“Hurry up. Jesus, the next thing, you’ll be praying over him.” Devlin gave him a gloating smile. “I want to get back. Guess who gets to go second when Alexei is finished with your little piece? Don’t worry; Allerton made arrangements for us to bring her back to you when we’re done with her. I have the coordinates on my radar; I’ll make sure to drop her next to you. Sayonara, you dumbass bitch. Toss the cocksucker.”
Air met his back as he was thrown off the side of the boat before the cool water surrounded him in its soft embrace. Reaper took a deep breath just before the water swallowed him whole, and the anchor did its job sending him plunging downward. His last sight was the three men hanging off the boat witnessing his descent into a watery grave.
Shutting them out of his mind and any emotions, other than survival, Reaper concentrated on getting loose. They had put too much confidence in the duct tape and the chains with the weighted anchor to do the job of killing him instead of doing it with a bullet. Their amateur mistake was going to be the last one they would ever make. They had underestimated his will to survive. Not only that, but they had underestimated his will for Ginny to survive.
People were going to die today, and it wasn’t going to be Ginny… and it wasn’t going to be him. No, there would be a reckoning today. Before the sun set, they would be begging God for His mercy, and they were going to find out the same fucking thing he had.
Whatever little mercy God had was doled out at the pearly gates, because he’d never seen an ounce of it on Earth. Every single one of those motherfuckers who thought they succeeded in getting rid of him were going to die with only one name on their lips—his.
And when the Reaper came for you, it was already too late to run.
Chapter Twenty-Six
With iron-clad calm, Reaper waited until he reached the ocean floor. Then, opening his eyes, he bent back and dragged his taped hands under his feet before tightening his forearms and used his strength to rip the tape. With his hands free, he then began unwinding the chain from his neck before unhooking his waist. Still holding the chain with the anchor to keep himself from surfacing, he took the key from his pocket to cut the tape at his feet.
Fueled with the need to reach Ginny as fast as possible, Reaper had to put that aside to concentrate on the here and now. Shoving the remains of the tape into his pocket, he released the chain, then swam underwater to glide under the speedboat. Slowly using his feet, he started to swim his way to the water’s surface.
Keeping his movements small and efficient, so they wouldn’t hear him on the other side of the boat, Reaper raised his head ever so slightly, just enough for let his eyes and ears to breach the water’s surface. Hearing them talking on the other side of the boat, he allowed himself to raise his head higher to small breaths to refill his aching lungs.
“How long do we have to wait?”
Recognizing Leif’s voice, he stayed still to figure out their positions on the boat. Leif was at the rear starboard.
“Just a couple more,” Devlin said from mid-starboard side.
“Shouldn’t there be some bubbles coming up?” Boom asked, his voice coming from the same area of the boat as Devlin.
Reaper lowered his head back until only his eyes and ears again were above the water. Then, using the hull as cover, he carefully peeked around the corner. He wanted to confirm Devlin’s exact location and if he still had his gun out.
Devlin and Boom were leaning over the side, the gun still in Devlin’s hand, though he was holding it carelessly downward as both men peered down into the sea.
“How in the fuck would I know? I’ve never drowned anyone before.” Devlin lowered his face closer to the water.
Noiselessly, Reaper swam underneath the boat and then with a powerful kick, he came back up. Devlin didn’t have a chance to react before Reaper jerked the gun out of his hand, pointed it toward Boom and fired, one shot hitting him in his mouth. With his other hand and both feet planted on the side of the boat to give him traction, he sent Devlin flying over the side.
“What the fuck?” Leif yelled from the stern.
In one motion, Reaper pulled himself onto the boat at the same time Leif was trying to get his gun out of the holster. Not wanting to let another gunshot ring out, Reaper threw himself at the stunned man, taking them both down to the deck. Planting one fist with his heavy ring in the fucker’s nose, he brought his other fist down, smashing the butt of the gun down on Leif’s head. He wanted the motherfucker out for the count but didn’t want him dead … yet.