Chapter 1 #2
Her hand dislodged. But she flipped above him, moving over him, and pushed him away. He shook his tail fin and darted away.
She chucked off her fins and dove for the ladder. Scrambled up, still wearing her vest.
Hands grabbed her and hauled her onto the boat, dumping her into the bottom.
A splash and a scream, and she guessed the tiger shark had found a fin still floating in the water. She unsnapped her BCD, then rolled out of it and lay, breathing hard, the sun hot on her dive skin.
“You okay?” Hawkeye stood over her, then picked up her vest and set it in the rack at the back of the boat.
“That just might have been the bravest thing I’ve ever seen,” Hunter said.
She pressed her hands over her face. Closed her eyes.
There was a vast difference between bravery and desperation.
She finally scrubbed away the shaking and sat up against the side of the boat. “Anybody see my fins?”
“Sorry, Austen. I think they’re at the bottom.” Hawkeye had started the boat, probably not wanting to stick around.
She scooted up to the bench, the adrenaline still ripping through her.
“Wow. That was...” Elise wiped her hands across her face, clearing more tears than saltwater. “Thank you.”
Austen held up her hand, nodded. “It’s my job.”
Hunter shook his head. “Declan said that you were some sort of shark expert, but I didn’t... I guess I thought it was a euphemism.”
Declan. The urge to ask about the philanthropist rose inside her. He’d hired her to lead a dive expedition for his big charity event earlier this summer on the island of Mariposa, and she’d thought...
Well, she’d been a little stupid, really.
The man had the body of Henry Cavill, including the jawline, and his dark-gray eyes could turn the ground under a woman to sand.
Clearly, all the sunshine and seafood—not to mention how he’d handled unexpected trauma—had gone straight to her sun-bleached head.
Plus, the man helped fund an orphanage while managing to run a large tech firm.
According to her sister, Boo, he was worth billions.
So there was that too.
She hadn’t heard a word from him since she’d returned to Key West. Probably because she’d just been the hired help. Hello .
Still, if she’d known how uber-wealthy he was, she might have given him the same stiff-arm she’d given the tiger shark.
Austen picked up a towel and started to dry her hair. “I studied shark behavior for two years in Hawaii. I was on a shark preservation and tagging team.” Hawkeye had picked up speed, and she turned her back to the setting sun. Her stomach growled.
“Dinner is on us,” Hunter said. “We have reservations at Latitudes. I’m sure they’ll let us add another person.”
She held up her hand. “No, I’m good. I’m heading out for a week of vacation tomorrow, and I need an early night.” In the distance, the city of Key West edged the horizon, the ocean a vivid aquamarine.
“Oh, Declan will be sad to miss you.”
Declan?
“He’s picking us up on his yacht in a couple days.”
The bait just hung there, and she couldn’t resist. “Really? Why aren’t you flying in? My brother Doyle is on his way back to the orphanage on a seaplane.”
“The airfield is still torn up on the island, and Declan’s chopper is being used to shuttle supplies back and forth from St. Kitts. And”—Hunter glanced at his wife—“one of us isn’t a fan of small planes.”
“I’ve tried the patch. I just can’t make it work,” Elise said. “We had an ugly incident over Denali once.” She made a face. “Thankfully, Dec offered to pick us up.”
Huh. Austen shouldn’t immediately assume it was because they were massive donors. Declan wasn’t like that.
But who was she kidding? He was probably just like every other billionaire. Still, she drew up a knee, wrapped her arms around it. “How is he?”
Elise had grabbed a towel, worked it through her dark hair, turning it curly.
Petite and sweet, she and Hunter had been among Declan’s guests during the charity-event-turned-earthquake trauma.
“Good. He set up the court date for us to adopt Jamal and Kemar from the island, which, after the landslide, was no small feat. I think he wants to get them out of there and into their new lives as soon as possible. We already had our home study done, so...” She reached for Hunter’s hand.
“We’re very excited to bring the boys home. ”
Austen had met the two boys during her stay. Jamal and his older brother, Kemar. “They’re very blessed.”
“Oh no. We’re the ones who are blessed.” Hunter wrapped his arm around Elise. “We’ve been waiting so long for a family... It hardly feels real.”
Elise nodded, tucked her hand into his.
“It’s like being set free from a long prison sentence,” Hunter said. “I’d sort of given up.”
“Not me,” Elise said. “I knew God had a family for us. We just needed to wait for it.” She turned to Austen. “You know the saying—‘A longing fulfilled is a tree of life.’”
Huh. Austen nodded as the boat hit a wave, thanks to a catamaran flying past them, and water sprayed them.
Elise laughed.
So apparently they were over their scare from the depths of the sea.
“Where are you going on your vacation?” Hunter asked as they slowed, moving toward the green buoys.
“Oh. Um... I’ll be doing some diving off Sosúa, in the Dominican Republic.”
“Dominican Republic?” Hunter said. “We dove the Zingara wreck there a few years ago.”
“That’s not the wreck she’s diving,” said Hawkeye as he cut the motor. They were puttering into the Key West Bight harbor. “She’s looking for the San Miguel , a Spanish ship that went down in 1551.”
She made a face. “No, I’m not looking for the ship.”
“Okay, Spanish gold, then.” Hawkeye’s mouth tightened around the edges.
“What’s that face for?”
“It’s the middle of pirate country,” Hawkeye said as they turned into their canal. “Right off Haiti.”
“Calm down,” Austen said. “My boat is hardly a yacht worth attacking. And I’m not looking for Aztec gold.
” She stood up. “I’m looking for the statue of Santa María de la Paz.
” She picked up the rope, ready to catch the dock.
“It’s a sixteenth-century statue of the Black Madonna, about three feet tall, inlaid with pearls and rubies, sent by the King of Spain to a monastery on the island of Hispaniola—a.k.a.
, DR. It was sculpted by Diego de la Piedra, one of the king’s private artists.
He died shortly after he sent the statue to Hispaniola, so it’s a one of a kind.
The San Miguel went down on the Silver Bank after breaking up on coral in a storm.
A few relics from the wreck have been recovered, but not the statue.
” She jumped onto the dock and wrapped the mooring rope around a dock post.
“And you hope to be the one to find this statue?” Hunter got up.
Hope might be a strong word.
“It’s just a vacation.” She jumped back into the boat and headed to the back to unrig the gear.
“Sounds like a job for Ethan Pine.” Hunter gathered up their gear. Elise had already climbed out of the boat.
“The treasure hunter? No. I’m not looking to get rich.”
She just wanted... Aw, shoot.
She stood, her gaze landing on a man standing at the end of the pier, long blond hair held back in a bun, wearing shorts and a tank. Mo.
And with him... Oh boy. Built like the ex-SEAL he was, dark-blond hair, sunglasses, and not appearing at all like he’d taken a bullet to his chest a couple months ago.
“Is that your brother with Mo Winters?” Hawkeye had hoisted the BCDs onto the dock.
She sighed. “Yes. Yes, it is.”
So much for escaping town.
“Right. I forgot what the date was,” Hawkeye said quietly as he unhooked another BCD from its tank.
Yep.
Mo and Stein headed her direction.
Hunter had gotten out. “Thanks again, Austen. Have fun on your trip. Should I say hi to Declan for you?”
While she debated her answer, her twin brother walked up, took off his sunglasses, held out his hand to Hunter, and said, “No. You most certainly shouldn’t.”
Then, even as he shook Hunter’s hand, he glanced at Austen, his mouth grim, a definite we’ve-got-trouble expression on his face.
And she had the strangest urge to turn around and run.
* * *
Please let this plan work.
Declan stood in his office, leaning on his black marble desk, arms akimbo, listening to Zeus, his head of security, outline the operation. Operation Shell Game.
Whatever. The former SBS operative could call their bait-and-switch plan anything he wanted. As long as it worked.
He cast a glance out the window. His property sat atop a bluff overlooking the small seaside town of Esperanza, and now his gaze searched the harbor. He spotted his yacht, the Invictus , anchored to shore.
Crew loaded it up with food supplies, gas, and water. He checked his watch.
They should be landing soon.
Zeus was still talking. “The cargo ship will dock on the far shore, but only after it clears customs in the Mariposa harbor.” Zeus wore a black T-shirt that seemed too small for his body, a pair of jeans, and a cap over his dark curly hair, his Bermudian English accent heavy.
“We’ll replace the crew with our own, then head over to the dock on the north side of the island.
” He brought up a picture of the mining company.
The mining company owned by the Russian mob.
Declan’s mouth pinched. He shouldn’t have let it get this far.
Beyond his property and up the hill rose Cumbre de Luz, the now-dormant volcano that had created the tiny island of Mariposa.
A terrible scar of rock and debris cut down the face of the mountainside, the once-lush tropical forest at its base ripped up, shredded, and deposited into the small unsuspecting town along the harbor, taking out homes and destroying businesses.
Even now, some two months later, the locals struggled to rebuild their lives.