Free Gina Cresse - Devonie Lace 01 - A Deadly Change of Course--Plan B by Gina Cresse

Reluctantly, I threw it overboard, then motioned for him to get up and go down below, through the hatch door.
    “Get your friend and bring him up here,” I ordered.
    Bald-headed thug looked down into the galley and saw his partner lying in a pile of broken glass, with blood running from his nose.  “You’ve killed him.  Are you crazy, lady?  You’ve killed Tommy.  The boss is really going to freak now.”
    “He’s not dead.  Just get down there and drag him up.”
    Bald buy just gaped at me.
    “Now!” I shouted.
    He carried Tommy up the steps and laid him on one of the cushioned seats.  I kept the gun pointed at him as I stepped off the Plan B and onto the speedboat they had obviously stolen from the marina.  I tossed a life jacket into the water, then pulled the keys from the ignition and threw them overboard as well.  Then, I climbed back onto my boat and untied the speedboat, shoving it away as hard as I could.
    “Bring him over here,” I said as I waved the gun at the whimpering, seasick, lowlife scum who was polluting my boat.  What a waste of skin , I thought to myself.
    He hoisted his partner onto his shoulder and carried him over to the rail.
    “Throw him over.”
    “What?”
    “You heard me.  I said throw him over, then you next.”
    “He’ll drown.”
    “No he won’t.  There’s a life jacket out there.  You can take care of him.  Now, get him off my boat.”
    Again, I waved the gun at him.  He dropped his partner into the water, then jumped in after him.  I watched as he struggled to reach the life jacket, then I pulled up my anchor and started the engine.  I only had a few minutes of fuel left, so I cut it off when I was far enough away from them to be safe.  Quickly, I cleaned up the fishbowl glass while I formulated my short-term plan.
    I raised my sails, opened up my How to Sail book, and headed north.  My aunt and uncle had a house on th e ocean near Del Mar.  They had their own private harbor and dock.  They’d repeatedly invited me to sail up for a visit.  Now seemed like a good time.  I’d only been there by car, so I didn’t know how I would find it from where I was, but I figured when I got in the general vicinity, I would call and ask directions.
    An hour had ticked by when my stomach started growling, then I realized I hadn’t eaten breakfast. I secured the wheel and went down to the galley for some fruit.  I was feeling quite smug that I had taken care of those two morons — and on top of that — I was sailing my boat successfully.  I flipped on the stereo then climbed back out onto the deck with my apple and glass of juice.  I checked over my shoulder.  Yes, the land was still over there, so I was going in the right direction.  I turned and stepped just in time for the boom to swing around and hit me square in the forehead.  Bad karma was the price I paid for smugness.
    When I came to, I had a pretty good-sized lump on my head — and one whopper of a headache.  Broken glass and orange juice littered the deck.  When I stood up, the boat began spinning, as if caught in a whirlpool.  I reached to grab the rail to catch myself, but I fell back down on the deck.  The palm of my hand landed squarely on a piece of sharp glass and made a rather deep gash that gushed blood.  Finally, the boat quit spinning.  I crawled back down to the galley and pulled myself up to the sink.  I ran water over my throbbing hand and looked around for a clean towel to wrap it in.  There was a first-aid kit in the head, but I was still too dizzy to maneuver my way around the boat.  I got back down on the floor and crawled to the head, then managed to get the first-aid kit opened with my one good hand and cleaned and dressed my wound the best I could.  I looked out the window.  I was still sailing full blast ahead, with no land in sight.  I made my way back up to the deck and brought the sails down, then dropped anchor so I could clean up the mess and try to get my