“Love you too.”

We hung up, and I looked at Rika who was listening in, her shoulders relaxing when I nodded.

We didn’t ever overreact, and Athos knew it. If I sounded worried, I had cause, and she needed to do what she was told.

Rika reached behind and picked up a jacket out of the third row, pulling it on, and then dug under the seat, pulling out a blade. She kept them in all of our cars and various spots in the house for immediate access.

But I put my hand on hers, stopping her.

She met my eyes, and I shook my head. No. Not this time.

Her eyes narrowed, confused. “You can’t be serious,” she whispered. “I’m always with you.”

My heart ached, because I never wanted to do anything without her. She was the reason we were who we were. It had all started with her.

My eyes dropped to her stomach, our son starting to show himself more every day.

“I need you to be with him,” I told her.

At all costs.

“But Octavia and Madden—”

“We’ll get them.”

Of course, she was needed. And always wanted.

I touched her face, tipping her chin up to me, and the look in her eyes took me back to that night when she was thirteen, yelling at me over the hood of my car. “I’ve waited too long to see you and me walking around in one person,” I murmured.

We loved Athos and we were lucky, because I didn’t give a shit about the mother who’d left her at the sitter’s when she was seven and never came back, or the father she’d never known.

She was made for us.

But I was dying for another chance to be a dad.

Damon swung into the parking lot of the marina, cliffs on both sides and snow pouring white over the sea. Rika finally nodded, knowing this was as far as she went.

“I’ll call Search and Rescue.” She took my phone out of my hand. “And direct the police when they get here.”

I took her face and leaned in, kissing her as Damon and Winter jumped out of the car, and headlights fell upon us from behind.

Kai and Will were here.

“Lock the doors,” I whispered against her mouth.

“Go.” She kissed me again, her cheeks wet with tears. “Hurry. Bring them back.”

I jumped out of the car, icy flakes hitting my face as I blinked against the snowfall.

“Let’s go!” Kai shouted.

I ran, glancing once more at Rika through the windshield, but she was already on the phone as she leaned over the front seats, hitting the locks.

We raced down the steps and onto the dock, looking for any sign of movement or life among the boats, or out at sea.

“Jesus, it’s getting bad,” Emmy said, pulling Will’s coat around her as she blinked against the downpour.

The black ocean loomed beyond, the darkness swallowing up any light. God, there was nothing. No kick up in the wake of a boat. No lights. Where were they?

I grabbed for my phone, but my pocket was empty. I forgot Rika had it. We needed more eyes on the town. I didn’t know where Kai got his information, but they could be anywhere but here.

“Mr. Mori!” someone called.

We all spun around, and my eyes finally caught sight of the old man up on the second-floor balcony of the marina office.

Doones was about sixty-five and the last old sea dog Thunder Bay could brag about from back in the day, when we prided ourselves on our clam chowder, rather than our cheese and wine tastings.

Kai rushed up, shouting, “Did you see Octavia and Madden tonight? Which way did they go?”

“I didna see anything,” he called out, steam billowing from his mouth as stringy gray hair curled out from under his winter cap. “It’s a winter storm comin’!” He held out his hand, announcing it as if we were all blind. “Just a few lads earlier came in from Pithom on a speedboat.”

I shot forward a step. “What?” Pithom? They came in from my yacht? “Pithom is docked in the Keys for the winter. It’s not here!”

“No, it’s floatin’ about a mile out,” he informed me, “but…”

He leaned side to side as if searching behind us.

“Well, their speedboat is gone now, so they musta showed back up and returned to it.”

And he didn’t see when they’d returned. Which meant the kids could’ve been with them.

I jerked my eyes to Damon. “You got the key?”

He dug in his pants pocket and pulled out his key ring, the silver one with the black grip immediately visible. He’d taken the company speedboat out last week, trying to get a drone over Deadlow Island, but that was just between us. Rika and Kai would have our asses if they knew we were spying on the Moreaus.

“Go!” Damon ordered all of us.

We all ran down the dock, the red racing boat floating in its usual spot, and Doones shouting behind us.

“Sir, no!” he cried. “The visibility is getting worse by the minute. We can call the Coast Guard.”

“No time!” Kai bellowed.

“Fuck,” Damon bit out.

“East, by southeast,” Doones called out, “judging from where they came when they arrived a few hours ago!”

Kai waved his thanks back at him.

“I swear, Kai,” Will growled. “You tell that kid to light a fucking candle from now on.”

“Shut up,” Kai told him.

Everyone loaded onto the boat, Em, Winter, and Banks packed on the rear bench as Kai fired up the engine. Damon sat next to him, and Will stood in the middle.

I put one foot onto the craft but stopped. Glancing back over my shoulder, I saw the SUVs in the parking lot, Rika hidden behind the tinted windows.

It only took a moment, but I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Wait,” I gritted out.

I couldn’t leave her.

Charging back up the dock, I leapt up the steps, the cold air cutting through my lungs.

“Michael!” Kai hollered.

I heard the lock on the door click a moment before I yanked the handle, opening it.

Rika pinched her eyebrows together, gaping at me.

But I didn’t have time to explain. Grabbing her hand, I pulled her out of the car, both of us breaking into as fast of a run as we could manage in her heels. I didn’t want her to fall, and definitely not for the next few months.

We raced down the dock, and I pulled her on board, pushing her down into a seat and tightening my jacket over the one she already had on.

“You stay seated,” I told her.

She nodded.

“Go, go!” Damon yelled at Kai.

Kai punched the gas, the propellers kicking up water behind us, and I grabbed on to the back of Damon’s chair, holding on as we zoomed out of the harbor.

The frigid wind hit my hair, freezing my mouth, but I zoned in ahead of us, looking for any sign of the kids or the other boat.

How did they get Pithom? Why?

They must’ve been planning to hide them at sea indefinitely. Why else would they have needed such a large vessel?

The wind sliced my skin as thoughts swirled in my head.

Ilia had been on Pithom, several times over the course of his employment with Damon’s father, and Gabriel had been on the yacht many times with mine.

He would’ve known the boat. Would’ve known enough about us to probably gain access to it.

I knew I should’ve sold the motherfucker. Too much shit had happened on it, but instead of getting rid of it, I’d sent it south for the season to be refitted.