Enduring Charity: A Charity Styles Novel (Caribbean Thriller Series Book 4)
Page 22
“All the time,” he replied, making the final turn into open water. He punched the throttles up a little, as the boat moved farther away from shore. “I thought those were just island bar songs that everyone played.”
The others laughed. “And what was that language you and Henry were speaking,” Fiona asked. “Semper yut, gunny?”
Charity looked at Jesse and he nodded. “Time to come clean,” she said, turning toward the girls sitting with her on the side bench. “Jesse and Tony are everything I told you they were. Before that, Jesse was a Marine sniper and Tony, a Navy SEAL. Gunny is short for gunnery sergeant, the rank Jesse retired as.”
The two women exchanged glances and Leilani said, “I’ve been using my grandmother’s name. I started using it, the day I was taken from my family. She died just a year before that.”
“Smart thinking,” Jesse said. “Now you can go home and be yourself without worry.”
A slow smile came to the tiny woman’s face. “I am Moana Kapena. I am Samoan.”
Jesse pushed the throttles forward, and the bow rose, as the big boat gathered speed. Once on plane, he smiled at the little woman, and rose from his seat. He moved around behind it, while reaching across the seat to hold the boat steady. “Come over here, Moana Kapena.”
The tiny woman exchanged looks with Charity, who nodded. She stood and stepped behind the helm.
“Take the wheel,” Jesse said. “See that red dot on the chart plotter? That’s a gap in the reef. Aim the little boat icon on the screen at the dot and when we get close, you’ll be able to see the reef.”
“Are you nuts?” Moana asked, gripping the wheel in both hands.
“You don’t know what your name means?”
Moana twisted her head around, looking back at Jesse. “I was a kid when I was taken. I didn’t even know names had meanings.”
Jesse put a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll do fine, just follow your instincts. Kapena means captain and Moana means ocean. Your parents chose your destiny when you were born. The Samoan people were the first true mariners. They crossed oceans three thousand years before Columbus arrived here in these islands.”
“Really?” Moana asked.
“Anything to do with boats and seas,” Charity said, “Jesse’s the man to ask.”
Moana settled down at the wheel and concentrated on the chart plotter, occasionally standing and looking over the helm at the approaching reef.
Charity looked out over the bow and could see the color change of the water and the eddies where the rollers rose over the reef. Moana stopped looking at the plotter and concentrated on the reef ahead.
Jesse reached past her and pushed the throttles almost to full speed, just shy of the rpm where the superchargers began screaming. The Revenge surged forward, quickly reaching nearly full speed. Moana squealed in surprise.
“Aim for the center of the undisturbed waves,” Jesse said, pointing ahead. “That’s the cut in the reef. Anywhere you see foam or swirling water, there’s coral just below the surface.”
A few minutes later, the Revenge charged through the breach into the TOTO, or Tongue of the Ocean, a long, wide trench in the seafloor that was nearly a mile deep. The wind was up a little and seas beyond the reef were choppier. The waves presented no problem for the Revenge.
“See the compass there on top of the helm?” Jesse asked, pointing. Moana nodded. “Turn a little to the right, until the number one-thirty shows up.”
When she had the boat going in the right direction, Jesse reached past her shoulder and flipped on the auto-pilot. “You can let go now, the boat will drive itself.”
“That was cool!” Moana shouted, standing and jumping up to hug Jesse. She nearly knocked him off balance, but he managed to grab the back of the seat in time.
“You’re a natural, kid,” Jesse said, blushing slightly, as he put the girl down.
Charity caught the flush in his cheeks and the quick glance downward at Moana’s tiny frame. Although the young woman was about the same age as his oldest daughter, Jesse knew he hadn’t just been holding a kid.
The reality of what she was about to undertake hit her. These two women had been treated as nothing more than warm meat nearly their entire lives. How did one go about unbreaking a person, putting the pieces back together in the right order and getting them to realize that their life can have purpose and meaning beyond being someone’s punching bag or sex toy? It would be doubly hard, since even a good and decent man like McDermitt could have lustful thoughts around them.
Charity glanced at her charges. Neither was wearing a bit of makeup and they were dressed in new clothes made for boating; loose and baggy. Still, it was obvious that they were two very beautiful young women. In any port or anchorage in the Caribbean, they’d quickly become the center of attention.
“So how did it feel, being in control of over two thousand horsepower?” Tony asked Moana, breaking in on Charity’s thoughts.
“Whoa!” Fiona said. “Really?”
Tony went on, talking about the engines and how Jesse had modified them. He rattled on about twin turbo this, and supercharger that. In some deep, subliminal way, he was flirting with the two women and probably didn’t even realize it.
She knew Tony quite well; they’d worked side by side for over two years. On first meeting him, Charity had found him attractive. He was witty and charming and completely forthright and honest about everything. But she’d been anxious to prove that she could not only fit in but was fit for the job, so she’d shut down his advances.
Yes, Tony Jacobs was a good man, too. A married man. And she somehow knew that he’d never be unfaithful to his wife, no matter the circumstances. Yet here he was, casually flirting with a girl at least ten years younger than him.
If these two men, both honorable and caring people, could have even a momentary lapse in judgment, seeing these two girls in a sexual way, what chance did she have of teaching them that all men weren’t like those they’d known in the past?
Yeah, Charity thought. This is going to be a challenge.
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The Charity Styles Caribbean Thriller Series
Merciless Charity
Ruthless Charity
Reckless Charity
Enduring Charity
The Jesse McDermitt Caribbean Adventure Series
Fallen Out
Fallen Palm
Fallen Hunter
Fallen Pride
Fallen Mangrove
Fallen King
Fallen Honor
Fallen Tide
Fallen Angel
Fallen Hero
Rising Storm
Rising Fury
Rising Force (Fall, 2018)
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