Page 39 of Silk Shadow

Bingo.

He knocked on the door. "Izzy, are you in there?"

He heard scampering inside and a scared voice said, "Viper? Is that you?"

"Yes. I'm going to get you out."

"Oh, thank God."

He pulled the bolt back and opened the door.

She flew across the room and into his arms. "Oh, Viper. How did you find me? I'm so glad you're here. I thought they were going to kill me."

"Shh..." He gave her a quick hug, then released her. "Are you okay?"

She seemed to be in one piece. There was a nasty bruise on her upper arm where they'd manhandled her, but otherwise, she seemed fine.

"I'm okay."

He glanced at her shoes. "Ditch the heels. You can't run in those, and they'll make noise on the deck."

She looked at the dirty floor, then clenched her teeth and pulled off her shoes.

He took her hand. "Come on, we have to get out of here."

They snuck up the stairs onto the deck. The men were still joking around inside the bulkhead where it was warm and dry. Judging by the smell downstairs, they only went down there to sleep.

"Stay close," he told her, holstering his knife and racking the slide back on his gun. To hell with stealth now that he had her. If they had to go loud, so be it.

They snuck along the gangway, Izzy gripping his hand. It felt cold and small in his. They were almost at the point where the ladder hung when a shout echoed behind them.

Fuck. They’d almost made it out.

He turned and opened fire, pushing Izzy to the ground behind him. The man on patrol ducked behind the bulkhead, yelling for his buddies.

Glancing quickly over the side, he saw Phoenix's pale face staring upward through the darkness. They only had a few seconds before the others would descend on them, guns blazing. No time to climb down.

"Can you jump?" he yelled at Izzy. It was roughly ten feet high. Not impossible.

Face ashen, she nodded. "I think so."

"Go!"

Phoenix would know they had no choice and even now, he could hear the inflatable’s motor kicking up foam, moving away from the hull.

Izzy climbed over the railing and hesitated. Viper did his best to keep firing at the kidnappers, forcing them to stay under cover. As soon as he stopped, they'd advance. He counted four, but that didn’t mean there weren’t others. They weren’t wearing masks now, so he managed a brief but hard look at two of them.

"Now, Izzy!" he shouted over his shoulder.

She took a deep breath and launched herself off the deck. He watched her fall and hit the water, vanishing under the dark surface. At least he knew she could swim, although the unpredictable ocean was completely different from a hotel swimming pool.

A deluge of bullets pockmarked the deck in front of him.

That was it. Time to go.

He ran at the rail and dove over it, still holding his weapon. He turned in the air and hit the water butt-first, breaking his fall. Shots rained down over the side of the trawler. He swam toward the inflatable, praying none of them would find a mark.

Phoenix was hauling a shivering Izzy on board.