Page 73 of Pirates in Calusa Cove

“Don’t let him on this boat, that’s for damn sure, but maybe he made good on his word.” Mallary jumped to her feet. She leaned over. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be back.”

Trinity spat the blood that had pooled in her mouth at Mallary.

She just laughed as she wiped her face and walked away.

Trinity dropped her head back and tried to keep the tears at bay. How had she not seen it? How could she have been so blind and stupid? She sucked in a deep breath and pushed it out through her nose. She blinked, glancing around the small cabin. She needed to find a way out.

The knife! Thank God Mallary hadn’t seen it.

She shimmied her way up the wall and hopped across the small cabin. She fumbled with her fingers until she clutched the knife. She managed to hobble back to her spot and began cutting through the restraints. That was priority number one.

She’d figured out the rest once she managed that.

One thing at a time.

Keaton tookthe binoculars that Chloe handed him and peered through the lenses. They had perched themselves across the street and up on a hill, overlooking a marina on Gullivan Bay.

“That’s the boat my buddies at the Coast Guard saw a few mornings ago. It crossed into the Bahamas later that day, but there was no word on it returning to US Waters,” Chloe said. “It’s registered to Riggs Oppenheimer. He’s been a fishing charter captain out of Marco Island for twenty years, and my contacts just informed me he has a connection to Fenton.”

“Obviously, since Fenton is parked down the road,” Keaton said with a little too much sarcasm. “We need to have Bradley stop him if he enters the marina.”

“I agree,” Chloe said. “Eight years ago, Fenton hired Riggs. Since then, he’s hired Riggs exclusively for fishing charters. But Riggs also knows Mallary and her family. Riggs got his start working with her dad.”

“Wonderful,” Keaton mumbled.

“Also aboard that vessel that morning was Eddy Ives,” Chloe continued.

“I take it he has a connection to Fenton as well,” Fletcher said.

“Just Mallary and her dad. He worked as a mechanic at their shop until about five years ago. Now he owns his own engine repair shop,” Chloe said. “Wille Avery, now he’s the man we need to be worried about.”

“Why?” Hayes asked.

“Ex-Army,” Chloe said. “My contacts tell me he wasgiven an other-than-honorable discharge. I pulled in a few favors to find out more, and he was sent packing for breaches of military orders.”

Hayes snorted. “We all sat in front of a review board for that—twice—but it wasn’t because we didn’t want to follow orders. It was because if we did, civilians would’ve died.”

Keaton set the binoculars aside. Whatever was going on down there, he couldn’t see it. “Do you know more?”

“Yeah.” Chloe nodded. “This asshole got lucky he didn’t get court-martialed. He broke the chain of command more than once. He put his men in danger. He put civilians in danger, and according to one of the team leaders I spoke with personally, he’s reckless and a menace.”

“This just keeps getting better,” Keaton muttered, glancing at his watch. “How far out is Dawson?”

“Ten minutes,” Fletcher said. “He had to ditch the uniform and fly under the radar of the locals. This isn’t his jurisdiction, and he’s putting his job on the line.”

“He doesn’t have to participate.” Keaton rolled his neck. “We’re not even a hundred percent sure Trinity is on that boat.”

Hayes slapped him on the back. “Maybe not, but that looks an awful lot like Mallary, and she’s holding a weapon. It doesn’t appear she’s being held under duress.”

Anger boiled over. He snagged the binoculars and slammed them against his face. “I’m going to?—”

“Don’t finish that statement,” Chloe said. “I might be off duty, but I’m still an FBI agent.” She crooked herfinger. “But now that we have a visual on something, I get to put my official hat back on and make some calls on your behalf.”

“I’m not waiting for your friends to show up. That could be too late,” Keaton said.

“I’m not asking you to.” Chloe arched a brow. “But since we just happened to be in the area and saw a girl we thought was dead, I can call a few people I trust for backup. That way, whatever does go down will be official, and no one will get away with anything today.” She smiled.

“I think I’m ‘hearting’ on your girlfriend.” Keaton chuckled.

---