Free On Borrowed Time by Jenn McKinlay

seemed oblivious as he scanned the water, looking for any trace of the abandoned boat.
    â€œTurn to the right a bit,” Sully said.
    Lindsey turned very slowly, trying to see what he might have seen. And then she saw the white hull reflect the searchlight’s glow.
    â€œThat’s it!” she cried.
    â€œSwitch positions,” Sully said.
    Lindsey took his spot and he took over the controls. The speedboat was riding the low waves in toward the islands. Without bodies for ballast or anyone at the controls, it bobbled like a buoy cut loose and Sully had to maneuver around it, trying to anticipate which direction it would go so that it didn’t slam into them.
    They were close to the islands now, and several rocky outcroppings jutted out of the water. The empty boat got caught on one and Sully couldn’t get close to it for fear of bottoming out his own craft on the rocks.
    They watched as the speedboat rode a wave and slid over a pile of rocks, slipping effortlessly away from them as if it had planned its escape route all along.
    Sully heaved a sigh. “Looks like we’ll have to go around the island and meet it on the other side. I can’t risk following it through the rocks.”
    Lindsey nodded. She’d always had a fear of water over her head, and dark water in particular freaked her out. She didn’t like not being able to see what was in the water around her. She had no desire to wreck their boat. Swimming to safety through the dark, cold ocean held zero to no appeal.
    â€œSounds like a plan,” she said.
    She braced herself while Sully took over the controls and fired up the engine. They were just picking up speed when a horrific explosion sounded behind them. Sully grabbed Lindsey about the waist and dove for the floor.
    He threw his blanket over both of their heads for protection from any debris as they huddled on the cold wet floor.
    â€œAre you all right?” he asked.
    â€œYeah, I think so,” Lindsey answered. Her voice came out in a croak and she knew it was a combination of shock and fear that had seized hold of her throat. “What was that?”
    â€œI’m not positive,” Sully said as he poked his head out from under the blanket, “but I think it was our evidence.”
    Lindsey shoved the blanket off her head and joined him as he cautiously knelt on the floor, easing his way up. He reached for the controls and cut the engine. They both glanced back over the stern at where they had left the speedboat to wind its way through the rocks.
    There was no question. The speedboat was now no more than a floating bonfire.
    Lindsey could feel the heat from the flames consuming the boat all the way across the water. If there had been any clue as to who’d taken Jack, it was gone now. As the waves battled with the flames, Lindsey felt her hope for finding her brother evaporate just like the hisses of steam rising from the charred hull of the boat.
    â€œThey blew it up so we wouldn’t be able to trace them, didn’t they?” she asked.
    â€œAmong other things,” he said.
    Lindsey gave Sully a questioning glance.
    â€œThat was a timed detonation,” he said. “They didn’t blow it up when they abandoned it, which means they left it behind, hoping we would do exactly what we did. Go after it in the hopes of finding a clue as to who they are.”
    â€œMeaning that we’d either be towing it or be on it when it blew,” she said.
    â€œYeah.”
    Despite her cocoon of warmth, Lindsey shivered. This proved to her beyond any doubts or hopes she’d been clinging to that whoever had taken Jack meant to do him harm.
    â€œNow what?” she asked.
    â€œSame thing,” he said. “We pick up what we can of the boat on the other side of the island, and we go to the police.”
    Sully didn’t wait for her response, but restarted the boat and began to motor around the island. As the smoking hull