While the media had initially reported the explosion as an "accident," both Drew and Seth suspected differently. They believed the explosion was more than likely perpetrated by dictator Bruno DeBruzkya, in an effort to get his hands on the architectural plans for the prototype of the radical new Stingray submarine Evans Yachts had been contracted by the U.S. Navy to design and build. Unfortunately neither they nor Navy Intel could prove it.
Laura didn"t know anything about DeBruzkya; she believed the explosion was simply an accident.
Watching Laura stow her equipment, Drew wondered if she still held to that belief. Probably, considering Seth was working under the a.s.sumption that the less Laura knew, the safer she would be.
"It looks like you"ve already been diving this morning," he said easily, stopping at the edge of the pier.
"All night, actually," Laura replied. "I"ve been tracking some of the coral. It"s been slowly dying off in the last couple of years. Nothing serious, but with the population boom in South Florida I"m taking it upon myself to try to save what"s left."
"If anyone can do it, you can." Drew looked around. "Where"s Holt?" he asked, referring to her playboy brother.
"He"s out with his crew getting ready for the big regatta."
Drew always looked forward to the Emerald Cove Regatta. It was a huge event, drawing people from all over the world. He couldn"t believe he"d forgotten about it this year. Then again, he"d had an awful lot on his mind lately.
"Speaking of Holt, did he tell you the good news?" she asked.
"What news?"
"Next month, I"m being interviewed in Land, Sea & Sky magazine."
"Hey, that"s terrific. Congratulations."
Laura grinned and then her eyes flicked to Kevin. "Who"s your partner?"
"This is Kevin Myers." He set his hand atop the boy"s head. "Kevin, this is my cousin Laura."
Drew didn"t miss the questioning look as she extended her hand to the little boy. Because he knew an explanation to Laura would only cause more questions later, he didn"t elaborate on why he was taking the little boy fishing.
"Nice to meet you, Kevin." She eyed the fishing poles Drew carried as she shook the boy"s little hand. "You guys going to kill some fish today?"
Kevin opened his mouth as if to protest.
Drew scowled at her, shaking his head. "It"s called fishing."
She chuckled good-naturedly. "Well, the Flamingo is all fueled up and ready to go. Seth"s below deck."
"He went with you, huh?" But Drew wasn"t surprised Seth had tagged along. Since the explosion, he"d been very overprotective of his sister. Considering the seriousness of the explosion and the sensitive nature of the contract Evans Yachts was working on, Drew couldn"t blame him.
She rolled her eyes. "I don"t know why he bothered. He slept most of the time."
Remembering the four shady characters who"d shown up at Water Flight Tours the day before, he figured now would be a good time to give Seth a heads-up.
Laura stuck out her hand and Drew helped her onto the pier. "I"m off to the lab to have some of this stuff a.n.a.lyzed. Have fun, guys."
"We will." Drew turned to Kevin. "Okay, kiddo, up and at "em."
"Wow, what a big boat!" Kevin exclaimed as Drew lowered him onto the deck.
"Where"s that crazy sister of mine?"
Drew looked up to see his cousin Seth Evans step out of the cabin and onto the deck. He looked from Kevin to Drew and then a slow smile spread across his face. "I"ll be d.a.m.ned, Drew. Since when did you take up baby-sitting?"
"I"m not a baby," Kevin said petulantly.
Both men laughed, and then as if to make amends for this slip of the tongue, Seth extended his hand to the boy. "I"m Seth Evans."
Kevin forgave him with a grin. "I"m Kevin, and I"m four."
"Four, huh?"
The boy nodded. "I"m almost a man."
Drew turned his head so Kevin wouldn"t see his smile.
"Nice to meet you," Seth said.
"Me and Drew are going to go fishing."
Seth glanced at Drew, then back to Kevin with his brows raised high. "Hey, you want to check out the captain"s seat, Kevin?" He motioned toward the recliner-size chair replete with straps, pole holder and a foot brace. "It"s pretty cool."
"Wowee! Look at that!" Kevin rushed over to the chair, then glanced back at Seth. "Can I sit in it?"
"Sure."
The two men watched the starry-eyed boy, and then Seth tossed a questioning look at Drew. "Rick"s kid?"
"I"m taking him fishing," Drew said, not liking the amused glint in his cousin"s eye. "That"s all."
"Hey, I didn"t ask."
"Don"t read anything into it."
"Wouldn"t dream of it." Seth paused. "I saw Alison yesterday."
Drew didn"t bite.
"She looks great."
Drew cut him a hard look. "Hiring her wasn"t very smart."
"She needed a job."
"She"s got enough on her plate. d.a.m.n it, she doesn"t need to be looking over her shoulder, too."
"I"ve got plenty of security. Besides she"s only working a couple of days a week. She"ll be fine."
Feeling surly and annoyed and off kilter as h.e.l.l, Drew reached for his tackle box and hefted it onto the deck. "She"s thinking about moving down here."
"I thought she was living with Rick"s parents."
"The kid has asthma. There"s a clinic south of Miami she wants him to be treated at."
"The Waterton Clinic. She mentioned that." Seth took the poles from Drew and stowed them beneath the taffrail. "It"s supposed to be a good clinic. Maybe you should give Marcus a call and have Faith check it out."
"I already called Marcus. Faith is going to do some digging and get back to me." Drew looked over at Kevin to make sure he was fully entertained, then said, "I also talked to Marcus about some shady characters who showed up at Water Flight Tours."
Seth"s expression turned serious, and he lowered his voice. "What shady characters?"
"I took out four men who claimed to be developers looking to build a golf course. They wanted an aerial tour. But once we were in the air, they were a h.e.l.l of a lot more interested in flying over Evans Yachts and the marina. When I asked them why, they said they were interested in developing that area, too."
Seth"s gaze sharpened, hardened. "You know that area is protected, right?"
"That"s why I refused and ended the tour. With the contract you"re working on for the Navy-and considering what happened last month-I thought you should know."
"You"ve already talked to Marcus?"
Drew nodded. "I gave him descriptions. One of the men left a soda can behind. I sent it to Marcus on the outside chance he might be able to lift some prints, run them through the computer."
"Good work. And thanks for the heads-up. I"ll watch my back."
Drew glanced over at Kevin, then back to Seth. "You heard from Gideon or Brooke?"
"They"re being watched over by a couple of Navy guys Marcus recommended."
"Good. They went through h.e.l.l when Gideon was under the control of the Coalition."
"How"s your sister?"
Drew thought about Honey Evans Strong and smiled. "According to Marcus she"d have the baby tomorrow if she could."
Seth nodded. "When"s she due?"
"September. She and Max are in Maryland now."
"I"m glad they"re close to Marcus."
"Me, too. He keeps me updated."
The pound of sneakers against the deck snagged Drew"s attention and he looked up to see Kevin heading toward them with the speed of a small water spout. "I wanna sit in the chair while we fish!" he exclaimed.
"Whoa there, partner." Reaching out, Drew slowed him, liking the way his narrow shoulders felt beneath his hands. "First rule on the boat, Kev: no running. The deck can get slippery when it"s wet. We don"t want you to fall and get hurt, okay?"
Kevin looked from Drew to Seth. "Okay." He took a breath. "But I still wanna sit in the chair. Can I, Drew?"
"Sure you can."
"I hear you and your mom are going to move down here for good," Seth put in. "That"s great news."
"I never get to go fishing at Grandma"s and Grandpa"s house. And Mommy said if we move here I"ll be able to breathe better."
Seth nodded. "The asthma."
"Yeah, but I want to move here anyway because I wanna go to the beach every day. But I heard Mommy and Aunt Kimberly talking last night and Mommy said we might not move because Drew doesn"t want-" As if realizing he"d said something he wasn"t supposed to, Kevin slapped his hand over his mouth and looked at both men with big brown eyes.
Drew tried to rea.s.sure himself that Kevin hadn"t been about to say what it sounded like he was about to say. But he got a sinking sensation in his gut. He knew he couldn"t let the statement stand without clarification. He just wished Seth wasn"t standing there to witness it. "What did your mommy say?" he asked gently.
Without taking his hand off his mouth, Kevin shook his head, moving his fingers away from his mouth just enough to say, "I wasn"t s"posed to hear."
Keenly aware that Seth was looking on with great interest, Drew knelt. "Hey, it"s okay. You can tell me, and you won"t get into trouble."
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Kevin"s hand slipped away, and he looked down at the ground. "I was supposed to be in bed, but I sneaked out, and Mommy and Aunt Kimberly were talking about grown-up stuff."
Because he didn"t want to pump the kid too hard-and because he wasn"t sure he even wanted to know what Alison and her sister had said about him-Drew remained silent for several long seconds. Kevin finally saved him the embarra.s.sment of having to ask a second time.
"Mommy told Aunt Kimberly you don"t want us to move down here," he blurted. "Don"t tell."
Drew stared into Kevin"s innocent brown eyes, speechless and feeling like a son of a b.i.t.c.h because he"d done the one thing he swore he wouldn"t do: hurt this little boy. "That"s not true, Kevin. You know that, don"t you?"
He nodded, but Drew could see that the boy"s eyes had filled with tears. d.a.m.n it. He hadn"t meant to make him cry.
"Yeah," Kevin said. "But I don"t think Mommy does. And there"s another breathing place in California and Mommy said we might move there instead. San Deego. I don"t wanna move to San Deego. I wanna stay here."
San Diego. d.a.m.n. Drew scrubbed a hand over his jaw, trying to decide how to handle this. "How about if I have a talk with your mommy, sprout? Just to let her know I think she should move to wherever she wants."
"You gonna tell on me?"
"Not if I can avoid it." Feeling like an ogre, Drew rose and set his hand on Kevin"s shoulder, gave it a gentle squeeze. "How about if you stow my tackle box in that cabinet over there?"
With the enthusiasm only a child could manage, Kevin hefted the too-big box and started toward the cabinet. Drew watched the little boy drag it across the deck, then turned to find Seth"s eyes on him.
"You"re an a.s.s," Seth said without rancor.
Drew sighed. "Yeah, I know."
"Alison"s a terrific girl, Drew. What the h.e.l.l"s the matter with you?"
"Leave it alone, Seth. You don"t know the whole story."
"I heard enough from that kid to know you"ve been a jerk."
Drew cursed under his breath.
"I"ve got to go." Seth touched his shoulder, his gaze seeking Drew"s. "Do yourself a favor and make it right."