Page 13 of Hammerhead (Kinkaid Shifters #4)

T he next day was devoted to recovery both on the rig and the boat. Only the two men on the rig had actually died. They’d been in the direct vicinity of the explosion when it happened. Nobody else had serious enough injuries to be airlifted back to land, but that had remained a possibility they’d kept in reserve—at least until they’d assessed everyone who’d been injured and realized they would be well enough on their own given time to rest and recover.

Some of the men from the rig had been sent back to it. They had rooms there and their own belongings, plus co-workers who could help them, if needed. A few were still not ambulatory enough to make the trip up to the rig from the ship, so they remained on board. As a result, most of the sharks were spending their sleep shifts in the deep, to leave the bunks open for the injured while the selkies tended to their needs.

Miguel had found a bit of privacy, though, to make that call, answering the text he’d received. He sat alone on the lower deck, with the burner phone he wasn’t supposed to have. It had been slipped to him on a bathroom break at a truck stop on the way to Texas. That had been all the opportunity Kettering’s agent had needed to get the phone to Miguel.

He hesitated before powering it up. There was a new, even more cajoling text waiting for him from one of his South American contacts. Luis was a fellow mercenary who had hooked Miguel and his pod up with jobs from time to time.

As a matter of fact, Luis had been the one to connect Miguel with Kettering in the first place. He’d probably also been the orchestrator of the phone drop, which was why he had the number. Luis had another job lined up and wanted to know if Miguel was up for it.

Luis’s tone was coaxing, even in text. “ It’s easy money, hermano. Just one last job. Are you in? ”

Miguel’s stomach clenched. A few months ago, he wouldn’t have thought twice. But now? He glanced upward, thinking about Deidre. Miguel turned the phone over in his hands, considering.

He should say no. But did he really believe in second chances? Did he think Deidre could accept him and his dark past and be the mate he desired with every fiber of his being? He had to believe the Goddess would not bring them together just to tear them apart.

Miguel pressed the button that would send his call. Luis picked it up on the second ring.

“ Amigo , you got my text,” Luis said, his tone expansive as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

“I got it,” Miguel tried for a friendly tone, but his patience was about to snap. He had to get what information he could out of Luis without the other man realizing what he was doing. “What’s the job?”

“I heard there was excitement yesterday on that oil platform,” Luis answered obliquely and Miguel’s stomach knotted. The only way Luis would know about the oil rig explosion was if he’d had something to do with it.

“Your work?” Miguel asked, trying to sound disinterested.

“The contact was made through one of my men, but you know that rig is a tight ship. I heard the poor bastard who took the money won’t ever have a chance to spend it.” Luis sounded very cavalier about the death of one of the rig workers. The slimy stone-cold bastard.

“Two died. Were they both on the payroll?” Miguel asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

“Just the one, as far as I know,” Luis replied easily. “Young and stupid. He actually believed there was a timer delay on the device we gave him. Can you imagine?”

Luis’s laughter grated on Miguel’s nerves, but he filed the information away in his mind. It might be true. Or not. You could never really tell with Luis. Of course, there was no advantage to lying about this, so it might just be valid.

“So, amigo ,” Luis said after his laughter faded, “are you interested in a big payday?”

“Maybe. What’s the job?”

“Boss wants someone to finish what was started yesterday. He wanted the rig to splash down in the ocean, gushing oil. Environmental disaster to ruin Kinkaid,” Luis said.

“Dude. You know I’m a shark. I don’t like the idea of polluting the water. I have to swim in it,” Miguel reminded him. That might be his out for turning down the job while still leaving him in the gray as far as Luis’s opinion was concerned.

“I know, but it’s a big payoff, man. Big enough to buy some beach on the other side of the planet away from the gusher, if you want.”

“I don’t know, Luis. That’s a really big ask for a water shifter. None of us want to shit where we eat, you know? Even if the money is good.”

Luis made a tsking sound. “So I am discovering, mi amigo . I had no idea you water shifters were so fastidious.”

Ah . That told him something. Luis was having a hard time finding takers for his big payoff. Good .

“Contamination spreads very far, very fast in the ocean, Luis. It’s different on land,” Miguel said.

“So, is that a no?”

“It’s an I’ll think about it ,” Miguel said, hoping Luis would take his words and not read too much into them. He didn’t want this weasel knowing Miguel was working for the Light. Not while keeping his gray reputation could be of more help to his chosen side.

“Call me when you’re finished thinking,” Luis replied. His tone was still light and smarmy, so maybe Miguel had been successful in keeping his cover.

“Later,” Miguel said in farewell and shut off the phone.

He thought about what he had learned. The Kinkaid Clan needed to know what was planned for their oil rig. Miguel just had to figure out a way to tell them without implicating his own people in anything shady.

Cursing under his breath, Miguel flung the phone overboard with all his might. It flew a long distance before plunging into the sea. Even if one of the selkies found it, the electronics would be ruined.

No more second guessing. No more “one last jobs.”

He had already made his choice.

He’d chosen the path of Light…and a chance with Deidre.

*

Sam Kinkaid, as Alpha of the Clan, was made aware of the situation on the oil platform. He’d flown himself out to the rig in his own small helicopter the next day as soon as it was light enough to fly. He landed on the rig to check things out up there, but had made the climb down to the boat, which was now anchored very close to the rig, to check on the injured. Most of the sharks were at sea, but Miguel and Jose were in the wheelhouse again, taking a shift running the boat so those with more medical training could remain with the injured.

Miguel hadn’t seen Deidre since the night before when she waved wearily to him from the deck before she went below. He’d wanted so badly to go to her. Just to hold her for a few minutes in reassurance. Whether he would be reassuring her or himself wasn’t something he looked at too closely. But it was not meant to be. He and his brother had to keep an eye on the boat so others could help those in need.

They’d caught a few hours of rest in the middle of the night but were back on the bridge the next morning, taking over from the night shift. The boat didn’t need a lot of attention while they were anchored, but someone had to be on the bridge in case something happened. That was their job. For now.

Miguel watched Sam Kinkaid come aboard. The man looked fit and moved with his inner lion’s grace. Miguel hadn’t expected anything less, though he’d only ever seen the man in a business suit before. They’d been brought before him in a Houston hi-rise when they’d first been brought to Texas and handed over to the Clan’s custody. He’d read them the riot act for a few minutes about what they’d done, then told them exactly what he expected of them now that they were under his control.

Every shifter in the world was aware of the Kinkaids and their Alpha, who had ended up as the king of all lions, despite being an American. It was said his ancestry went back to Africe and Ireland, or maybe it was Scotland. Miguel didn’t know for sure. After wars in Africa had killed off all the royal lines of white lions there, he’d been the only one left in the world. Grudgingly, the African lions had asked him—albeit unhappily—to take his rightful place as their Goddess-touched king.

That’s how the cat shifters rolled, Miguel had heard. They chose their monarchs by some kind of sign. He wasn’t too sure what the sign was for the pantera noir , but he knew those secretive ninjas of the cat shifter world called their queen the Nyx. For tigers, it was the white tigers that ruled over the tigre d’or . And for lions, that white fur thing again pointed to the monarch. Right now, Sam Kinkaid was the only lion shifter with white fur in the entire world, which made him the lion king.

Not only that, but he was also a billionaire businessman with his hand in many pies, as the saying goes. Sam Kinkaid had a great deal of power in both the shifter and human worlds. He was not a man to be trifled with, and the hammerheads were treading lightly around him and his Clan.

Miguel had been impressed by the power of the man. Even wearing a business suit, he’d been ferocious. Seeing him now, climbing over the rail in worn BDU’s and a black T-shirt that showed his muscular physique, Miguel was even more certain that Sam Kinkaid hadn’t been handed the title King of All Lions just for fun. He was a Power.

And he cared for his Clan. That was plain to see. Most of the injured men who’d worked on the oil rig had been part of a werewolf Pack that had sworn allegiance to Kinkaid. The fact that the Alpha had come all the way out to see them meant that he took their fealty seriously. Wolves depended more on the Pack structure and needed the reassurance of seeing their Alphas—even those of different species to whom they had given their loyalty.

Sam Kinkaid was clearly intelligent enough to have realized that and had come as soon as he was able, to make sure everyone in his Clan was cared for properly. Miguel heard through the gossiping crewman that came up to the bridge to bring trays of breakfast for him and his brother that Sam was seeing every man who’d been hurt, personally. The Alpha was spending a few minutes with each person, talking to them and listening to their stories of what had happened. He was a hands-on Alpha who jumped in to help when there was a problem. The man was damned impressive.

Miguel supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised when a few hours later, Sam Kinkaid came onto the bridge. Jose straightened up in his chair, and Miguel put down the chart he’d been looking at to greet the Alpha.

“Welcome, Alpha Kinkaid,” Miguel said formally.

“Good to see you both again,” Sam said, taking one of the seats on the bridge and motioning for Miguel to be at ease. “I wanted to come up and thank you for pitching in yesterday. I heard what you and your men did to save lives, and I’m grateful.”

Miguel bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement. “It was the right thing to do,” he stated quietly, uncomfortable with the praise of this Alpha who was so clearly sworn to the service of the Goddess.

Close up, Sam Kinkaid was almost a being of Light, from whom goodness shone. At least to Miguel. Then again, Miguel had always seen things a little differently than most shifters. He and his brother had a witch way back in their family line, and sometimes, they had just a touch more magic than the other sharks.

“I also hear that you’re getting close with some of the selkies. Tom gives you all a good report, though he is concerned for our cousin, Deidre.”