Donovans 01 - Amber Beach

value the amber more than I value Kyle’s life,” she said.
    “That’s just it,” Jake said reluctantly, for he really wanted Honor off the island and safe. Unfortunately, her safety was directly linked to that of the panel from the Amber Room. “Your brother was the last one to see the panel. If you were someone like Snake Eyes, would you believe that Kyle had lost it?”
    “But—”
    Jake kept talking. “Or would you believe that he had stashed it somewhere until all the fuss died down? And believing that, Snake Eyes will grab whatever lever he thinks will make Kyle feel talkative. A much loved younger sister, for instance.”
    “That’s ridiculous,” Honor said.
    Jake knew better. He turned back to Kyle. “You have my word. Where did you sink the amber?”

23
    H ONOR WAS SO furious with the two bullheaded men in her life that she stayed on board the Tomorrow while Jake took his portable GPS receiver and the Zodiac to the coordinates Kyle gave him—right in the middle of the offshore rocks. Kyle came as far as the island’s waterline, but no farther. He sat with his back against a rock, sipped from the two-liter bottle, and watched the dive buoy Jake had set out a hundred feet beyond the shore and about the same distance from the Tomorrow.
    Plainly Kyle meant exactly what he had said. He wasn’t going to leave Jade Island until the amber was safe. Even with the GPS unit, locating the sunken panel wasn’t a certainty. Ten yards, give or take, could be a long way in the cold, dark, unpredictable waters of the San Juan Islands.
    Frustrated, Honor waited in the stern well of the Tomorrow . There was no room for her to pace and no outlet beyond yelling at her brother for being such a macho idiot as to worry about her instead of about himself. Yelling at him wasn’t much fun. He just ignored her.
    She looked at the rod in the holder to the left of the open cabin door. The gear was rigged and ready to fly. The tip was bowed with the weight of the lure.
    “There’s always that,” she said beneath her breath. “In fact, I could screw up, cast in the wrong direction, and ‘accidentally’ brain my stubborn brother. Maybe it would knock some sense into him.”
    But Honor made no move to pick up the rod. Restless, anxious, on edge, feeling hunted and jailed at the same time, she paced as best she could in the confined area of the Tomorrow’s stern. She began to regret not being ashore where she could berate her brother without straining her voice.
    Abruptly something that looked like a shallow rectangular box popped out of the water barely thirty feet beyond the Tomorrow’s hull. Jake surfaced right behind the box.
    “Found it!” he yelled.
    Smiling despite his cracked lips, Kyle lifted the water bottle in silent salute. Before he could muster enough energy to call out his congratulations, someone else did.
    “Excellent, my friend! Now bring it to shore before I am forced to shoot Ms. Donovan.”
    Honor spun toward the sound of the voice.
    Two hundred feet above Kyle, Petyr Resnikov was crouched on the crest of the island’s steep slope. He had a sniper’s rifle in his hands.
    The barrel was pointed at her.
    “Do not move, please,” Resnikov called in a voice that carried easily down the slope and over the water. “An accidental death at this point would be regrettable, but I have had many regrets since the Berlin Wall fell. I would survive another one. Ms. Donovan would not. Jacob, if your hands go beneath the water, I will shoot your delightful lover. Do we have understanding?”
    Jake understood all too well. For the moment he was as helpless as Kyle. “I understand.”
    “Excellent. With understanding there will be no need for death. Ms. Donovan, take one step forward and close the cabin door. Just that. No more.”
    “Easy does it, Honor,” Jake said. “Nothing cute. Pete is worried about you getting on the radio. Make him feel good.”
    Honor couldn’t see if the rifle barrel followed her the one step toward the cabin door, but she was certain it did. She jerked the door out of its stop and slammed it shut.
    “Stay in my view, Ms. Donovan,” Resnikov said. “If you do not, I will surely kill your lover and your brother. That would be regrettable and so unnecessary.”
    She flinched and stopped thinking about going overboard or throwing herself flat on the deck, out of Resnikov’s sight.
    “Jacob. Bring the box to the shore. Remember, I can see your hands very well through the