“Yeah, I would have probably overlooked it if I didn’t see this.” She tapped a few keys. “Look right here, this is a line of credit that James Wentworth extended to Prince Harland’s brother a couple of years ago. I checked into it and it isn’t legally recorded anywhere. Imagine what someone like James Wentworth could do with a monarchy under his control.”
“Human trafficking.” I gritted my teeth in anger. “That’s how that fucker made his money to begin with, even if nobody has ever been able to prove it. He used to auction underage girls to the highest bidder.”
“I see you’re up to date on your conspiracy theories.” Violet nodded. “I wish that the end of this trail, but it’s not. In the middle of all this hysteria, nobody has really made a big deal out of the fact that the King of the Southern Isles has suddenly fallen ill. They’re calling it a deep depression brought by concern for his youngest son. They’re not going to ransom Prince Harland. James Wentworth could pay that ransom without blinking or feeling the hit in his back pocket. I think they’re assassinating the royal family so Prince Rohr can take the throne unchallenged.”
“He’s already the heir, right?” Lenny seemed even more confused.
“Yeah, but Prince Rohr isn’t very well liked by New Zealand. If Prince Harland was to challenge him for the throne, they would probably support Harland’s claim, especially if Rohr plans to turn the Southern Isles into a hub for human trafficking.” Violet shook her head and sighed.
“Lyric is in a lot more danger than we realized.” Dane put his hands on the table. “Violet can get a lock on the ship. There’s no way the police will listen to us if go to them. They’ll just think we’re crazy.”
“It is crazy.” Violet exhaled sharply and sighed again. “That ship is going to be on full alert, and there’s no way to reach it in time, even if we had a faster boat. I also don’t think Prince Harland or Lyric will be on board when it docks at the Southern Isles, if it even plans to actually go there.”
“They have to keep Harland alive until the ransom is paid.” Simon leaned against the table. “If someone is willing and they demand proof of life, then they need him to at least be breathing. Otherwise it won’t look like terrorism.”
“So the American government’s hesitation might work out in our favor.” I nodded in understanding. “Ideas for getting on that boat? Anyone?”
“Submarine?” Lenny looked around the room.
“Okay, who has a submarine?” I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “If they have a radar, they’ll see that coming.”
“We could parachute in.” Simon looked at me. “Think about it. We won’t hit the boat, but with four of us, we could carry an inflatable raft and drop a small engine from the plane.”
“Fuck!” Lenny’s eyes got wide. “I don’t know if I can do that.”
“I’ll do it.” Dane pounded the table with his fists. “Come on, Lenny. We need you. This is going to be close quarters, hand to hand combat. You’re good with an ax, right?”
“I thought you didn’t believe in violence.” Simon raised his eyebrows.
“I’ll do anything to get Lyric back, even if I have to kill someone.” Dane gritted his teeth.
“This is a crazy plan, but I think it could work.” I nodded.
“Okay, I guess I’m going to jump out of a fucking plane.” Lenny exhaled and whistled as his breath passed across his pursed lips.
The stage was set. We worked through the day and into the night to get everything ready. We were going after the boat on a plane that I chartered. It was the fastest one money could buy. When it got into the air, we were all business. We had only one mission in mind—we were going to save our girl. I didn’t give a shit about Prince Harland, his royal family, or anything that happened in the Southern Isles. I just wanted Lyric safe in my arms—safe in all of our arms.
The pilot let us know when were there. I had never jumped out of a plane before, and there wasn’t time for lessons, so I was relying on a quick tutorial that Simon gave us. He had done it a few times. At least there was a chance one of us wouldn’t be plunging to our death in the icy ocean below us. From the height we were at, it wouldn’t have been a dive. It would have been like hitting concrete at terminal velocity.
Chapter 18: Simon
I was ready to kill for Lyric. I no longer cared about anything but the beautiful woman on the boat below us. We had guns we dropped in waterproof cases if it came to that, but we hoped we could take down the crew before they realized we were there. I suspected their guard would be down. A small raft wouldn’t register on their radar and it was unlikely they had anyone combing the water around the boat. We landed as far away as we could and the water was like the inside of a freezer, even in our wetsuits. The four of us managed to get the raft inflated, get the engine attached, and finally, climb on our raft.
“Can you see anything?” Maximo leaned against my ear as I focused my binoculars on the boat.
“Yeah, it looks quiet.” I nodded. “I don’t see anyone.”
“Okay, let’s do this.” Dane hit the button on the engine and it came to life with a dull hum.
The ship wasn’t moving fast. It was designed for cargo, not speed. Our tiny engine closed the distance and I kept watching the deck. We got as close as we were comfortable before diving into the water again and swimming the rest of the way. I slowly climbed up the ladder once we got there, listening for anything that didn’t sound like the ocean. They had to have a small crew. Kidnapping Prince Harland wasn’t something they could do with the crew that a ship that size would normally have. We got on board, readied our weapons, and were creeping along the side before we finally saw the first sign of life. It was a man in black clothing holding a machine gun.
“Okay.” I whispered to the group. “Clearly this is not a cargo mission.”
“Not the kind of cargo they would normally carry.” Maximo nodded.
“I got this.” Dane pushed past me.
Dane lunged at the man like a demon. He slammed the bottom of his knife into the man’s skull and slung him overboard with one quick motion. There wasn’t even a scream. The only thing we heard was the sound of him crashing into the ocean. It seemed that the non-violent man who didn’t even believe in spanking a woman had embraced whatever darkness buried that desire fairly quickly. The four of us made our way through a door that the guard had come from and then we saw a couple more ahead. We were able to take them without incident, and pulled them into a closet where we knocked them out and bound them with rope.