Caribbean Rescue (Coastal Fury Book 16) - Matt Lincoln (reading tree .TXT) 📗

of the chairs before jumping up to grab onto the hardtop of the helm. Up there, I’d be at just the right height to jump onto the deck of the yacht.

I was just getting to my feet when a bullet tore through the metal just in front of where I was standing.

“Whoa!” Holm yelled from below. The bullet must have sailed clean through the roof and into the helm below.

I looked up and found the same man who’d been holding the rifle pointing a pistol at me. I lifted my own gun and shot back at him just as he fired again. His shot missed me, and this time, he did fall backward as my bullet hit him square in the chest.

I allowed myself to breathe a sigh of relief now that both of the hostiles were down. However, it was short-lived as I realized an instant later that we were only feet away from the other boat now.

I swore as I got shoved my gun back into its holster and got ready to jump. I only had seconds until we made impact.

I leapt forward just as the fishing boat crashed into the side of the yacht. I barely managed to land on the deck of the larger vessel, and I stumbled to the ground as I lost my footing on the slippery, rain-soaked deck.

“Are you okay?!” Holm yelled. “Damn, sorry, I lost control when that bullet whizzed by my head. Are you alive? Ethan, say something!”

“I’m fine!” I yelled as I peered down over the edge of the boat. “Quit yelling and get up here. We’re not out of the woods yet.”

He climbed onto the hardtop in the same way I had earlier, though he had a much harder time since the boat was now quickly taking on water and trying its best to float away now that Holm had left the helm. I reached down to help him up onto the deck.

“Hope Raymond’s not too mad,” he remarked as we turned to look down at the sinking vessel.

“As long as we grab Samuel, I doubt he’s going to care,” I replied as I turned around. I couldn’t see the cockpit for the entrance to the lower cabin from where we were standing.

“Careful,” I cautioned Holm as he made our way carefully to the other side of the boat. There was still at least one man left unaccounted for, not to mention whoever was driving the boat.

I paused for just a moment before we made it to the cockpit where the helm was. I lifted my gun and then quickly rushed toward the stern of the vessel. To my surprise, no one was at the wheel.

“He must have gone below deck after the fighting started,” Holm guessed as we took a look around the helm. “Damn. Okay, let’s go.”

Together, we made our way down the steps and into the darkened cabin below. We’d just made it to the end of the staircase when I heard screams from a room at the end of the hall. I rushed forward instinctively, only realizing my error when it was too late.

I failed to notice an open doorway to my left until I’d already run past. I caught a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye, but before I could turn around, something blunt hit me on the back of the head.

Stars burst in front of my eyes as I stumbled forward, almost falling to my knees as my vision swam and made it hard to stay upright. I spun around to face my attacker, but the movement only caused my dizziness to worsen.

The man had a crazed look in his eye as he lifted whatever he’d used to hit me above his head. Before he could strike again, though, Holm tackled him to the ground from behind, the two of them falling into a heap together on the floor.

“I’m going to kill you!” the man screamed as he thrashed around in Holm’s grip. I crouched down and punched the man in the face twice. The second blow caused him to hit the back of his head on the hard metal ground, and he groaned as his eyes drifted in and out of focus before finally shutting.

He dropped his weapon as he finally fell unconscious.

“What is that?” Holm huffed for breath as he reached for the thing he’d dropped. “A wrench!? How are you still standing after taking a blow from this to the back of the head?”

“He didn’t hit me that hard,” I hissed as I gingerly touched the back of my head. My hand came away wet with blood. “Still hurts, though. Guess I’m lucky it’s so dark down here. He probably couldn’t see.”

“Are you good?” he asked as he leaned down to cuff the guy to the stair railing. “You were looking a little out of it there for a second.”

“I’m fine,” I grumbled, though my head was throbbing. “Come on, we need to find the women.”

We continued our way down the short hallway again, more carefully this time. There wasn’t anywhere else for anyone to hide, though. All that was left was the door to the main cabin.

I pressed myself as close to the wall beside the door as I could before turning to look at Holm.

“Ready?” I whispered as I slowly put my hand on the door handle.

“Ready.” He nodded, his gun gripped tightly in both hands.

I pushed the door open and ran inside, my gun held out in front of me.

“Freeze!” I yelled as I stepped into the room, Holm right beside me. The room was dark. The storm was in full force outside by this point, blocking out any chance of moonlight, so it was difficult to see in the small room. Several women were huddled on the ground at the rear corner of the cabin, their faces streaked with tears. They screamed as Holm and I burst into the room.

Standing in the center of the room, just in front of a desk,