by Gina LaManna
“You seem pretty scary around these parts,” I said. “You have half the town and all the shop owners eating out of your hand because they’re afraid if they go against you, you’ll kill them.”
“I will,” Jimmy said. “Rules are rules.”
His cool, confident statement sent my anxiety level up a notch. To Coco, killing was just another way to solve his problems. Nothing more than a simple transaction. Worse, Coco appeared to have been built without a remorse chip in his body. His gaze was cool and level as he watched me, and there wasn’t so much as a shadow haunting him behind those deep brown eyes.
“We’ll get out of here and never come back,” I said. “You can’t hurt me—please. I have a six-month-old baby.”
“I know,” Coco said. “Almost caught her in the blast, I hear.”
That ended any desperate hope for appealing to him. I saw red. Felt anger bursting in tiny little modules across my body. Imagined steam seeping from the top of my head. “How dare you talk about my daughter like that!”
I leapt for him, hoping the element of surprise would be on my side. I swung at Coco, trying to clip the gun from his hand and send it to the depths of the ocean, but he was one step quicker. He tilted the boat to the right and sent everyone careening against the opposite wall. I collapsed again on the floor, my balance shoddy and my limbs flailing in every direction.
Lucy’s husband, Todd, had tipped over, his hands still bound behind his back. I lunged for him and ripped the tape off his face, struggled to push him into a seated position. If I could get him untied, and he truly was on my side, it would help to even out the battle. Granted, we were unarmed, and Jimmy was downright coconuts, so we would still be at a disadvantage. But it was better than fighting two against one... when I was the one.
“Back off,” Lucy said. “Touch him again, and you’re both dead.”
I didn’t see a gun in Lucy’s hand, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t armed. And Coco still had his weapon loosely pointed in our direction. I didn’t want to die, and I didn’t want to cause anyone’s death, so I stayed put.
“What the hell?” Coco glanced down at the engine gauges on his boat in sudden surprise. “Did you feel that?”
“Feel what?” Lucy asked anxiously.
“Nothing,” he said, but his hackles were up. A tremor hung in his voice, and he gave me a look as if he suspected I was working witchcraft.
“Coco?” Lucy asked, concerned. “What’s wrong?”
Behind Lucy’s concern, a faint buzzing sound began to hum over the ocean. I listened for it, craned my ear toward it, but I couldn’t see anything. Is that sound what was worrying Coco? And why had he looked at the boat as if he’d seen a ghost?
Coco’s speedboat was shiny and new—brand new, if I had to guess. Cutting edge with blinking digital computers at the front and bright, bold details along the edges. The thing cost more money than I’d probably see in my entire life.
“That!” Coco shouted, pointing at his boat again. “Who’s doing that?”
“Doing what?” Lucy and I asked at the same time.
“Jinx,” I said, “You owe me a coke.”
Lucy wasn’t amused. She moved toward the front of the boat, rested a hand on Coco’s shoulder, and squeezed. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing,” Coco said again, but his eyes were crazed as he turned to look at me. “You. What are you doing?”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about!” I raised my arms. “I’m just a mom who loves ice cream trying to find her way off this boat and back to my family.”
“But you’re—doing—that.” Coco’s voice was punctuated by sudden jerks and jags of the speedboat as it swiveled left and right in rapid succession.
It was a good thing I was already sitting. If I hadn’t been, I’d have flipped overboard. Lucy wasn’t so lucky. She’d been standing, and the sudden jerks sent her flying backward and landing across her husband’s lap. Very awkward, considering the current state of their relationship—what with Lucy trying to kill him and all.
Todd brought his forehead down, cracking it straight into Lucy’s nose. Blood spurted everywhere as she let out a horrific shriek and pressed her hands to her face. I leapt to attention with a quick glance at Todd before lunging toward Coco. As I did so, the boat spiraled in a sharp one-eighty-degrees and sent me flying over the edge.
As I sailed away from the boat, I understood. Clay had hacked his way into the mechanicals and the computer system of Coco’s fancy new boat and was trying to give me the advantage over Coco by throwing him off guard.
However, I suspected his plan had gone completely awry when he’d thrown me overboard instead of throwing Coco off guard. I was chilled straight to the bone, treading water, afraid I’d become shark kibble at any second. The more I thought about sharks and their very sharp teeth, the more I struggled to swim to shore.
But the currents were stiff and steady, and the boat was still zooming in large zig-zags around me as if driven by a drunken sailor. I tried to picture Clay in his room, directing the boat like he might a little remote-control car, having a grand old time. If only he’d taken the time to stop and realize I was no longer on the boat.
The buzzing became louder. My legs grew colder. My arms tired from treading water, and I began to feel weak as my muscles begged for relief. The shore looked so far away, tiny little lights blinking in the distance. I couldn’t make out Java Hut or the hotel, or even the individual docks that signaled safety.
And then I understood the buzzing. Finally, I looked up, and to my relief I spotted a small airplane as it sailed over us. The plane kept low to the water, the drone of the engine loud and rough. The thing had thick runners in a bright red pop of color against the dark sky, and it appeared to be made from plastic. A seaplane, I thought—just as it took a nosedive toward Coco’s boat.
“Help!” I yelled and flailed my arms, wondering if someone I knew was piloting that thing. It couldn’t be Anthony or Meg—they’d just gotten her released from captivity. Clay was holed up in his hotel room playing driving games with the boat, and Nora and Bella were happily giggling with one another instead of napping.
Which left only one soul it might be...
“Carlos?” I screamed, but it was useless. Between the two motors roaring, Coco screaming obscenities, and Lucy shrieking due to the blood pouring from her nose, nobody could hear me.
And then, a body fell from the sky. The figure wore all white, a sparkling gown encrusted with shine that could be spotted from satellites orbiting the moon. Meg had a parachute strapped to her back and looked like a ball of glitter sprinkling onto the water. At least I hadn’t died before seeing Meg in her wedding dress.
Coco raised a gun and fired at the falling body, but Meg’s thrashing made her a hard target to hit, especially with Clay’s herky-jerky driving that continued to batter Coco’s boat in all sorts of directions. His first bullet missed, but the second and third shots went the way of the parachute.
I screamed for him to stop and paddled as fast as I could, struggling to keep my head above water as waves crashed into my mouth and saltwater poured down my throat. I didn’t let my eyes off Meg for a second as she landed with a light puff.
“Meg!” I gasped, once I was within shouting distance to her. “What are you doing here?”
“Saving you!” she hollered back. “You came to save me, so I had to return the favor.”
“Who’s driving the plane?”
“Carlos,” she said with a grin. “It was really magical. Anthony had just rescued me, but I could tell he was really all worried about you. By the time we got to the dock, it was too late, and you were gone. But Carlos was waiting for us, like he knew exactly what would happen. I swear that man is psychic or something. He had the plane ready to go so we took off, and bam. Next thing I knew, I was parachuting over the ocean.”
“Who told you to parachute?” I asked, feeling angry that my grandfather had almost sent Meg to her death. “Y
ou could have been killed!”
“Oh, I wasn’t supposed to jump,” Meg said, gasping for air as her head bobbed above and below the surface. “Carlos won’t be happy with me, but I couldn’t let you hang out down here alone. I know how much you hate sharks.”
“That’s so sweet,” I said, struggling to get a full breath of air. “Are you okay? Did you get hit?”
“Nah,” she said, between spluttering hiccups. “I just can’t swim that good. You think they’ll be back for us? I could really use that balloonicorn to float on right about now.”
“Lean on my arm,” I said, offering it to her. “I’ll keep you afloat.”
Meg reached for me, grasped my arm. We instantly sank.
“I think I’ll just try to tread water.” Meg coughed violently. “On account of you’re not very buoyant.”
“Just a few more minutes,” I said. “It looks like they’re coming back for us!”
“It’s about time,” Meg said. “I’ve burned enough calories to eat all four tiers of my wedding cake alone.”
“About that, Meg, I’m so sorry,” I said. “I’m so sorry this happened and Carlos’s old beef ruined your wedding.”
Meg waved a hand. “I don’t mind.”
“But your dress is ruined!”
“I’ll get another,” she said with a shrug. “It’s okay, Lacey, really. Let’s just not drown.”
“That’s a good plan.”
We proceeded to focus on not drowning until the boat buzzed toward us and the airplane spiraled in a circle and began descending in our general direction.
“Look at that,” Meg said. “There goes your husband. Looks like he’s gonna take care of the boat.”
“What? Where is he?”
“No time to dawdle,” Meg said. “Anthony is a strapping young gentleman. He can handle it. But your grandfather is trying a water landing, and I’m not sure he won’t hit us.”
I wasn’t sure either. And while I wondered if Carlos would really be the death of us, I found myself simultaneously wondering what else I didn’t know about my grandfather. Since when did he pilot airplanes?
The boat reached us first and came to an idle next to us. I couldn’t see anyone except Anthony. He stood at the rear of the boat and leaned over, anxiously extending a hand and grabbing for me.
“Meg first,” I grunted. “She can’t swim, and I think that glitter-bomb of a dress is weighing her down.”
“I’m probably a target for sharks,” she said happily. “I hear they like shiny things.”
Anthony hauled Meg onto the boat. Her dress looked like an angelic swamp monster as she climbed out. It made slushing and gurgling noises all on its own. She’d even collected a few bits of seaweed to add to the outfit.
The second Meg got on board, she chirped to Lucy. “Hi there, Luce! You got kidnapped too?”
“What are you talking about?” I said. “Lucy’s with Coco.”
“What are you talking about?” Meg shot back. “The poor thing is bound and gagged. Did you do that to her Anthony?”
The second my husband shook his head no, my stomach sank. It felt like the Tower of Terror around my intestines as Lucy’s game plan became crystal clear. The second she’d seen the Luzzi family closing in on Coco, she’d tied herself up and played the victim. Anthony must not have heard our conversation on the boat, I realized a beat too late.
“Look out!” I yelled. “She’s dangerous!”
The knife glinted in the moonlight as Lucy rose and shook off her fake bindings. The knife came plunging down toward Anthony as he leaned forward to haul me onto the boat, and I knew that if I didn’t move fast, it’d be too late. He’d missed the warning, and I wouldn’t get another chance.
As Lucy’s arm arched toward my husband, I channeled my inner mermaid and gave a hard kick in the water with the last of my strength. I grabbed Anthony’s arm and pulled him forward with all my might, giving him a solid yank and praying the element of surprise knocked him off balance.
It worked. My plan wasn’t pretty, but it kept Anthony alive. The second I jerked his arm, he unwillingly took a step forward, missed the edge of the boat, and maneuvered into a neat dive that pierced the surface of the water with less splash than most Olympic athletes. I shouldn’t have been surprised that Anthony even fell overboard looking graceful.
“What the hell was that?” Anthony grumbled as he surfaced. He cast me a mystified glance. “I understand you’re frustrated, but...”
I ignored him and shouted toward the boat. “Meg, watch out—Lucy’s got a knife!”
“You’re the chick who ruined my wedding?” Meg asked, already on top of it. She rose to her full height and faced Lucy as the knife-wielding maniac turned around. “Dang, I liked this dress. You’re gonna have to pay for that.”
Then Meg gave Lucy a second pop to the nose for the evening, and as blood spurted down her already red-streaked face, she involuntarily dropped the knife over the edge of the boat.
“That’s why I pulled you in,” I said to Anthony. “But quick, we’ve got to get out of this water before the sharks come eat us. She’s bleeding a lot.”
“I didn’t hit her that hard,” Meg said, looking at her fist in awe. “I bet you this is how the Hulk feels.”
“Her nose was already busted,” I said. “Her husband did that to her.”
“Well, it sounds like the two of them need a counselor,” Meg said. “I might not be married yet, but that certainly doesn’t sound healthy.”
“More like they’ll be needing prison cells,” I said. “Help us up.”
Meg helped me up while Anthony climbed aboard and took care of Lucy by himself. I glanced around, shivering, noting Coco’s unconscious figure on the deck. His wrists were cuffed behind his back. I didn’t know how he’d gotten that way, and I didn’t really care.
Lucy’s husband was still bound, and someone had added tape to his mouth. We left him that way to avoid further surprises—we’d leave it up to the proper authorities to determine his innocence or guilt. Anthony had enough handcuffs to go around and added a set to Lucy’s arms, though she didn’t need anything over her mouth. Her lips had sealed shut into a thin, blood-encrusted line, and she wasn’t talking.
“Thanks for saving my life,” Anthony said, appearing at my side once it was safe to take a breath. “I misread Lucy.”
“We all did,” I said. “I misread a lot of things.”
I briefly filled in Anthony and Meg on the highlight reel of what I’d learned from Lucy and Coco while we watched Carlos make a smooth landing onto the water a few feet away from us. He skidded over the surface like a water bug, sending trails of splash up in every direction.
Anthony started the boat up and set to steer it closer to the plane, but before he could move a muscle, the boat jerked forward, and everyone went tumbling backward. On instinct, I yelled, “Clay!” and the boat immediately stopped, as if he could hear me. I didn’t doubt he could.
“He just wants to be part of the fun,” Meg said happily. “He probably feels like he’s missing out.”
Frowning, Anthony maneuvered the boat so we were neck and neck with Carlos. Both men killed the motors so we could talk.
“Since when do you fly planes?” I called out to Carlos. “And where did you get this one?”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” Carlos said. “Is everyone alive?”
“Yes,” I said. “Everyone. Including all of your old friends, though some are a bit worse for wear.”
Carlos’s lips pulled into an unfriendly expression as he scanned Coco and the other two figures slumped on deck. “Who are they?”
I quickly gave Carlos a rundown of all that had transpired. “What I don’t understand,” I finished, “is how you knew we would be in trouble out here and secured a plane in time to send Meg barreling down to help.”
“I didn’t know,” Carlos corrected. “All I knew was that Jimmy had kidnapped Meg. On her wedding day.”
“Hence t
he dress,” Meg said, giving a modified curtsey to anyone watching. “I don’t normally wear this old thing around.”
“I came down to the docks because I...” He coughed. “Did investigating of my own and found where he was keeping Meg.”
“I ran into Carlos at the docks,” Anthony explained. “I went after Meg while he...borrowed the plane. Then we joined him to retrieve you.”
“Golly,” Meg said, fanning herself. “All these men fighting over me. What’s not to love?”
Coco was stirring underfoot, and I stepped away from him as he blinked his eyes open, took in his surroundings, and coolly wriggled his way into a seated position.
“Carlos,” he spat, when he saw the plane. “I figured I’d see you here.”
“Jimmy,” Carlos said, stepping between the plane and the boat. He moved right up to his old rival. “You’re not looking well.”
“At least I’m not an old man.”
“Hey,” Meg said. “That old man can land a plane on water. All you can do is ruin the best day of a woman’s life.”
“You look...” Carlos hesitated. “Well, you looked very beautiful today, Meg. I’m sorry it’s due to me that your day has been spoiled.”
Meg blinked in Carlos’s direction. She appeared to be stone cold speechless.
“Is she okay?” Carlos asked in my direction.
Meg turned to me. “Did Carlos just talk directly to me? I don’t think he’s ever done that before.”
“I think so,” I whispered back. “He’s trying to apologize.”
“Oh, golly,” she repeated, and turned back to Carlos. “Go on. You were saying I’m gorgeous?”
“I said you looked beautiful,” Carlos said, shifting uncomfortably. “And I am truly sorry today was ruined because of me. I suppose...it’s a hazard of being a part of this family.”
“I know that,” Meg said, and then her shoulders went stiff. “A part of the family?”
“I have fought it for many years,” Carlos said with the thinnest of smiles, “but there’s no denying it any longer. You’re part of this family, and nobody messes with my family.”
