Chapter 9 - THE DOCKS AT HILTON HEAD
The Atlantic breeze blew cold across the wooden docks of the Hilton Head marina.
A hundred-foot luxury yacht named The Royal Vance sat idling at the pier, its diesel engines humming softly.
Nora crouched behind a stack of wooden shipping crates, holding a heavy tire iron she took from the sedan trunk.
Beside her, Detective Jackson checked his service weapon, having caught a train south to meet her.
"Coast Guard units are twenty minutes away, Nora," Jackson whispered. "We just need to stall them."
Across the pier, two armed private security guards stood near the yacht's boarding ramp.
Eleanor Vance walked down the deck wearing a long trench coat, holding the swaddled lavender blanket in her arms.
"Get the lines clear!" Eleanor ordered her captain over the boat's intercom. "We depart immediately!"
Nora couldn't wait twenty minutes.
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She stepped out from behind the shipping crates, her tire iron raised, and walked straight toward the ramp.
"Eleanor!" Nora screamed across the quiet dock. "Put my daughter down!"
