Excerpt of Carolina Heat by Christi Barth

He tensed, waited for a bullet to slam into his body, but nothing happened. Mark looked up and saw Jillian and Annabelle reeling in the rope, hand over hand. It felt like forever before they pulled him up the side and onto the deck. He flopped onto his back and concentrated on breathing.

“Mark, are you ok? Are you hit?” Annabelle’s voice quivered as she ran her hands frantically over his body checking for blood.

“I’m fine. Got the wind knocked out of me when the engines revved and slammed me against the boat. Think I swallowed about a gallon of river water, too.”

“What the hell is going on?” Ashby yelled over his shoulder, holding tight to the wheel. “Kind of a dramatic entrance for you. Want to fill me in? Tell me where we’re headed? And why I’m apparently stealing this boat?”

It was Annabelle who answered. “Head to the harbor. This river does connect to the harbor, doesn’t it?”

Jillian nodded. “If we use the engine instead of raising the sails we should be there in about ten minutes.”

“I haven’t navigated this part of the river in a while. Not too familiar with the layout. Might be a good idea to cut the engine and take it a bit slower,” said Ashby.

“Don’t slow down!” Mark and Annabelle shouted as one.

“Why not?”

Mark pulled himself to his feet and tucked Annabelle securely against his side, still gasping greedily for air. “Because someone tried to kill us. We don’t want to wait around and give them a second chance.”