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Dane didn’t think they’d done anything wrong either. As a matter of fact, he thought it was their best one yet, but what did he know? Not much, or at least, that’s how he felt these days. He was still cranky from last night. Seeing Owens had brought back some heinous memories and, for the three short hours he’d been in bed, he’d had nightmares about falling. The oh-five hundred start time had crushed him, but he’d dragged his ass to their hangar and had food to boot.
Leaning against the forecastle, he looked out over the water. The sun was shining, and he was sweating in his body armor. Hawai’i was hot in April. Not that he truly minded. He was from New Jersey. April could be warmish or snowing in his home state.
He squinted to cut the glare of sunlight bouncing off the water. Way out, maybe half a mile away, a small speedboat was bobbing on the waves. The diving flag was still in the water. He glanced at his watch.
“Team,” Cain said as he approached, “it’s time to go. The captain of the cargo ship informed me they need to head into port.”
“So, we didn’t screw up?” Jace asked.
Cain gave him an assessing look. “Do you think you screwed up?”
“No,” Koa answered for him.
“By far our best run,” added Dane.
Cain nodded his head. “Agreed. I’ll review everything with you when we get back to the hangar, but you guys did great today. You’re really coming together as a team. I know you’re all tired after last night, but we couldn’t miss the opportunity. Thanks for bringing your A game.” He started to turn but stopped. “Make sure you load your weapons when we get back to the RHIB. I don’t want anyone empty. You never know what trouble we might run into.”
Dane didn’t blame his team leader for making them run drills. Since they were all somewhere on the injured roster, Cain needed to be sure his team of misfit toys was ready. That’s how Dane thought of them. He with his back, Koa with his stomach, Jace with his knee, Tac with his hand, and Cass…well, no one knew what Cass’s issue was. Dane had a sneaking suspicion her injury was not physically obvious. She was a beautiful woman, and it wasn’t hard to imagine some asshole trying to force himself on her. Dane hoped that was not the case. Physical issues were tough enough to deal with but, that was a nightmare. Yes, they were damaged. Not quite good as new. More like a group of Frankenstein monsters, all stitched and patched up, just trying to make it through.
They were going back to base via a thirty-three-foot rigid-hull inflatable boat. In the front, it had a gun mount and then a windscreen with seats behind it. There was also a fiberglass wing overhead with communications equipment so they could stay in touch while they were on the water. Dane always had liked riding in the inflatables before the incident, but now crashing through the waves wreaked havoc on his back. With little sleep and repelling out of helicopters all morning, he was already in hard shape.
He started across the deck and his gaze snagged on the speedboat again. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his gut.Keep your mouth shut. He’d opened his mouth before, and it had gone south. It was better not to get involved, better if he wasn’t the one to see it. Cain wanted him to distance himself from the Owens thing. This would put him front and center.Just let it go.
But of course, he couldn’t. “Cain,” he said as they stood at the top of the stairs waiting for the RHIB to come alongside. “I think we should check out that speedboat.”
“Why?” his senior chief asked as he looked over at the boat. Dane waited a while Cain studied the boat and then looked at him. “You think so?”
He nodded. He could say he recognized the lines of the boat or the paint job, but really it was his gut telling him it was Craig Owens’s boat. “We got here at oh-five-thirty. It’s just oh-ten-thirty now. I haven’t seen anyone on the boat or come out of the water since we’ve been here. I know we’ve been back and forth in the helo, but that’s about a twenty-minute trip. Even if they were shallow diving, there’s no way they could have come up and gone back under again in only twenty minutes. Their tanks would have run out of air, and they’d have to switch them more than once. There’s no way we would have missed every switch. At least not if they were being safe. No one could be under that long.”
Cain tipped his head. “You think Owens’s abandoned his boat?”
He shrugged. Owens loved his powerboat. It was just one of the things he liked to show off. Dane didn’t think he’d just leave it out here, but who knew?
“Okay, we’ll swing by it.”
They descended the stairs and boarded the RHIB. Cain told the Boatswain’s Mate to head to the speedboat.
“What gives?” Cassidy asked immediately.
Cain pointed to Dane. “He wants to check it out.”
“Why?”
Dane explained to Cass and the rest of the team what he’d observed, or hadn’t observed, since they’d been running drills. “But honestly, I think it’s Owens. I’m pretty sure it’s his boat.”
Cass looked at him with disbelief. “How do you know?”
He shrugged. “I just know. The way it sits in the water. The paint job. It’s his boat.”
Cass looked at the speedboat they were rapidly approaching then looked back at Dane. “I hadn’t even noticed it.” She had to yell over the sound of the powerful engines along with the wind and spray.
He shrugged. “It’s always been part of my job to notice things.” What he didn’t say was he made an extra effort to be aware of his surroundings at all times since his injury had occurred.
The Boatswain’s Mate, a kid named Peter Slake, slowed the boat down as they approached the Yamaha with two large engines off the back. It had four seats and an awning covering the seating area. There was some sort of lower cabin, too. The boat was white with a blue stripe. Just like Owens’s.
They pulled up alongside, and Dane jumped on board. He yelled out, “Coast Guard,” but there was no response. He looked down the stairs. There were built-in bench seats in the shape of the hull. If two people sat there, they would be knee-to-knee, and toward the bow where it was narrower, there wasn’t even room for seating like that.
He straightened. “Nothing.” He went and peered over the side. The water in Hawai’i was a beautiful blue and somewhat clear. He squinted but couldn’t make anything out. “Anybody see anything?”
