46. Cole

CHAPTER 46

COLE

“ I f you want to stop me, you’ll have to shoot me.” Cole stood his ground at the dock, the wind ruffling his hair, and he couldn’t deny he was nervous. “But you won’t do that.”

He wasn’t scared of Bella. He was scared for her.

Had he been right not to break things off? Yes. So many things made sense now—the distance she’d always tried to keep, her insistence that their relationship was casual even as her body told a very different story. Her interest in him, and her reluctance to talk about anything personal. The expensive diving gear. The confidence in herself versus her distrust of everyone else.

While he was floating around in the Mako, he’d considered two futures—one with her, and one without. Her job was…a shock. She’d admitted that she killed people, but she wasn’t selling her services to all and sundry. Bella had said enough that Cole knew she worked for the US government, and if she’d been in the regular armed forces, folks would hail her as a hero for making the world a safer place. Soldiers rode around in tanks while Bella’s tactics were sneakier, but was the endgame really so di fferent? Surgical precision had to be better than dropping bombs, didn’t it?

If Cole left her, he’d forever compare all future girlfriends to the one who came before. If he stayed, he’d have an independent woman who wouldn’t blow up his phone if he had to work late. He’d have a smart, resourceful partner who treated him as an equal rather than a meal ticket. Okay, so he wasn’t equal to Bella, but she’d never made him feel second rate. And he’d have a guardian angel.

In the end, the decision had been a simple one.

“I’ll be driving the Mako, not boarding the Crosswind . I’m good with boats.”

“So am I.”

“Were you in the Navy?”

“The Army, but I’ve trained with a bunch of Navy SEALs, and they wouldn’t be arguing about who’s going to drive the boat. Those guys know how to follow orders.”

“I don’t want you to wind up dead,” Cole said.

“Ditto. Which is why you need to stay here.”

“What if more drug dealers show up?”

“Hide. Do not under any circumstances go down to their boat and hunt for keys.” Bella stared at him until he blinked, and then she let out a heavy sigh. “You have to promise to stay on the other side of the island. We can’t afford to spook Witt.”

She trusted him to come? Or did she not trust him to stay? Cole hoped for the former, but it was more likely to be the latter.

“Okay.”

“If I’m worrying about what you’re doing, I can’t focus on the job.”

“I’ll stay on the other side of the island, I swear.”

Cole had been right about the weather. The blue sky turned an angry grey, and clouds scudded across the horizon, driven by a stiff easterly wind. The rain was falling in sheets.

“Time to go,” Bella decided, and Cole jumped as a crack of thunder followed a fork of lightning to the north.

“This is insane.”

“This is smart,” she yelled, and he had to acknowledge that from her point of view, it probably was. He could hardly hear her above the wind. Noise from the Mako’s engines would be lost in the storm, and if the scumbags on the Crosswind had a single brain cell between them, they’d be tucked up in their cabins, not hanging around on deck.

Bella had loaded the boat earlier, and they’d spent the time before the storm eating and catnapping. She’d been focused on the task ahead, asking questions about the Crosswind and picking his brain for knowledge about the area in general. Currents, rock formations, the seabed. Cole couldn’t help much with the latter. He’d only ventured out this way a handful of times before, mostly with Frankie on her sailboat.

Today’s trip was nothing like that.

The wind whipped up the waves, and for the second time in recent history, Cole began to feel seasick. It was as if the swim to Skeleton Cay had opened the floodgates, and the constant lift and drop made his stomach flip. He nearly made it to Windjammer Bank. The island was in sight when he admitted defeat.

“Take the helm?” he asked Bella.

“You okay?”

He couldn’t answer. He couldn’t do anything except run to the head and drop to his knees in front of the toilet. As he heaved his guts up, he wondered which deity he’d offended in order to deserve this.

One more day. One more day, and it would be over.

Cole felt the moment the wind caught the boat. His stomach flipped again as the Mako slewed sideways, and he hit his head on the toilet seat as the craft slammed to a sudden stop. Then…he was lying on the floor, Bella staring down at him.

“Quick, we have to go.”

“Go?”

Go where? Why was the room tilting?

“The boat hit a rock. We’re taking on water. Are you okay?”

“I’m good. Totally great.”

He tried to stand, but his legs collapsed under him. Bella dragged him up the steps by his armpits, and thank goodness they’d washed up on the beach because he’d have drowned otherwise. He puked again in the surf as Bella ran past him carrying guns and the bag with spare water bottles.

He didn’t remember much else until daybreak.