Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 98226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98226 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 491(@200wpm)___ 393(@250wpm)___ 327(@300wpm)
“No!”
Theo nodded. “Apparently, he was the head of the whole thing. He befriended Joel early on in our trip, told him about his successful thefts from yachts in the past, and before the end of the night, he had him and Ace in on the deed. Ivy and Celeste weren’t a hard sell, especially not once they started formulating a plan.”
I chewed my cheek, trying to understand through the fog in my head. I wondered what kind of pain relievers they had pumped into my system. “So… Eric was with them?”
“No, actually. He went to shore with everyone else, so as not to look suspicious. But apparently, he’d been feeding Joel, Ace, and Ivy information ever since we left. He’d even hooked them up with some of his guys to get them to Greece once we left Italy. Those same guys were the ones who provided the guns they had.” He swallowed at that. “They were just waiting for the right time to strike. And when you sent the crew to shore for a night off…”
“I gave them the perfect opportunity,” I finished for him with a groan.
“Hey, it wasn’t your fault, all right?” Theo assured me, bringing my knuckles to his lips. He kissed all four of them before resting our hands on the bed again. “But yes. I was off the boat, Wayland was waiting to bring me back, the crew was gone.” He shrugged. “No one but Captain Chuck.”
“And me.”
“And you,” Theo agreed. “Which, from what I can gather, Eric left that part of the equation out. When questioned about the whole night, he told the Athens authorities that he hoped you would just stay out of the way and the three thieves could get on, get what they wanted from the safe, and get off without you being any the wiser.”
“What was in that safe that they wanted so badly?”
“Cash. I had a pretty good amount of it in there, just in case. Wayland thinks they might have been trying to steal my identity, too, or at least utilize it long enough to open up a few cards. I had all my travel documents in the safe — passport, business visa, even my Social Security card. I also had a few credit cards in there, so they could have been trying to rack those up before they were found out. Or open new ones. It’s hard to really say.”
I shook my head. “How did they think they’d get away with any of this?”
“Well, if there wouldn’t have been a fire, and if Joel wouldn’t have gotten caught up in… in…” Theo couldn’t even say the words. “If things would have just been a little different, they might have gotten away with a large amount of cash and enough cards to do some damage to my credit line.”
My heart lurched into my throat with another thought. “Oh, God. Captain Chuck? Is he okay?”
“Ace knocked him out with a blow to the head. He lost quite a bit of blood, too, but yes, he’s okay.”
“I heard him,” I said. “I heard this loud thump, and then voices, and then…” Tears flooded my eyes again as I recalled the memory. “And then Joel was there, and it all happened so quickly. He… I think he was on something. He looked… evil.”
“Cocaine,” Theo explained with a heavy sigh. “Among other things, we think, but they found a baggie of cocaine in his pocket. If he was mixing it with anything else, or taking a lot of it, well… it doesn’t surprise me he didn’t seem himself.”
I swallowed, remembering how cold and lifeless his eyes were. “He… he hit me,” I whispered, touching the back of my head. My eyes widened when I felt thick stitches, and I winced at the feeling of my fingertips against the raw skin there. “I was trying to get to the knife, but I couldn’t reach it. I fell and hit my head again,” I remembered, touching the crown of my head next. Another batch of stitches was there. My eyes caught Theo’s. “He had the gun pointed at me,” I whispered. “He was going to kill me.”
Theo’s nose flared, and he shook his head, pulling me into his arms. It was awkward, the way I was hooked up to the various machines and bags of fluid, but Theo held me, anyway, pressing a kiss to my hair, my forehead, and finally, my lips.
He kissed me long and slow, both of us inhaling and exhaling together like we hadn’t taken a real full breath until that very moment.
“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there,” Theo whispered against my lips. “I’m so sorry he hurt you, that I didn’t stop him in time.”
I shook my head, emotion strangling my throat. “I thought… I thought I saw you.”
“I must have gotten there moments after you passed out,” he explained. “Wayland and I knew something was off as soon as we pulled up. There was smoke billowing out from the lower deck, from the galley, where you two were. But we ran into Captain Chuck first, and he was badly injured. Wayland helped him into the tender and then we went looking for you.” He paused. “We found Ace first.”