In Too Deep (18 page)

The men behind him hesitated until he nodded. McNair was right. He was a damn good shot, but couldn’t risk hitting Avery instead of the asshole holding her like a shield.

“Now, there’s a simple way for us all to get what we want.”

“And what’s that, McNair? What do you want?”

A feral smile twisted the other man’s lips. Knox’s eyes flicked to the man beside Ben, not surprised to realize, now that they were closer, it was the drug runner they’d encountered before. What he didn’t see was a gun trained on his captain. And the fact that Ben refused to look him in the eye made his stomach clench with anger and dread.

“First, I want you to call whoever is headed this way and tell them you were misinformed, that there’s no one at the site.”

Knox hesitated, trying to figure out a way to give McNair what he wanted without calling off their one chance at tipping the scales in their favor.

McNair slammed the butt of his gun into the side of Avery’s head. She slumped in his hold and he let her go, not even bothering to cushion her fall as she collapsed into the bottom of the boat.

“Quickly, Knox, or I’ll be forced to do something worse. I know you’ve been shot before, but I’d wager your beautiful girlfriend hasn’t had the misfortune to experience that kind of pain...yet.”

He wanted to hurt the man and if they hadn’t been separated by several feet of roiling sea he would have. But letting his anger rule him right now would only put Avery in further jeopardy. Knox glared at McNair as he pulled his cell from his pocket.

“On speaker, if you don’t mind,” McNair hollered in a pleasant voice that scraped along Knox’s last nerve.

He watched a trickle of blood, mixed with the rain pouring over them, roll down Avery’s temple even as he placed the call.

“I’m going to find you, McNair, and make you pay for every drop of her blood that you’ve spilled.”

“I’m certain you’ll try.”

The call connected, crackling across the airspace. “McLemore, we’re fifteen minutes out.”

“Don’t bother. We were wrong, he isn’t here.”

The voice on the other end was silent for a moment as static rolled out. “We’re almost there. We can consult when we arrive.”

“No,” Knox said, his voice going hard. “The storm is getting worse. We don’t have fifteen minutes to wait. We can meet back in Nassau.”

“All right.”

The line went dead. “Satisfied?” he asked, throwing a daggered stare at McNair.

“Not hardly.”

That was good, because neither was Knox. He needed to get onto that boat, but how to make it happen?

He was running through options, discarding everything because each plan involved a few seconds that left Avery open and vulnerable—a risk he wouldn’t take—when he saw her stir. It was a minuscule twitch.

Dread wrenched him. He knew Avery was about to do something insanely brave and dangerous and he couldn’t stop her. Or hold in his howl of frustration. McNair chuckled, momentarily distracted, and didn’t see Avery’s leg sweeping toward him until it was too late.

From ten feet away, Knox was unable to do anything but watch. McNair yelped, his body pitching backward. He landed with a thud. Avery was on top of him, gripping his wrist in her hand, banging it and the gun he held repeatedly against the hard edge of the bench beside them.

She had skill, but McNair had experience and about a hundred pounds on her.

Without even thinking about it, Knox vaulted over the railing and plunged into the churning water. He sank for a few seconds before kicking up, searching for breath. Powerful waves crashed down over his head.

Knox heard the crack of a gun firing, the echo ricocheting across the water.

Two more followed in quick succession.

“No!” he roared. If Avery died he was going to lose it.

Breaking out in a hard stroke, he closed the gap to the boat. Gripping the side, he hauled himself up and over, bracing for a gruesome sight. His mind was already predicting Avery’s blood spilling out across the deck.

And there was blood, but it wasn’t hers.

Avery stood there, drenched and bedraggled. Her bright red hair hung in wet strands down her back and stuck to her damp cheeks.

She was trembling, her entire body moving with the force of the shivers wracking her.

Her eyes were trained down at the man stretched out at her feet, two gaping bullet holes in his chest.

Knox didn’t stop moving until he’d wrapped her in his arms, propelling them both to the far side of the boat.

He was aware enough to realize the drug runner had also crumpled to the bottom of the boat, a wound in his shoulder oozing blood. He wasn’t dead, but he wasn’t an immediate threat. Ben slumped to the deck, the back of his head seeping blood where he’d cracked it against the side of the boat.

“I killed him,” Avery whispered, her voice low and ragged.

Knox cupped her cheeks with his hands. Her skin was ice-cold. Forcing her to look away from McNair’s body, he turned her face to his.

“Baby. It’s okay. You’re okay.” He ran his hands over her body, making sure the words he’d just spoken were true. Aside from the cut at her temple, she seemed unharmed.

“I killed him, Knox.” Her mouth moved slowly, as if it had frozen and she was forcing her lips to move.

“I know. But he was going to hurt you. You did the right thing.”

She blinked and then blinked again before nodding. Slowly, color returned to her face. She made a sound, a smothered whimper, and buried her face in his chest.

“I was so scared,” she mumbled into him.

Knox wrapped his arms tightly around her, taking her weight.

“Ben drove the boat straight to McNair. He’s the Trident leak.”

Disbelief and rage rolled through Knox. Ben had been with them almost from the beginning. But he’d deal with their captain later. Right now, Avery was his main concern.

“God, Avery. If anything had happened to you...” Pulling her away, Knox looked at her again, just to make sure she really was standing there and unharmed. “I don’t think I could have survived losing you, Avery. I love you.”

Her stiff lips curved into a sad smile. “I love you too.”

She clung to him. Together, they collapsed onto a seat at the back of the boat, as far away from the carnage as they could. Around them, chaos reigned. Bahamian government officials, accompanied by the US Coast Guard screamed onto the scene. Apparently, they’d heard the gunshots.

The storm raged, picking up strength, lashing them with wind and rain that had their boat rocking wickedly.

But none of that mattered, because Avery was wrapped tight in his arms. Safe and sound. His.

Nothing was going to convince him to let her go.

Epilogue

A
VERY
STARED
OUT
across the crystal-clear blue sea. As long as she lived, the view would never get old.

She felt Knox's strong arms circle her waist from behind.

“What are you doing out here, Dr. Walsh?”

While her business had definitely taken a hit thanks to McNair's announcement about her lack of a PhD, it turned out things hadn't been quite as bad as she'd feared. It helped that McNair himself had been exposed as a fraud and high-level drug dealer. Although, that information didn't change the truth about her own duplicity.

Yes, she'd lost clients, but she deserved that. What had surprised her was the number of people who felt the same way Knox did—that she was an expert with or without the degree.

But completing her PhD had become something she needed to do for herself. So as soon as she could, Avery had contacted Texas International University to begin the process of finishing her program. And would hopefully have everything squared away in the next few months. Making that call had been difficult, but Knox had been right beside her.

Just as she'd been by his side as they'd dealt with the fallout from McNair and the hurricane.

In the aftermath it had become clear that McNair was a major player in the Caribbean drug market.

The task force had taken his wounded accomplice into custody, a man they'd been trying to capture for several years. With the evidence found on McNair's ship, they'd also arrested most of his crew.

Ben had been spared arrest but lost his position with Trident. McNair had been blackmailing him as well. What had saved him in the end was the fact that when Avery went after McNair, Ben had tried to take down the drug runner, getting injured in the process. But that had given Avery enough time to get a shot off and at least incapacitate McNair.

What had made Avery sick was the quantity of sophisticated explosives they'd found on board McNair's launch, no doubt intended for the
Chimera
. They'd come so close to losing everything.

Luckily, everyone had made it back to land in time to seek shelter from the hurricane, which had changed course, moving out to open sea.

The storm had skirted the
Chimera
's location so she hadn't taken a direct hit. They'd still had to spend several weeks surveying the wreck just to be safe, but she'd come through without any damage.

Although the close call made the entire Trident team eager to move forward with the salvage as quickly as safety would allow.

Now, six weeks later, the wreck was stabilized and they were ready to see what secrets she held.

The excitement was palpable.

Avery was just grateful the Trident team was allowing her to stay on the project.

“You ready for this, doc?” Knox whispered against her ear.

Leaning back into his arms, Avery realized that with him she could tackle anything.

Together they'd gone to visit Melody. She'd loved introducing him to her sister. They'd hit it off immediately. Melody smiled softly every time Knox came into the room.

But it had made Avery's heart ache when, in a rare moment they were alone, Melody had looked at her with a serious expression and said, “He cares a lot for you. You're so lucky.”

She mourned that her sister would never experience what she had with Knox. But she'd learned to let the past—and the things that might have been—go. Melody was happy and that was what mattered most.

Knox had convinced Avery to move in with him just that morning. Although she should probably have been pissed at his methods, considering he'd had her mindless beneath him at the time.

She couldn't be upset, though, since it was what she wanted too. He'd even found a facility in Florida that they could move Melody to once her doctors decided she could handle the transition. One with even better programs that might improve Melody's quality of life even more.

Avery and Knox had both been through hell in their lives, lost people, lost pieces of themselves. He had helped her open up, realize she didn't have to be afraid of letting people in. Over the past few weeks, the circle of people in her life had widened.

And she was grateful. Surprisingly, she was enjoying getting to know Jackson, Loralei and Kennedy better. Asher had welcomed her to the group with a huge hug and smacking kiss on the cheek that had Knox growling a warning. They'd accepted her immediately as one of their own, despite knowing what she'd done.

Luckily, in light of McNair's activities and her discovery of the medal, the US court had ruled in Trident's favor, awarding them exclusive salvage rights.

That sense of camaraderie—family—was something she hadn't had in a while. Knox had given that back to her.

In return, he'd opened up about his brother, the accident, the life he'd led with the Teams. Each day Knox proved over and over that he was a man she was lucky to have in her life.

She tipped her head back, and Knox sealed his mouth to hers. The world tilted, and as always, she sank into the delicious kiss. By the time he let her up, Avery had forgotten where they were and what they'd been doing. All she could see, hear and feel was him.

Knox grinned down at her, mischief brightening his gaze.

Avery loved him best like this—open, honest, giving, playful. She needed that, more than she'd ever realized.

“Let's go find some gold, doc.”

* * * * *

Asher Reynolds is determined to steer clear of his friend's little sister. But it's not so easy when they're trapped together on a ship. And sweet little Kennedy may not be as innocent as she seems...

Look for UNDER PRESSURE, the final installment of Kira Sinclair's
SEALS OF FORTUNE
miniseries.

Keep reading for an excerpt from HOT IN THE CITY by Samantha Hunter.

http://www.harlequin.com/harlequinexperience