Page 24

Chapter 24

Diamond Knot

Calvin

That got their attention. I stare at my plate. There’s still some sauce on it. I pick it up and lick down the center of the expensive china—it’s probably worth more than I make in a week. I lick around the rim. And when I put it back down, they’re all glaring at me like I’ve grown a second head. “Right, sorry. Food was solid, Chef.”

“Thanks, that’s high praise from you.” Dante scrapes the last bits from the platter onto Haley’s plate.

“Yup, it was good,” I confirm.

Dante clutches his chest. “This is the big one. I can die now. Green gave me a compliment. See what you’re doing to him, Sassy? You’re making him all happy and human. Tsk-tsk. But good job.” Dante kisses Haley on the top of her head.

“Right, what I found. Well, I don’t like thinking we’re screwed, but without a machine shop, I don’t know how I’m going to get the engines back online.”

“Why did it happen?” Haley asks.

I glance at Sam and he nods back. “Someone did it, on purpose.”

Easton’s eyes go wide. “What? Why? What did they do?” I know Sam hasn’t ruled Rockwell out, but I have. No way would he have put his sister in danger. And why would he want to take out his father? Neither one of Rocky’s kids want his money. Hell, Easton’s got his own cash from endorsements and things, and he doesn’t want to run the tire company. But killing yourself and your sister in the process? There are simpler ways of getting out of being a CEO. No one around this table did anything to the Rock Candy.

“They’ve done plenty around the ship, but this isn’t the saboteur. This is plain old salt water. It’s corrosive as fuck. There’s rust all over the crankshaft. The zinc anode is used up. And without the power, there’s no way to fix it, because I need to grind.”

“There’s a grinder in the toy hauler room.” Zane licks his fork.

“Fuck, you serious?” I chew on the side of my tongue. Pressure always makes me think better. “That’s a start. I might be able to rig something up. But we don’t have power. And even if I can get the solar panels running, there’s not going to be enough amperage to run a grinder.”

“Well, we’ll just have to figure out how to increase the efficiency of the solar panels.” Haley takes a sip of her soda. “Sorry, that’s probably not possible. I’m not a mechanic.”

I blink at her, and I can see the worry in her growing. It’s like she thinks I think she’s said something dumb. But that’s not the case at all. “Chiefie, that’s a brilliant idea. If I can get the battery rack online, then reconnect the solar panels, I should be able to get enough power to get the grinder working.”

“What about the radios?” Easton stands and clears some plates.

Sam glares at me.

“It’s really a matter of time. Either way, I need to get the solar power up and running before I can do either. But I need to flush the engines first so they don’t go downhill anymore. Then we can decide what our priorities are: engines or radio.”

Haley stands and clears along with Easton. I don’t think she even knows she’s doing it. She’s on autopilot. And I have to push down a smile. When she comes to grab my plate, I try to take the ones she has instead.

“Clearing I can do. You’re the one with the expertise, Green.”

My chest goes firm. Chiefie doesn’t like being kept out of the loop. But that’s something I don’t like either. My eyes flick to Sam. I’m thinking about Sam wanting to keep secrets from them. His lips are pursed, and he shakes his head no. I don’t fucking care what he thinks. This is something that has to be said, and I can’t not tell her or Easton and Dante anymore. They deserve to know the truth. “Sam, we’ve become a democracy. And this isn’t something I’m willing to keep from any of the others. You need to tell them.”

I’ve known Sam for a long time. I’ve pushed back once or twice on his decisions. And it’s always been for safety reasons. I should have pushed for not leaving the shipyard. But then there’s always kinks to work out on a new ship. I didn’t give a flying rat’s ass about the interior. If the guests wanted to be surrounded by boxes, that was up to them. A few flicking lights didn’t seem like a problem, and maybe if someone hadn’t tampered with the major systems, it wouldn’t have been an issue.

He’s not happy with me.

“Sam? What do you need to tell us?” Haley lets me take the dishes from her, and I put them on a tray on the side counter.

“Yes, what are you not telling us? Do you know why the wreck happened?” Easton’s got his game face on. If I didn’t know him better, I would be suspicious of him like Sam is. “It’s sabotage. We all know that. You’re not telling us anything new. We’ve talked about it plenty around the campfire.”

“It’s something else...” Sam shakes his head.

“Sam?” Haley’s eyes are wide.

“Before I hit the reef, I saw a boat, lights off.”

Easton leans in. “I saw it too.”

“Really?” Sam cocks his head at Easton. He shakes it off. “It was a while before I landed on the reef. I was trying to fish from the swim deck. Fuck, if it wasn’t for Penny knocking the flare gun out of my hand, I would have signaled them. But when I came back with another gun and my binoculars, I saw that their running lights were off. On the aft, hanging over the railing, a guard sat with an automatic rifle. Luckily, he was more interested in his cigarette break than keeping a lookout. I faded into the night. I’d been trying to use the ham radio, but I stopped. The chance of someone hearing it that could help was too slim, while the odds of a pirate hearing it were too great.”

“So that’s the thing. If we can get the radio working, we should be able to contact help.” I nod at Sam across the table. “But will help come fast enough, or will we be sitting ducks? Ducks that are a lot closer to the pirates than we are to anyone who would want to help us.”

“What’s your take on it, Green?” Easton leans on a chair. Only Zane and Sam are still sitting.

“Get the engines at least limping along, so we can have a shot of avoiding the pirates, and then work on the radios.”

“There’s nothing saying we can’t work on both at the same time.” Sam stares at me.

“Other than we can’t clone Green,” Dante growls. “And thank fuck for that . . . We couldn’t feed two of them.”

“We’re not helpless. Calvin can teach us what needs to be done.” Haley grabs at my arm. “Can’t you?”

I can try, but there are some people mechanics doesn’t click for. “Sure.” I smile down at her. “I’ll do my best.”

“What do we do first?”

“Well, the first thing I’m going to work on with Sam and Zane is replacing the crash patch. You did a good job, Sam, but having more than one set of hands will help make a tighter seal.”

“Pirates are one thing, but what have you learned about the saboteur?” Easton’s not giving up.

Sam talked about the pirates in the hopes we’d drop the reason why we’re here? We’re not toddlers who can be distracted that easily. “Saboteurs,” I say. And I ignore Sam’s scowl because he’ll come to understand that Easton doesn’t have anything to do with it. “There’s no way one person caused all the damage they did. How they did it when Anders and I were tracing issues with the ship’s electrical, I don’t know yet.”

“That seems like a pretty simple answer.” Easton raises his chin to me—meaning Anders.

“A simple answer?” Sam’s tone has dropped. Easton’s reputation isn’t secure to Sam, but Anders has been Sam’s FO for at least five years. Long enough that he should have left and had his own boat by now. But I talked with the guy. He liked the flexibility of being able to take time off. Not something you can do as a captain. He’s got some things going on back at home, things he barely ever talked about. Even after the years I’ve been on different ships with him, I’m not sure I even know where he’s from. He’s mentioned Maine, California, Florida. I guess I always thought he was an army brat, but I never asked. Weird things you remember when it’s too late.

“Anders isn’t the saboteur—no way.” Sam stands.

Zane stands too. “I’m thinking the same thing, Easton. No way would Anders be involved with something as sinister as this. Plus, you didn’t see how we were working trying to fix all the issues on the boat.”

“Acting—it’s a thing.” Easton shrugs.

Sam shakes his head. “Did either your ex-stepmom or Emily send you the crew talent show from two years ago?”

I’m shaking with laughter inside.

“No.” Easton’s face is scrunched up. “Well, maybe they sent me a lot of things.” His face drops.

“Well, if you’d watched it, you’d have to know that Anders couldn’t act his way out of a paper bag. Whatever that means.” Zane’s holding his side. “Do you remember when one of the stews shot him, and he had to fall to his death? For fuck’s sake, that man can’t act.”

Easton’s not convinced. It’s fine. I see the way Sam is looking at him. I’ll have to tell him later to cool it. The last thing we need is for Sam to waste time thinking that Easton did it. And if Easton points a finger at Anders, it makes him more guilty in Sam’s eyes for sure. I glare at Easton. I can see he wants to push back at Sam.

Instead, he says, “I suppose it doesn’t matter what happened—it matters what we’re going to do about it now. The crash patch? I can help mop up water. Taking it off will have to make it leak more.”

“Thanks, but we’ve got it for now. We’ll need help later, and every day after, keeping the engine room as dry as possible,” I say.

“I can do it.” Easton takes the extra napkins from the table and tosses them on the tray. “I’ll help wash up.” Easton, Dante, and Haley disappear into the main salon.

I look directly at Sam. “What else aren’t you telling me?”

Zane’s neck twists between the two of us like he’s at a tennis match. “Calvin?”

“What? There’s something he’s not telling us. There’s a reason he thinks Easton is guilty, and it’s not that Rockwell thinks Anders is a good actor.” Something was off with this entire season, even before we took possession from the shipyard. And it’s only now that I’ve put it together.

Sam scrubs his hand over his chin and glances at the open sliders that separate the main salon from the back deck. “Rocky wanted to get underway when we left port. He’d picked up a diamond necklace for Candy. His security team wanted to bring it back to the US, but Rocky wanted to give it to her on the trip. When he said no, they wanted to come on board. Rocky found that hysterical. What could happen to it in the middle of the ocean? Right. Fuck. I remember him laughing about it to me over the phone. It wasn’t until last week I went looking for it, thinking maybe this whole thing was a ploy to get it off the ship. Was someone supposed to pick up the rafts? In the chaos of being rescued, could the necklace have been passed off to the would-be rescuers? Was it done for the insurance? Was Easton mad about his father spending his inheritance?”

“Easton’s got his own money. And honestly, I don’t think he cares about money much.” Zane grips the back of the chair.

“He bought the damn diamond?” Easton’s standing in the salon, an empty tray in his hand. “I told him he was nuts. Emily and I were planning on talking him out of marrying Candy. Or at least reworking the prenup. That damn diamond... it’s cursed.” Easton flings the tray onto the counter, and it rings like a gong.