The Ocean Dark

12

A warm Caribbean breeze followed Tori into the wheelhouse. The Rio brothers stopped talking mid-sentence and glared. Her presence was unwelcome, but she didn’t care.

“Evening, Captain,” she said, like nothing at all out of the ordinary had transpired.

“What do you want?” Miguel asked. As chief mate, he had every right to challenge her presence on the bridge, but Tori ignored him, focusing on his brother.

“We’re running at speed, burning fuel, and have changed our heading,” she said. “Either we were off course to begin with, or we’re about to do the business Viscaya doesn’t tell its shareholders about.”

As always, Suarez was at the wheel. He didn’t blink. The illegal transactions that the Rio brothers handled for Viscaya didn’t interest him. The old Cuban sailor did his job, kept his mouth shut, and collected his pay.

A low, rhythmic beep came from the radar screen. Gabe studied the screen and looked out the window at the night-dark sea, eyes seeking something.

“Why don’t you go back to your cabin?” Miguel asked. Shorter and slimmer than the captain, he had hypnotic eyes and a dark, brooding appeal. In many ways, Gabe Rio seemed like the prototype for his handsome younger brother, but Gabe left no doubt who was in charge.

“Don’t be an ass,” he said, barely looking up. “Tori’s here because Frank wanted her here.”

Miguel narrowed his eyes, displeased. Too bad, Tori thought. She had liked him so much better when his greatest ambition seemed to be getting a look down her blouse. But she wasn’t sitting behind a desk anymore.

The captain shot a look back toward the wheel. “Reduce speed, Mr. Suarez. We’re almost on top of her.”

“So what’s going on? Some of the crew might be sleeping, but anyone who’s awake is going to know something’s happened.”

“Half of them know exactly what we’re doing—” Miguel began.

Tori shrugged. “And the other half don’t want to know. I get it. They get paid to look the other way while we make unscheduled stops and pick up strange cargo. I’ve been doing both sets of books for Viscaya for nearly a year, guys. I know how much every person on this ship earned last month, over and under the table. Like it or not, I’m Viscaya’s eyes and ears on this trip, and I’m asking. I’ll help if I can, and stay out of the way if I can’t. So fill me in.”

The brothers exchanged another look, and Gabe gave a curt nod before returning his attention to the instrument panel.

Miguel sighed. Despite whatever resistance he’d had to her, they all worked for the same employer. His body relaxed and he even gave a slight smile. Tori stopped hating him, for now.

“We had contact from the sellers earlier today. One of them, anyway. When he wasn’t blaming God or screaming, he gave us the idea some of his crew were dead.”

Tori blinked, mouth opening in a little O. Dangerous men doing illegal business was one thing; murder was something else entirely.

“What happened?”

“No idea,” Miguel said. “The guy signed off. If I have to guess, I’d say someone hit them for their cargo, some kind of setup. Or maybe just pirates.”

A ripple of fear went through her, the skin prickling at the back of her neck. “So where are we headed now? If you lost contact—”

“We’ve got one ship on radar,” Captain Rio said, peering out at the dark. His grim features were reflected in the glass. “It’s either the sellers, or whoever took them down.”

Tori looked from Gabe to Miguel to Suarez and then back to the captain again. “And if it’s pirates, then what? You’re delivering our legitimate cargo into their hands.”

Gabe fixed a withering glance on her. “The ship we’re coming up on is too small to pose a threat. How would they get on deck? You’ve got your answers, Tori. If Frank Esper calls you into his office and asks for a report, you can make one. But we don’t have time to hold your hand.”

She blinked, stung. “I don’t need—”

“Reverse engines, Mr. Suarez,” the captain said, ignoring her. “Full stop.”

As Suarez complied, the door swung inward. Josh stepped onto the bridge wearing an expression altogether different from any Tori had seen on his face before. Normally his face was open and friendly, but now his eyes were dark and cold.

“What are you doing here, Mr. Ford?” Gabe asked.

“Offering my help.”

Gabe glared at him. “We’ve got all the help we need, thanks.”

Josh smiled. “Viscaya didn’t hire me just for my cooking, Captain. I had a reference from a guy who used to be on your crew. Jorge Guarino?”

Miguel Rio gave a soft laugh. “How do you know Jorge?”

“Cellmates in Gainesville Correctional.”

“You were in prison?” Tori asked. Her voice sounded small and far away to her. She’d been around criminals for most of her life, some of them bad men and others just guys who didn’t think the rules applied to them. Addicts and dealers and smugglers and thieves. Josh had said he had done bad things, but she hadn’t pegged him as an ex-con.

Her body still throbbed from their encounter. She could still taste him on her lips, feel him on her skin, but now she felt unclean. It wasn’t fair to Josh, and she knew that. After all, she had never really probed too deeply into his background, so he had never lied to her about it. Still, she felt deceived, not to mention disappointed. He had seemed rough on the outside, just the way she liked them, but solid and decent and kind on the inside. Tori had thought that maybe, finally, she had found a good guy who could give her the rush that she usually only felt with hard, dangerous men.

Josh must have heard something in her voice — surprise or disappointment — and he gave her that lopsided grin. “Where do you think I learned to cook?” He turned back to the captain and raised his hands in mock surrender. “You don’t want me involved, no problem. I was headed back to my quarters, but then thought I should at least offer. Now I’ve offered. I’m here if you need me, no questions asked. I knew the rules when I signed on.”

The Antoinette moaned as it slowed, reversed engines bringing it to a halt. Suarez behaved as though they were all ghosts, like he was alone on the bridge.

Noise out on the metal landing drew their attention and everyone turned to see the redheaded silhouette of Tom Dwyer. Looking pale and worried, he opened the door and stepped onto the bridge.

“Where the hell have you been?” Miguel snapped at him.

Dwyer flinched like the first mate had spat at him. “Nowhere. I was just … I came as fast as I could.”

Miguel snickered. Even Suarez smiled.

“I’m sure Angie appreciated that,” the captain said.

Dwyer might have been a skinny young man, but violence glittered in his eyes. He didn’t like being teased about Angela Tyree, that much was clear. What Tori didn’t understand was what had taken him so long. She’d gone ahead while both Dwyer and Josh had rushed back to their rooms, but Josh had beaten him here.

“Had to use the head,” Dwyer said, voice low.

“You ready to work now?” Captain Rio asked.

Dwyer nodded.

The captain examined each man intently, then turned to his brother. “Take Mr. Dwyer and Mr. Ford for a little boat ride. If there’s anyone left alive for us to pay, radio it in. Otherwise, just bring the shipment back with you.”

Miguel frowned. “There are half a dozen guys we could—”

“Just get it done, hermano. Fast and quiet. I want to know what happened to that boat.”

Tori’s pulse quickened. “I should go along.”

The Rio brothers looked at her in that dismissive way men had, their faces telling her that to them, even the suggestion was absurd. Josh wore a different expression now — one that said she’d surprised him, that she was a puzzle he hadn’t quite figured out yet. As of tonight, the feeling was mutual.

Tori sniffed, focusing on Gabe. She hoped that he could read her expression as well as she could read his, that he saw the message in her eyes—I’ve survived worse than bullets, and I don’t scare easily.

But they had a situation on their hands and confronting their assumptions about women would have to wait for a day when their jobs, and possibly their lives, weren’t on the line.

“I guess that’s a no,” she said.

Gabe nodded toward his brother. “Get going.”

Dwyer held the door open for Miguel, then stepped through, forcing Josh to grab it before it shut. He glanced back at Tori, eyes full of promises — that they’d have a long conversation when he got back. Dangerous men had always been her curse.

One of these days, it would get her killed.