Free CrossFire (Love & Lies #1) by Alex Strong Page B

And second, in case you didn’t notice, most of your neighbors are currently exiting the building. We have a few minutes until the fire department arrives. But I suggest you hurry, because when they do, you will no longer be of use to me. Now where is the girl?”
    “What girl?”
    Reid pressed the barrel harder against the back of Maren’s head and cocked it.
    “Oh, you mean that girl,” he said. “I don’t know where she is. They put her on a boat, but I don’t know where they are going, I swear.”
    “What boat?” Reid asked, “Where would it dock? You have to give me more, Maren.”
    “It’s the boss’s boat, the Clara. ”
    “And where does it usually dock?”
    “I’m not sure.”
    Reid whacked the butt of his gun against the side of Maren’s kneecap.
    “Ow! I told you the truth. I don’t know!”
    “Then what do you know about it?”
    “It’s not in the lake. It’s in the sound. Elliot Bay, I think.”
    Reid rolled his eyes. “Would it be the Elliot Bay Marina by any chance?”
    Maren’s eyes squinted shut, anticipating another blow. “I think so, I swear I don’t know.”
    “Where’s your phone?” Reid asked and Maren pointed to small table nearby. Reid pocketed it and then shot Maren in the knee. He’d live, but it would keep him busy long enough for Reid to get Jillian back. There was a fire escape out Maren’s bedroom window. Reid’s feet hit the ground right as engines were pulling up. He crossed the street and took the long way back to his car where Aaron was waiting.
    “So now we just need to find this boat, the Clara ?” he asked.
    “We find the boat,” said Reid. “We find Jillian.”
     
    The boat had left the dock over an hour ago and Jillian was seated on the couch, unsure what to do with herself. Now that they were out in the middle of the Puget Sound, she presumed Casimir wasn’t worried about her escaping and seemed at ease as he conducted business in another language on his cell phone.
    But that all changed with the arrival of a steward.
    “Sir,” he said holding out a phone, “Morozov is on the line for you.”
    " Shcho ," Jillian heard Casimir answer.
    He continued talking in the foreign tongue and Jillian tuned it out, but when he hung up, she couldn’t help noticing that he looked pleased.
    Without a word, Casimir grabbed Jillian by the arm and marched her across the room and down a flight of stairs, calling someone who followed them. Casimir opened a door and threw her in so hard that she fell onto the floor.
    “ Steshyty za neyu! ” he ordered as he slammed the door shut and locked it.
    Jillian stood up and pressed an ear to the door. Someone (she guessed Casimir) walked away while the other person remained on the other side of the door. She turned to survey the room, not much bigger than a broom closet. A small boring bed was in one corner and an even smaller bathroom in another.
    It was hard to know exactly what was going on, but seeing as how Casimir suddenly felt the need to place her under lock and key, Jillian wondered if Reid was behind it. Was he keeping good on his promise to rescue her? Would he succeed?
     
    Reid pushed a small Zodiac into the water from a boat ramp on the west side of San Juan Island and fired up the outboard motor. Using the GPS on his phone, he steered the boat in the direction where the Clara was sitting, just nosing the Washington-Canada border.
    When Reid could plainly make out the boat’s lights bobbing along the horizon, he cut the motor and took up the oars in an effort to draw as little attention as possible to himself. It was still a good twenty minutes of hard rowing before Reid reached the side of the Clara . He made for the darkest part of the boat and got as close to the railing as possible. Reid contemplated his next move. He was going to have to jump to grab the railing, and he was only going to have one chance at it, or he was in the water. One deep breath, and then Reid vaulted as high as he could. Both