I cup my hands and tilt my head up to the observation tower. “Hello.”
There’s no answer, so I head down to the kitchen area. Pepper and Penny are already waiting for me. “Where are they? Did you two get breakfast? Heck, lunch?”
Penny’s tail wags in double time. But I’m not falling for it. I know they fed her already.
Pepper strolls off to the beach. Which may or may not be her answer, or it could be her being her sassy self. I stop by the kitchen. Under a covered bowl, I find a breakfast of coconut grits mixed with some of Pepper’s fruit. I stare through the thinning jungle to the beach as I eat. But I can’t hear anyone. They wouldn’t have left me alone. I chomp on the toasted coconut. I would have thought I would be sick of it by now, but with the rainy season gone, it’s good, and things are crisp instead of soggy.
I head out to the beach, taking the zigzag path behind the new blind that the guys have been working on. Dante’s out at the fish weir. It’s low tide. But something’s different. And it takes me a good second to pick out what it is.
“Where’s the tender?” My stomach flips, and I want to lose my breakfast.
“Sassy!” Dante says, his voice full of his normal sunshine.
“Don’t you Sassy me. Where are they?”
“They went to see if the WaveRunner is still there.”
“And...” Because I can definitely see there’s an “and” going on here.
“And they went back to the Pomelo village to bury the rest of the villagers.”
My mother used to say,“It’s a good thing you’re not a cartoon because there would be steam pouring out of your ears.”It’s one of the reasons why I learned to control my emotions in front of guests. But it’s true. The guys are family now, and I’m not hiding my true self anymore.
“Hey, they’ll be back soon.”
“But they didn’t need to go at all.”
“Sassy... this has been festering in Calvin for a long time.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m not heartless. It’s a really noble thing he wants to do. But they’re dead. He’s putting not only his life in danger but Zane, Sam, and Easton’s too.”
“Sam wants to know if the pirates came back to take the WaveRunner. And Zane... Zane wants?—”
“Chickens.”
“Yeah, but don’t tell him I told you. He wants it to be a surprise.”
“And Easton?”
“I think Easton wants?—”
“Closure.” I drop my arms. It’s easy to tell that he’s not been himself since he was shot. He hasn’t even tried to swim yet.
“Closure? You think? I think he just wants to make sure the lot of them don’t get hurt and upset you.” Dante tosses a fish into the basket.
“Oh... sure, that’s probably it.” I nod at Dante and sink down onto the big rock next to the fish weir.
Dante’s got the weir mostly cleared out. I watch a small fish swimming around in the shallow water. It’s small enough to fit through the bars, but it can’t find its way out of the prison. And suddenly I feel a lot like a small fish.
Chapter 15
Motley Crew
Easton
The waves are choppy as we round the cove to where the Rock Candy used to sit. It’s fucking weird seeing the full wall of the bluff without the yacht there. I’m not sure why I’ve even fucking come. But talking them out of going didn’t seem like it was going to happen.
Last night, that... yeah. Last night was one of the craziest things—if not the craziest thing—I’ve ever done. And I’ve done some shit. Most of it while drunk and out of my mind after a big team meet. But nothing like that. Yeah, I’m still processing.
