Chapter 7 - The Lake Ambuscade
The blinding spotlight pinned the small tugboat against the black waters of Lake Michigan.
Dominic instantly shoved Hannah down behind the rusted steel gunwale, covering her body with his own.
The approaching yacht loomed over them, sleek, massive, and heavily armed.
"It is Walter," Dominic growled, recognizing the private vessel he had purchased for the family trust five years ago.
The treacherous steward had anticipated their escape route perfectly.
A loudspeaker crackled to life from the yacht’s upper deck.
"I must admit, Dominic, you are remarkably resilient," Walter’s calm, grandfatherly voice echoed across the water.
"But the lake is a very unforgiving place for an accident."
Dominic checked his weapon; he had exactly twelve rounds left and no heavy cover.
"They are going to ram us," Sal, the old captain, shouted, racking his shotgun.
The massive yacht surged forward, its reinforced hull aimed directly at the fragile tugboat.
"Hold on!" Dominic roared, bracing his boots against the deck.
The collision was deafening.
Metal shrieked against metal as the smaller boat violently tilted, nearly capsizing into the freezing water.
Hannah slammed hard against the railing, crying out as fresh pain flared in her injured wrist.
Dominic grabbed her by the waist, keeping her from tumbling into the deadly, freezing waves.
Armed mercenaries began firing from the yacht's deck, shattering the tugboat's small cabin windows.
Sal fired his shotgun blindly upward, trying to keep the attackers suppressed, but a return volley struck the old captain in the shoulder.
He collapsed to the deck with a heavy groan.
"I need to stop that yacht," Dominic yelled over the gunfire.
"Hannah, take the flare gun from the emergency kit."
Hannah scrambled across the wet deck, her medical training keeping her mind completely sharp despite the terror.
She found the bright orange plastic gun and loaded a red emergency flare.
"Aim for the yacht's rear exhaust vents," Dominic instructed, laying down rapid cover fire with his pistol.
"The fuel vapor is highly concentrated there."
Hannah stood up, completely exposing herself to the incoming gunfire.
She braced her arms perfectly, ignored the chaotic noise, and pulled the heavy trigger.
The red flare shot across the dark water in a brilliant, fiery arc.
It struck the yacht's rear exhaust port perfectly, disappearing inside the metal grate.
For one agonizing second, absolutely nothing happened.
Then, a massive, thunderous explosion ripped through the rear engine block of the yacht.
Flames erupted high into the night sky, illuminating the lake in brilliant shades of orange and red.
The mercenaries on deck screamed in panic, completely abandoning the attack to fight the raging fire.
The crippled yacht drifted away, black smoke pouring from its shattered hull.
Dominic quickly rushed to the tugboat's controls, managing to restart the sputtering engine.
He steered them away from the burning wreckage, heading blindly toward the distant, unseen shoreline.
He turned back to Hannah, who was kneeling beside the wounded captain, applying pressure to his shoulder wound.
"You are an absolutely terrifying woman, Doctor Reed," Dominic breathed, genuine awe in his voice.
Hannah looked up, a fierce, beautiful smile breaking through the soot on her face.
"I aim to please, Mr. Moretti."
Before Dominic could respond, his mother called out weakly from the cabin floor.
Eleanor was clutching her chest, her face completely ashen, struggling desperately to breathe.
May you like
"Hannah," Eleanor gasped, her voice barely a whisper. "My heart."
The adrenaline and the violent crash had finally triggered the massive cardiac event the poison had failed to achieve.
