Jack Beale 00 - Dangerous Shoals

parking lot. He skidded through a hard right turn, tires squealing, as he fought to maintain control. Then he flew over the bridge, braked hard, skidded through another right turn, and sped toward the commercial pier.
    “Holy …” Courtney said under her breath. Patti grabbed her arm and completed her statement, “Shit.”
    “What the hell? Do you think he’s right?” asked Patti. She relaxed her grip on Courtney’s arm as Tom skidded to a stop at the pier.
    “I don’t know. Let’s hope not,” replied Courtney softly, her eyes beginning to water. Nothing more was said as they watched Tom run across the wharf, sprint down the ramp, and jump onto the Sea Witch . Almost before his feet hit the deck, the lobster boat’s powerful engine went from idle to full speed and rapidly pulled away from the floats.
    * * *
    Satisfied that all was ready below, Kurt grabbed his bag, climbed out of the companionway, and smiled at Max as he stepped into the cockpit.
    “Now, it’s party time,” he said with a sneer and began to move toward Max.
    She stared at him, defiance in her eyes. “You have what you want. Why don’t you just leave?” She spit the words at him.
    “Oh, I’m going to leave, but not before you and I have a little party. Then you can go join your boyfriend.”
    It took all the effort that Max could muster to continue staring at him. The weight of the winch handle as it pressed into the small of her back gave her some confidence. She knew that she would have only one chance and that success hinged on surprise. As he took his first step toward her, the engine stopped running. The silence was eerie. Irrepressible was now at the mercy of the sea. He stopped and looked back. The water level below was now rising more rapidly, and Irrepressible had taken on an unsettling motion, as she began to turn broadside to the swells.
    Max reached behind her back and grasped the heavy handle. Kurt returned his attention to Max and reached in his pocket. As he pulled his hand back out, she heard the distinctive snick of his knife opening. She took her eyes off his face and looked down at his hand. The shiny blade was clearly visible, and she sucked her breath in as he raised his hand ever so slightly and stepped toward her. At that moment a swell caused the boat to lurch.
    Max had already braced herself in preparation for her showdown with Kurt, so the lurch didn’t affect her as much as it did Kurt. Her grasp on the winch handle in the small of her back remained tight, and her cuffed hand on the wheel kept her steady. But Kurt, not anticipating the boat’s sudden motion, was knocked off balance. Trying to grab something solid, he reached out for the mainsheet by mistake. As tightly as it held the boom in place, it was not rigid enough to steady the weight of an off-balance man.
    Time seemed to stop as Max watched Kurt being tossed about. In that moment, she pulled the winch handle from out of the small of her back and swung it at his head as hard and fast as she could. Her aim was true, and the impact was so hard that she nearly dropped the winch handle. The look of shock and surprise in his eyes lasted no more than the blink of an eye before he crumpled to the deck, dropping the knife. As adrenaline rushed through her veins, she hit him again. This time, she saw blood beginning to seep through his hair. That’s when her eyes filled with tears and she dropped the winch handle. Another swell hit the boat and brought her back to the present. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and looked down on Kurt’s limp body.
    The knife was on the seat where it had dropped. She picked it up and threw it overboard. In the passion of the moment, she had forgotten about the handcuffs, and as she began to move toward the cabin to check on Jack, she was yanked painfully back to the wheel. The boat was wallowing from side to side with greater frequency now, and it was all Max could do to hang onto the wheel so that the cuff wouldn’t break her wrist. Finally, she managed to steady herself enough to straddle Kurt’s lifeless form to search his pockets for the key to the cuffs. She found it and unlocked the cuffs, leaving them dangling from the wheel. The pain in her wrist was quickly forgotten as she scrambled for the cabin, and Jack.
    The smell of diesel was overwhelming in the cabin, and she could see water beginning to slosh about over the floorboards. Jack was on the berth, and he was thrashing about, but all of his efforts were