by Jayne Blue
They were headed out of view.
“Stone, start the boat and go this way.” I pointed at the birds, and my chase was on.
“What type of bird is that?”
“Remember the Broad-Winged Hawk?”
“You said you hadn’t seen one.”
“Right, there’s two.”
“Pedal to the metal, hold on Kara,” Stone said, and the boat surged forward in the water.
I got out my camera and clicked off as many shots as I could. Stone kept the boat steady as we continued to follow the birds.
The birds soared up and down, but it wasn’t aimless. They were headed straight for Ross Island.
I debated for split second, and the birds won. I hadn’t wanted to take Stone anywhere near my island, but the Broad-Winged Hawk had other ideas.
I kept my eye on them and so did Stone. They had to have a place to land and nest. If they weren’t on the main beach of Gold Cross, then they had to be on Ross Island. I mentally pulled up what I knew about the species.
They didn’t fly far. I hoped I was right, and this was what I thought it was. Ross Island’s shore was visible from Gold Cross. To the tourist, it would be trees and a beach off to the side of their sunset gazing.
My two lovelies soared over it and appeared to head down onto the island.
There was only one place to put in, a dock my grandfather had built in the lagoon section of the island.
“We’re aiming there; see how there’s a dip in the trees? There’s a dock we can use. I have to see if they’re living here.”
Stone did a good job pulling into the old dock. He really did have some idea how to handle himself on a boat. Offhandedly it made me want to visit Michigan. As he angled the boat into the dock, I jumped out on to it and made sure we didn’t bang against it. The dock was long, and we kept the boat at the deep-water end of it.
I threw him the rope and kicked over a few bumpers. I watched him tie it off.
“See I can even tie a knot.” He said.
“It’ll do.” Stone’s worn jeans and boots were a little out of place on the beach, but his bare chest was distracting in any setting I’d imagine. He was pitching in on this chase and for that at least he earned a few points back after stealing my map.
“Where to?”
“I need to find some evidence of them here.”
“This is your island, and you’ve never noticed them before?”
“It’s either new to them or a population that’s old, struggling to survive. This island is deserted most of the time.”
“Maybe that’s how they survived,” Stone added, and the point might not be too far off the mark.
I looked at the beach with a bit of longing. I had wanted to spend the day seeing of Dad’s map was worth a damn.
One goose chase at a time.
“This way. They don’t nest in the sand. It will be in the scrub.”
We trudged through the white sands and into the tree line. Ross Island had one beach shack and nothing else in the way of buildings for the last several hundred years.
The island was flat, but it did have an elevation in the middle, a hill more or less, that lead to a plateau. The plateau. That would be where the developer could situate their hotel. It was big enough for a massive structure, and their 360-degree beach view would be the selling point. I cringed at the thought.
The sandy beach disappeared into the tree line.
“Are we looking at trees or what?”
“Yes. They would be in the trees. The Broad-Winged Hawk used to live in the trees on Gold Cross, really up and down the coast. They’re not extinct by any means, but they really are gone or almost gone in Gold Cross. They’re predators, and there’s precious little prey for them. They need a tree close to the beach and Potter Development has been getting rid of trees since World War Two.”
“The banker’s grandparents?” Stone asked.
“Yep, as long as the Potter family has been influential bankers and politicians in this town Ross’s have been crazy pirates.”
“And you’re holding up the tradition.” I brushed aside his comment it was about the birds, not the bullion right now.
“Yeah, well the treasure we’re looking for is yay big and has a white body with gray tipped wings. Keep walking.”
I trudged along and felt the underbrush lash at my legs.
“Stop.” Stone put a hand out to my shoulder and stopped my progress toward the patch of trees I’d hoped would be the home of my one of the birds.
I stopped, and he dropped down to his knees in front of me. I was momentarily confused.
“What the hell?”
“You’re bleeding.” I looked down to see he was right. There was a gash on my outer thigh.
“Oh shit. That’s kind of deep.” I realized.
“It must have been one of the branches you barreled toward. Does it hurt?” Stone’s look of concern was unwarranted, but the blood was turning from a trickle to a river.
“Don’t be ridiculous it’s nothing.” But seeing it had my stomach turn over a little. I never liked the site of…
“I got you.” And I was on the ground. I hadn’t passed out, but I’d come close. Stone had broken my fall. Dammit did he have to be so nice wrapped up in something so sinful looking? I needed to find the birds for crying out loud.
“Sorry, it really doesn’t hurt. Just blood, it always does that to me.” I took a deep breath.
“Drink.” I sat up, and he’d been smart enough to bring a water bottle from Estelle’s cooler. I had been too busy running after the birds.
Stone was kneeling next to me, and I felt his fingertips lightly on my leg. He took the water bottle back and doused the tip of a bandana that he’d produced from somewhere with the fresh water.
He had one hand close to the top of my thigh in the front and the other he used to dab the cut.
“Ow.”
“Sorry baby, sorry. You okay?”
I hated that I loved that he just called me baby.
“I, yeah, it’s okay.”
“Do you have a first aid kit in your boat?”
“Yes, of course. But we’re not going back until I track my bird. I need to put a full report into work. They’ll be thrilled I think!”
“You’re stubborn.” I’d heard that before, and it didn’t faze me. Stubborn.
“Whatever. Let’s go.”
“Hold on.” And he slowly, gently, dabbed the wet cloth around the gash. I winced, and he looked up at me with more concern than my cut warranted.
“It’s not that bad,” I said.
“We’ll clean after this snipe hunt.”
“Broad-Winged Hawk.”
“Right.” And he stood up and offered me a hand. I hesitated. I had already gotten into trouble with him.
“You’re wasting daylight.” He said, and I brushed aside our earlier make out session. I had instigated that for my own ends, and it worked. I could handle myself with this man, and he was right. Ross Island had zero light after dark.
I put my hand in his, and he yanked me up to my feet.
“This way.” I hiked up a few more yards.
“What’s the nest look like?”
“We’re not looking for the nest. We’re looking for the droppings.”
“Lovely.”
A careful search around the tallest outcropping of trees provided what I needed. I collected samples of several different matter that was definitely bird droppings. I just hoped it came from the right bird and what I needed to prove it was my scarce bird.
“Okay, let’s head back.”
“Not going to dig for buried treasure while we’re here.”
“No. I need to get these back as soon as possible. They’ll be tested and then we’ll see if I’m looking at a species that needs help.”
“I’m definitely looking at a species that needs help.” The comment was aimed at me.
“Yeah, well, science can be bloody.”
We hustled b
ack to the boat, and I couldn’t wait to get my samples to the lab. Finally. After a summer of finding not much, I maybe had something that the agency could use and act on.
It wasn’t buried treasure, and it did nothing to help my bigger problems. But it was one small victory for ecology. Maybe.
Chapter Five
Stone
I drove the boat back with a few directions on how to find Pontiac’s pier. Kara was engrossed in bird droppings and also in making sure I didn’t grab her map or her for that matter.
She was a woman with focus. I had to respect that.
I easily pulled the boat in, and we tied it off.
There wasn’t so much as a see you later as she hurried up the pier with her samples and off to wherever her office was. She loaded her gear into the basket an actual bicycle and pedaled off. She pedaled fast and furious with increasingly crazy hair flying behind her and I watched as she faded from view.
Vivid as hell in my mind was that kiss and the way her skin felt under my hands. I instantly worried about letting her go off on her own.
This was her town, her life, and I’m sure she was all right, but at a gut level, I wanted to see her safely get wherever she was going.
Instead, I walked over to Jason Ross’s Bike Rental and Repair and with mixed emotions about what I wanted to hear. It had been a long day so even if I’d been able to leave I wouldn’t. Plus, the cabin on the boat Sawyer had gotten for me to hide out in was like a fucking Hilton compared to where I’d been.
On the one hand, I knew I needed to get out of Gold Cross and roll, on the other hand, I wanted my hands on Kara Ross.
Her brother Jason was working on another bike when I walked in. Mine was safely parked in a corner.
“What’s the diagnosis?”
“Not good pal, not good.”
“Shit.”
“I think it’s a two-day job at least.”
“Something you can handle?”
“Yeah, there’s a part I need from a guy one town over. I’m not going to be able to get it until he opens tomorrow. Then I’ll have to install it, could take most of tomorrow.”
I was going to be stuck in Gold Cross for a few days.
“That your boat out there? Pretty nice.”
“More or less. I chauffeured your sister around the water today.”
“Yeah I heard about Frank and Estelle’s boat. Fucking Butchie Fasbender.”
“Oh, and your sister, does she always bike all over town?”
“Yep, no car. Where was she headed?”
“Her office.”
“Let me guess, she had some bird shit or turtle poop in her basket?”
“You know your sister well.” Jason laughed.
“Well, that’s better than what she could be doing. I’ll get working on this first thing tomorrow.” I wondered if he was talking about that map of hers. I shrugged it off, though. I was interested in Kara Ross’s body. Not messing up whatever was going on in her life.
“Thanks.”
I headed back to the bar. I wouldn’t mind a cold beer and I also wanted to be sure that Frank and Estelle had solved their loan shark trouble.
“Well look who’s back? Good day on the water?”
Frank was behind the bar, and it was just starting to fill with bikers who looked a lot like me. From young to geriatric.
“Yes, I think so. Very scenic place you have.”
“So sorry about that scene you saw in our kitchen. Not something we’re proud of or our customers should see,” Frank said.
“I think I was at the right place at the right time in my opinion.”
“You sure helped our Kara out so I owe you a beer.” Frank poured one from the tap into a glass and slid it over to me.
“Seems like quite a few people have quite a bit of debt to the bank or to that Butchie?”
“Eh, Butchie’s just the muscle and yeah the real estate collapse hit us hard here. But you don’t want to try to hear about all the problems in Gold Cross. It would take a lifetime.”
“I do have a few days.”
“Yeah? Staying on?” Frank asked as he continued to keep up with drink orders that came into the bar.
“My bike has more serious problems than I thought. Jason says it’s going to take a while.”
“Well, I’m sure he told you getting a hotel room this month is impossible. Bike month is nuts. You need a place to stay? We an RV out back that’s currently empty. You helped our Kara. I’d love to return the favor.”
“Actually, I’ve got a cabin that’s perfect on the boat so I’m all set.”
“I saw that boat docking. She's a beauty. Our customers go late here but feel free to keep your boat docked on Pontiac’s Pier. We have about a dozen slips, and it’s first come first serve. I don’t charge. Also, if you’re not shy, I’ve got a beach shower right there. You’ll be all set.”
“Seems like you should charge, though.” Frank waved off my suggestion. The people in this town needed cash. I’d already decided that I’d pay him to dock the boat whether he liked it or not. I was used to late nights at the Wolf Den back home with my brothers. A little partying at the bar wasn’t going to rattle me if I wanted to sleep.
I’d been a part of starting several successful businesses thanks to the Great Wolves going legit. I wondered if anything here could be turned into a cash cow. The people sure seemed to need something to get out from under the bank and the loan sharks.
Estelle came over and gave me a hug.
“Thank you ma’am.”
“You’re our new favorite biker after this morning. And you can see that’s saying something. We get a lot of bikers in here.”
I looked around Pontiac’s, and it was filling up. All the bar seats were taken around me. The dance floor was moving. And the outdoor patio seemed to be crowded too.
“You sure do.”
“Stone’s going to be staying for a few days on that snazzy Cobalt,” Frank informed his wife. Estelle looked out to the dock and gave me a thumbs up. It was a spectacular boat.
“Wonderful! So glad to hear it. And may I make a suggestion?”
“Sure.”
“Go over to Island Togs in the morning. You’re going to need to be more comfortable. We’ve got some hot weather headed our way, and that leather isn’t going to be to work.”
“I suppose I could use some shorts.”
“Right, and make sure they’re not leather shorts. And a bathing suit, and flip-flops.” She added to the list of vacation clothes. I had none of that in my bag. I was on the run not on vacation. But I supposed she was right. Best not to advertise that you were in a resort town with not one piece of clothing that wasn’t jeans or leather.
“I draw the line on sandals,” I told her. Estelle laughed and got back to managing Pontiac’s.
I stood up looked around. I had hoped to run into Kara after her mad dash to her office but no such luck.
I supposed I could find a woman to keep me warm tonight, to finish what I started with Kara’s kiss. I was not going to sleep well. Maybe a woman here could help take the edge off. I kept flashing on Kara’s mouth, how she’d fit me like a glove. I really hadn’t intended to try to fuck her. But shit just took over when I got close to her.
Yeah, I needed to find a woman tonight to get my mind of sinking deep into that pretty little mad scientist. I scanned the crowd.
It left me a little disappointed and hollow. None of the women looked at all like Kara.
I wanted her in my bed and didn’t have one bit of interest in the girls in bikinis or the biker chicks at the bar. Fuck it. Apparently, I was just going to be uncomfortable.
I went back out on the Cobalt and took a look around. It had a bathroom, it’s own shower stall, a sink, a stovetop, and even a table. Beyond that, there was a bed big enough for two. Maybe three if I was really lucky. It was really the perfect set up. Damn, my club was good to me.
The thought of bringing Kara down here popped into my head no matter
how I tried to distract myself.
I wondered would she actually be hunting for treasure with that map of hers?
Was it even real?
Well, I wasn’t going anywhere for at least one more day so maybe I’d find out.
I heard a voice call my name.
“Hello? You in there?”
It was Kara.
“Come on down.” I was happy as hell to see her. She’d showered, changed into some pretty little dress, and looked sweet enough to eat.
She hesitated.
“Come on in. Take a look. The grand tour doesn’t take long.”
“Jesus it is nice down here. I love this boat,” she said as she looked around.
“Yeah I love that it can help you out.”
“So, I was wondering. Are you going to be here tomorrow?”
“Yes, it looks like at least one more day.”
“Would you, uh?” I knew she wanted a favor, and I was here to grant it to her. I’d pretty much do whatever she wanted. She just didn’t know it.
“You want to go treasure hunting?” I stepped toward her and caged her between the little counter and my body. She’d come down to my little lair, and I couldn’t resist showing her exactly what that meant.
“Now what did you want?” I asked her and she leaned her hips into mine.
“I came to see if we could go out again on the water tomorrow?” Her voice was quiet. She was shy, tentative, but she let me keep her close to me.
“Another day with you?”
“Yes, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. Coming to see you.” I didn’t really care what she was saying. I cared that she smelled clean, that her little dress was hardly a barrier between us.
“I think it was an excellent idea.” And I leaned down and brushed my lips against hers. They were soft and yielding. I’d never fit with lips like these before. She didn’t protest or move away so I darted my tongue to the tip of hers.
She tasted of something sweet. Fruity.
I didn’t want to push too fast, but I wanted her. Our tongues met again, and she put her hands up into my hair. It felt good to be touched, to have her touch me and the kiss deepened. The bank teller may have gotten it wrong because this woman knew how to kiss.
Her body pressed into mine, and my hands slid up and down her arms and to her back. This kiss wasn’t going to stay a kiss. I wanted her naked, I wanted her in that bed behind us.
