28. Cole

CHAPTER 28

COLE

“ Y eah, I understand, buddy. Take it easy, and hopefully you can join us next week.”

Cole’s run of bad luck continued. Delroy had some numbness in his hand, and apparently the doctors were worried about nerve damage, so he had to stay in for tests. How the hell had the man managed to injure himself during dinner? He’d splattered blood all over Bella’s clothes, and she’d looked pretty upset about the whole incident. Just when he thought things were going smoother between them, more shit happened.

“Everything okay?” she asked, walking onto the deck with two steaming mugs of coffee, one with milk, one without.

“I lost my deckhand, for this week at least.”

“Delroy? Can you replace him?”

“Not at this short notice. It’s hard enough getting anyone from San Gallicano to sail near Skeleton Cay.”

“Why?”

“Because the locals are superstitious, and they think it’s haunted.”

Bella handed him a mug. “Ghosts? Are you serious? They’d turn down work because they think the bogeyman’s gonna get them?”

“Skeleton Cay has a dark history. It isn’t actually a cay, by the way; it’s a huge, ugly rock.”

“Then why is it called Skeleton Cay?”

“Because a hundred and something years ago, a couple of fishermen got shipwrecked there, and when they finally made it back home, they told everyone about the skeletons they’d stumbled across while exploring caves they found. The story got passed from one person to another, and somewhere along the line, Skeleton Caves became Skeleton Cay. Not enough people had been to the island to know the reality, and so the name stuck.”

“Skeletons?”

“Probably former inmates. For centuries, it used to be a prison isle, but eventually there came a point where the authorities couldn’t find enough people to staff it.”

“Because of the ghosts?”

“There was an unusually high number of accidents, so I’ve heard. Plus it’s the farthest island from Ilha Grande, and I don’t suppose the guards wanted to be away from their families. It’s not as if they could commute each day. They had to live in a barracks.”

“Have you ever been there?”

“I’ve never set foot on the island, but I’ve sailed past it.”

“And? Did you see any ghosts?”

“No, but I swear I heard a scream. The place just feels bad. No real beach, just jungle, waves crashing off rocks, and you can see the remains of the old prison at the south end. It gave me the creeps, not enough that I’d refuse the job with Dr. Blaylock, but I wouldn’t want to spend the night there.”

“Dr. Blaylock isn’t superstitious?”

“He’s a scientist. He thinks the myths of pirate ghosts are a load of old hokum.” Cole ran a hand through his hair. “How about you? Do you believe in the supernatural?”

“No.”

“Not even a little bit?”

“The only monsters are humans. And I know, I know, not all humans, but enough of them that it’s a problem.”

Cole thought back to the man who’d tried to run down Lucy in the parking garage. Bella wasn’t wrong.

“I’m still not getting any closer to Skeleton Cay than I have to.”

“And how close is that?”

“Slightly closer than I’d like. The last of Dr. Blaylock’s survey sites is half a mile from the shoreline.”

Bella patted him on the cheek. “That’s quite a distance, and ghosts are a myth. You’ll be fine.”

“I’ll be tired. Delroy’s hand better be serviceable by next week.”

“What all does he do on the boat?”

“Cleans, tidies, assists with meal prep, refills scuba tanks, ties off the boat when we dock, takes the helm when I need a break. That kind of thing. The boys don’t mind helping out, but they’re paying customers. I can’t ask them to spend their trip working.”

Bella took a sip of coffee, cursed as it burned her mouth, and put the mug down on the table. Seven a.m., and the sun was already high in the sky. Cole was due to meet Dr. Blaylock at eight thirty, and their first job was to load the submersible. It had been shipped from Florida to Ilha Grande in a container, then ferried to Bishop’s Landing on its custom-built trailer. Good thing the first owner of the Crosswind had over-engineered the A-frame on the stern because the Tide Pod weighed over three tons.

“I don’t know much about boats, and I can’t cook either, but I’m good with a knife. In the kitchen, I mean,” she clarified. “I can chop stuff up pretty fast. ”

“Are you saying you’d come with me?”

She shrugged. “It’s only for a week, right?”

“What about your pot of coins?”

“It’s half full at the moment. Must be something invigorating in the sea air.”

Cole kissed her forehead. “Not the sex?”

“The sex might have helped,” she conceded.

“I don’t have condoms on the boat.”

“I still have a hundred and ninety in my suitcase.”

“Sheesh, are you trying to make my dick fall off?”

“When I said my friends were Team Cole, I meant it.”

“I should send them a thank-you card. If you’re coming, you’d better pack a bag.”

“I already did.”

Bella hadn’t been kidding when she said she was good with a knife. While Cole helped to lower the Tide Pod into the water for Dr. Blaylock’s first dive, she’d chopped up most of the vegetables in the galley.

The survey area was mainly on the western side of the archipelago, and today, they’d covered the waters around Penguin Rock. There were no penguins, of course, but a rock on its northeastern shore looked kind of like one, and that was how the island had gotten its name. At some point in the past, an enterprising visitor had stuck googly eyes on the “penguin” and painted it black and white.

The island was uninhabited, but folks occasionally sailed over to spend the day and feed the motley crew of pigs that roamed through the undergrowth. Nobody knew how the pigs had arrived there. The main beach had a small shelter built out of driftwood and palm fronds, a firepit, and a board giving information about the island and its inhabitants.

After Cole had anchored the Crosswind a ways offshore where the water was deep enough for the boat’s draft, the three boys had taken the small tender and set off for the beach with a selection of food to grill over their campfire, plus carrots, broccoli, mangos, and apples for the pigs.

Dr. Blaylock had opted to stay on board to analyse data, and there was plenty of that. Environmental metrics, species counts, plus the sonar and LiDAR data collected by Clint. The side-scan sonar device could be towed by the Crosswind or the Tide Pod , and the LiDAR sensor was attached to a drone. LiDAR only worked in shallower water, hence the combination of the two devices. Cole suspected that Dr. Blaylock had leveraged his position as one of the world’s foremost oceanographers to obtain equipment for Clint that a typical grad student could only dream of, not unless they had wealthy parents.

Clint seemed to be taking the project seriously, at any rate. In past years, he’d spent time joking around, but after he climbed out of the Tide Pod , he’d barely looked up from his laptop until he’d left for Penguin Rock. Good. In a quiet moment, Dr. Blaylock had told Cole that if Clint wanted to get his PhD, then the work had to be his and not his stepfather’s, although he’d of course be there to help with questions on anything Clint didn’t understand.

“It looks as if Clint’s put a lot of thought into his mapping project,” Cole said over dinner. “That’s some nice kit he’s using.”

Dr. Blaylock nodded. “Yes, when he first mentioned the idea, I got in touch with several of my contacts and they agreed to loan him pieces of equipment, plus he found funding for the sonar towfish himself. In truth, it’s a relief he has something to focus on. At one point, I thought he was going to drop out of school.” A pause. “Did you hear about the divorce?”

“I did, and I’m sorry.”

“Nothing’s ever far from the marine biology grapevine.”

Cole had only been on the edge of the community since he graduated college, but he’d still heard the news from three different people.

“Did Clint take it hard?”

“He moved out for a while and stayed with Jon’s family. I’m glad Jon was there for him.”

“He didn’t stay with his mother?”

“She went on a road trip with a girlfriend. Last I heard, they were in Paris. She said I was stifling her.”

“I’m sure Clint can see that’s not true.”

“He moved back into the house, and then Witt came along. I think he was feeling lost after his discharge from the Navy.”

“He’s staying with you as well?”

“Yes. When Clint asked, I agreed to rent Witt the pool house. It’s nice for him to have his friends around. The three of them spend most of their time out there. I feared Witt would be a bad influence, seeing as he doesn’t have any particular career ambitions, but the opposite turned out to be true. Clint and Jon have both knuckled down and studied harder over the past few months.”

Bella forked a piece of fish into her mouth. “What’s Witt doing now? Does he have a job?”

“In a manner of speaking. He’s into some cryptocurrency nonsense.” Dr. Blaylock wrinkled his nose. “No, no, I shouldn’t say ‘nonsense.’ Clint says he’s doing rather well at it, and he’s paying his rent on time.”

“Cryptocurrency?” Bella asked. “All that Bitcoin stuff?”

“I don’t know that much about it,” Dr. Blaylock admitted. “My hope is that Clint will be offered a research position at the University of Miami once he’s gotten his PhD, but I think the three of them might go into business together. I overheard them discussing the possibilities. Witt suggested joining forces and finding themselves a vessel in the Caribbean. Cole, I think you’ve been quite an inspiration.”

People had called Cole many things over the years, but an inspiration wasn’t one of them.

“They want to run a charter boat?”

“A little competition is a healthy thing.”

Cole would be disappointed to lose the annual booking, but he’d never been short of business, and so many of the younger generation were leaving San Gallicano in search of better jobs than the island nation could offer. New blood wouldn’t be a bad thing.

“If they need advice, I’d be happy to offer it.”

“I’d appreciate that. Even though I’m not Clint’s biological father, I’ve always thought of him as my son. I’m glad he shares my interest in the ocean.”

“Well, if they come back to San Gallicano, my house will be up for rent.”

“You’re leaving Emerald Shores?”

“Not by choice.”

“The hotel in Las Vegas?”

“Unfortunately.”

“I went to Vegas once, did you know that? A friend’s bachelor party when I was much younger. The place was too loud for me. Too busy. Where do you live, Bella?”

“Vegas.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” It wasn’t clear whether he was apologising for insulting the city she called home or commiserating with her for having to live there. “Do you have family keeping you in Nevada?”

“I have a lot of friends.”

“You’ve never considered somewhere quieter?”

“I like to stay busy. ”

“Young Cole stays plenty busy here. He’s built up a thriving business with the Crosswind . It’s a shame a family emergency got in the way, but family’s important, son. Never forget that.”

“I won’t.”

Cole wished that someday he could call Bella family, but with her acting so indecisive at the moment, that was nothing but a pipe dream.