then turned to put the camera in the shade of her body and
scrol ed through the last few pictures. “Sorry, big man,” she
said, showing Jacob the screen when he came over to see.
“But … no, wait; you got part of his tail in this one.” She kept
scrol ing. “And I think that’s his blowhole.” She sighed as
she shut off the camera, set it on the steering console, and
ruffled Jacob’s hair. “You must have hit the zoom button, so
none of the shots show him wel enough for ten dol ars, I’m
afraid. But don’t worry; we’l get more pictures tomorrow.”
“It ain’t Mr. Steve anyway,” Peter said just as the boat
slowed down at the very last minute and pul ed up beside
them.
Too late, Peg recognized Chris Dubois. “Boys, lie down
on the floor!” she snapped as she lunged to start her engine
—only to cry out when Chris rammed his boat into the side
of theirs.
He leapt onboard, his beefy fist catching Peg on the
shoulder with enough force to shove her against the
opposite gunwale, making her glad she’d worn her life vest
when it knocked the wind out of her. She scrambled after
her screaming boys, only to have Chris slap her hard
enough to knock her off her feet again.
He then gave Hero a swift kick in the ribs, the dog’s snarl
turning into a yelp of pain as it went skidding into one of the
rear fishing chairs. Chris grabbed the dog before it could
scramble to its feet, picked it up, and threw it over the side
of the boat, only to swing around and backhand Peg when
she tried to stop him.
She got to her feet when she saw him make a grab for
Peter, then watched the boy leap away so quickly that he
slammed against the console with a shriek. “Leave them
alone!” she shouted, going for Chris’s face even as she
tried to knee him in the groin.
Only he twisted at the last minute and pul ed her off
balance, spinning her to clamp a hand around her throat.
“Cal them off, Peggy,” he growled, kicking Jacob when he
tried to ram into him. “Get back, you little shit!” The blow
sent Jacob sprawling to the floor, the momentum slamming
him into the stern. “Both you little shits climb in my boat,” he
shouted. “Now!”
“No!” Peg twisted free but Chris shoved her hard enough
that she fel to her knees again. “No! You’re not taking
them!”
He grabbed Peter and tossed him into his boat, then
went after Jacob. Peg looked around for something to fight
with and grabbed the fire extinguisher. But Chris kicked it
out of her hands, and she heard it plop into the water just as
he grabbed Jacob by the vest and flung the kid toward his
boat. Realizing it had drifted away from theirs, Peg ran to
the gunwale to jump in after him, only to have Chris yank her
to the floor—but not before she saw her son climbing
onboard with Peter’s help. Hero was barking and treading
water between the two boats, apparently uncertain which
one to swim to.
“Mom! Mom!” Peter and Jacob cried as their boat drifted
farther away.
“No, you can’t just leave them! They’re only babies!” Peg
screamed, lunging for Chris’s arm when he turned the key
and started her motor.
He grabbed her by her vest and dragged her kicking and
screaming to the front of the boat, then punched her in the
head hard enough that Peg nearly passed out. He
unhooked the bow rope and used it to tie her hands to the
post of the front fishing chair.
“You leave Mom alone!” Peter shouted over Jacob’s
screams.
Peg struggled to sit up as Chris walked back to the
console and pushed the throttle forward. “Boys! Just sit stil
and someone wil find you!” she shouted over the roar of the
motor, not knowing if they could even hear her as Chris
sped toward the end of the fiord. Shaking with both rage
and terror, Peg could only helplessly watch the twins
clinging to each other while screaming something she
couldn’t hear as Hero clawed at the side of their boat.
She touched her throbbing cheek with her shoulder as
she glared at Chris. “God damnyou. How can you leave
two little boys adrift like that!”
“You’re lucky I didn’t just toss them overboard like the
dog,” he said with a laugh that sounded more sick than
sane. “Or maybe you wanted me to bring them along.” He
suddenly jerked the wheel sharply then straightened back
out, making Peg slam against the seat and fal on the floor.
“So they could watch what I’m going to do to their stuck-up
bitch of a mother.”
He jerked the wheel again just as she sat up trying to see
the building sight at the base of Duncan’s mountain,
making her cry out when she slid sideways and the rope
tightened against her wrists. But she knew her husband
wasn’t there because he’d taken the pontoon boat when
she and the boys had left in the speedboat half an hour
ago; Duncan going down to the pit to meet the blasting
contractor while she’d only gone a little ways down the fiord
in search of Leviathan.
Peg looked back over the stern trying to spot the twins,
just barely able to see Chris’s boat now. Dammit, the boys
were only maybe two miles from the pit; would their
screams and Hero’s barks carry that far over water, even
with machinery running? Or maybe the scientists would
come into the fiord. Surely someonewould find them.
She turned her attention to Chris. “Are you insane? Why
are you doing this?”
He just smiled.
“Is getting even with me for buying your mother’s land
worth going to jail for years and years?” she shouted over
the roar of the powerful engine going ful throttle. “You’re a
woodsman, Chris; getting locked up would kil you. It’s not
worth it. Just beach the boat and walk away, and I promise
I won’t press charges.”
Al that petition got her was a laugh.
“Look, there’s a marine radio. At least cal someone.
Ezra; he’s got a radio in his store now. Cal and tel him to
send someone after my boys. They’re four years old, Chris!
If anything happens to them, that’s murder.”
He eased back on the throttle, and Peg looked around to
realize they were already nearing the end of the fiord. “They
can’t lock me up if they can’t catch me,” he said past a
smug grin. “And by this time next week, we’l be far enough
into Canada that nobody wil find us.” He slowly guided the
boat up a smal stream until it became too shal ow, running
it up onto the bank around a bend so it couldn’t be seen
from the fiord.
For the love of God, he was taking her to Canada? “Um, I
don’t know if you’ve heard, but I got married several weeks
ago,” she said as he walked to her.
He squatted down and clasped her jaw in his grimy hand.
“I heard you married that MacKeage bastard.” She tried to
pul free when he leaned in, and his hand tightened
painful y. “So is that why I never appealed to you, Peggy?
You like your men big?” His fingers dug into her jaw, his
thumb pressing her flesh against her teeth as he leaned
closer. “Only this time I see you went for rich as wel .” He
licked his tongue across her lips, then reared back with a
laugh when she tried to bite him.
“He’s going to kil you. And I swear to God, if anything
happens to Jacob and Peter, I’m going to help him.”
“Yeah, him and you and what army?” Chris said, untying
her from the post of the seat. He shoved her down when
she tried to scramble away, then grabbed her hands and
quickly retied them, leaving a length of rope to pul her to
her feet. “Like I said, Peggy darlin’, he’s going to have to