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Contents ( 66)
  1. Cover
  2. Books by Valerie Fraser Luesse
  3. Title Page
  4. Copyright Page
  5. Dedication
  6. Contents
  7. Map of Florida
  8. one
  9. two
  10. three
  11. four
  12. five
  13. six
  14. seven
  15. eight
  16. nine
  17. ten
  18. eleven
  19. twelve
  20. thirteen
  21. fourteen
  22. fifteen
  23. sixteen
  24. seventeen
  25. eighteen
  26. nineteen
  27. twenty
  28. twenty-one
  29. twenty-two
  30. twenty-three
  31. twenty-four
  32. twenty-five
  33. twenty-six
  34. twenty-seven
  35. twenty-eight
  36. twenty-nine
  37. thirty
  38. thirty-one
  39. thirty-two
  40. thirty-three
  41. thirty-four
  42. thirty-five
  43. thirty-six
  44. thirty-seven
  45. thirty-eight
  46. thirty-nine
  47. forty
  48. forty-one
  49. forty-two
  50. forty-three
  51. forty-four
  52. forty-five
  53. forty-six
  54. forty-seven
  55. forty-eight
  56. forty-nine
  57. fifty
  58. fifty-one
  59. Epilogue
  60. Keep Reading for a Preview of Valerie Luesse’s Next Book!
  61. Prologue
  62. one
  63. Acknowledgments
  64. About the Author
  65. Back Ads
  66. Back Cover

“What are we going to do?” Lisa whispered.

Peyton watched as the driver apparently gave up and disappeared inside the marina tavern. “We’re gonna get out o’ here. Will you help me?”

Lisa crept to the back of the boat with Peyton. He raised the anchor as she untied the ropes. Peyton knew the sound of a boat this size firing up and leaving the marina after sunset would likely attract attention, but he was willing to risk it to get everybody out of harm’s way.

“Here he comes!” Lisa was watching the tavern as Peyton steered the fishing boat out of its slip and beyond the marina to open water. The driver ran toward the dock when he heard the boat, but he was too late to catch them. Peyton could only hope it was too dark to read the nameplate on the boat—and that Mack McGee wouldn’t give them away to Bonnie and Jasper’s tormentor.

The water was calm and smooth. Stars sprinkled the sky with light as the moon shone on the water. Peyton steered north toward Palm Beach and the public marina he remembered not too far from The Breakers. Without looking at Lisa as they skimmed across the water, Peyton said, “I’ll bet you’re braiding your hair.”

“Roger that,” she said.

“You sure you’re okay with all this, Lisa?” Peyton knew he was getting both of them into a situation they had never bargained for.

“That horrible man scares the daylights out of me,” she said with a shudder. “But it’s an amazing thing that you’re doing. You saved those kids’ lives.”

“No, we did.”

“All I did was feed them. You’re driving them across the ocean. No telling what would’ve happened to them if you hadn’t found them.” They traveled across the water in moonlight, riding in silence until Lisa said, “Nothing scares you, does it?”

He frowned as he thought about her question. “It’s not that I don’t get scared. I just try not to let being scared stop me from doing whatever I’ve made up my mind to do.”

Lisa tilted her head back to let the wind cool her face. Bonnie and Jasper slept through it all as Peyton took them past Pompano, Highland, and Delray Beach, at last spotting lights from The Breakers off in the distance. He steered inland to the marina he remembered from his days there as a pool boy and backed into an empty slip, where Lisa helped him secure the boat.

“I’ll be right back,” he said as he disappeared into the cabin below. When he came back, he was carrying two Cokes, their beach towels, and a couple of small pillows. Peyton climbed onto the bow of the boat, where he spread the beach towels and propped the pillows against the windshield.

“What on earth are you doing up there?” Lisa said.

“Come on up and I’ll show you.” Peyton held the Cokes in one hand and helped Lisa up with the other. “I figure I’ll sleep out here, and you can sleep down below with the kids. But I’m not sleepy. Are you?”