Faceless (Sinister Secrets Book 2) by Candle Sutton (best motivational novels txt) 📕

“You okay?”

She shivered violently, her teeth chattering so hard she couldn’t even form words. Tears flowed, although she wasn’t sure if it was from relief, the cold, or the stinging salt water.

“Hey, Ernie. Grab a blanket, will ya?” The crustier, older fisherman caught sight of her bound hands and his jaw dropped. “What the…”

“Ab-abducted.” She forced the words past her vibrating lips. “G-g-got aw-away.”

The man pulled a knife from his belt and held it up slowly. “Now I ain’t gonna hurt you. Just gonna cut that off, okay?”

She nodded quickly, feeling like a buoy in the waves but unable to slow her movements.

The zip tie snapped.

Using fingers she could barely feel, she rubbed her wrists.

A blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She pulled it close, but it did nothing to ease the shivering.

She looked around. They were too exposed here.

What would those men do if they saw her? Would they shoot her and these two fishermen?

“W-w-we n-need to t-take c-c-cover.” She forced the words past lips that felt like foreign entities. “Th-they m-m-might be c-coming.”

“Who’s that?” Ernie scratched his head as if she spoke in a foreign language.

Then again, between her accent and her shivering, maybe she was.

She stumbled to her feet. “Y-your b-boat?”

Crusty caught her arm. “Yeah, yeah. Come aboard.”

He shot a slightly quizzical look at Ernie. Probably thought she hadn’t seen it. Well, she didn’t care if they thought she was crazy.

They helped her step aboard, then led her into the cabin and eased her onto a bench.

The air in the cabin was several degrees warmer than the air outside.

Crusty crouched in front of her. “Now. You said you were kidnapped?”

She wiped her face on the scratchy blanket and drew in a deep breath. “I n-need to use your ph-phone. Please.”

“Ernie here can call 911. Get you the help you need.” His placating tone indicated that he thought her frame of mind more fragile than it was.

“I’m FBI.” She spit the words out between her shivering. “I-I need t-t-to ring my t-team.”

The blanket and cabin were working. Her shivering was already lessening.

Not disappearing, but getting more manageable.

“FBI, huh?” Ernie appraised her as if trying to decide if she was serious or delusional.

“Please. Th-they’re going to ge-get a-a-away.”

Without another word, Crusty handed her a cell phone, the screen already unlocked.

She dialed Dak’s cell, glad she remembered the number.

One ring. Two.

Come on, Dak. Answer!

Three.

“Agent Lakes.”

His voice had never sounded so good.

“D-Dak. You h-have to h-hurry.”

“Kevyn?” Relief flooded his tone.

“Yes. B-but th-th-they’re getting a-away.”

“Where are you?”

She hauled in a long breath. “A fishing b-boat. The e-end of the p-p-pier where I was t-taken.”

“Give me the boat name. Felicia and another agent are watching the dock right now. I’ll send Felicia your way.”

Fresh tears stung her eyes. She couldn’t wait to see her friend. She got the boat name from the fishermen and passed the information along. “Hu-hurry. They’re es-escaping.”

“We’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Br-bring SWAT.”

“We were mobilizing a team when you called. SWAT is already on the way.”

That was a relief. Hopefully they arrived in time to stop Coffeeshop Man and the rest of his crew.

Including Mitch.

She ended the call and handed the phone back to Crusty. “Th-thank you.”

Movement to her left drew her attention. Ernie extended a steaming cup. “Thought a good cup of coffee might perk you up.”

“Thanks, mate.” She wrapped her hands around the cup and allowed the steam to waft up to her face.

She took a sip, fighting back a grimace. The coffee was strong enough to make her hair stand on end and tasted about as good as charred oil.

Still, it was wet and hot. It’d help warm her from the inside.

“I called 911. Looks to me like you need patchin’ up.”

She followed his gaze to find her injured foot poking out from the blanket. The gauze wrapped around her foot still clung stubbornly, in spite of her dip in the Sound, but blood soaked through the gauze.

A small pool of blood puddled on the deck beneath her foot.

“Oh! I’m s-s-sorry.”

The crusty old fisherman guffawed. “You think that’s the worst thing this ol’ deck has seen? Lady, we gut fish on this deck. That little dribble ain’t nothin’.”

That made her feel a little better. “If y-y-you can gi-give me a rag, I’ll w-w-wipe it u-up.”

Ernie shook his head. “You need to rest and warm up. We’ll get that.”

She smiled her thanks and sipped the coffee again. A boat engine drifted on the quiet dusk air.

The cabin cruiser pulled away from the boatshed.

Her breath froze in her lungs. They were getting away! Frankly, she didn’t know why they’d waited so long to leave, but had really hoped her team would arrive in time to stop them.

It looked like they would be too late.

The Coast Guard!

“Can y-y-you contact the Coast Guard? They n-need to f-f-follow that b-boat.”

Ernie reached for the radio as he looked over at the cabin cruiser. “I’ll tell them. You relax and get some warmth back into your bones, you hear?”

She nodded, forcing another sip of the questionable brew.

There was nothing more she could do now. Except hope the Coast Guard came through.

₪   ₪   ₪

Mitch planted his hands on the seat beside him and tried to keep his face impassive.

Had she made it?

There’d been no sign of Kevyn after she jumped into the water. Tio had ordered his men to grab bright spotlights and shine them down into the water, but they hadn’t caught a glimpse of her.

They’d spent several minutes – which had felt like hours – searching around the boat and trying to see under the decking, but there’d been no sign