Page 27

Chapter 27

Drop Keel

Dante

In my palm, I hold a pink jewelry bag. It’s not heavy. I show it to them and empty it out. The deep gold of a delicate chain pops against my skin tone. It’s a small necklace with a rosebud in a vase. It’s dainty. The vase portion’s made from a pearl, and the flower itself is some kind of gemstone. “I’m guessing this isn’t the diamond we’re looking for?” I hand it to Haley, who holds it up between her pincher finger and her thumb.

“No, it’s not. But it was my mom’s.” Easton glances back at the pile on the bed. “I’m not sure why Candy would have had it.” It doesn’t look like something the platinum blond woman would wear.

“Why would she have brought it with her?” Haley holds it up.

“I don’t know? None of this makes sense.”

“True.” I close the other door, but there’s nothing behind it.

“Someone came in here while I was in the galley getting you.” Haley nods. “What’s that?” She drops to her knees, her delicious bottom high in the air. Damn.

“What did you find, Sassy?”

She has the carpet pulled back off its tacks. “There are diamonds. Here.” She hands me three sizable diamonds, and another ten smaller ones. All loose, until my palm sparkles.

“Looks like your dad at least bought something.” I hand them to Easton; he’s sunk to the side of the messy bed. He stares at them and then back at the safe. “I need to get in there.”

I pass over the bag the delicate necklace came out of. “You think the key is in the room?”

“Maybe? Or he took it with him.”

Haley shakes her head. “He didn’t take anything.”

“Then it’s on the ship someplace.”

“He used the desk in the main salon a few times. And the humidor off the side of the salon has a desk too. I think I saw him taking a call there the day we launched. I remember Shayla being upset because we hadn’t had time to put the room together yet, and there were still boxes piled up in it.”

“It’s worth a shot. I should go through all the clothes again, and the ones still in the drawers. His toiletries. But yeah, starting with the desk isn’t a bad idea.”

There’s a knock on the door. “Hey, Little Bird. You guys are still at it? Whoa, that’s a lot of clothes. No wonder it took us so long to bring all their luggage on board.”

“Zane, do you think one of your deckhands might have gotten back on the ship while I was getting Dante to our raft?”

“No chance, Little Bird. I told them to launch from the other side. The five of them were off. Fuck, remember, we never saw them again, even when we had a visual on the raft with Shayla and the engineers. I fucking hope they made it. I know we don’t talk about them a lot, but my guys were solid.”

“But we didn’t see them after the launch. What if they came back around and circled in?”

“There’s no way of saying they didn’t. I’d only worked with those guys for a short time, but I got good vibes from them.”

“Sam was right. There’s nothing here. Someone came back down.” Easton put all the diamonds in the bag and is holding the necklace around his hand, the charm inside his closed fist.

“Looks like something.” Zane cocks his head.

“This? This isn’t worth much, not to anyone but myself or Emily. These? I’m sure they’re worth something. But nothing near what was in the other bags. And certainly not what the Pink Phoenix is worth. If that was even here.”

“I was coming to see if you would be willing to help dry up the engine room with me.”

“What?” Easton stuffs the necklace in the bag and pushes it into his shorts. “Sorry. Yeah, I’ll be right there.”

“Easton?” Haley puts her hand on his chest. “Are you okay? Maybe you should just lie down and take a break.” Haley moves things to the middle of the bed, giving Easton space to lie down, and he does.

“I’m fine, Haley. It just took me by surprise. I haven’t seen it in a long time. My mom wore it every day. My dad bought it for her on her first Mother’s Day. I wasn’t even born yet. I’m coming now.” Easton swings his legs around the side of the bed and hops up. “Really, Haley, I’m good. It’s game time. I’ve got things to do. I’m the water-boy.”

Haley nods once, stepping out of his way. But she’s got that I’m-not-impressed stew face on. It’s a cross between a smirk and her you’ve-been-a-naughty-boy school teacher look. Easton gives her a quick kiss as he leaves the room, but she grabs his arm. “I’d like to talk about this later. I don’t think stuffing your feelings in your pocket is going to help you in the long run. Because it’s not.”

“I know. You’re right.” Easton smirks.

“What?” Haley’s eyebrows rise, and I sink to the bed. Damn, I love good drama.

“It’s just, I’ve never had anyone care enough to call me out on things before,” says Easton. “It’s good. It’s hard, though. Thank you for caring.”

I groan.

“What?” Easton and Haley say.

I shrug. “Nothing. It would have been more fun if you got yourself into trouble, that’s all.”

“Dante?” Haley scowls.

“Who’s the one in trouble now?” Zane grins, heading for the hallway.

“Me, but then I like being in trouble.” I pull at Haley’s shorts.

She shakes her head at me. “You really are the king of trouble.”

“It’s my middle name.”

She cocks her head.

“What? It’s how I like it, Sassy.” I glance at my wrist where my watch isn’t—weird how I didn’t look for it at all the entire time we were at camp. This feels almost real but not. “It’s stifling in here. I want to finish cooking dinner.”

“I suppose if they don’t need me for something else, I can work on cleaning the main salon.”

“Or maybe you do an Italian-themed table?”

Her blue eyes light up. “I suppose we could all use a little levity.”

“That’s the spirit, Sassy.”

* * *

I ’m shredding cheese when Sassy comes into the kitchen holding two separate plates, one a checked red and white and the other an onyx black. “Cute or classy?” She waves them at me.

“Which way are you leaning?”

“Not sure? The red and white is fun.”

“Pizza’s a serious business.” I laugh.

“Right, the red and white one it is.” She sashays out of my galley.

And I’m about to turn and follow her when I realize I’ve got things to do. I’m working on getting a chocolate cake together. I’ve got to get it in and out of the grill before I turn the heat up for the pizza stones. I’m not sure it will work, but why not try?

Two hours in, and I’m almost done. I’m not going to do this every day. I know there are things I could be doing to help the Rock Candy be seaworthy again. Unlike Easton and Haley, I’ve done some work around boats before. But we need to celebrate, and a celebration needs food.

I’ve snuck the cake back to the galley without Haley seeing. It’s a bit of a mess, but it’s not burnt, and with the canned frosting from the crew galley, no one will notice. I’m not one for using boxed food, but it’s here and shelf stable.

It’s hotter than hell in the decks below, but the galley has a bit of a cross breeze, so I risk it and frost the cake. I’ve got a friend watching me. “Chocolate is bad for dogs.” I lower my head to Penny and give her a stale cracker. Then I put a large bowl over the cake to both hide it and keep it safe from the dog. She goes down on her belly, her soulful eyes begging up at me. “No. No chocolate for you.” I take all the supplies for the pizza on a tray, and she trots after me. “Hey, Sassy. Are you almost ready? I’ve got the last pizza on the grill now. Holy crap on a cracker, that’s amazing.”

Haley’s done the table up in a cozy Italian restaurant style. There’s a garland of leaves and fake lemons along the middle of the table, surrounded by mini tea lights, their fake flames flickering. In front of the checkered plates are wine and water goblets.

“It’s so weird how I hadn’t missed ice, but now I can’t stop thinking about it.” Haley straightens a water goblet.

“It’s the glasses, and it’s a lot warmer on the ship than back at camp.”

“True.”

“Have you seen anyone else?” I ask. “I’m ready if you are?”

“I think so.” She’s staring at the table. “I haven’t seen anyone. They must all be in the engine room. I’ll go grab them.” Haley heads down to the swim platform, taking the back way to the engine room through the toy hauler space. I remember what Zane said about his guys taking off from the aft. I have no clue what happened after the boat listed hard and I bashed my head. The next thing I remember is waking up to the smell of fish guts on the raft. But I do remember flying across the galley. If we were listing that hard, I can’t see how anyone could have made it through the toy hauler garage. It’s full of large bulky things, most with sharp edges, and fuel cans. Fuck, no way would I have gone through there. No matter how much money it was.

I made three pizzas. Honestly, I wasn’t sure the yeast was going to work, and I didn’t want to waste flour turning it into a brick if the yeast didn’t proof.

“Damn.” Zane’s the first to the table, but the rest of the guys aren’t far behind. I’ve got one eye on the dog, the other on everyone sitting down.

“Wow, Firefly, this is amazing.” Easton gives her a quick kiss. “How did you do this so fast?”

“Thanks.” She hugs him back. “How’s the patch look?”

Sam trudges up the steps. “Good. Calvin’s getting changed out of his wets, then he’ll be right up.”

“Do you want me to go get him?” Haley looks at me.

“No, Sassy. You’re the last person who should go get the Viking when he’s changing out of his clothes. I’ll do it. Pour the wine and watch the dog.” I’m down the stairs and at his cabin. “Green, hurry up,” I say. There’s a weird noise coming out of his cabin. The door’s cracked. I give it a light tap, and it eases open enough that I see Green sitting away from the door, his shoulders hunched. He’s crying—or at least, I think he is. I back away through the crew galley to the back stairs, and this time I come down harder, hitting each step as I do. When I pass the laundry room, I slam the door. “Hey, Green, when you’re ready, I’ve made pizza. We’re having wine and beer, and I’m surprising Sassy with a chocolate cake for dessert.” I stop short of his door.

“Great, good. I’ll be right up.” His voice echoes through the hall.

“Don’t take too long. Haley will miss you.”

He laughs. “I’ll be there. You can start without me.”

“Nope, we’re family, we eat together. Get your ass upstairs.”

His dark blond head ducks out of his door. “Thanks, Dante.”

“For what?” I nudge him with my elbow.

He nods and takes the stairs two at a time.