“Yes.” Logan continued to watch through his binoculars. “Shit. Now she’s fighting with him.”
“She’s going to have a baby on the damned boat,” said Cate, tension filling her spine. “Get us closer.”
“Working on it,” said Tessa. “But we’re not bulletproof.”
“She’s pulling on his arm,” said Logan. “He can’t drive, shoot, and hold her back at the same time.”
They were close enough that Cate could clearly see the fight on the other boat. Ashlee and Rich were in a close struggle. The boat weaved and jerked as she wrestled with him and he tried to steer.
She’s a brave girl.
Their boat hit a bunch of chop as they moved closer to the island, and Cate’s teeth snapped with every rough bounce. Tessa was focused, her gaze locked on the boat several hundred yards ahead. Henry was rigid, one hand on a rail for balance and the other on Cate’s shoulder. They drew closer to the little boat, its struggling engine no match for the county’s powerful boat.
Rich looked behind him, and Cate read the panic in his eyes.
He turned back to the wheel and suddenly jerked hard. The front end of his boat hit something and left the water. Cate caught her breath. Rich’s boat launched into the air and landed on its side, flinging its passengers into the air.
A log.
The long gray wood culprit crested a wave, moving closer to the island, unaware that it’d been hit full speed by a boat. The boat righted itself and slowed, its engine suddenly silent.
Rich and Ashlee were in the water, but Cate could see only Rich. Keeping her eyes locked on the man, she slipped off her shoes. Beside her Henry did the same. Ashlee’s head suddenly bobbed up in the rough waves, and Rich lunged for her, pushing her back under the water.
Cate stared, stunned by the man’s brutality toward his pregnant wife.
“How . . .” Henry couldn’t finish, his gaze also locked on the struggling couple as Tessa sped in their direction.
“He’s going to kill her,” Cate stated, fear filling her. Both boats were now within a hundred feet of the shore. She stepped up on the edge of the boat and balanced, letting her body move with the up-and-down motion of the water, gripping the post to the boat’s canopy. Tessa slowed the boat, turning it so Cate’s side would soon be close to the couple in the water. Cate was a strong swimmer, but the Pacific Ocean was icy cold year round. Its chill would take her breath away.
Ashlee came up for air, terror on her face, and Rich dived at her again, shoving her out of sight. Cate held her breath, mentally begging Tessa to get the boat closer. Henry slipped a life jacket over Cate’s free arm, pulling it up to her shoulder. She maneuvered her other arm into it, never taking her eyes off Ashlee, who had bobbed to the surface, as he zipped it up.
“Be careful,” Henry said. He already wore a life jacket, and Logan was putting one on. Cate nodded.
Ten more seconds, and we’ll be in position.
Henry grabbed a life preserver and flung it at Ashlee. A wave immediately carried it out of her reach. Rich dived under the water in her direction, and suddenly Ashlee was yanked straight down; her head and waving hands vanished.
Cate searched the waves.
There she is.
Ashlee had surfaced a few yards away from Rich, who was now thrashing in the water, spinning in a circle, trying to spot his wife.
Henry threw another life preserver, and again the ocean interfered. He cursed and dug a life jacket out from under a cushion and flung it at the woman. Rescue pole in hand, Logan leaned over the edge, ready for the moment Ashlee was in reach.
Ashlee stretched and got one hand on the thick floating jacket. Determination filled her face as she pulled the jacket to her chest. She rolled onto her back, her stomach rising out of the water as she gasped for air. A wave had further separated her from Rich, but now he swam toward her with a powerful stroke.