The Baby's Bodyguard Read Online Free PDF Page B

boat.
    A baby’s wail lifted on the air.
    The calm disappeared. Someone had sent killers after an innocent woman and child, and not for the first time. Anger spilled into rage. He fired another shot toward the bushes.
    “Ethan, we’re on board.” Kelsey’s voice came to him from the boat as a silenced shot hit the pole next to him, showering splinters of wood.
    The weapon the hitmen were using was made for close-quarters hits, not the distance shots they were taking, but the impact of the bullets was too close for comfort.
    He ran for the boat.
    He had it idling already, but the lines were still attached to the pier. He turned and fired behind him at the bushes again, where at least one of the gunmen was hiding.
    Ethan threw the bowline into the boat, and as he ran for the stern, he saw Kelsey pulling in the stern line. “Good girl.”
    He jumped on board as she cleared the line andfollowed, ducking as another shot slammed into the tower. “Baby?”
    “Safe below.”
    “Get down there with her. You need to be under cover.” Ethan climbed the tower to the bridge and pushed the throttle slowly forward, easing out of the slip. As he cleared the pilings, a round hit the GPS, blowing it to smithereens.
    He took a deep breath.
    In the harbor area, he was the law. And the law said no-wake. He consoled himself with the thought, as he slammed the throttle forward, that not even he would write a ticket for someone speeding away from a professional hitman.
    The lights of the marina faded quickly into the distance. He wouldn’t take a bet that the hitmen would do the same. If they were hired to do a job, they wouldn’t quit until it was done. He was going to need help keeping Kelsey and Janie safe.
    As they traveled deeper into the bay, the night settled heavy around them. Safe—for now.
    He slowed the boat to a stop and sat, letting his heart rate settle, letting his thoughts settle. The night sounds of the bay were as familiar to him as his own heartbeat. The song of the frogs in the estuary, the soft slap of the water against the side of the boat, the deep growl of a gator somewhere off in the distance.
    He flicked a piece of glass off the bridge—what remained of his GPS. It didn’t matter. He didn’t need it to know where he was in this body of water. He tooka deep breath for the first time in what seemed like hours.
    “All clear?” Kelsey’s soft voice was laced with exhaustion.
    Ethan dropped down the ladder to the deck below. “For now.”
    She wrapped her arms around his waist and held on, resting her head on his chest, her long hair falling out of its clasp to slide against his skin. The smell of sweet herbs drifted up from the strands. “I was so scared.”
    He held on to her, just held on. It had been so long since he’d been held by another person. Since he’d held someone. He’d forgotten what it was like.
    Ethan patted her back, much the way he would Janie’s. And found a creeping sense of peace that he didn’t expect. He closed his eyes, letting the night sounds and the feel of her in his arms give him rest.
    She sniffed and moved a half step back. It was dark, but he could still see her eyes, searching out his. “I prayed for help. And there you were.”
    “I don’t think there was anything miraculous about it, Kels—I was just here.” He didn’t want to step away from her; he wanted to fix this. He wanted to hold her again. Feel her hair against his chin, her head against his chest, feel that sense of belonging when he’d felt like a piece of driftwood for the last two years.
    But he didn’t take her back in his arms.
    It wasn’t that he felt unfaithful, exactly. Just weird.
    She walked to the deck rail and looked out. “Prayers don’t always get answered, not like that. Not even just in the nick of time.”
    He knew about unanswered prayers, and he wondered when it was that her prayers had gone unanswered, wondered if he should ask. But he settled for, “I know.”
    He’d been