On Borrowed Time

by Jenn McKinlay

“I’m good,” Lindsey said. “I am thoroughly good.”

  Okay, probably she had just oversold it, as Ian’s eyes narrowed even more as he studied her. “I’m going to get you a glass of wine. It’ll be at the bar when you’re done waiting for the restroom.”

  “That’d be great,” Lindsey said.

  He turned and walked away, and Lindsey blew out a long, slow breath. He’d thought she was waiting for the restroom. That would buy her some time. She glanced at the clock on her phone. It was five minutes until show time. She may as well get a head start.

  She hurried down the short hallway and pushed through the unalarmed emergency exit that let out in back of the restaurant. The cold December air hit her like a slap, and she pulled her coat tightly about her. She paused, noting the security light that illuminated the Dumpsters to her left and tuned her ears to listen over the sound of water lapping against boat hulls, but there was nothing.

  She walked away from the café, feeling very much alone on her mission even though she knew it wasn’t true. The wooden planks gave under her feet. The boards creaked. The sound of a buoy’s bell rang out in the bay, warning boats that they were entering a rocky channel.

  She walked to the end of the pier, staying half hidden behind a tall wooden pile on the corner of the massive dock. She was glad her sweater was black but still she couldn’t help but feel as if she had a big bull’s-eye painted on her. She checked the time on her phone again. She still had three minutes.

  Now was the final part of her backup plan. She opened the micro card on an app on her phone. It was encrypted. Damn. It looked like a mess of random symbols. She should have expected no less from Jack.

  She attached it as a file to an e-mail and mailed it to herself. Maybe it wouldn’t work. Maybe no one would be able to get into her e-mail or decipher the encryption should everything go horribly wrong. And maybe her phone would now self-destruct in five seconds. She gripped it in her hand as if it might catch fire. Nothing happened.

  Okay. She stretched her neck, letting it crack in an effort to ease the tension that had her drawn as tight as a guitar string. She exited out of her e-mail. Antonia should arrive any minute.

  “Psst, hey, what’s a girl like you doing in a place like this?”

  Lindsey whirled around. There, leaning against a wooden rail, was Robbie.

  “Gah!” she shrieked. “What are you doing here?”

  “Oh, come on, love,” he said. “We’ve already established that I know your tell. Big fat lies don’t really become you even when you’re trying not to crinkle your nose.”

  “You have to get out of here,” she cried. “They can’t see you.”

  “Who’s they?” another male voice asked.

  Lindsey whipped around and there on the opposite side of the pier was Sully.

  “Murroz,” she hissed. “They’re coming with Jack. You can’t be here. I have to meet them alone.”

  “Lindsey, you can’t trust her—” Sully began but she cut him off.

  “No, this is my brother’s life you’re playing with,” she snapped. It felt like terror had her in a stranglehold. “Now go!”

  A light shone out on the water. It grew steadily closer. Lindsey knew it was Antonia. She hurried to the gangway that led to the small dock below.

  “Oh, God, they’re here. Do not follow me,” she hissed through gritted teeth. “And stay hidden!”

  She scurried down the ramp. The smaller dock bobbed on the water. She had a hard time keeping her balance, but she managed to pop the micro card out of her phone while the light grew in size and brightness until it was shining right in her eyes. Lindsey held up her hand to shield her eyes. She was desperate to see Jack.

  Finally, as the boat neared, she caught a glimpse of her brother’s blond tousled head. Her heart leapt in her chest and her throat squeezed tight. He was alive and he was here. She knew if Antonia demanded a kidney from her at this point, she would gladly give it up for the safe return of her brother.

  The driver angled the boat so that it stopped smoothly at the dock. Another man reached over the side and grabbed a metal post to keep the boat in place.

  Jack sat on a bench with his hands tied behind his back, a thin shirt was all he wore, and even in the darkness Lindsey could tell he was battered and bruised. Rage thumped through her, but she knew now was not the time. She had to get him back first.

  The person beside the driver stood and approached Lindsey. Throwing back the hood on her coat, Antonia faced her.

  “Did you bring what I want?” she asked.

  “Yes,” Lindsey said through gritted teeth.

  “Give it to me,” Antonia ordered.

  “After you let Jack go,” she said. Her voice shook, which irritated her. She didn’t want to sound weak, damn it.

  “Do you really think you’re in a position to bargain with me?” Antonia asked.

  Lindsey took the micro card out of her pocket. Now she was mad. She glared at the other woman.

  “Actually, yes, I do,” she said. “You’ve gone to an awful lot of trouble to get this; it’d be a pity to lose it. Now give me my brother.”

  “Don’t do it, Linds,” Jack said. His voice was weak and his speech slurred as he spoke through swollen, cracked lips.

  “At the same time?” Antonia asked.

  “Fine, on three,” Lindsey said.

  The man who’d been holding the boat hauled Jack up to his feet by his elbow. Lindsey recognized him as the man who’d held the gun on her at the library. Obviously, he had escaped the police, but even worse, his presence made it clear that Antonia had no intention of turning over Jack; otherwise, why would she try to double-cross Lindsey by stealing the micro card before their meeting?

  Lindsey only had one chance for this to go her way. She watched Jack limp up onto the step that led out of the boat.

  “Don’t give it to her, Linds,” Jack pleaded. “Please don’t do it.”

  While Antonia and the others looked at Jack, Lindsey took her opportunity. Reaching forward, she grabbed the front of Jack’s shirt in her fist and yanked him forward.

  All hell broke loose. The man in the boat shouted as Jack was yanked out of his grasp. Lindsey turned to help Jack when Antonia grabbed her arm and yanked her half onto the boat. The micro card was snatched out of Lindsey’s hand and she tried to rear back from the edge of the boat but the big man grabbed her by the back of the coat and dumped her on the floor.

  “Lindsey!” Jack scrambled to his feet just as two men dropped from the pier above onto the dock below. Sully and Robbie. Lindsey saw them for a only second, but they both looked pasty pale with fear.

  “Do not follow or I will kill her!” Antonia yelled.

  Lindsey saw the gunman wave his firearm in the air. All three men froze. The driver jammed the throttle into high gear and Lindsey skidded across the floor at the sudden motion.

  She glanced up, thinking she might be able to jump. Antonia anticipated her move and planted a boot heel on Lindsey’s shoulder. The spiky heel impaled her muscle and bone in a shot of nerve-twisting pain that made Lindsey’s eyes cross.

  She went limp, hoping to make it stop. Antonia laughed. Her teeth gleamed feral in the moonlight and the whites of her eyes glowed. For a beautiful woman, she looked purely evil, and Lindsey felt herself begin to shake with fear.

  “You have what you want,” Lindsey said. “You don’t need me. Now let me go.”

  She wanted to sound tough and demanding, but her voice cracked, making her sound like a child afraid of the dark.

  “Oh, I don’t think so,” Antonia said. She leaned over Lindsey, grabbed a fistful of her blond hair and pulled her close while grinding her heel into Lindsey’s shoulder. “Keeping you will assure your brother’s cooperation. In fact, I probably should have grabbed you from the start.”

  Lindsey felt the swea
t bead on her upper lip. It was taking every bit of self-control she had not to whimper like a whipped puppy. She would rather bleed out than give Antonia the satisfaction.

  The driver shouted and Antonia’s foot eased. She hurried to stand beside him. Lindsey felt her heart hammer in her chest. Could she jump now? A heavy hand landed on her shoulder, holding her in place.

  The gunman was behind her. Lindsey wondered if he had his gun trained on her right now. Probably. At least he was holding her by her uninjured shoulder.

  They were nearing the channel markers. Lindsey sent a silent prayer that her friends had been able to set up in time.

  “Go faster,” Antonia demanded. “We have to get out of here.”

  The driver opened up the engine and the boat gained speed, churning up a big wake and smacking hard against the water’s surface. As they neared the two largest channel markers, Lindsey slumped down onto the floor of the boat as if she’d fainted. Surprised, the man let her go.

  “I think she’s hurt!” he called to the others.

  “So long as her brother thinks she’s alive, who cares?” Antonia said, shrugging.

  Lindsey curled up into a fetal position. She had no idea what was going to happen, if their mad plan would even work, but she figured she’d best protect herself either way.

  She knew the moment they hit the fishing line tripwire. The men grunted and Antonia shrieked as they fell into the ocean. The boat got knocked hard as if someone had hit it on their way out. Several big splashes sounded, and Lindsey bolted up from her spot on the floor. The boat was slamming out into Long Island Sound at top speed.

  Thank goodness she had ridden with Sully enough to know how to control the throttle. She used the back of the chair to haul herself forward, feeling like she was riding a bull in a rodeo. The wind snatched at her hair and clothes as if trying to throw her into the briny sea.

  Lindsey eased back on the throttle and the engine slowed. She turned the boat around and headed back. She didn’t want Antonia and her thugs to get away.

  As she headed for the channel markers, she saw the blue lights of the Briar Creek police boat, flashing brightly in the night sky as if signaling that everything was going to be all right.

  She steered the boat to the channel marker on her right. Sure enough, Mary was there. Her kayak was bobbing in the water as she had climbed up on the big red structure. She was cutting the lines she and Beth had strung between the two markers.

  Lindsey slowed her engine to a crawl so that she could shout over it.

  “You need a lift?” she cried.

  Mary grinned at her. Her eyes sparkled, her cheeks were bright pink and her nose was damp with snot, which she gloriously wiped on her coat sleeve.

  “Did you see? It worked! It freaking worked!” Mary shouted.

  Lindsey laughed. “I sort of missed it from my spot on the floor, but yeah, and thank goodness.”

  Mary sliced through the wire, which fell into the water with a plop.

  “Where’s Jack?” Mary asked, looking in the boat behind her. “And why are you here?”

  “Small change of plan—they took me instead,” Lindsey said.

  “No way!” Mary gaped.

  “Way. So how about that ride?”

  “Nah, I’m good,” Mary said. She gestured to her kayak. “I have my ride.”

  “Is everyone else okay?” Lindsey asked.

  Mary gestured to the rocky shore nearby, and Lindsey could see Beth with her kayak huddled with Violet, Nancy and Charlene.

  “All good,” Mary confirmed.

  Lindsey raised her arm and waved at the ladies. They waved back and Beth let out a whoop of joy.

  Lindsey glanced back at where Antonia and her thugs had been clotheslined into the water by the fishing lines that Mary and Beth had rigged across the channel markers. She scanned the water but she didn’t see anyone. She wondered if they had gotten away, but then the police boat slowed and Lindsey watched as someone was fished out of the water. Judging by the high-pitched shrieking, it was Antonia.

  “Looks like they got her,” Mary said. She climbed back into her kayak. “Give me a push?”

  “Sure,” Lindsey said. Mary held out her oar and Lindsey gave it a shove, moving Mary toward the shore. “Meet me at the pier.”

  “You bet!”

  Lindsey moved her throttle past idle and began to work her way to the pier. She kept an eye out for the men that had been in the boat with Antonia, not wanting to run either of them down, well, not much at any rate.

  She pulled up to the police boat, and a searchlight snapped onto her face.

  “Hands in the air!” the terse order came.

  Not wanting to tempt fate, Lindsey popped her hands into the air. She tried to shield her eyes from the glare as she yelled, “It’s me, Lindsey!”

  Abruptly, the light was lowered. “Damn it, Lindsey, what the hell is going on?”

  It was Emma and she sounded highly stressed.

  “There were three of them,” Lindsey shouted. “Two men and a woman, did you get them all?”

  “No, we’re missing a man,” Emma said. “Sully, double back.”

  It was then that Lindsey looked over at the driver. Sully was manning the controls, and the look he gave her was one of pure and utter relief.

  “You all right?” he shouted.

  “Never better,” she said. Then she smiled at him to try and validate the lie. The truth was her hands were shaking and she felt a bit like vomiting, but she didn’t want to let it show and cause him to worry.

  “Get the boat to the dock,” Emma ordered. “And try not to touch anything.”

  She was curt and dismissive and Lindsey couldn’t blame her. Her case had blown wide open and she had been out of the loop. Lindsey imagined this was going to impact their friendship and not for the better.

  Lindsey puttered past the police boat while they did a search for the missing man. When she neared the dock, Robbie grabbed the boat and steadied it, tying it up with the line Lindsey tossed to him.

  Jack, looking the worse for wear, grabbed her and squeezed her tight. When Lindsey gave him the pat on the back that indicated it was time to let go, he didn’t. In fact, after three reassuring pats, he still clung, making her worry that he’d hit his head or something.

  “Jack, you’re strangling me,” she croaked. Jack stepped back and then he grabbed her arms and studied her face with an intensity usually only seen on their mother’s face when they broke curfew and didn’t call.

  “Are you crazy, Linds?” he cried. “That had to be the dumbest, most lamebrained stunt I’ve ever seen anyone pull. What the hell were you thinking?”

  Then he hugged her again. He was hugging her so tight, Lindsey’s face was smashed into his shirt front and she couldn’t answer.

  “Just wait until I stop hugging you,” he said. “I’ll shake you until your teeth rattle.”

  “Get in line, mate,” Robbie said. “Me and sailor boy have dibs.”

  “Jack, you need someone to look at you,” Lindsey said. She pushed out of his arms and shrugged off her sweater. She draped it around his shoulders and rubbed his arms in an attempt to warm him up. “The black, swollen eyes and lumpy nose look you’ve got going is not attractive.”

  “Oh, I don’t know, I think he looks pretty badass,” Stella said as she hurried down the ramp from the pier above to join them.

  “Stella!” Jack cried. He stepped away from Lindsey and grabbed Stella then he planted a kiss on her that, judging by the way she twined her arms around him, was not unwelcome. Lindsey wondered if Stella was as much of an ex of Jack’s as she’d thought.

  “Hey, a little help over here,” a voice cried.

  Beth and Mary had arrived in their kayaks. Lindsey grabbed one while Robbie grabbed the other. Beth glanced at Jack and Stella still in their cl
inch and sighed.

  “Always a runner-up,” she said to Lindsey.

  “Not to me,” Lindsey said. “Besides, you don’t want to date Jack. He’s an economist, for Pete’s sake.”

  “Yeah, whatever was I thinking?” Beth asked. She looked Lindsey in the eye and asked, “Are you okay?”

  “Bumps and bruises but otherwise fine,” she said. “Thanks to you and Mary.”

  “Can you believe we pulled it off?” Beth asked.

  “Honestly, no,” Lindsey said. “I feel like most of it was sheer dumb luck.”

  “I’ll say,” Emma said. The police boat, which was Sully’s water taxi with a blue light slapped on the front, pulled up to the dock.

  Emma hopped out and Lindsey noted that behind her were three soaking wet people, who were handcuffed and miserable looking. Antonia raised her head and glared at Lindsey. As Tom Jarvis helped her out of the boat, she spat at Lindsey, who had the quick reflexes to dodge.

  “Now, now, Antonia, is that any way to behave?” a man asked from the pier above.

  Lindsey knew that voice. She grabbed her brother’s arm, pulling him away from Stella. “That’s him!”

  “Who?” he asked.

  “The man who called me looking for you,” she said. “I’d recognize his voice anywhere.”

  “He’s—”

  “I’ll nab him,” Robbie said, and he dashed up the ramp to the pier above.

  “No!” Jack cried. “Lindsey, he’s the man I’m working for.”

  “What?” she asked. “I thought you were working for Antonia.”

  “It’s a long story,” Jack said.

  “And you’ll have plenty of time to tell it at the station,” Emma said.

  “But you have no evidence,” Antonia snapped. “Your little micro card was lost in the sea.”

  “Good thing I e-mailed all of the data to myself then,” Lindsey said.

  Antonia’s face tightened and turned a vibrant shade of red.

  “That’s my brilliant librarian sister,” Jack said. His battered face looked gruesome when he smiled, but Lindsey couldn’t help but smile in return.