Page 6 of Drowning in Sins
“Rivers,” his grumpy voice called out as soon as I opened the door.
My boots were heavy travelling across the wooden floor toward the back. Walter had his back to me when I entered, his eyes out the window. Probably admiring the view of the docks from here.
“I wanted you to hear it from me first.” The man didn’t even bother turning around. “We’ve got business with your brother.”
Ice felt like it’d been dumped on me. For that moment, I was frozen. Was he serious?
I wanted to argue that I didn’t have a brother, but we all knew the truth. What business could we possibly have with him?
“He was hired to take a crew out to one of the wreck sites. I’ll go into more detail in the meeting. I wanted to bring it up, because I know this is gonna get personal, but you’ll be the best person for the job.” He turned to face me, hard eyes staring into mine. “Can you handle it?”
“I’ll do whatever is needed.” I meant every word.
I wasn’t looking forward to being around him. It meant my mother would haunt me more. It was my fault, after all. We were close once, like our parents wanted. That was before he lied and everyone stopped believing anything I had to say.
The problem wasn’t being around my brother; it was stepping onto the same vessel where my nightmares occurred.I’d do anything for the Pirate Kings MC. I’d proven myself time and time again. I wouldn’t give them a reason to question my loyalty now.
After excusing myself, I ignored the whispers around me and went to the basement. It was the one place I could let out my demons on whatever guilty soul was awaiting torture.
While we weren’t the good guys, there were firm lines we held in place. A club nearby thought they could take over our territory and then go after women they found to be weak and dispensable.
I took my time picking out a tool from the table before approaching the bound and blindfolded man. My fingers grazed a couple of handles before I picked up my favorite dull, curved knife. I could sharpen it, but that would take away part of the fun.
Chapter Five
KAI
When someone contacted me to take them out on the boat, it was typically a tourist who just wanted to experience a little fishing. I didn’t mind as long as they didn’t get in the way. This was something entirely different though. A research team wanted to hire me to take them out. An expedition.
I thought it was a joke.
Don’t get me wrong—I loved any excuse to be out on the water. TheMaribethwas my dad’s boat; I grew up on it. But… it’d always been used for fishing.
It was my entire life. I lived on this boat, even when it was just docked.
The money was too good to turn down for a simple day trip, especially with Dad in and out of the hospital. It was supposed to be a one-time thing, two guys with some equipment that was too high-tech for me to understand. Machines to scan the area. I assumed they would find nothing new and then be on their way.
Whatever they found down there, it made them not want to leave. Then they offered double what I could bring in if I were fishing, and that was if it was a good day. They wanted me to continue this journey with them.
And keep my mouth shut.
TheMaribethwasn’t some fancy yacht. She’d weathered storms. She was also strong enough for whatever they had planned and small enough to fly under the radar. But that was just my guess.
I had a couple of friends who rotated in and out of my crew as needed. It was an occasional side job for them, fun money. Nothing permanent. That wouldn’t have felt right to me when it had always been just me and my dad for so long.
Something was happening here, bigger than me. Whatever it was, I needed someone for the duration of this expedition. Maybe a couple, who knew what they were doing and could keep a secret.
I started with word of mouth, asking around the docks for anyone looking for something temporary. It was hard when there wasn’t exactly an end date in sight. I’d been paid in advance for the two months. The contract required me to keep my schedule open for the next six. I was informed I’d know before the end of the first two whether or not they would need additional time.
With how much they were paying, they could’ve requested to keep my schedule open for the next year for all I cared. The bigger problem was that other individuals wouldn’t be under contract like that. They would be paid a weekly salary, and if they weren’t smart with their money, they’d be shit out of luck if the job came to a sudden halt.
I’d almost given up, when my dad said he knew a couple of guys who would be perfect for the job. I couldn’t tell him everything, but more than most. So, when he told me that, I wasn’t about to doubt him. Though, since I knew everyone down at the docks, that meant he’d be bringing in someone from out of town, or worse, out of retirement.
The two joining my crew would arrive around the same time as the research team, with enough time for them to settle into their rooms before getting to work. We wouldn’t sail off until the morning, but that was what I negotiated for. Let everyone have a chance to get their sea legs before we’d be away from land.
It would take all day to get to the location, longer if the water or weather was against us. They wanted to be at sea for ten days, dock and refuel for four days, then repeat. A consistent rotation in place.
There were four private rooms on the boat as well as a bunkroom that could sleep eight people comfortably. The bunkroom hadn’t been used in years, not since I was a boy and my father thought he might want to cater to tourists during the summer months. It took little time to make sure it was clean and ready to be used by the majority of the research team.
