Page 7 of Pirates in Calusa Cove (Everglades Overwatch #2)

CHAPTER 5

Keaton wiped his eyes. They burned from the salty sea air. Or maybe the few tears he desperately tried not to shed. He panned the spotlight. Back and forth. Left and right.

Nothing but calm, dark water.

“We should head back,” Fletcher said softly.

“No, not until we find her. She’s out here. Somewhere.” Only, he knew the chances that she’d actually be found were close to none. Her boat had been located fifteen miles out at sea. It had been stripped of all its navigational equipment, and not a single piece of scuba gear had been found.

Either she had resurfaced, and she was drifting somewhere, near dead, or the pirates had killed her and Mallary. Or worse.

It was the worse that he couldn’t bring himself to even think about. Human trafficking was a huge thing in these parts, and you didn’t have to be a young girl or boy for it to happen to you .

“It’s nearly four in the morning.” Fletcher put his hand on Keaton’s shoulder. “We’ve been out here all night.”

“I don’t care.” Keaton continued to scan the dark ocean. Miles and miles of pitch-black nothingness stared back. He dropped his hand to his side in defeat.

“Let’s go check in with everyone else. Regroup. Rest. And then we can come back out.”

Keaton nodded. He leaned back on the seat and pulled out his cell, reading the last text he’d received.

Trinity: Doing safety checks and going down for one last dive. Mallary is beside herself. Not sure I want her out here with me again, but I’ll fill you in on that tonight. I’ll text when we surface and are heading in.

He’d responded, letting her know he’d see her at the docks, but she’d never gotten his text, and her phone hadn’t been recovered from the vessel.

“Why don’t we head in from the north?” Keaton said. “Dawson and Hayes covered that area earlier but radioed saying they were heading in from the south.”

“That’s a reasonable request.”

“Take it slow. Please.”

Fletcher maneuvered the fishing boat toward the channel, and Keaton continued to use the spotlight, cutting through darkness barely illuminated by the glow of the moon. It would be a miracle…

“Over there.” Keaton’s heart slammed into his throat. “On the red channel buoy. Do you see that?” He held the light on the channel marker. A faint figure—a silhouette—illuminated under the bright light. Water, pushed by the current, swirled around the buoy .

“I see something. But I can’t make out what it is.” Fletcher swiveled the steering wheel to the starboard.

“Something…someone… Oh my God. That’s a person holding on to that buoy.” Keaton stepped to the side of the boat, clutching the spotlight in one hand and gripping the side rail with the other. He squinted, trying to take in the figure. “Blond hair. Jesus, that’s her. That’s Trinity.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Radio it in.” He shoved the spotlight at his buddy, then raced to the bow of the boat.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Jumping in to save her. What does it look like?”

“Before you do that, why don’t you let me get a little closer?” Fletcher said, giving the boat a little more gas.

“I can live with that.” Keaton kept his eyes locked on that buoy and the body. She had to be alive. No way could she be clinging to that without breath in her lungs.

Once Fletcher was fifteen feet away, Keaton stepped up on the bow and dove into the water. The chilly ocean seeped into his clothing. He surfaced, and with his sight locked on Trinity, he swam as fast as possible.

He’d spent a lifetime as a sailor. He’d joined the Navy the second he’d turned eighteen. His parents had supported his decision, even though they had wanted him to at least entertain the offers that had rolled his way to play college football.

He hadn’t given a crap about that. All that had done was put him at the center of attention as a star quarterback. Football had merely been something he’d done to exert energy. It hadn’t been about having a passion for the sport but a passion to be part of something.

Nothing ever happened in a vacuum, but his coaches—even some of his teammates—had put him on a pedestal.

Not the Navy, especially not in boot camp. There, he’d just been a man.

The Navy—specifically, being a SEAL—had taught him that while he was a member of an elite team, that made him special, and humility mattered. What he’d done for his country—for his fellow man—hadn’t deserved the spotlight. He’d always been good with that. Every medal he’d ever received, while important, had never been displayed. They were more reminders of lives lost. Battles forged. And the freedoms he’d fought for.

“Trinity,” he choked on her name as he approached the buoy. Thank God the waters were calm. No wind. No rain. No weather to contend with. He grabbed the channel marker with one hand and wrapped his arm around Trinity’s body with the other.

She moaned. Her limp body slithered into the water.

“I gotcha.”

A badly tied tourniquet was wrapped around her left shoulder. Blood trickled from an open wound.

His pulse soared with panic and dread. But his body and mind remained sharp with the years of training, years of focus and dedication to his trade.

“Trinity? Can you hear me?” He floated her on her back, resting her head on his shoulder .

Her eyes fluttered but never opened. Her lips parted, and she gave a slight moan but no words.

“I’m going to need a hand getting her on the boat,” he called to Fletcher. “She’s going to need an ambulance.”

“Already on that,” Fletcher said. “One will meet us at the marina.” He maneuvered the boat alongside Keaton, climbing on the stern. Together, they hoisted Trinity onto the back of the vessel.

Keaton dropped to his knees, cradling her head in his lap, pressing his fingers against her neck. “Pulse is weak,” he said, forcing himself to take all the emotion out of his actions. However, it wasn’t easy. All he saw was a woman he cared about.

One he cared too damn much for, and he’d been trying like hell not to. He hadn’t wanted a woman in his life. He’d never wanted to feel that way again. It hurt too much.

“Here.” Fletcher handed him a blanket. “Wrap her in this.” He waved his hand over her shoulder. “Can you tell what the injury is?”

“No.” Keaton shook his head. “But this tourniquet isn’t doing shit.” He untied it. A small amount of blood trickled through the wetsuit. Quickly, he unzipped it and pulled her arm through the sleeve. “Jesus. It looks like she’s been shot.” He lifted her upper body. “No exit wound.” He retied the tourniquet, wrapped her up, applied pressure to the wound, and held her in his arms. “Haul ass.” He tangled his fingers through her wet hair. “It’s going to be all right. We’ve got you now. ”

A bag thudded to the floor as Fletcher hit the throttles.

He reached for it and undid the ties, pulling out a box. “Oh my God,” he whispered as he peered inside. “The jewels.” He set them aside, leaned forward, and kissed her temple. “What happened to you out there?”

A groan. Another flutter of her eyelids. A sharp intake of breath. A moan. No words.

“That’s okay, babe. All that matters is I found you,” he said. “I found you,” he repeated. Wetness dribbled down his cheek. He swiped at it with the back of his hand.

Whoever had done this was going to fucking pay. Keaton would make sure of that.

Keaton paced in the waiting room. He hated hospitals. They smelled like death. Felt like death. Nothing about them screamed anything other than death and sickness. Of course, his only experience in hospitals had been when he’d been injured during a mission.

He’d been shot, stabbed, and tortured—which had included electrocution.

Each time he’d awoken in one of these hellholes, he hadn’t been sure what was worse, the experience that had brought him to the doctors in the first place or being stuck on the damn gurney.

He had nothing against doctors, nurses, or any of the staff. They were all wonderful people doing an excellent job, and honestly, he’d always gotten the best of care. It wasn’t them. It was the environment and being told he couldn’t do something. Sitting still wasn’t his strong suit, even after he’d given up being an adrenaline junkie.

“Excuse me, son,” Monty, Trinity’s father, said. “All that pacing isn’t doing anything but remind all of us that my daughter is in an operating room right now.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Keaton ran his fingers through his hair. He glanced around the small room. “I don’t do hospitals well.”

“No one does,” Monty said.

“Just sit down.” Audra shoved a paper mug of coffee at him. “You’re making everyone in here nuts, and it’s not going to bring the doctor out here any faster.”

“We’re all worried about her,” Baily added. “She’s our friend, too. But the doctor said he’d be out as soon as she was out of surgery and in recovery.” She glanced around the waiting room. “Has anyone heard anything more about the search for Mallary?”

Dawson nodded. “Last update we all got was twenty minutes ago. They haven’t found any signs of Mallary. They are discussing how to treat this because they don’t know if they are looking for a body—dead or alive—or if this is a kidnapping. That changes the scope of the search and rescue.”

Keaton tapped his Apple Watch. “It’s been two hours since they rolled Trinity into surgery.” He took a long breath and leaned against the wall, staring into the sliding doors leading to the recovery rooms. “I’ve had a dozen bullets carved out of my body. I don’t think those surgeries took this long.”

“We waited six hours when you took two to the gut,” Dawson said. “She’s in good hands. You heard what the doctor said. She’s strong. Her vitals were good. The bullet wasn’t in a difficult place. I’m sure?—”

Dawson’s words were cut off by the doors swishing open.

“Hey, Doc.” Keaton raced toward the woman who had headed up the team taking care of Trinity during the operation. “Did the surgery go as planned?” His mouth suddenly grew dry. He couldn’t swallow. Hell, he could barely suck in a breath.

Dawson flanked his left, Fletcher and Hayes his right. These men were as much his family as his blood relatives. He’d be lost without them.

Audra and Baily inched closer.

Her father jumped in front of all of them. “How’s my little princess?”

“She’s a fighter,” Doctor Emily Sprouse said. “We were able to remove the bullet.”

“I’m going to need that for evidence.” Dawson looped his fingers in his belt as if he were standing there in his uniform—which he wasn’t.

“It’s been bagged, and we’ll need your signature.” Emily nodded. “Trinity has been taken to the recovery room. There was some damage done to the shoulder joint, and she’s going to need rest and lots of rehab. Her body temperature is back to normal. Her vitals are strong. I suspect she’ll be awake soon.”

“When can we see her?” Monty asked before Keaton could untie his tongue.

“I don’t want to overwhelm her,” Emily said. “We have no idea what happened to her out there since she never regained consciousness before surgery, except to utter a couple of words. So?—”

“She spoke?” Keaton’s heart throbbed in the center of his chest. Mindlessly, he rubbed it as if to make the odd sensation go away. “What did she say?”

“Not much. She muttered ‘Mallary,’” Emily said.

“That’s her friend who was out on the boat with her that we believe was either taken by pirates or lost at sea,” Dawson said somberly, glancing at his wristwatch. “I need to head out soon to meet with the Coast Guard.”

“That’s terrible.” Emily lowered her head for a brief second. “The second name was Keaton.” She gave him a weak smile. “She repeated your name when we were rolling her to recovery, along with something about her jewelry.”

Keaton shot Dawson a glance.

“What about seeing her?” Monty asked again.

“Two at a time and not for long periods, especially while she’s sleeping. She needs her rest.”

“Most of us can come back later,” Baily said. “We’re just glad she’s going to be okay.”

“Monty, you should go see your daughter.” Keaton ran a hand over his unshaven face. His legs had turned to putty. It was as if he’d been underwater for hours, and they could barely hold his weight a second longer. He found a chair and eased into it.

“Before I do, I’d like a word with you and the chief,” Monty said. “Thank you, Doc. I appreciate everything you’ve done for my little girl.”

“My pleasure. We’ll keep her here overnight. But if all goes well, she’ll be able to go home sometime tomorrow.”

“Thanks.” Monty squeezed Emily’s biceps.

“I’ve got to get back to the marina,” Baily said.

“I’ll drive you.” Fletcher rested his hand on Keaton’s shoulder. “Stay and visit with Trinity. We’ll check in on you later.”

Keaton lifted his head and watched Audra, Baily, Fletcher, and Hayes disappear down the hallway.

Monty stepped away from the sliding doors and put his hands on his hips. “I don’t pretend to know what the hell is going on between you and my daughter.” He pointed his finger at Keaton. “But I know whatever that is, it’s too early in the game for a ring.” He arched his brow.

“Sir, I?—”

“Don’t ever call me that. The name’s Monty.” He let out a puff of air. “While my child doesn’t need to tell me everything she’s up to, I do know she was hell-bent on helping Mallary. I know what Mallary’s half-brother was accused of. So, I’m guessing she found something down there yesterday, and either we’re all just finding out about it, or you didn’t think I should know.”

“Mr. Stevenson—” Dawson began.

“It’s Monty.”

“Okay.” Dawson nodded. “Monty, my time is limited. I need your word that this conversation stays right here. It’s not only because we’re dealing with two different active investigations, but because I haven’t had the chance to interview Trinity, and until I know exactly what happened to her, I’m not telling anyone about what Keaton found when he located Trinity clinging to that buoy.”

“My daughter and her big heart,” Monty muttered, pulling up a chair and sitting down. “When she was a little girl and we first moved back here, she saw it as one big adventure. Of course, her mother hated it here. It wasn’t posh enough for that woman. But Trinity loved it, at first. I think deep down she always loved it here, even when she was acting like her mom.”

Keaton sat up a little taller, leaned in a little closer, and hung on to every word. Anything to know her better, because fear still gripped his heart like a disease. He resented that feeling. He wanted to brush it under the rug and ignore it, to somehow make it go away.

But he couldn’t. And there was a part of him—even if he wanted to deny it—that didn’t want to. For the first time since Petra had died, he felt alive. Not that he’d felt dead inside for all these years. It wasn’t that. He’d lived his life. He’d enjoyed his career, his friends, and his family.

He’d cared about all those things with every fiber of his heart. But his soul? That had belonged to the woman he’d buried. And now, it had come to life, and he had no idea how he’d managed these ten years with his feet firmly planted in the past.

“Trinity could be such a little brat.” Monty chuckled. “She knew how to boss people around, just like her mother. But there were always subtle differences. If anyone bothered to take a closer look, they’d see it. They’d see a young woman who left a twenty-dollar tip when five was plenty. Or a girl who went out of her way to put lunch money on a wild redheaded girl’s school card.”

“Audra always wondered who’d done that.” Dawson laughed. “We were talking about that a couple of months ago. Everyone assumed it was Silas.”

“I’m sure he did, too.” Monty smiled. “Another misunderstood soul of Calusa Cove. But Trinity was so hell-bent on her mother’s approval, she wouldn’t dare get caught doing a good deed.”

“No offense, sir?—”

“I get your former military, and that stuff is ingrained in your psyche or something, but please, I beg of you, stop it,” Monty said, interrupting Keaton.

“I’ll try.” Keaton rubbed his hands on his jeans. “I mean no disrespect to your family, but wouldn’t doing that kind of stuff make you proud?”

“Me? Hell yes.” Monty nodded. “But sadly, not Porsche. That woman, and I get what a bastard it makes me to say it that way, but if you ever meet her, you’ll agree, she believes there are stations in life.” He lifted his hand over his head. “She’s up here, and everyone in Calusa Cove is down here.” He lowered it to his ankle. “Porsche treats most people like they were put on this earth to serve her. If she gets what she believes is poor service, she’ll leave you a penny tip because she believes that will teach you a lesson. Writing negative reviews is one of her favorite pastimes. So, my lovely little daughter spent from the age of ten to eighteen trying to please her mother. It never happened, and Trinity finally figured out that it wasn’t worth the effort. But it all came at a cost.” Monty tapped his chest. “I take ownership of some of it, because I spoiled that child.”

“She’s not that bad,” Keaton found himself saying.

“Trust me, she’s a princess. Date her long enough, and you’ll learn.”

Dawson chuckled.

Keaton pounded his chest. He wasn’t even sure they were a thing. One night doesn’t make for a relationship. The fact they hadn’t fought for twenty-four hours was a big deal, but still, caring didn’t mean two people could make it work.

“Monty, is there a point to all this?” Dawson asked. “Because I still need your word that the word ‘jewels’ will not come out of your mouth and I really need to head out. Mallary is still missing.”

Monty lifted his gaze. “You have my word, but Mallary’s family has already called me five times since they learned Trinity was found.”

“I’m not surprised by that,” Keaton said. “They were close friends and I’m sure they are worried sick. I wish we had more information to give them.”

“I’m afraid the Coast Guard might be suspending the dive portion of the rescue,” Dawson said. “State’s getting involved now.”

“Is that typical?” Monty asked.

“It depends on a variety of things and right now, I don’t have enough information to speculate why,” Dawson said.

Monty nodded. “Mallary’s parents have been incredibly kind and very concerned for Trinity. However, with each phone call, they have asked me the same question, and that’s if the jewels from the Flying Victoria were found, which I suppose I don’t find all that odd, since it’s one of the things Trinity asked about when she woke up.”

“These jewels have been at the heart of the search ever since Jared’s boat went down last year.” Dawson rested his hand on Monty’s shoulder. “While Trinity didn’t go around blabbing to the world what she was doing—as a matter of fact, she kept it to just us—we all know that Mallary told everyone who would listen.”

“I know, and that’s one of the reasons this is so hard.” Monty let out a long breath. “I don’t like blaming a missing girl, who might be dead, but her actions are probably what set this in motion. Pirates were probably watching Trinity for weeks, maybe longer.

That thought burned through Keaton’s body like a wildfire.

“Pure speculation,” Dawson said calmly. He was always the voice of reason.

“All Trinity wanted to do was help. It’s all she’s ever wanted to do, but she never wants to take credit for it. While she wants this town to see her, she doesn’t want to own much of what she does,” Monty said softly. “Like when she asked me to help her buy that boat. I thought she should keep it at the big marina. But no, she had to do it at Mitchell's, which is fine. Baily is a great person. But when I bought the thing, the marina gave us a year of free docking.” Monty shrugged.

“Don’t ever let Baily know that,” Dawson said.

“Never.” Monty waved his hands. “I shouldn’t have even told you, but that’s Trinity.” He laughed, shaking his head. “The house she bought? It was owned by a couple who had to move up north for family reasons. They were also upside down and had to sell fast. She came in, offered them over the asking price without batting an eye, and she did that without daddy’s help.”

There was a lot about Trinity that Keaton didn’t know. Money didn’t necessarily buy respect, and Trinity felt as though she needed to earn it. Except, she kept doing it the ass-backward way.

“You raised a lovely girl.” Keaton stretched out his hand. “For the record, I’m not sure we’re dating, but I’m hoping to change that.”

“Trinity has spoken of you many times.” Monty stood. “She’s used some interesting superlatives to describe you.”

“I can only imagine.” Keaton chuckled.

“A father knows when his child cares about another human, and she likes you or she wouldn’t bother calling you the biggest royal pain in her pretty little ass. Her words, not mine.”

“Sounds like Trinity.” Dawson jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “I’d better get going. I need to find out what the Coast Guard wants, and then head home for a quick meal with Audra, or she’ll serve me to the gators because she can.”

“You two make for a great couple. I’m looking forward to attending that wedding.” Monty laughed. “I just have to wonder if Audra will have a python or an alligator as her maid of honor.”

“With my luck, she’ll have an owl witch.” Dawson waved his hand over his head and strolled out of the room.

“Interesting.” Keaton scratched the back of his neck.

“What is?”

“He didn’t get all weird and tell you that it was too soon to be talking about a wedding.”

Monty slapped Keaton on the back. “You didn’t hear this from me, but I saw him at Casey’s.”

“As in the Casey’s Fine Gems? The one that sells engagement rings?”

Monty shrugged. “Give me a few moments alone with my daughter, and then the little princess is all yours.” The doors opened, and Monty paused, glancing over his shoulder. “Thank you for not giving up. Most men would have.”

“I was just doing what the Navy trained me to.”

“No.” Monty tapped his chest. “Whether you believe it or not, you did what your heart commanded. My daughter’s just lucky that you’re a retired SEAL.” With that statement, he disappeared through the doors, leaving Keaton alone with his thoughts. He didn’t have many. They mostly consisted of confused emotions that made him vulnerable.

He’d always thought that if he ever opened his heart again, he’d feel massive guilt. That he’d somehow be betraying his love for Petra, but that’s not what happened.

Sure, there was a tinge of something. A hint of…of…maybe fear of the fact he didn’t feel guilt.

And that scared him more than anything.