Knockdown Read Online Free Page B

your keys.”
    Keys? Is that what they wanted? I stood at the rail and held up my hand. “You want our car keys?”
    One of the men stepped forward. “I don’t know why you’re taking a boat out to sea, but we need to get to the airport. There aren’t any buses or taxis.”
    I wondered if the airport was still open, but that didn’t matter. We could at least give them a chance to survive.
    “Cole, slow down.” I put two fingers in my mouth and whistled. “Everyone! Throw your car keys to those families. They came here on an Alaskan cruise ship. They’re stranded.”
    Cole and Dylan looked at each other. Nick reached into his pocket, pulled out a set of keys, and frowned. Takumi stood beside me, dangling his keys.
    “No way!” Zoë clutched her purse. “Why should I give them my car?”
    “Because your car will be d estroyed in a few hours.” Dylan snatched our car key from Cole and held out his hand to Zoë.
    “Throw them. Now! We have to get going.” Cole fought the wheel. We were going too slowly and the current was pushing the boat around.
    Zoë held out her palm with a Mercedes key on it. Her lips trembled. Dylan threw our key, then Zoë’s. Nick and Takumi tossed theirs at the same time. Someone on the pier caught each one. The only one left was Jervis.
    “I rode with Nick.” H e shrugged.
    “Take supplies from the restaurant before you go, just in case the airport’s closed.” Takumi pointed to the marina restaurant.
    Some of the guys checked to see where he was pointing. A few nodded.
    “Thank you. Thank you,” a woman holding a baby called out.
    A curly-haired girl waved.
    I tried to feel good about helping them, but all I could think was that I’d only driven the car by myself three times. I lay back on the deck. The disaster was real now. Too real.
    A wave hit the side of the boat. Cole spun the wheel away from the breakwater and towards the choppy seas of the Puget Sound.
    Our car was gone. We were heading out to sea. There was no turning back.

     
    Chapter Four
     
    Fifteen Hours Before
     
    We motored away from the only city I’d ever lived in. Seattle glistened in the sun. Mount Rainier floated like an ice-cream sundae with marshmallow topping. There was not a cloud in the sky.
    Whistler was my father’s pride and joy. It was a beautiful boat. It had two sails. A small sail called a jib hung loosely in the bow, or front, of the boat. A huge main sail was attached to a giant mast in the middle of the boat. My dad had just finished painting the teak trim.
    Dad . My parents hadn’t made it. I doubled over in pain and clutched my stomach.
    A hand touched my sh oulder. Zoë sat beside me. “At least you have part of your family with you.”
    She was right. I had my brothers. I couldn’t imagine heading out on this trip without them.
    I didn’t know Zoë well. She’d been at the house a lot over the summer, but she almost never spoke to me. I guess I was kind of in awe of her. She was beautiful, with raven black hair, and a curvy figure. She and my brother were both going to be seniors, and skinny sophomores like me were not welcome in their crowd. But now, none of that mattered.
    I gazed around the boat at our crew.
    Cole and Dylan stood behind the wheel, their backs to the skyline. Cole steered the boat while Dylan pointed and mumbled something about the chart system.
    A lump formed in my throat. My brothers were handsome, with their sandy hair and blue eyes. People said they had trouble telling them apart. I never understood that. Cole had a narrow face. His eyes were bigger and softer than Dylan’s. They looked clearly different from one another.
    Angelina and Makala were snuggled in the cockpit seats. Jervis sat across from them and seemed troubled. I wondered what their stories were. How had the girls ended up in a tent? Where had Jervis’s family gone?
    Zoë sniffed and I searched for something she could wipe her nose on. We hit some rough seas and a box of tissues in the