Chapter 20
Mac sat in her office space on the boat, waiting for her team to show up.
She had gotten here early to finish inputting the data.
She hadn’t slept much last night since their stake out, and she hadn’t wanted to waste time tossing and turning.
Mac always felt calmer on the water. Though it was doing little to sooth her at the moment, feeling the gentle rocking of the boat under her feet.
Every time she closed her eyes, she could see Miles’s guards running down the dock with their guns out all because she had stepped on a creaky board and spooked them. If she hadn’t been so quick to hide, she might have died.
Spying was a lot harder than movies made it out to be. That realization should deter her from pursuing it. She was a researcher, not a fighter. She didn't know anything about guns and spying on people, but she was more determined now than ever to stop Miles.
Even if he wasn’t involved in the shark disappearances, he was still a bad person who had to be stopped. If only she knew how. Mac should leave this to Barry. Leave him to flirt the information out of that woman.
Mac’s hands balled into fists as her gaze fell to her computer screen and the image of Annabelle Delaney.
After imputing data, Mac had looked her up. She had never seen her on the island but knew of her. Thinking about this woman salivating all over Barry, and because he needed information, he would tolerate it and probably reciprocate. The thought made her see red.
Mac understood they needed the information, but she didn’t think he’d have to date the woman to get it. Just talk to her for two minutes, not date her.
Mac glared at the picture of Annabelle smiling back at her as if taunting her that she was about to go out with her man. He wasn’t hers, Mac had to remind herself. She had no claim on him. They’d slept together twice; that didn’t make them anything. Fuck buddies?
They weren’t even that now that she’d decided to stop sleeping with him. Which was a good thing. She didn’t want to go to bed with him after he was with Annabelle all night.
“Morning, Mac,” Monte called out as he stepped onto the boat.
Mac looked up to see her crew pile onto the boat. “Morning, everyone,” Mac greeted, sounding more chipper than she felt. She closed her laptop and stood up as Burt stepped into the room.
“Bis,” he said warily as he looked her over. She was sure she didn’t look at all happy, and she wasn’t.
“Burt,” she replied crisply. She still wasn’t over him ratting her out to Jacques. It had been neither of their business what she had been doing.
“Ha wis ur bo rip?” Burt asked casually.
“I can’t believe you warned Jacques,” she hissed. Mac hadn’t meant to bring it up, but how could she not when he asked her that?
Burt held his hands up in surrender. “Don bay getin upsit wi ma. I wes uri abo u.”
“I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.” Mac turned her nose up at him. True, he knew the island better than anyone, but she had been in the water most of her life. She knew how to dive, especially around sharks. She hadn’t been in any danger.
“Di u fin antin?”
Mac did, but she didn’t want to go into detail and cause him even more worry. Not without getting proof. “Nothing worth mentioning.”
“To may ar in genin?”
“Take your pick.”
“I wor abo ye, bes.”
She was worried too. Miles was a dangerous man doing bad things to be sneaking around at night. She was in way over her head, but she refused to back down now. “You have nothing to be worried about.”
“Is ye gone beck?”
“I don’t have plans to any time soon.” Even if she did, she wouldn’t tell him.
“Do ye owe way tey ban it frim us?”
“I have an idea.” But without proof, she couldn’t do anything with it.
“Wha?”
“Not now, Burt.”
Burt stepped closer, not willing to let the issue drop. “If ye ned hel, ye owe I hel ye.”
“I don’t need help, Burt, but thanks for the offer.” She wouldn’t risk her teammates for her investigation. Mac headed out onto the main deck to speak to the crew. It was time to get underway. She needed to keep her mind off Miles right now, as well as Barry’s impending date tonight.
“I hope everyone got a nice relaxing day yesterday, but now it’s time to get back to work. Today we’re heading to the north side of the island.”
“North?” Julie, who had been bent over a bucket of supplies, stood up looking shocked. Mac couldn’t blame her. They had never gone on the north side since that was where all the fishermen congregated, but Mac wanted to get a look on that side.
“Yes, the north. Obviously, we’ll have to be out a little ways due to fishing boats.” They had a wide circuit on that side where research teams weren’t allowed to go since it interfered with their territories.
“We’ve never gone there before; why now?” Monte asked, looking just as confused as the rest of her team.
“Because we’ve checked other areas for sharks and have come up empty.” She also wanted to do some spying and see if any boats stood out as potential trenchers.
“But we found one the other day,” Julie argued.
“And it was on the west side, so there is a chance they are working their way up the island toward the north where all the fish are.”
No one looked convinced about her decision, but since she was the leader, no one could tell her what to do.
“Hi u owe wha ur doi, bes,” Burt mumbled as he passed her and headed for the quarterdeck.
So did she.