Chapter 195
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Chapter 195
Winter stared at the two men on the floor, unable to move.
They were dead.
She was standing close to the shattered cabin window. Sea wind poured in through the hole and whipped her hair across her face. Her fingers were still shaking as she pushed it back.
Then she looked up and saw the black helicopter hovering above the yacht.
A tall man stood at the open cabin door, dressed in a black tactical jacket with a sniper rifle in his hands.
The distance was too great for her to see clearly.
And yet she recognized those eyes at once.
Chris.
Gavin’s voice came through Chris’s headset from the cockpit. “Mr. Xander, we’ve crossed into coastal
waters p>
Another boat was moving toward the yacht in silence.
It didn’t turn on its lights until it was almost alongside them.
It was clearly there to pick them up.
Chris’s eyes fixed on the flag hanging from the other boat, marked with a strange emblem. His expression darkened.
They were Fabian Kane’s men.
He looked up at the sky. Dark clouds were building fast.
The air pressure was dropping. The helicopter was already starting to sink lower. Hovering in place was getting harder by the second, and the shifting wind made the shot even more difficult.
The storm was almost here.
“End this now p>
The moment he gave the order, the men beside him moved into position and aimed at the boat below. Some of them were men he had served with in the military. Others had been assigned to him by his grandfather.
Then Chris’s eyes narrowed behind the scope. His grip tightened so hard the tendons in his hand stood
out.
There was still another man hiding on the yacht.
At that moment, the man had a gun pressed to Winter’s head. His other hand was locked around her arm
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as he dragged her out of the cabin.
He shoved her in front of him and faced the helicopter.
He knew exactly what she was now.
A shield
As long as he held her hostage, no one in the helicopter would dare shoot.
The rifles above were aimed at the boat. The men below didn’t dare move either.
The two sides froze.
Then a narrow ladder was pushed across from the other boat to the yacht.
“Move!” the man shouted, jamming the gun hard against Winter’s temple. The pressure broke the skin.
From the helicopter, Chris stared at her face.
The sea wind had blown all the color out of it.
Winter was forced onto the narrow ladder that connected the yacht to the other boat.
The man stayed close behind her, one hand locked around her arm, using her body as cover. He wasn’t very tall, and with Winter standing in front of him, most of him was hidden from the snipers’ angle.
Then a shot rang out.
Someone on the other boat had fired at the helicopter.
Another shot answered almost instantly. One of the men beside Chris fired back and dropped the shooter on the spot.
The man holding Winter panicked. His face twisted as he shoved the gun even harder against her head. He looked up at the open helicopter door and tightened his finger on the trigger.
He was ready to die with her if he had to.
Winter’s thin body swayed in the wind. The skin visible above her clothes had turned pale from the cold.
Her hair was blowing wildly across her face. With the gun pressed to her temple, she had no choice but to lift her head. Fear flashed in her reddened eyes for a brief second before she forced it back down.
Chris’s jaw tightened hard. His lips flattened into a straight line.
The air inside the helicopter seemed to freeze.
His eyes turned dark and unreadable. In the next instant, killing intent flashed across them.
The moment the man dragged Winter onto the other deck, Chris fired at the flagpole on the boat.
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Two shots rang out
The pole snapped.
The flag came loose and blew across in the wind, slapping over Winter’s eyes and blocking her view.
It all happened in less than a second.
She heard bullets tearing through the air around her, followed by wet, sickening sounds.
The gun at her temple dropped to the deck.
The hand gripping her arm suddenly let go.
With the flag covering her eyes, she didn’t see the man’s head burst open.
In the cockpit, Gavin didn’t even blink.
He knew Chris’s aim was better than his.
That first shot hadn’t missed.
Chris had done it on purpose, just to bring the flag down over Winter’s eyes so she wouldn’t see what
came next.
Chris lowered the sniper rifle and gave the order. “Cover me p>
The men beside him froze.
His meaning was obvious.
He was going down himself.
But none of them knew how many men were still on that boat. Even with cover fire, there was no way to guarantee his safety.
“Mr. Xander, we’ll bring Mrs. Xander back p>
“Enough.” Chris cut them off and grabbed an assault rifle.
The rope ladder would be too slow. He caught the fast-rope and dropped down without hesitation.
Gunfire broke out the moment he descended.
Winter looked toward the yacht cabin and saw Zac lying on the floor inside. Her heart seized. She moved at once, trying to get back to him.
She had barely taken a step when an arm wrapped hard around her waist and yanked her aside.
A bullet hit the exact spot where she had just been standing.
The moment Chris landed, the men in the helicopter were free to open fire on the others.
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Chris looked down at Winter, pulled her tightly against him, and pressed her head to his chest. Instead of wasting time on the ladder, he jumped straight down with her onto the yacht.
The men on the other boat had failed to take Winter, and they poured out of the cabin all at once.
Chris rushed into the wheelhouse and spun the helm, turning the yacht so the cabin where Zac lay was moved to the far side, away from the gunfire.
Even as he steered, he never let go of Winter. His hand stayed locked around her wrist, keeping her right beside him.
There was an emergency fuel can in the cabin.
He grabbed it and hurled it onto the other boat. At the same time, he pulled Winter against him and covered her ears.
Then he fired five shots into the can.
The moment it landed, it exploded.
Flames shot into the sky.
The blast shoved the yacht backward and rocked it violently across the water.
Chris grabbed the rail with one hand and held Winter tightly with the other.
Then he looked down at her.
The moment she looked up at him, he looked away and said calmly, “You’re safe now p>
Then the sea turned savage.
A violent wind swept across the water, and black clouds rolled in fast.
Gavin’s expression darkened.
The storm was almost here.
Chris’s voice came through the headset, low and steady.
“Take us to the island. We’ll ride out the storm there p>
D
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Florence
A passionate storyteller who brings emotions to life through her words. When she’s not writing, she finds peace nurturing her garden.