“Quinn, behind you!” I yell with everything in my lungs. He spins, but the man grabs him in a chokehold. With his hands bound, he struggles, and they begin to grapple with one another.
Nate’s arm swings between the two, unsure which target to train his gun on.
“Gabby?” Nathan calls, panic edging into his voice as he watches on.
Two more shots, and I’m on my feet, desperate to go and see if either of them hit Gabby. I pull Emily to standing, but our guard shoves us against the railing, keeping us in place. The gust of cold sea air is a frightening reminder of where we are, and how easy it would be to fall into the water below us. His arm shakes as he raises the gun in his hand and aims directly at us.
Gabby and Andreas continue to wrestle on the floor. Quinn is fighting on the other side of Gabby and Andreas, with Nate in the middle. He takes a step towards Quinn, but a bullet slices through the night, nearly hitting him, and makes him retreat to the shadow.
Where’s Benjamin? My eyes rush around and scan for him.Please let him be alive. Please let him be alive.
“Bitch!” Andreas rolls on top of Gabby, but she’s using his weight against him, a knife wedged deep into his shoulder as he crowds over her. She twists under him, grappling for the gun again, but he grabs her ankle, pulling her back. He snatches the gun into his hand as he pulls Gabby against his chest and wraps his injured arm around her neck, signaling her loss.
He leans on her to push up to his feet, dragging her with him. The muzzle of the gun presses to her head and I see fear in her for the first time.
“Quinn! Nate!” he booms, calling them out.
The man with Quinn wraps his hands around his neck, tightening his grip and preventing any further fight from him.
Nate steps forward instantly, his gun raised and aimed at Andreas.
“Don’t do it, Andreas. You let her go, or I’ll put a bullet in your fucking head,” he snaps. “Hisa’s dead. You’ve got nowhere to go.”
“I don’t think you’ll shoot me, Nate. Trust your aim not to hitmysister?” Andreas replies, pulling Gabby close into him. “And besides…” He looks above him and nods. Another volley of bullets lands at Nate’s feet immediately, making him dance on the spot. “I have you covered. All I have to do is give the word and you’re dead.”
Nate looks over to Emily and me. He scans us briefly before he continues his assessment of the deck. He’s looking for something. I turn to Emily who’s still surprisingly calm. She’s watching, standing still and taking it all in, as if people’s lives aren’t hanging in the balance.
“You don’t get to call her your sister after what you’ve done,” Nate snarls back, his eyes still searching, his gun still raised. My own hope can’t help but rise at the thought it's Benjamin he's looking for, and that he's still alive.
“I can call this bitch anything I want. If Hisa is dead, then it’s me that you owe all that money to. I’m a reasonable man. I can trade.”
“What’s Nathan looking for?” I whisper to Emily.
She just shakes her head. I follow my eyes to the same places he looked, hoping to catch a glimpse of Benjamin.
A whimper from Gabby draws my attention back to her. His arm wraps tighter around her neck, and she claws at his forearm, desperate to release the grip he has on her. Black liquid soaks his shirt, running down to his elbow and starts to drip onto the deck.
“Time’s running out, Nate.”
Bullets fly again, three shots out of nowhere, but two muffled cries followed by a loud thud follow them. Something or someone falls to the deck from overhead.
“Nathan, you’re clear.” It’s Benjamin’s voice.
Hearing he’s alive brings a respite from the tension I’ve been suffering. I sag, eyes searching the deck, desperate to see he’s unharmed.
Nate takes two steps forward, his gun raised and aimed right at Andreas. The smirk he was wearing falls quickly as he watches. He moves the gun to aim at Nate, but he’s not quick enough. Nate is steady and effective; he doesn’t even blink as he pulls the trigger, sending a bullet dead into Andreas' forehead.
He drops to the ground, releasing Gabby as he does.
“You shot him. My brother,” Gabby stammers as Nate engulfs her in his arms.
“If it’s a choice between you or your brother, I'll choose you every damn time. You’re my family.” He cradles her against him, but I don’t miss the look he gives Emily. He holds her gaze for a moment, and out of the corner of my eye, I see her nod her head. A tide of unsaid words wash between them, and I wonder what the story is there.
I look around for Benjamin. We’re all still standing, but I feel like I’ll collapse from exhaustion any minute. I take a deep breath and find myself believing that there’s a way out of all of this mess.
The vibrations along the rail of the boat sound out and we all look over to where Quinn is still wrestling with his assailant. He slams the man holding him against the metal railing, trying to dislodge his grip before dipping and tipping the man over into the sea.
The click of the hammer on a gun brings my attention back to the man who’s been guarding us. He’s a few feet from us now, clear distance between us, but he’s far too close with a gun pointed squarely at Emily.
