Love and Let Die (Masters and Mercenaries #5)(119)

She snarled a little his way. “You owe me, Tag.”

“Are you sure about her?” Sean asked.

As sure as he could be. “She didn’t kill me, and she knew Ten’s middle name. She works for him. She’ll keep the king safe. Well, as safe as he can be since we have pirates on board.”

“Any idea how many?” Sean followed him, closing the door behind.

The stairs were ornate, like the rest of the boat. Ian started down them, keeping his step light. “No idea. I’ve had to keep my head down.” He touched his earphone. “Any count on how many hostiles we’re dealing with?”

Knight’s voice came over the line. “Tag, it’s bloody good to know you’re alive. We didn’t want to make contact in case it could be overheard. There are two boats off the yacht. You’re dealing with at least twenty armed men. Pirates, from the look of them. They’re likely hired hands. One of the boats is hidden by the yacht. I can’t see how many people are still on it.”

It didn’t matter. He just needed a rough number to know how to proceed. He reached the door that hopefully led to the garage.

“Can you see the garage?”

“That’s an affirmative, Tag.”

“How many?”

“I can’t see inside, but the boat that’s parked on the port side let two out before parking. It’s open to the sea. Are you going to attempt to swim out?”

“I’m going to see if we can get the king out that way. He says there’s scuba gear. If we can go deep, we will. What’s the ETA on the Coast Guard?”

“The commandant said they’re on their way,” Knight explained. “Fifteen minutes out.”

“Understood. Tell Ten I expect my wife to be unmolested when this is over.”

There was a long pause on the line.

“Tell me my wife is on the beach, Knight.” Every muscle in his body tensed. Charlie was safe. She had to be safe.

Knight’s voice was very calm as it came over the line. “I think Nelson had a mole on the yacht. The boat you put her on turned and went around to the other side of the boat. I haven’t seen it since. Your wife was on board.”

Ian heard Sean curse behind him. At least he didn’t have to fill his brother in.

His wife was in Nelson’s hands, and he’d left his only bargaining chip behind.

“Hey, calm down, brother. We can handle this. Let’s get our assets in order. Let’s take the garage and then we can go from there. He said there were two, maybe three? We can handle that.” Sean was cool and collected, which was good because Ian felt like running screaming through the f*cking boat.

Sean took over the conversation. “Knight, we copy you and we’re going silent.”

He cut off the feed.

Ice. Charlie needed him to be the ice man. And Sean was right. From the garage they could move into the water if they had to.

The garage might offer a few distractions.

He would need them if Knight was correct and Charlie was in Nelson’s hands. Shoving his panic down, he put a hand on the door. As quietly as he could, he pushed it open no more than a half an inch. He caught sight of two men moving at the water’s edge and another walking up the side.

Without looking back, he held up three fingers, then gestured to show his brother where they would be.

They would have seconds. Surprise would be their only real advantage.

Ian shoved the door open and used the P90 to lay out a line of suppressive fire. The air cracked around him, a symphony of bullets and low shouts that was so familiar to Ian he’d almost missed it.

Cover. He’d taken down one, hitting him squarely in the chest, but now the others were returning fire and he needed cover. He ducked, throwing himself behind a row of jet skis.

To his right, Sean took up position behind the door, only the barrel of his gun sticking out. His brother proved he hadn’t lost a beat as he placed a bullet neatly in a pirate’s forehead.

But that left one, and he’d taken position behind a small boat, tied up on the side of the garage just at the water’s edge. Ian fired but the boat looked solid. His opponent simply shoved his gun over the top and fired, not giving Ian a target.

But he didn’t need one because his backup was on the way. He saw a figure surface, his head coming briefly out of the water before he took a silent breath and went under again.

There was a strangled scream and the sound of a body hitting the water and then silence.

Sean stepped out. “What the f*ck just happened? Tell me that guy didn’t get pulled in by a shark.”

He should never have let his brother watch Jaws when he was a kid. Sean could stare down just about anything but still had a fear of sharks.

Luckily, this shark had a British accent.

Simon hauled himself onto the ramp, standing gracefully and straightening his tie. The f*cker even swam in a tie. He slicked back his hair and sounded as though he’d come for tea instead of just drowned a man. “Sorry I’m late.”

Ian pointed at him. “You I like. Now we have a problem. Nelson has my wife.”

Simon simply took the gun Sean was holding out for him. “Then we shall have to get her back.”

“Mr. Taggart?” A familiar voice came over the overhead speakers. “I hear you’re already at work.”