear everything that happens on my boat.”