In the Blink of An Eye by Jerry Baggett (ebook reader for surface pro TXT) 📕

all’s clear, we’d like to sift through the ashes for a few souvenirs on the way back.”

“Hold on tight, everyone. We’ll be jumping a few swells, at high speed.” Mike opened the throttles.

“Don’t stop now, just look up the beach from Sam’s place,” Dick yelled. “There’s a boat tied up on shore. Something’s not right. Stop ahead somewhere and let’s give it some thought.”

Mike and Dammit both agreed. The situation warranted a cautious look. Mike slowed the tender to a comfortable pace and cruised past the open bow power boat.

“Someone’s gone onto Sam’s property from that boat. Do you have binoculars onboard, Mike?”

Mike opened the cabinet door beneath the helm. “Here ya go, Dam. I’m going to cruise by again. Scan the tree line around the burned cottage. I thought I saw movement, just to the right of the pathway down to the beach.”

“Slow down, Mike, really slow. That appeared to be a shooter’s bipod lying in the bow of that boat. There’s also some kind of camo outfit with a pair of binoculars. What do you make of it?” Dammit said.

“Could that possibly be the sheriff’s people?” Dick said.

“Not likely. The sheriff’s deputies would simply walk over to check things out, or come by a clearly identified sheriff’s vessel,” Dammit said. “Think about it. If the sheriff knew Sam wanted to inspect her property, why wouldn’t his deputies know about it? It’s a deputy that’s under suspicion. There’s a bad smell to this thing. Mike! Position us just west of that boat. We had better stand by until we know for sure what’s happening,” Dammit said. Pass me your Glock, Dick. I have a little more experience with those things.”

“Once a marine, always a marine,” Dick said, laughing. He passed the weapon to Dammit. “I have one extra mag in my pocket, if you need it, Dam.

“We’ve drifted around here for a half hour, nothing has changed,” Dick said. “I like the company and the conversation but maybe we should go back to the beach.”

Dammit said, “You’re showing your impatience, bro. Everybody just hang tight, for a moment. Two people are working their way down toward the beach, just off the path. Let’s see what they’re up to.” He passed the binoculars to Dick.

“Look at that! There’s gotta be a gun of some sort in the soft case that man’s carrying.”

Dick passed the binoculars to Mike. After a quick look he passed them to Dammit. They closed the distance between boats, watching two men climb aboard the inboard runabout.

Dammit said, “Sam! Call the sheriff, now! Report what we are doing. Mike! Take us close enough for conversation. We have to stay within handgun range, in case they pull the long gun out of the zip bag and start firing at us.”

Mike said, “Too late for that, now, they’re on to us and taking off fast. That guy just pulled out a combat weapon of some kind. Everybody duck down low in the boat, now. Samantha! Stretch yourself out flat on the bottom of the boat. They’re turning back in our direction.”

Dammit crouched down in front, with the Glock in his hand. He braced his hands against the forward cleat. “He’s pulling the weapon out. They’re going to start shooting right away. Be prepared for multiple shots, fired rapidly. Don’t raise your head up to see what’s happening. It could be fatal.” He looked back at Mike. “Close in fast after his first shot. We have to stay within the Glock’s range. He’s inserting a magazine. Everybody down, now! Stay down until I stop firing, or say something. I need to take him out after his first burst, while we’re in range. Down now!” he yelled again. “He’s coming at us fast. He’ll spray us with bullets and head out to sea.”

A three-round burst tore through the tender. He’s standing up, bouncing around. Dammit sited down the barrel and opened up with the Glock at close range. The shooter could be wearing a vest. He carefully placed four shots into the figure holding the long gun and one into the man at the controls. The long gun fell to the deck. The shooter fell forward, slammed his head against the engine cover to land face down. The driver crumpled over the controls. The vessel kept moving ahead into open water.

Dammit yelled back, “Is anyone hurt? Are you OK, Mike? We got lucky. The shooter tried to hit his target while off balance. Pour the coal on. That was an M-15, set for automatic three-round bursts.”

Mike wiped blood out of his eye. “Yeah, fiberglass chips peppered the top of my head and nicked an ear. I’m OK.”

He looked down and laughed. “Dick, you’re going to smother that poor girl. Get off of her.”

“Two projectiles caught the steering consul, dead center. Is everything working OK? We need to catch up with that boat and kill the engine quickly,” Dick said. “That’s positive evidence of what just happened.”

“The console saved my ass. Otherwise, there’s only superficial damage. Everyone, hold on. We’re going after that boat.” Mike opened the throttle. The runabout was headed into wind-driven swells of the open sea. “We need to overtake her before she flips and dumps the bodies.”

“You’re closing just fine,” Dammit said. “Now, ease up slowly and brush alongside. I’ll roll over the gunnel onto the deck. Both men seem to be down. They could be wearing life vests, not armer plate.”

Dammit rolled into the power boat, landing on his knees. He dragged the unconscious driver away from the controls and removed a semi-automatic handgun from a belt holster on each man. He quickly turned the boat back toward calmer water, noticing a long shallow crease along the top of the driver’s head that put him down. Both men had armor plate vests beneath their jacket. The shooter had one fatal hit through the