Wanna Play (Ghost Unit, Book Three)

by Faulkner, Gail

  Jas leaned back, her face turned up to the sky, letting damp heat seep into her bones. The loud drone of the flying blades behind her became white noise as calm came to her on the fragrant breeze. Fragile as dragonfly wings, peace fluttered through the horror and death. It wasn’t freedom, but it was enough for this moment.

  Chapter Seven

  Blaster glanced at her as he let the boat glide up the stream. Speed was not important. They were close to the destination but he didn’t want to disturb her. It seemed the storm had stopped in her at last. She was relaxed and calm in a way he hadn’t seen yet. The brackish water they glided over began to clear.

  The boat slowed even more and Jas straightened. Around them the water was sparkling and clear, right down to a surprising sandy bottom. The body of water they drifted over was surrounded by towering cypress trees and lush undergrowth. It was a separate world. Rounding a slight bend, she saw a wide pool open before them, not quite big enough to be called a lake. The clear water showed the bottom dropping away ’til the other end went deep blue-black.

  They pulled up to a short dock. Beyond the dock, a rocky path rose abruptly for a few yards and there it was. The building was magnificent and peculiar, appearing as if it’d been dropped on the banks of the jewel-bright water by otherworldly hands. Ghostly gray walls were covered in flowering bougainvillea, splashing it with bright purple clumps of flowers. The small Moorish castle looked both fortress and dreamscape. It rose out of the near jungle with elegant lines and gracious angles.

  Blaster cut the engines and abruptly the sounds of the birds, insects and gently swaying trees seemed loud.

  “What the hell is that?” Jas asked softly.

  “The pirate’s cabin.” Blaster was tying up the airboat and turned to grin at her. “There’s a story to explain it.”

  “Where is here? There’s nothing else around. Why would anyone build that gorgeous thing in the middle of nowhere?” They stepped off the boat and the old dock swayed gently. Jas immediately hurried off the wooden structure and frowned back at Blaster following her closely.

  “That thing as old as the house? It feels like it’ll go any time.”

  “It’ll hold ’til tomorrow.” He stepped around her to lead the way up toward the exotic little castle.

  “So what’s the story? Are you sure it’s safe to go in there?”

  “The place is semi-maintained by the Seminole tribe. It’s on tribe property. They keep it repaired enough not to deteriorate further. They don’t tell outsiders about it because they’d rather not have people trying to dig up the treasure all over the place. It’s safe.”

  “Treasure? Pirates and now treasure?” Jas laughed as they crossed the wildly bohemian front garden. It had once been a formal garden. The structured remains barely visible. A few Greek-like sculptures peeked out of the greenery. The trees appeared to drip with orchids and vines in a lush landscape.

  “Of course there’s treasure. How could it be a pirate’s hideout without lost treasure?” Blaster opened a high metal gate that protested as it gave them access to a walled patio. It was more grotto than courtyard as the abandoned plants had gone uncultivated. However a tinkling trickle of water drew her eyes to a functioning fountain pouring water down from the far wall into a pool at its base.

  Blaster paused as she took it in. The relaxed smile on her lips as she gazed around was what he’d been seeking. She was so caught up in the surprising structure that she’d forgotten the last few days. He could give her that, at least for a short while.

  “How in the world does that still work?” Jas asked in amazement.

  “The man who built this place should have been an engineer instead of a pirate. He used forced water from deep in the spring, no mechanics. Come in. Let me show you the first air-conditioned house in the Glades. It’s actually water conditioned.”

  The big double doors in front of them easily swung open to what had once been a grand entryway. There had been no lock. The first thing she noticed was the distinct drop in temperature as she entered. Then the house took over. The floor was inlaid stone in a pattern that appeared a random use of color but was very pleasing to the eye.

  There wasn’t a scrap of furniture in sight and the wide windows were shuttered, only allowing thin strips of light. There had once been drapes, but only rods remained. The subdued lighting added an air of forgotten opulence as they looked around. There were great rooms opening off either side of the entryway, their murky depths beckoning the explorer in her. Shadows whispered invitations in every direction.

  “Oh my God, Blaster, it’s fabulous!” Jas gazed around in awe.

  “It is. Would you like to explore?”

  “Yes! Who could resist?”

  “Okay, go that way first.” Blaster indicated the left. “Give me ten minutes this way, then come out to the end of the building.”

  Jas glanced at him. “You’re up to something.”

  “Course I am. Indulge me.”

  Laughing she turned to the left and slowly entered what must have been a grand parlor room. “It’ll be more than ten minutes.”

  “I meant at least ten minutes.” Blaster turned the other way and strode through the house carrying both duffle bags and the food bag, disappearing out the back.

  It was an hour later when Jas finally found him. Stepping through double French doors, still glassed in old leaded panes, she entered a wide patio whose low stone wall overlooked the spring below. Modern-looking screen panels had been rolled down from the tile roof shading this private haven and cutting off bugs from the amazing space.

  On the stone floor sat several chaise lounges complete with cushions, obviously not original furniture. The cool floor made the space comfortable even though it was outside. One side of the patio was taken up with another ingenious fountain. Out of the castle wall spewed water into a wide rounded pool that was large enough for several people to sit comfortably on the stone ledge a few feet below the waterline. The water escaped through holes near the top of the pool and was funneled off to the side of the patio. It created an indoor spa of sorts.

  The water was clear and the stone showed no signs of moss as she would have expected. Throughout the castle she’d come across these amazing uses for the water coursing through the walls somehow. The kitchen had running water, as did the surprising bathrooms. Obviously built before modern plumbing, she supposed the architect took his inspiration for the Roman’s use of running water. They too had engineered functioning indoor restrooms.

  The chase lounges invited with overstuffed cushions and Blaster had pushed two of them together facing the equatorial perfection of the scene below. Beside the lounges was a low wrought iron table with bread, cheese and the fruit they’d brought.

  The man himself was floating in the pool though. Completely nude and appearing asleep. Could someone sleep while floating without a raft?

  “It took you long enough,” he murmured without opening his eyes.

  “Have you seen this place? It’s astounding, a monument to engineering and ingenuity. How the hell has it remained a secret? Why isn’t it a national treasure? How come there’s no moss on the stone surfaces in the house?”

  “Slow down, woman. I’ll tell you everything I know. Are you hungry? There’s some food if you want it.” Blaster still hadn’t opened his eyes as he floated so he was startled when the water was disturbed as Jas stepped into it.

  “Holy shit! How come this water isn’t cold like it is in the rest of the house?” Jas exclaimed in shock as her body sank into the comfortable warm depths.

  “He was a brilliant engineer. That’s why.” Blaster’s eyes were open, watching her.

  Jas frowned as she floated beside him. “You don’t know how he did it?”

  “Sure I know how he did it, but I can’t remember at the moment.”

  Floating on her back beside him, as nude as he was, she presented a visual that drove the old pirate from Blaster’s head with a vengeance.

  Jas glanced
at him. “Huckleberry, don’t you dare glaze over and become an idiot. This place is amazing, I have a million questions.”

  Blaster swallowed and closed his eyes again. Safest way to handle this, he supposed, and started with the questions he could remember. “The water is warm because it flows through the roof of the patio before it enters the pool. I think this guy invented solar heating.”

  “How does he get it flowing through the walls?”

  “Apparently he used varied sizes of pipe. Water flowing down from a large pipe to a small one creates velocity that can be used to send it up if he wanted to. No one is sure because they’d have to take the walls apart to prove it, but it’s the theory that makes the most sense.”

  “How does he get the cold water from the spring and it’s still cold when it gets here?” Floating beside him, her eyes closed, the water soothing stress out of her system, Jas wallowed in the puzzle of the house.

  “Underground stone vaults. He starts with using the natural velocity from the flow of the spring deep down near its head, and then he uses pressure from pooled water escaping through small pipes to move it up while keeping it underground. Again, a theory, have to dig it up to know for sure. That’d be frowned on.”

  “Why doesn’t anyone know about this place? How is it kept a secret?” Jas wanted to know next.

  “Well, to begin with, it was a secret. The only way to reach it is the water. In every direction off this patch of raised ground are dangerous bogs with sinkholes, quicksand and all inhabited by the natural barriers of alligators, water moccasins and the like. You can’t physically walk here from another safe piece of land. No one knows how the captain found this spot. Later when it was abandoned, the Seminoles considered it cursed ground and saw little value in it. They never spoke of it simply because there was no reason to do so.

  “When the reservation was given to the Nations this sat in the middle of it, unknown and unseen. The tribe became aware of the value they possessed and they still remained silent, sure the government would find a way to take it from them. There was an elder in the twenties who convinced the tribe maintaining the roof and storm shutters was important. So here it is.”

  It was a perfectly peaceful refuge, Jas thought. The light waterfall sounds coupled with tropical birdcalls, even the insects outside the screen were soothing. Large, spreading trees filtered the sunlight streaming down around them, making it dance through the lush foliage fed by the spring. There was nothing but peace.

  “Tell me the story of this place,” Jas murmured. She liked the sound of his deep voice mixed with the other noises. Something about his timbre and pitch blended with the wild, barely civilized surroundings perfectly.

  Though they were both completely relaxed, luxuriating in the warm, natural hot tub, he was the energy that made this perfect. Alone she’d have enjoyed it but not as much as the decadent pleasure of being naked with a full-grown man-beast. It was somehow sweeter to indulge in complete relaxation of the muscles when at any moment his hands could be skimming over them. He wouldn’t force her, but there was no doubt she could trust him to tempt her. Perfect.

  “That’s a long, twisted tale of an idiot and his poor choices. Sure you want to hear it?”

  “I thought you said he was brilliant?”

  “I said he was a brilliant engineer and eventually he turned into a very successful pirate by pirate standards, but he was a freaking idiot were women were concerned. Of course this huge project was constructed for a woman. Two women actually.”

  “Two women?” Jas snorted, “I can see where that’d get his ass in trouble.”

  “I’ll tell you as we eat.” Blaster stood and reached down to scoop up her floating form.

  “Hey, I was floating there,” Jas protested mildly, way too relaxed to do more than hold on to his neck as he transported her to the lounges. He laid her down nearest the table and slid up next to her on the other side. Propped on his elbow, he reached over her, grabbed a square of cheese and held it to her mouth.

  Jas opened to speak and he jammed it in. Chewing on the tangy treat, she managed around it, “Tell me.”

  Blaster leaned over all that lush woman for another piece of food. Way back in the bleachers of his brain, logic was laughing its ass off while occasionally gasping out the phrase, You are so screwed, idiot. Point was, he was lying beside the woman of his darkest fantasies, naked as a drunk in a whorehouse, and she wanted him to tell her stories. He was too damn nuts about the woman to do anything but what she asked.

  So this is why married people complained about not getting any? Naw, that couldn’t be it. He wanted to “do” her more than he wanted to live. Only reason he wasn’t convincing her that she didn’t really wanna hear the tale was that he knew she was tired…and fuck it all, he cared more about her being tired than the rigga’ that would soon be affecting his upper body. Cells deprived of blood long enough would die, upper torso was gonna go first on him.

  “The story starts in Scotland. It seems Old Captain Collin was the third son of some British titled guy. No real prospects so he was shipped off to the Royal Navy. When he returned, his dad no longer lived in England but had been given a huge estate in the Highlands. We now know where Collin’s real talents lay and it wasn’t at sea. So he goes up there happy as a clam to tame the wilds of Scotland. His dad, still hoping to get rid of the boy, buys him a boat and tries to make him become a merchant marine. So everyone is unhappy.

  “Apparently Collin falls for some local girl who’s engaged to a native Scottish laird. He steals the woman from her wedding ceremony and takes off in the ship Daddy had bought him. That plan made him an outlaw and he can’t return home.

  “He brings her to Tampa and sets up house. On the way over, he’d stopped in Barbados and picked up a young girl to be her servant. Soon as they hit Florida, the black servant becomes a slave by the law of the land. Born a free woman, she’s not happy with this.

  “The Scottish chick hates his guts so he consoles himself with the slave. Some say he started this place as a prison for his stolen bride. In any case, stolen bride soon takes off with their only child and is last seen riding north.

  “He finishes this place and installs his mistress, the slave. He gives her every conceivable extravagance except freedom. Of course he couldn’t live with her like that in society at the time, so this is the best he can do. He’s out here with her and two old slaves to care for them and the property. As you know, this place is a secret so no one ever comes around. His mistress hates it.

  “Eventually he goes off to practice his new profession. Thinking the three slaves would be secure here, he takes off in the only boat.

  “One time he returns and finds only the two old slaves. They tell him the girl made a raft and left. He knows she’s not likely to have made it out of here alive and searches for her. Not finding her, he goes a little mad. That’s when he took to pirating for sport, becoming one of the bloodiest, most feared men on the high seas.

  “In the end he became fabulously wealthy and retired to New Orleans where he lived with a whore for another twenty years. They had a bunch of kids but he never married her.”

  Blaster had been feeding Jas bits of bread, cheese and fruit as he told the tale, his head often dipping to lick a crumb off her shoulders or the tops of her breasts. He’d leave a gentle kiss but never explore farther south.

  Jas found lying there naked in the Florida afternoon was so damn comfortable in an entirely spoiled princess way. The eroticism of it was lazy and intense. They were primal male and female, who had all the time in the world to explore, enjoy, drown in the pleasure of the moment.

  “Where’s the treasure part of that story?” Jas opened one eye and looked up at his golden face. Handsome as sin, the pirate leaning over her was as wicked as any long-dead sailor.

  “Remember the fabulously wealthy part? Turns out he didn’t keep the stash in New Orleans. When he died, the lady who’d lived with him couldn’t find the gold. None of his descendants
have been able to locate it. Obviously they knew about the house in Tampa and have searched there. They didn’t know about this place. No one but the Seminoles knew about it since the day Captain Collin stopped coming here. So, there’s a good chance it’s hidden here.”

  “How come they haven’t torn this place apart looking for it?”

  “Actually they didn’t know that part until recently. Public Television did a special on the guy when it was discovered his decedents from New Orleans were the only living heirs to the old title and estate his dad held in Scotland. That’s where the tribe learned most of the facts to put together with the story they knew from the house in the Glades.”

  Blaster waved a hand at the food. “Want any more?”

  “No, I’m full enough.” He’d just finished serving her chunks of mango. The sweet, sticky juice now coated his fingers. Jas grabbed his hand before he could put a finger in his mouth and redirected his index finger to her mouth.