Shaban was seated behind him, barely paying attention. His phone rang and he listened to the frantic voice on the other end of the line for several seconds before jumping up. ‘Khalid!’
‘Not now,’ said Osir, waving a dismissive hand.
‘Khalid,’ Shaban repeated, the anger in his voice drawing his brother’s attention from the race. ‘The yacht.’
‘What is it?’
Shaban ushered him away from the box’s other occupants. ‘Wilde and Chase have escaped.’
Osir looked stricken. ‘What?’
‘They killed some of our men, then stole a jet ski.’
‘When - when did this happen?’
‘Seconds ago - they just left.’
Osir tried to devise an authoritative course of action, but all he could manage was, ‘We have to stop them.’
‘I’ll take care of it.’ Shaban turned away, raising the phone.
Osir touched his shoulder. ‘Discreetly. No trouble. Not here,’ he said, almost pleading.
‘That depends on them.’ He spoke to the Solar Barque’s captain. ‘Send every man you have after them. Get the tender to intercept them in the harbour. Chase them in the yacht if you have to - they must be stopped. At any cost.’ He snapped the phone shut, giving Osir a disapproving look before hurrying out.
The open sea off Monaco was choppy enough to make things bouncy for any craft not large enough to ride it out - and for something as small as a jet ski, it was practically a roller coaster. ‘Jesus!’ yelped Nina as their Kawasaki crested a wave and was airborne for a moment before smacking down heavily in the trough beyond. ‘Can’t you keep it in the water?’
‘Only if you want them to catch us,’ Eddie answered. He looked back. A jet ski had already left the Solar Barque in pursuit, one of the speedboats had just been dropped into the water to follow them - and the yacht itself was powering up, froth boiling beneath the bow as it used its thrusters to turn round. ‘Oh, great! The guy’s got his own private navy!’
A wave tossed them skywards again, Eddie battling to keep the jet ski from tipping over as it landed. Another large yacht loomed ahead; he turned sharply round its stern, aiming for the harbour entrance beyond the flotilla of expensive pleasure craft.
Nina glanced round. The pursuing jet ski was gaining fast, and the speedboat was also rapidly closing the gap. ‘I think this guy’s a better driver than you,’ she said as the other jet ski carved cleanly through a swelling wave without losing speed.
‘I bloody hate show-offs,’ Eddie growled, seeing that the other rider would quickly catch up - and that he was armed.
A flash of fast-moving colour beyond a line of anchored yachts. Even from a momentary glimpse he knew what it was, and turned towards it. ‘What’re you doing?’ Nina asked nervously as the harbour entrance swung away. Their pursuer changed course to intercept them, drawing closer.
‘When I say duck, duck. And I mean really, really duck!’
They were heading almost straight at the lead yacht’s bow. ‘You’re going to hit it!’
‘No, I’m aiming close - but we’re gonna be even closer to something else.’
‘What do you—’ A red and white powerboat shot into view from behind the yacht, thundering along parallel to the line of vessels. ‘Holy shit!’
The man on the other jet ski raised his gun—
‘Duck!’ Eddie screamed, dropping as low as he could behind the handlebars. Nina followed suit.
The jet ski zoomed past the yacht, barely missing the powerboat’s stern as it crossed behind it - passing under the tow-rope hauling a waterskier along in its wake, the line slicing an inch over their heads.
The other rider swerved to follow them past the powerboat. The tow-line was partly hidden by spray, and by the time he saw it, it was too late—
The line caught him just below the chin. His speeding jet ski kept going as he was snatched from it with a crack of shattering vertebrae, spinning back over the rope to splash into the water. The waterskier hit the corpse, taking off as if hitting a ramp before tumbling to a waterlogged stop.
Eddie turned back towards the harbour entrance. The Solar Barque’s speedboat swerved through the anchored boats after them.
Another vessel, green and gold, burst out of the harbour. The yacht’s tender, two men aboard. It made a hard turn as it cleared the outer breakwater, coming right at them.
They were cut off.
Eddie made a split-second decision and brought the jet ski back into the millionaires’ armada. The larger boats were more powerful, but his Kawasaki had the edge in manoeuvrability. If he could weave through the stationary yachts, he might gain enough of a lead to run for the harbour . . .
Shit!
His plan would fail. The Solar Barque was powering for the harbour entrance. If he wasted time trying to escape the two smaller boats, it would block their path.
The speedboat was gaining fast from behind. The tender was also accelerating, smacking hard through the waves.
Every escape route was closed - unless he made a new one.
Nina clung harder to Eddie as he turned the jet ski again and headed straight for the tender. ‘Whoa, whoa!’ she cried, jabbing a finger at the rapidly approaching boat. ‘Bad guys!’
‘I know!’
‘Then go away from them!’
‘Trust me!’ He jinked from side to side, searching for the perfect wave.
A man in the tender stood up, one hand clutching the windscreen for support as he aimed his gun with the other.
Eddie saw a deep trough in the water ahead, a steep breaking wavecrest beyond it. Right in line with the tender. ‘Hang on!’
He swept into the dip, turning the throttle as far as it would go as the jet ski shot up the crest.
And out of the water.
The gunman was about to fire when the jet ski momentarily dipped out of sight beneath his boat’s prow - then flew up over it, smashing down on the bow.
Gripping the handlebars with all his strength, Eddie leaned over, pulling Nina with him and tipping the jet ski as it skidded sidelong over the decking. The little craft’s underside smashed through the windscreen and ground along the tender’s side - in the process crushing the driver against his seat back and catching the gunman with a jet blast that struck him like a blow from a baseball bat.
The jet ski flew off the stern and slammed back into the water, only Nina’s near death-grip on Eddie keeping her from being flung off. The jet spluttered and coughed before drawing more water into its impeller, sending the Kawasaki surging forward again.
The tender ploughed onwards at full power, the driver dead. The gunman fumbled for the controls, catching the steering wheel and knocking the boat into a turn—
Directly into the speedboat’s path as it swung to avoid a head-on collision.
The speedboat ripped through the tender’s side, both boats exploding in a storm of shattered wood and fibreglass. Blazing debris rained over the surrounding yachts.
Nina looked back at the cartwheeling wreckage, but Eddie’s attention was fixed on what lay ahead. The Solar Barque was almost at the harbour entrance. ‘Hold on!’