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Back Loitering With Intent Save as PDF
Chapters (64)
  1. Stuart Woods
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  64. AUTHOR’ S NOTE

The boat drifted toward the south shore of the creek and brushed against some mangrove. Larry reached overboard, grabbed at the mangrove and propelled the boat downstream. From behind them they heard an unintelligible shout and an equally unintelligible reply, then the engine of a boat started.

“Get us out of here!” Larry hissed. “Go north.”

“Back past the house?”

“They won’t be expecting us there.”

Gigi started the engine and eased the throttle forward. Larry pushed her hand forward. “Don’t worry about the noise; they won’t be able to hear it over their own engine. We’re only a few miles from Stuart; head for there, as fast as you can.”

Gigi swung the boat north as they passed the buoy and aimed for the opposite shore. “You’re awfully jumpy, Larry,” she said. Larry looked over his shoulder and saw the running lights of a boat leaving the creek, then another and another. “We’re being pursued,” he said. “Make it wide open now.”

He took a small black box from his pocket, extended a six-inch antenna and pressed a button.

There was an explosion from behind them, and Gigi looked back in time to see a large fi reball rising. She moved the throttle all the way open. The boat leapt forward, its big outboard pushing the small hull. “What was that?” she yelled.

“Our rental car; a little something in the gas tank.” Larry looked back and watched the boats hesitate as they came out of the creek, no doubt debating which way to go. “Good thing our boat is black,” he said.

“I didn’t see anything at that marina that could outrun us,” Gigi said, peering through the darkness ahead, looking for other boats. They raced past the small house on the other side of the waterway, and Larry saw people standing on the dock. “This was a setup,” he said. “They were laying for us.”

“Then why is nobody shooting at us?” Gigi asked.

“Because they want us— me—alive,” Larry replied, looking at the chart in his hand. “There’s a flashing buoy where we turn left for Stuart. When we get there, stick with me; they’re not looking for a couple.”

Gigi got out her cell phone and pressed a speed-dial button.

61

61

MANNY FELT HIS cell phone vibrate, and he pressed a button on his Bluetooth earpiece. “Yes?” he said.

“It’s Gigi,” she shouted over the whine of the outboard motor. “It was a setup; we’re running for Stuart Harbor, and we’ll make our way home from there.”