Stranded with the Captain

by Sharon Hartley

  “What is that?” she asked.

  “An emergency flare.” Javi chuckled. “How about that? Serenity is returning fire.”

  The flare landed in the water maybe thirty feet beyond Spree.

  A second flare emerged from the bow of Serenity, aimed lower this time.

  Javi shot her a worried look. “Are you able to move?”

  “I’m fine,” Cat insisted. Maybe not fine, but she could definitely move.

  Javi jumped to his feet, reached down for her left arm and pulled her up with him.

  “Then let’s haul ass back to the mangroves.”

  Focused on the vegetation beyond the beach, she trudged through the unforgiving sand. Javi pulled her with him, encouraging her to run faster, but her feet were like lead weights.

  She tried not to think about being shot in the back. Hell, she’d already been shot once. Well, not really. The pain wasn’t much worse than when she nipped herself with her pruning shears while repotting. But still.

  Anyway, right now the pirates’ attention was focused elsewhere.

  When they reached safety, she flopped to her belly on the damp ground. With Javi on her right, they both stared at what was happening on the water.

  Another flare streamed toward Spree as Serenity chugged in the opposite direction.

  The pirates were no longer visible. She grinned. Wimps. “If a flare hits Spree, will the boat catch on fire?” she asked.

  “No, but it’ll leave a hell of a mess.”

  That would be too bad, but Cat felt like shouting. Or laughing. Doing something to celebrate. She and Javi had accomplished their mission. Amazingly, they’d scared away the new boat and they were both still alive. She hadn’t really believed that was possible.

  “We did it,” she said.

  “Again,” he said.

  “We make a good team,” Cat said, holding up her left hand for a high five.

  Javi intertwined his fingers with hers and squeezed. But why was he scowling?

  At another panicked shout from the anchorage, she turned in time to see a fiery sphere land on Spree’s foredeck. Before long, water sloshed out of the forward hatch over the incandescent orb, but with little effect. The flare continued to burn for several minutes until it sputtered out.

  Cat shook her head, imagining the damage that had been left behind on the once-beautiful boat. And who knew what havoc the pirates had caused down in the cabin.

  “Is a flare hot enough to burn a hole through the deck?” she asked.

  Javi sighed. “Maybe.”

  Cat stifled a laugh. Their situation wasn’t funny, but she still felt like celebrating. “I don’t think your friend will trust you with his boat anymore.”

  Javi shot her an outraged look, but a smile tugged at his mouth. He shook his head and returned his attention to the ocean.

  “I just hope there’ll be a boat left to return to him,” he said.

  Cat turned onto her back and gazed at a beautiful blue sky through the branches. The storm had left behind a clear, perfect day and a gentle breeze.

  Just another day in paradise.

  “Is Serenity out of danger yet?” she asked.

  “Almost cleared the channel.”

  Cat nodded, ridiculously happy to hear that news, which might be cause to doubt her sanity. How could she be happy? Maybe a human being could only be terrified for so long until they became numb. Whatever. She and Javi had saved the occupants of Serenity, and that was something. Really something.

  But not if Joan and Deb became that collateral damage Javi spoke of.

  “Are the pirates back on deck?” she asked.

  “Not yet.”

  “They’ll come ashore soon,” she said.

  “Unless the police get here first,” Javi warned.

  She fidgeted, trying to find a more comfortable position. Impossible, although lying on her back put less pressure on her injury.

  She conducted a mental inventory. Her clothing was damp and her bathing suit constricting. She lay in dirt surrounded by smelly bird poop. She was filthy, hungry and exhausted. Her arm stung like a thousand wasps had feasted on her flesh.

  Would she ever be comfortable again?

  And yet she’d never felt more alive.

  Cat turned to her side and raised her head to look toward the water. Spree appeared to be peacefully floating on anchor. From this distance, she couldn’t see any burns or damage left by the flare. No one would know anything was amiss. If another boat happened along, she and Javi would have to sound another alarm.

  But for the moment, they were safe.

  She released a sigh and switched her focus to Javi. Eyes narrowed, he remained focused on Spree, no doubt anticipating the next disaster, furiously making plans to keep her safe. My brave buccaneer captain. A surge of affection rushed through her as she watched him.

  His beard was much fuller now. He’d somehow received a scratch on his forehead, which had bled and dried. The wound only added to his bad-boy mystique. If it weren’t for her presence, the rookie civilian dragging him down—someone to worry about—he would be enjoying every second of this adventure. For him this was a total adrenaline rush. She got that now.

  She’d been terrified when this catastrophe had begun, but had done what she had to do, surprising herself and Javi. Especially herself.

  Of course she couldn’t have managed much without him. Danger must be addictive. No wonder Javi liked being an FBI agent.

  But addiction to anything was never a good thing. She needed to remember that. Adventure might be all well and good, but she wanted to stay alive. She’d learned life was precious—even when boring.

  “Hey,” she murmured.

  Javi rolled to his side so they lay face-to-face, so close she could feel his breath on her chin.

  He smiled and tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. “What?”

  “Thanks.”

  He raised his brows. “Thanks?”

  “In case I forget, or don’t get the opportunity later, thanks for taking such good care of me.”

  “Wait a minute.” He frowned. “You’re not giving up on me, are you?”

  “No way, Captain, sir,” she said briskly. She’d execute a salute if it wouldn’t hurt her arm.

  “Because we’re going to be fine,” he said.

  “I know we are.”

  “Good.” He stroked her cheek with a light touch, and returned his attention to the water.

  And right then Cat realized she’d never felt closer to another human being than she did to Javi. Had she actually been stupid enough to fall in love with him?

  It wasn’t pure lust—although, hey, sexual heat was certainly part of it. Her feelings went deeper than physical attraction. She liked and admired the man underneath the smooth good looks. How had that happened? When had that happened?

  No. She needed to remember he was a man addicted to danger. And he was taking her there with him, turning her into something she wasn’t, which could get her killed.

  She only thought she was in love with him because of their forced intimacy and shared jeopardy. She’d heard of this kind of thing before. Her feelings couldn’t be real. She’d known him three or four days.

  No doubt Javi had these sorts of transitory danger-fueled relationships all the time. He was likely even aware of how she felt. Still, she wouldn’t take back their brief desperate moments of passion for anything. If her life ended here, she would have experienced that special sort of bliss at least once. Well, actually, it was twice, wasn’t it?

  Besides, what did it matter? However this ill-fated charter ended—in tragedy or success—anything between them would swiftly crash and burn brighter than the flares launched from Serenity. Javi would eagerly move on to corralling
other bad guys. She’d return to her placid life among the orchids.

  Because she couldn’t live with the threat of constant danger. She wasn’t cut out to be the significant other of a law enforcement officer. Not the real Cat. The courageous alien who’d temporarily possessed her body was a stranger.

  Too bad, though. This visitor certainly knew how to have an adventure.

  “What’s wrong?” Javi asked.

  “Did you just ask me what’s wrong?” she asked with a laugh. “Seriously?”

  Smiling, he swiveled his head to gaze at her. “You’re thinking so hard I can hear you.”

  The captain was getting to know her too well. Warmth flooded her face, but she didn’t mind. That reaction was the real Cat.

  “I was thinking about you, actually,” she said.

  “What about me?”

  “You love this, don’t you?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “The excitement, the danger, figuring out what’s going to happen next.”

  He held her gaze for a long moment before he looked away. “I wouldn’t say I love the danger exactly.”

  “No?”

  “What I love is putting criminals in jail.”

  Cat nodded. That made sense because of what had happened to his brother.

  “But each operation is a challenge, like a puzzle,” he continued. “I guess I do enjoy solving a puzzle.”

  She flopped onto her back again, suspecting there was more to his career choice than the satisfaction of a solved conundrum. More likely that addictive adrenaline rush was what he craved.

  Javi also rolled to his back and stared toward the heavens. Wondering what time it was, she followed his gaze to the clear blue sky. Nine, ten?

  “So riddle me this, Mr. FBI Guy. Do you think the police will arrive first or will the bad guys come for that dinghy?”

  “That’s the question of the moment, isn’t it?” he said.

  “Until the next one.”

  He raked his fingers through his hair. “What I’d give for a working cell phone or Wi-Fi.”

  “To think there’s no internet access on Gun Cay,” she lamented. “The amenities are definitely substandard.”

  He chuckled softly. “The timing depends on how convincing the captain of Serenity is. The authorities have already checked here once, and there are a lot of islands in the Bahamas.”

  “But you think they’ll come.”

  “Eventually, but they could be following a lead in the Exumas or Eleuthera. The police only have so many resources, and it could take some time to return.”

  “So the odds are good the pirates will come for the dinghy first?” she asked.

  “Yeah. We need to drag it into the mangroves so it will be easier for me to move on them.”

  “What if we leave the dink where it is and let them take it?”

  Javi frowned.

  “When they leave, we could swim to Spree, rescue our friends and contact the authorities.”

  “That would allow the pirates to escape,” he said.

  “Yeah, but you wouldn’t be killed.”

  * * *

  JAVI SIGHED. HE hated the idea of the pirates getting away, but he and Cat had already pushed their luck. So far they’d escaped serious harm, but eventually a bullet—possibly a fatal one—would find one of them. Cat had already come close to disaster. Too close.

  He didn’t want to get shot again, and he for damn sure didn’t want her harmed.

  Sometimes warriors had to pick their battles. Was this one of those times?

  “What if they grab the dinghy and go back to Spree,” Javi said.

  “Oh,” she said. “They could force Joan and Deb to leave with them.”

  Javi shook his head, liking the process of kicking things around with Cat. “That’s possible, but I keep wondering what they’d gain. Why do that?”

  “Hostages. Cover.” She wrinkled her nose. “Pure meanness.”

  “I think they know they’re better off disappearing into these islands without hostages to slow them down.”

  She swiveled her head to look back at the sky again. “So what’s to stop them from killing Joan and Deb before they swim to shore?”

  He didn’t want to answer that question. Things had changed. The pirates were angry. Angry with each other, angry that he and Cat had eluded their bullets, angry with the occupants of Serenity, with the malfunctioning boat they’d commandeered—hell, they were pissed at the whole world.

  Frustrated by the failure of their plan, they could take it out on Cat’s friends. They didn’t have anything to gain, but Joan and Deb could ID them. And maybe Cat had hit on the truth. Maybe the scum that took over Spree were just purely mean.

  He needed to be honest with her. He owed her that. And she already knew what his answer would be.

  “That could happen,” he said. “I don’t think it will, but—”

  “But it could,” she interrupted. “And there’s nothing we can do to stop it.”

  “Whatever they decide, it’ll happen soon,” Javi said. “They know Serenity will have sounded an alarm.”

  Cat remained quiet for a few moments. “I just keep thinking if the pirates intended on killing their hostages, they already would have. Or maybe that’s false hope.”

  Javi found her hand and squeezed. The last time they’d seen either of her friends, a gun had been aimed at Joan’s head. No gunshots, but Joan and Deb could both already be dead. At this point, their value as cover for the pirates was lost. Maybe the pirates didn’t gain anything by another murder, but they didn’t have much to lose, either.

  The thought of two young women killed for no good reason made up his mind. Maybe murder hadn’t happened yet; maybe it had. But no way were these vultures getting away with anything. Whatever the risk, he had to stop them right here before anyone else got in their way.

  He turned over and surveyed Spree. With the tide going out, the boat now sat on her keel at an awkward angle.

  Nothing doing on board yet, but his gut still told him the pirates would act soon. They knew they had to disappear before the law showed up to investigate the shoot-out at the Gun Cay anchorage.

  “As soon as the pirates enter the water, we’ll move the dinghy,” he said. “We’ll drag it into the mangroves to force them to leave the safety of the beach.” And they won’t know where I’m lurking.

  “Why wait?” she asked.

  Her tone and even the question told him she agreed with his decision. Cat didn’t want the pirates to escape, either.

  “Once they stash their weapons in dry bags, they won’t risk exposing them to salt water,” he said. “We’ll be safe from gunfire, but we’ll have to move fast.”

  “I hate this waiting,” she said. “It’s nerve-racking.”

  He shot her a look. One thing for sure. Having a civilian partner definitely changed the nature of an op, made it more casual. He was undecided whether that was a good thing or not.

  “I wish they’d hurry up and leave,” she said. “I’m dreading the sound of a gun.”

  Javi nodded. He’d steeled himself for that noise, knowing it would mean the pirates had decided to rid themselves of an unnecessary complication. But they didn’t need to. He was certain Joan and Debbie were restrained and no trouble.

  He could only hope and pray these pirates weren’t so desperate they’d lost their humanity. Unfortunately, sometimes that happened.

  “What would you do if you had a cell phone?” Cat asked, interrupting the silence again. She definitely wasn’t good at waiting. “Who would you call?”

  “Heathbow Smith,” Javi answered immediately. “My friend with the fuel dock at Alice Town.”

  “Why not the cops?”

  He shif
ted his gaze to Cat. “They wouldn’t take me seriously, but Heath knows me, knows I’m an agent, and his brother is a cop.”

  Staring at Spree, she nodded, her red hair a tangled mass surrounding her face like a halo. Her eyes widened and she sucked in a breath.

  “It’s beginning,” she said.

  Javi swung his focus back to Spree. One pirate had entered the cockpit, carrying a cushion from the saloon table. He’d strapped a backpack to the cushion with bright red bungie cords.

  “What’s he doing with that cushion?” Cat asked.

  “Using it as a flotation device,” Javi said.

  “I’m guessing whatever is in that backpack is what they stole.”

  “The pharmaceuticals,” Javi said. “Worth a fortune on the streets.”

  The second pirate arrived in the cockpit toting another cushion with a second backpack strapped to it. The men spoke, but Spree was too far away to make out any words.

  “Do you think they know we’re watching?” Cat asked.

  “Probably. But they’re not afraid of us. They have weapons.”

  The men tossed the cushions in the water and sat on the side of the boat, their feet dangling into the water. The white pirate entered the ocean first, lowering himself slowly, grabbing onto his cushion. He yelled something back to his partner and began kicking toward land.

  When the second pirate slid into the ocean, Javi turned to Cat. “Ready?”

  She jumped to her feet.

  “Come on,” he said. “We haven’t got much time.”

  They ran onto the beach until they reached the dinghy. With frequent glances at the men swimming to shore, Javi grabbed the line behind Cat. Together they tugged the dink off the beach onto the trail.

  Once the boat was clear of the sand, it didn’t slide as easily over rocks, other debris, even the occasional mangrove root. The trail remained wet from the storm, so at times they sloshed through mud.

  Breathing hard, Cat leaned over, placing her hands on her knees. “Give me a minute,” she gasped.

  Javi continued to drag the boat up the trail. Without her help, the dinghy became much heavier. Another good reason for a partner.

  Scared off by the gunfire, the local bird population had abandoned their rookery, but the stink permeated the air around them.