Donovans 01 - Amber Beach

low voice. “So will the boat.”
    Honor didn’t doubt it. She could almost taste the salt spray in the air. She definitely could feel it in the sting of wind-driven dampness against her skin.
    Though the moon hadn’t risen yet, there was enough starlight to see that the water was white as much as it was black. Even in the sheltered cove, wind waves more than a foot high broke against pilings and threw water onto the floating walkway. The only good news was that the tide wasn’t particularly low—the ramp leading down to the dock wasn’t as steep as it would be in a few hours, or as slippery.
    Holding the supplies, Honor cautiously crept down the ramp and onto the dock. Before she reached the boat, Jake had unloaded his stuff and was taking hers. He stepped back down into the boat, set the supplies in the cabin, and returned to the dock just as she was lowering herself into the boat.
    Jake was right. It was slippery. If she hadn’t been wearing deck shoes, she would have been on her hands and knees.
    He lifted her aside, opened the engine hatch, and squatted on his heels. He took a deep breath, then another. No smell of gasoline. He would risk it.
    But first he removed a small flashlight from his jacket pocket and aimed a pinpoint of light into the compartment. Everything looked the way he had left it—shipshape and ready to go. He stood and lowered the heavy cover into place.
    “I’ll turn on the blower,” Honor said quietly.
    “No. Sit in the pilot seat and don’t touch anything.”
    “But—”
    “No blower,” he said over her protest. “No lights. Nothing.”
    “But—”
    “Do what I say or get off the boat.”
    The low, flat order told Honor that she wouldn’t win this argument. Besides, he was the expert, not her. If he didn’t want to use the blower, who was she to argue?
    She ducked into the cabin, tossed her backpack into the V berth, and climbed into the pilot seat.
    Jake was right behind her. He leaned across the helm seat and started the engine. Even the wind couldn’t completely muffle the sound. Very soon someone would figure out that the throaty growl belonged to a boat. Then Ellen would get a call. He doubted that she was sleeping on the Bayliner. It would take her a few minutes to get to her boat. Not much of a head start for him, but it would have to be enough.
    Instead of giving the engine time to warm up as usual, Jake went right back onto the dock and started casting off lines. Carrying the stern line in his hand, he leaped aboard and took up the controls.
    As soon as his hands wrapped around the wheel, Honor let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. Very quickly the Tomorrow was free of the dock and heading out into choppy, wind-tossed water. Away from the shelter of the headlands at either end of Amber Beach, the waves doubled in size.
    Honor reminded herself that it didn’t matter, a boat could float on waves of any size. She wished she believed it in her gut as well as her head. It seemed that her instincts and her mind had been in a state of war ever since Jake Mallory walked into her life.
    Instantly she told herself that she wasn’t being fair to Jake. Kyle was the one who had turned her life upside down. All Jake did was turn the whole mess inside out—and her with it.
    But it was too late for regrets. She had made her choices and now she was at the mercy of the wind, the ocean, and a man she trusted more than she should.
    In troubled silence Honor watched while Jake bent over the chart plotter, called up the menu, and punched in his choice. A dotted line appeared on the radar screen. He turned the helm until they were on course and nudged the throttle up.
    For a time she took the tension and the pitching waves in silence. Then she started asking questions. “Do you think we got away without anyone noticing?”
    “Doubt it. But by the time they can do anything about it, we should be off their scope.”
    “What about the Coast Guard?”
    “Their chopper is at Sand Point, twenty minutes away. We’ll be long gone by then.”
    “Won’t they look for us?”
    “Clouds, wind, and night are on our side. We’ll run without lights in the lee of the islands and hope the Coast Guard doesn’t find us.”
    The SeaSport lurched as it dropped down off a wave. Though Jake wasn’t going as fast as usual, he still wasn’t exactly crawling. Honor had to brace herself on the bulkhead to stay in the seat.
    Switches clicked and the windshield wipers rushed to