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Hell, I’d done the same thing with my second wife, Becca. It was only recently that I’d even come to terms with how hard our relationship had been on her—the night terrors, the unreachable days that could stretch into weeks, the alcohol that desperately tried to replace feeling, the anger that came rambling through like an earthquake to my many fault lines.
Some days she’d wondered if I single-fistedly had kept Coronado’s spackle business alive, other days she’d cried, “I love you so much, Coop, but you aren’t even here. Not really. Don’t you get it? I’m more alone with you here. Go back to your war or your brothers or wherever you are in your mind. That’s where you need to be. But don’t stay here for me if all you are going to do is go behind your walls while you punch holes in mine.”
I’d tried the reenlistment route with Lauren, the third Mrs. Cooper. She’d folded like a cheap lawn chair under a fat man when I’d been listed MIA for two weeks. Didn’t matter that coming back home to her had given me the motivation to survive. She just couldn’t handle the not knowing. She’d loved me too much to go through that again and I hadn’t blamed her.
I didn’t blame any of them anymore. Not even my first wife, Sarah, who’d cheated on me throughout my first tour. She’d just needed someone she could physically touch. And I was someone who time and again had taken his wedding ring off. Not for the same reason she had, but because having it on had made me vulnerable. I’d never talked about how bad it had been, because then I’d have to justify leaving the best thing in the world for the worst thing time and time again.
Katia had been the only one who’d called me out on it. And she’d done it wearing these lacy red booty shorts and a black push-up bra while cursing me out in Russian. God, she was a firecracker. I’d been so sure she’d only wanted me for a green card until she’d broken down crying when I’d re-upped—she spoke four languages, was brilliant and gorgeous but would rather have gone back to Kyzyl than worry over my sorry ass for one minute longer.
I’d been tough on Thea, because tough was what life with a career operator was. But she’d done more than prove she could handle herself—she’d survived a tornado, thrived despite her childhood, and helped bring down one of the sickest, dirtiest FBI agents in the Bureau all while rescuing one of his victims.
I had a good feeling Zee would be recruiting both her and Nik into the fold. And selfishly, I hoped she’d secure them. Nik could take my role and Thea could give Zee some much-needed help so she could take an actual break from time to time. Get free from the island and out from under Zaki.
“So, um, speaking of sharks…?” Leo asked as he scanned the water’s surface for telltale fins. “There aren’t any actual ones here, are there?”
I started to answer, but Leo was quick to cut me off. “Not you, Sharky, I want the answer from someone who won’t bullshit me. Zee?”
I snorted, but covered it with an awkward cough. Little did Leo know, Zee was the best bullshitter around. Not that this was the kind of thing she would bother lying about. Too easy.
“Of course. I’ve seen bull, tiger, black- and white-tipped, Caribbean reef, nurse sharks, oh, and hammerhead, of course. There’s a wide variety,” she said, her love of nature and animals clearly extended to even the scary ones. At least that boded well for me.
“Great,” Leo remarked, sarcastically cheery.
“Bullys can be unpredictable, and tigers aren’t very selective about what they feed on, so accidents can happen. But we’ll stay alert and respectful, so as not to court any danger. No chumming or feeding is ever allowed here.”
Leo didn’t look convinced of his safety. Feeling benevolent with Aziza near, I offered my little brother a rare reprieve. “Don’t worry, you’re here for ship-side support, not to dive.”
It was just going to be Nik and me below the surface. And as beautiful as the reefs must be in this area, this wasn’t a pleasure outing. My goal was to only go down twice, three times at most. One day to prep the area and one to raise the vault. Sticking around to commune with the local wildlife—or enjoying a little R&R on the yacht—was not part of the plan.
For one, the location and value of the asset had been identified by an unknown entity, which meant treasure-hunting pirates could come over the horizon at any time. Two, the dive dynamics of being inside an unstable wreck at a decent depth required extra vigilance. Multiple dives increased the threat for me.
The sharks didn’t concern me the way they did Leo. A lion could walk past a herd of zebras without drawing too much suspicion. He simply needed to act like he belonged there. Granted, in this scenario I’d be a zebra cruising through a pride of lions, but as long as I wasn’t flailing or fleeing like prey, they’d leave me alone. The animal world was simpler that way.
In the human world, the truly dangerous predators weren’t behavioral, they were cerebral. When they took down their prey or waged territorial wars, the most successful ones did it via methodical chess moves.
Just like in chess, the only way to win was to protect your queen, even if it meant sacrificing the king.
Which brought me to three—I popped a gummy to temper the headache I inevitably got when thinking about three—I had no way of knowing the odds of my passing out or having an aneurysm or who fucking knew what. After the small preview from the shallow depths of the Amazon dive, I wasn’t looking forward to pushing my luck any more than I had to.
As the tender beached, I recognized Kai at the helm. The ship’s bosun was a Hawaiian native with spiky black hair, an easy smile, and an exemplary work ethic. He’d been part of the crew from when I was briefly aboard six months ago. I should be familiar with most of the others as well. Though as I understood it, the ship would only be staffed with essential personnel for this job. Of the nine regular crew members, only the first mate, bosun, chef, chief steward, and captain would be aboard.
Once Nik and I had helped the others load up, I pushed the tender off the beach and leaped onto the bow. Kai reversed the propellers, drawing us away from the tiny island.
I clapped him on the shoulder. “Aloha, brother. How you been?”
“Can’t complain. Motley crew you got here,” he said with a surfer-boy grin as he took us all in. “Gotta say, I’ve seen a dog hanging ten before, but never one who skydives. Why didn’t you all just have Colton bring you out on the boat?”
I grimaced, putting my finger over my lips, but Leo had already overheard.
“What? You mean we could’ve taken a boat!”
“This was faster and more fun.”
“See why I call him mushaeghib?” Zee laughed. “But you have to admit, this was much more fun.”
As Kai steered us in closer, I spotted the first mate retrieving our supply container from the sea. Wasn’t an easy task as he had to haul the large waterproof box over the side of a heavy-duty inflatable raft. But eventually he managed and turned back to restart the Zodiac RIB’s outboard motor. “That Jim? He was with you in the Med, right?”
Kai throttled down. “Yep, that’s Jim.”
