Cornered. HelenKay Dimon

      “They were there when I got shot at.” Cam thought that part had been obvious but he guessed not. “They were watching when everything fell apart.”

      Julia flattened her hand against the table. “Which time?”

      “The first, the time that led me to you, but you make a good point.” Back then Cam had called the scramble code and they’d scattered. At that point he’d still thought they could grab Rudy and be gone without trouble. Talk about a miscalculation.

      Holt looked through the binoculars and Shane rechecked maps on his watch. Cam waited. He could tell something ran through her head. Maybe it was the way she gnawed on her bottom lip.

      The quiet stretched on for a few more beats before she exhaled. “I can take you to Rudy’s house.”

      “No way.” Shane clicked on the GPS function on his watch. “Give us the address.”

      “You’ll never find it,” she said in almost an I-told-you-so offensive strike.

      Cam sided with Shane on this one. “We’re pretty good at this.”

      He wanted Julia long gone and far away when they tracked down Rudy. The man wasn’t where he was supposed to be this morning, and all hell had broken loose because of that.

      “Fine.” She shrugged. “Go to the fourth turn past the group of willows by the water where all the kids went skinny-dipping in high school.”

      Shane stared at her. “Maybe a street name?”

      “There isn’t one, to my knowledge. Rudy lives in a shack.” She sent Cam that I-told-you-so grin she’d all but promised. “Getting mail is the least of his concerns.”

      “You win.” Holt slapped a hand against the table and got up. He pointed at Cam. “You take Julia and look for Rudy. Shane and I will find the chief or at least clear the ferry area of suspects.”

      She shifted to look up at Holt, who now towered over her. “How?”

      He smiled for the first time since he had sat down. “We can be persuasive.”

      “But first.” Cam eyed Holt.

      “What?” She glanced around, looking more confused by the second.

      “Right. Sorry.” Holt bent over and picked up a bag. He took out a bandage, then an ice pack. “Cam is going to set your ankle.”

      Her gaze flipped to Cam. “You know how to do that, too?”

      The woman needed to have some faith. “My skills are endless.”

      * * *

      RAY MINER STOOD in the ferry’s ticket-buying area, just inside the building, so he could get a good look at anyone approaching the marina. But he was looking for one person in particular—Cameron Roth. The guy was supposed to be some superstar pilot who was good with a gun.

      Ray had some skills of his own and was pretty sure he’d impressed the guy by shooting the man he was holding from right under his arm. But now he was down two men and Ray didn’t like that at all. Cameron would pay for that.

      Two more of his men returned from their search of the ferry decks after the most recent unloading. “There’s nothing and no one left on board, but the waiting passengers are getting antsy.”

      “Tell them there’s a delay and to come back for the next one.” When his men stared at each other but neither moved, Ray saw the positives in eliminating a few of his guys without Cameron’s help.

      Ned, the bigger of the two and the one who usually did the talking, cleared his throat. “They’re starting to have questions.”

      As if Ray cared. “We have the captain tied up and the rest of the crew believing I had to come in from Seattle and commandeer the boat because of the transfer of illegal goods in one of the cars. Have the crew inform the passengers that there is a search ongoing at the moment.”

      “What if someone calls the real police chief?” Ned asked.

      “He’s busy running around the island right now, and we have control of the phones.” Besides, Ray liked this cover. He could get used to wearing the uniform. It went with the gun. “My bigger concerns are Cameron Roth and Julia White, the woman with him.”

      Now Ray knew her name. Knew the boss wanted her tracked down and brought to him. Apparently Ms. White didn’t live on the island and wasn’t supposed to be there. She was the type who liked to stick her nose where it didn’t belong. She’d learn the hard way what a bad idea that was.

      “They can’t get far. We have the marina in lockdown and they’re about to run out of ferry service. There’s only one more after this.” The one who wasn’t Ned delivered the information.

      Ray didn’t remember his man’s name, because it didn’t matter. The guy’s job was to not mess up as he followed orders. “What about a boat on another part of the island?”

      Ned pointed to the boats docked around them. “Possible, but they didn’t come in with a boat, so that should lead them back here if they want to find one. We also have a few guys watching the water and checking private boats.”

      “Do we have the okay to shoot?” the other one asked.

      The guy suddenly became more interesting. Ray liked where his head was in this. “Not the woman. The boss wants her brought in and this Corcoran Team guy taken out.”

      Ned’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

      “Just do it.”

      Ned shrugged. “I’m just saying it would be easier to kill them both. Set up some sort of lovers’ argument gone wrong.”

      Ray agreed, but he didn’t have the final say. Not in this. He took care of logistics and security for the business. He was the reason they’d been tipped off about Roth showing up in the first place. A guy like that, with his reputation and background, made enemies, and when a DC business associate heard Roth was headed for Calapan, he’d passed the word on. Ray had taken it from there.

      But whether he liked this Roth guy or not didn’t matter. Ray knew the guy was dangerous.

      “Don’t underestimate them. This guy Cameron took down two of our men.” Really only one but Ray guessed it would be bad for morale if he told them how expendable they were.

      Ned stared at Ray. “Roth couldn’t get to you.”

      Ray would not let that happen. He would win that battle every time. “Not me.”