Churning Seas

by Lily Harper Hart

  Still, that didn’t feel right. Bart was a strong guy, but Peter was a trained FBI officer. Even if he was caught off guard, the odds of Bart being able to kill him and singlehandedly drop him into the laundry chute seemed long. No, that scenario didn’t fit.

  Unfortunately for Quinn, coming up with a scenario that did fit wasn’t easy.

  “What are you thinking?”

  Quinn shifted his eyes and found Rowan awake. She was always slow at first, and it took her a few minutes to shift the cobwebs from her mind. He liked spending mornings with her because of that (and a few other reasons). He found her adorable when she was struggling to wake up, though.

  “I was just thinking about Bart,” Quinn admitted, pressing a quick kiss to Rowan’s forehead. “You can sleep a little longer if you want. We’re not on a timetable or anything.”

  “I’m awake.” Rowan rubbed the sleep from her eyes. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep as it is. I got ten hours of sleep last night. I have no idea why I was so tired when we got back.”

  “Your adrenaline was raging and then it crashed. It’s normal.”

  “So ... now you’re a doctor?”

  Quinn snickered. “I’m willing to play doctor, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “Not quite, but I might be up for it later.” Rowan propped herself on an elbow and studied him. “How come you didn’t crash?”

  “Because my mind was too busy.”

  “Did you figure anything out while I slept?”

  “Just that you’re very pretty.” Quinn poked her stomach when she laughed. “I don’t think we have enough information to put all the pieces together yet. I don’t know what’s going on but ... the big picture is muddy right now.”

  “So, what do we do?”

  “I don’t know.” Quinn slipped his arm under Rowan and tugged her so she was directly on top of him. “Are you sure you got enough sleep?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you want to talk about what we saw this afternoon?”

  “No. It’s hardly the first body I’ve seen. Although ... seeing his face beneath the bag like that was kind of jarring. He obviously knew what was happening at the end and was terrified.”

  “I don’t think he committed suicide, but even if he did, a lot of people change their minds at the very end despite the fact that it’s too late,” Quinn commented. “I know it’s hard, but you should try to push it out of your mind.”

  “Have you seen someone actually commit suicide in that manner?”

  Quinn nodded. “A few times. It was one of the easier ways overseas. Sometimes — and thankfully I didn’t see it too often — but sometimes, death seems like the easier answer.”

  Rowan feathered her fingers over Quinn’s cheek. “You didn’t feel that way, did you?”

  “No.”

  “Good.” Rowan snuggled close. “I won’t be able to forget the look on his face. I’ll try not to dwell on it, though.”

  “That’s the best you can do.” Quinn rubbed his hands over Rowan’s back as he flicked his eyes to the clock. “I was thinking we would go to one of the restaurants on the beach for dinner. The dining room here is okay, but I don’t want to get dressed up.”

  “That sounds like a plan to me,” Rowan enthused. “Let’s go to that taco truck thing you like that has the fish tacos and then take a walk on the beach. It can just be the two of us.”

  “Are you sure? They don’t have crab tacos and you’re the only person I know who will eat crab three meals a day.”

  “Ha, ha.” Rowan rolled her eyes. “I’m sure. I want something quiet, too. We’ve had a long day.”

  “We have, and it’s not over yet.” Quinn gave her a quick kiss. “Let’s get changed and head out. If you play your cards right, we can get fish tacos and ice cream and find a quiet spot on the beach.”

  “You had me at ice cream.”

  “Somehow I knew that.”

  ROWAN’S DETERMINATION TO be light and happy had the desired effect on Quinn. With each moment they spent together, he could feel the weight lifting off his shoulders. Part of him couldn’t help wondering if there was something he could do to save Bart. In the end, though, he understood he wasn’t omnipotent. He wasn’t responsible for what happened to Bart. All he could do now was move forward, and that’s exactly what he intended to do.

  “It’s going to storm tonight.” Rowan licked her ice cream cone, her feet bare as she tunneled them through the sand and stared out at the water. “It’s been storming a lot lately.”

  “Yeah, you’ll get used to that.” Quinn had his own ice cream cone, although he wasn’t nearly as enthralled with it as Rowan was with hers. “The thing with storms around these parts is that they spring up quite often and then fizzle out after about twenty minutes. They’re nice temperature adjusters. At least that’s the way I prefer looking at them.”

  “Oh, you’re an optimist,” Rowan teased.

  “Ha, ha.” Quinn touched his cone to her nose and then gave it a lick as she squealed. “I think you had that coming.”

  “Oh, you guys are so sickeningly sweet I can’t stand it.”

  Quinn extended a protective arm to scoop Rowan behind him before recognizing the voice. When Alex stepped close enough that he could make out the man’s features, though, he lowered his guard and smiled. “You’re just everywhere today, huh?”

  “Funny. I was going to say the same thing about you.” Alex carefully sank onto a large rock and removed his shoes so he could move his feet through the sand. “I went to the hotel looking for you guys, but the clerk said you left. I took a chance I would find you on the beach.”

  “We’re always on the beach when we can manage it,” Quinn supplied. “Not that I’m not happy to see you — and just for the record, I’m not — but what are you doing here?”

  “Maybe I’m here to enjoy the night.” Alex adopted a whimsical expression. “Have you ever considered that?”

  “No, because I’m not slow.”

  “You are, however, crabby,” Alex challenged. “You need to chill out. We’re perfectly safe here. I’ve scanned the perimeter several times. If people are watching you, they’ve taken a break for the evening.”

  Quinn wasn’t sure that made him feel any better. “Thanks for that.”

  “You’re welcome.” Alex shifted his eyes to Rowan and grinned as she worked on her ice cream cone. “Are those sprinkles?”

  “I’m young at heart,” Rowan answered, plopping on the sand. She made sure to remain close to Quinn, but not so close she crowded him. “What did you find out about Bart?”

  “He’s dead.”

  “Oh, you’re so funny.” Rowan made an exaggerated face that caused Alex to bark out a laugh. “I never would’ve guessed that myself.”

  “You’re pretty cute. Has anyone ever told you that?”

  “I tell her that every day,” Quinn shot back, his temper coming out to play. He didn’t have a lot of patience for Alex. When the FBI agent opted to flirt with Rowan, that patience was cut in half. “You obviously came looking for us to share information. What do you have?”

  “You’re definitely a bummer today,” Alex said, shaking his head. “You’re not wrong, though. Bart has been dead since about three hours after leaving The Bounding Storm. That’s give or take, of course, but our guy is pretty good.”

  “So someone followed him home after he left the ship and killed him right away?” Rowan asked, her forehead wrinkling. “How come?”

  “I was hoping you could answer that question for me,” Alex admitted. “I’m working at a disadvantage here. I could surely use your help.”

  Quinn didn’t fall for the man’s folksy drawl. “You were watching his house before we even arrived. You were ahead of us. Our entering gave you an excuse to do the same. Don’t bother playing with us. It’s not going to work.”

  “Definitely no fun.” Alex wagged a finger. “I remember you being more laughs than this.”

  “Maybe it’s the fact that
an FBI agent was killed on my ship and we didn’t even know he was there that’s making me a sourpuss,” Quinn suggested. “Or maybe it’s the fact that someone shot at my girlfriend yesterday. She could’ve been killed. I never find that funny.”

  Alex’s expression turned placating. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

  “Well, you did.”

  “That wasn’t my intention.” Alex heaved out a sigh. “You’re right, though. I was watching Bart Hopkins. I was hoping he might be able to share information. I had no idea he was dead. I simply thought he was hiding inside the house … or had already taken off for parts unknown.”

  “Information on what?” Rowan asked, biting into her cone. “Did you suspect he was behind the death of your agent?”

  “Not necessarily.” Alex watched her munch on the cone before shaking his head. “So very cute.”

  Quinn let loose a low growling sound in the back of his throat. “Knock that off.”

  “You’re so easy to freak out.” Alex winked at him. “Chill, dude. As for Bart, we were looking at him as a source of information. He wasn’t on my list of suspects.”

  “Who is on your list?”

  “I can’t tell you that.”

  “Then why are you here?” Rowan challenged. “If we can’t compare information, what’s the point?”

  Alex didn’t immediately respond so Quinn did it for him. “He wants whatever information we have but isn’t willing to share. It’s a one-way street.”

  “Oh, well, that’s stupid.” Rowan made a derisive sound with her tongue. “We’re not sharing unless you share.”

  Alex pursed his lips. “I’m forbidden to share information because I’m an FBI agent. I took an oath not to tell civilians what I’m working on.”

  “He’s making that up,” Quinn supplied. “He took no such oath.”

  “Fine. It’s frowned upon, though.”

  “You know we’re not going to spread your private information far and wide,” Quinn argued. “We covered for you after the horror movie awards debacle. We didn’t tell anyone who you really were. Why do you feel as if you can’t trust us now?”

  “I don’t have a problem trusting you. It’s my higher-ups who are suspicious. They can’t figure out why you purposely moved into the same hotel where Jasper Fitzgerald is staying.”

  Something clicked in the back of Quinn’s brain. “You’re watching Fitzgerald.”

  Alex adopted an air of innocence. “I don’t believe I said that.”

  “You didn’t, but it’s true.” Quinn rolled his neck until it cracked. He’d forgotten about his ice cream cone and it had almost completely melted so he didn’t put up a fight when Rowan took it from him and carried it to the nearest trash receptacle. She came back with a package of sanitary wipes and opened it before attacking Quinn’s hand to get at the sticky remains of his dessert.

  “Let’s just say that Jasper Fitzgerald has been a person of interest for a long time at the bureau,” Alex said, tilting his head to the side as he watched Rowan carry the wipe to the trash container before returning and settling between Quinn’s legs on the sand. “You two make me jealous. You’re in sync to the point where you don’t even have to speak to one another sometimes. I like that.”

  “Yes, well, find another perfect woman — although I don’t think she exists — and take her out to dinner,” Quinn suggested, moving his hands to Rowan’s shoulders as he glared at Alex. “This one is already taken.”

  “You’re so easy to ruffle, man.” Alex’s grin was quick and easy. “You’re an amiable guy on almost every front, but you act like an attack dog where she’s concerned. I like it. It’s also probably wise given everything going on.”

  “And what is going on?” Quinn queried. “You can’t say something like that and then not follow through.”

  “Honestly, I want to tell you everything that is going on,” Alex admitted. “I think you could help with this. I’ve been overruled, though. I’m supposed to keep you out of it. No one besides me knows you were at Bart Hopkins’ house earlier today. I need you to keep it that way. My job is on the line otherwise.”

  “We have no intention to blab,” Quinn said. “I want to know why you’re investigating Jasper Fitzgerald. What was going on out at the Andromeda that was bad enough you sent an undercover agent without backup?”

  Alex shrugged. “I’m sure if you put your considerable brain power behind figuring it out, you’ll come up with an answer.”

  “Smuggling?” It was the first thing that popped into Quinn’s head. “Moving things back and forth between the rig and the mainland on official vessels is probably a great way to smuggle stuff. The hard part is getting it delivered to the rig.”

  “That’s an interesting theory.” Alex’s smile was wide enough to cover the entire bottom half of his face. “I can’t tell you if you’re right or wrong, though.”

  “Maybe that’s how the rig got damaged,” Rowan suggested. “Maybe someone was making a delivery and something went wrong. A rescue operation couldn’t be hatched with a ship that was supposed to remain under the radar and that’s why they had to call us in.”

  “That right there is an interesting theory, sweetie.” Quinn kissed her cheek. “It might make sense given what we saw. It was hard to understand exactly how the platform buckled on the one side like that. Maybe a ship struck it, though. That might explain it.”

  “I’m not lying or covering when I say I have no idea about that,” Alex said. “We never got a final report from Peter. The storm stopped him from sending a message ... and then he was dead.”

  “So Fitzgerald is a smuggler,” Quinn mused. “That doesn’t surprise me. He felt me out over lunch today to see if I was looking for a job. He said he wanted people with my skill set. That seems a bit extreme for oil rig security.”

  “Definitely,” Alex agreed, slowly getting to his feet. “I can’t answer your questions. What I can tell you is that you need to be very careful over the next few days. Things are going into motion that can’t be stopped. If someone — and I’m not saying who, but someone — was to believe you guys were a threat and somehow feeding us information, it might not go over well.”

  “You’re afraid for us,” Rowan mused, a chill going down her spine. “You think we’re targets.”

  “I don’t want you to be a target,” Alex clarified. “I’m not going to be able to steal you from this guy if something happens to you.”

  “You’re not going to manage that regardless,” Rowan shot back. “Still, thank you for the warning. You’re not in any danger, are you?”

  Alex shrugged. “No more than usual. When do you guys head out to sea again?”

  “The day after tomorrow,” Quinn answered.

  “You should be safe at sea. Be careful tomorrow, maybe stick close to your room if you can manage it. Don’t go breaking into houses, though. I won’t be able to protect you a second time.”

  “We’ll do our best.”

  “Do that.” Alex offered up a mock salute. “Have fun rolling around on the beach for the rest of the night. Try not to let us poor souls who are still working to keep the world safe give you a guilty conscience or anything.”

  Even though he was annoyed with Alex’s ability to pop up and surprise him at any given moment, Quinn couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “We’ll try to staunch our sympathy to the best of our ability.”

  “Have fun.”

  “You, too.”

  “I always manage to have a good time.”

  “I hope that stays true.”

  “You and me both. Keep a good watch on my future girlfriend. It’s your job to keep her safe.”

  Quinn’s lips curved down. “Why do you always have to take it to an annoying place?”

  “Just trying to keep you motivated.”

  “It’s working.”

  “I know.”

  16

  Sixteen

  Rowan woke before Quinn the next morning. It was the first time since h
er room had been broken into that he allowed himself to relax rather than serve as savior and protector. While Rowan was happy that Quinn wanted to be the one to look over her, she felt guilty he felt it was necessary.

  She was a grown woman, after all. She knew how to take care of herself. She didn’t want his focus solely on her, especially since he had other things that should be taking priority.

  She turned her face to his when she felt him stir and her smile was the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes.

  “Hey, Ro.” Quinn made fun of Rowan’s sluggish ways in the morning, but he wasn’t much better. The difference between them was that he could snap to the ready much faster than she if it became necessary.

  Thankfully, this morning it was not necessary.

  “Hi.” Rowan ran her index finger over Quinn’s stubbled jaw and smiled. “How did you sleep?”

  “Like a rock. How did you sleep?”

  “Like a smaller rock.”

  Quinn grinned as he pressed a quick kiss to the tip of her nose. “You look more rested than you have in days. I’m taking that as a win.”

  “I feel good. I’m more worried about you than myself.”

  Quinn’s smile slipped. “I wish you wouldn’t worry about me.”

  “I can’t help it. You know none of this is your fault, right?”

  “I’m not blaming myself.”

  Rowan was dubious. “You blame yourself for not realizing something was going on in time to save Bart,” she corrected. “You also can’t shake the idea that you shouldn’t have let Sally and me go shopping the other day, because then I probably wouldn’t have been shot at and that haunts you.”

  Quinn stared at her for a long beat. “It’s not that I wish you hadn’t gone shopping with Sally. It’s that it probably would’ve been smarter to go with you. I didn’t think about that ... and it does make me feel guilty.”