Chapter 4

A faint blush spread across Alexis's neck, and her eyes dropped quickly to the table in front of her. She was selectively choosing what she was going to tell him.

It stung. Seb had thought she'd learned to trust him during the few days he'd spent holed up in her apartment in Paris. He'd been immediately drawn to the woman and his attraction to her had grown as he got to know her. She was witty, kind, and fiercely protective of the marine life she swore to protect.

Seb hadn't needed Drake's warning that Alexis was Finlay's friend, which meant hands off. He was strictly into short-term relationships and Alexis was not short-term material. But he'd thought they'd become friends.

Seb said nothing and waited. Alexis may be a genius in the scientific community, but this was his world. She didn't know the type of men she was dealing with.

She also wasn't good at lying. It was the third time she'd run her hands over the oversized t-shirt, smoothing it out. Seb would find out what she was hiding.

"I'm certain you heard about the storm that hit Brittany's coastline a month ago." Alexis finally spoke. "Someone called the Institute. They'd spotted a school of basking sharks and thought one was injured. When I took the Sea Serpent out to check, there was no sign of an injured shark. However, two of the sharks were pregnant. We know so little about basking sharks. I couldn't miss the opportunity to observe their behavior, so I joined them in the water to take a few photographs."

When Finlay had introduced them to Alexis, it'd been downright embarrassing watching Drake gush over the woman. They were Navy SEALS.

Once she'd gone to bed, Seb had googled her. Drake's behavior had been justified.

The world renowned oceanographer's specialty was sharks. Basking sharks in particular. Alexis was not only known for her scientific contributions, but for her haunting images of the marine life she captured on film, many of which she sold at fundraising events.

"The sharks were playing above a motorboat caught on a rocky part of the ocean floor," Alexis said and reached for the waist pouch she'd set beside her and pulled out her cell phone. She unlocked the screen and tapped the picture icon before passing it to Seb. "I took photographs of the boat and uploaded them to my phone."

A basking shark was caught swimming in the background behind the sunken boat in one shot. Seb knew they were huge, but its size surprised him. It had to be almost thirty feet, yet Alexis felt perfectly at ease with these creatures.

"I doubt anyone would have ever found the vessel. It's an isolated part of the coast and the boats pass further out from the shoreline," Alexis said as Seb handed her back the cell phone. She set it beside the plate with the nibbled sandwich she'd shoved to the side.

Seb picked up the plate and set it back in front of her. She'd lost weight since he'd last seen her. No doubt because of the trip across the Atlantic. Sailing solo would have been demanding. "You need to eat. We can't guarantee where we'll find our next meal once we leave the catamaran."

He'd make a supper high in protein and carbs. A few snacks between now and then wouldn't hurt either.

"What? You're the sandwich police now?" Alexis laughed.

He pointed to the plate. She looked at him and rolled her eyes, but took a bite before continuing.

"I couldn't find any bodies, but I doubt anyone made it to shore. As I was checking the boat for anything that would identify the owners, I found the algae sample and a USB drive in the transparent dry box."

Seb glanced at the box he'd set on the galley counter. It was quite the find. "Did you tell anyone you located the boat and the dry box?"

Alexis shook her head as she finished the sandwich. "The box was transparent and I could see the contents. There was a transparent dry bag with two smaller dry bags. Overkill. It had to be something important. So, I checked it out once I was back on the Sea Serpent." She pushed the empty plate aside and shrugged her shoulders. "The authorities would have asked me to look at the algae sample before sending it to their lab, anyway. The USB drive was encrypted. I asked Joe to come over and see what he could do."

She was referring to her self-appointed guardian angel. The fifteen-year-old living on the street with a handful of kids his own age who had hacking skills equal to Javier's.

"You haven't met Joe," Alexis said and helped herself to a strawberry. "He's my friend that helped Finlay and I set up the cable keylogger."

She didn't know Seb knew Joe had given her the K-grubber. Their paths had crossed when he was in Paris.

Finlay had asked Seb to not let on he knew anything about the teen. Joe and a couple of his friends were looking out for Alexis. Later, they'd discovered the men behind the human trafficking ring Finlay was investigating had asked Joe to work for them. He'd refused. You didn't say no to those kinds of men. Joe had faked his own death and was hiding in Paris.

"I was walking home late one night after a frustrating conference call. My mind was on the call, not the man walking behind me. The guy slashed the strap on my briefcase and took off. He didn't count on Joe." Alexis smiled and shook her head. "The kid can really run."

"He got your briefcase back," Seb said, grinning. He had yet to figure out Joe, but knew a knife wouldn't scare him off.

"Joe and the twin girls he hangs with adopted me," Alexis chuckled again, and the stunning violet eyes interviewers remarked upon crinkled in amusement. "They're always around. The girls insist they attend school, but I suspect they're living on the streets. I never press. They're interested in sailing, so I take them out on the Sea Serpent. A year ago, my laptop was infected, and I found out Joe's a tech geek."

"I'm assuming the USB drive contains information about the algae."

"There are detailed research and development records." Her gaze hardened and her eyebrows drew together. "The algae doesn't require a significant bloom to infect water. That means there could be a considerable number of deaths before scientists pinpointed the source. The research also details the means to destroy the algae and clean an infected water source."

"Profitable. They infect the water and then offer to control or stop the spread," Seb said, removing the sandwich plates from the table. "Government officials wouldn't quibble about the price. Terrorists would love to get their hands on it."

"You're thinking too small. They could turn on and off the world's freshwater supply like a sink faucet." Alexis took another strawberry.

Seb's mind raced at the implications of her statement. Agriculture, industries relying on freshwater and even tourism would be disrupted. "Whoever created the virus could effectively manipulate the global economy."

"I think that's the plan," Alexis said as Seb let out a long breath and leaned back in his seat. "But there's a problem. A flaw in their research. They won't kill off or control the algae spread. They'll accelerate it."

"Why didn't you go to the authorities? Why the trip across the Atlantic?" Seb asked his original question again. It had taken Alexis almost three weeks to reach Key West. Long enough for whoever created the algae to move forward despite the lost sample.

"Joe and the twins spotted men watching my building," Alexis said, rubbing at the thin lines that had appeared across her forehead. "Joe was convinced someone had discovered I'd found the dry box. It would have taken money to produce the genetically engineered algae. Money buys silence and cooperation from government officials. It also buys people who know how to make things look like an accident. The Sea Serpent was the best option."

Alexis wasn't being paranoid. When he was in the Navy, Seb had been honored more than once in a private ceremony for a mission that only a handful of people knew had taken place.

"Why Miami?" Seb asked. Alexis had told Finlay she needed to get to Miami.

"I could be wrong. But I need a second opinion before I hand the algae sample and USB drive over to the FBI. Dr. Garrett Butler, a professor I studied under while doing my graduate work is a limnologist at the University of Miami. He's the leading expert on freshwater systems." Alexis swiped her hands down her t-shirt and the blush across her neck reappeared.

Seb would bet whatever Alexis was hiding had to do with the university professor. He'd have Javier look into the man.

"I work with marine habitats. Dr. Butler is one of the leading experts in freshwater habitats. If I've made a mistake, he'll catch it." Alexis picked a carrot out of the veggie container, avoiding Seb's gaze.

"Javier has already contacted a friend of his with the FBI. He's waiting to hear from me to arrange a meet in Key West tonight."

"Whose idea was that?" Alexis's voice was low, taut with anger.

Seb held up his hands. "Finlay's. She was worried. Whatever you found, she wanted it passed onto the authorities before anyone discovered you had it."

Alexis sighed and her expression softened. "I met Finlay in high school. She was always watching out for me. She still does. Even when she's on assignment, she texts or calls."

"Considering what's in that dry box, she made the right call," Seb said, knowing the lengths someone would go to retrieve it. The sooner the FBI had the algae sample and the USB drive, the safer Alexis would be. "You can tell Javier's contact to reach out to Dr. Butler for a second opinion."

"No," Alexis said, her voice firm. "It would be quicker if I can bring him up to speed. We don't know if we have a week, a month, or a year before the person who created the virus uses it."

Seb couldn't disagree with her assessment of the situation. Still, there was something Alexis wasn't telling him. He got up, walked to the galley's counter, and picked up the satellite phone.

"Javier is expecting me to contact him." Seb knew there was no arguing with Alexis. He'd have preferred to call his partner, but he didn't want Alexis to listen in. "The FBI agent can accompany us to Miami. After this morning, I wouldn't mind backup."

It was a compromise Alexis would need to live with. Seb didn't bother to look up as he punched the buttons on the phone's keypad. He'd handcuff her to him to keep her out of trouble. This morning's events didn't sit well with him. It was a closer call than he was letting on.

On our way to Key West. ETA 20:00.

Took you long enough.Seb grunted when he read Javier's reply.

We ran into trouble. Two guys on the beach, one on Alexis's sailboat, and two in a motorboat.

Other than our contact in the Pentagon and my FBI contact, no one else knows she's here.

There was another possibility. Seb responded with one word. Joe.

Vala vouches for him.

Brought on board by Javier as his tech assistant, they'd quickly found Vala's skills exceeded his, and Javier's expertise was impressive. There was history between the two which Javier chose not to share. Seb and his partners hadn't pushed.

Seb quickly tapped on his cell phone screen. There's more going on with Joe than we're aware.

When he got back to the office, Seb planned to ask Vala about the connection she had with Joe.

I think he's running from the same organization we dealt with five years ago.

That changed everything.

During their last SEAL Special Ops mission five years ago, someone in the upper echelons on their side had sold them out. Hunted like animals, they'd been lucky to make it back home weeks later. They were the only ones to walk out of the jungle alive.

After receiving another medal in a private ceremony no one would hear about, the epic fuck-up was quietly swept under the rug. They handed in their retirement request and formed their private military corporation, Shadow Defense Security. Most of their government contracts involved following the few leads they had on the botched operation. The information they'd gathered pointed to corruption at the top levels of government.

We need to talk to Joe. Maybe it's time we shared what happened with Vala?

Watch your back. I'll let you know when and where you're meeting Agent Auclair.

Javier didn't want to discuss Joe or Vala. Seb trusted his friend. He'd let it drop. For now.

There was another call Seb needed to make. He wanted to slip into Key West with no one noticing them.

His father's best friend grew his financial investment company from a one-man show to a multimillion-dollar corporation. Maxwell Grantham had grieved as hard as Seb and his mother when his father didn't make it off the operating table after suffering an aortic aneurism.

Seb spent most of his weekends when he was a kid, surfing the California beaches with his father and Maxwell. The man was like a second father and one of the few people he could trust.

Maxwell and his wife had retired to Sunset Key. The only access to the private island minutes off of Key West was by ferry. Anyone not living on the island required a reservation to the exclusive restaurant in order to board the ferry.

The men watching for Alexis would focus their attention on the public marinas. They wouldn't spot the catamaran at the private dock in front of Maxwell's place.