The man finally found his voice again. “You mean the one near the Tom Adams Bridge?”
“Right. When we go back in, we’ll be happy to stay there with him and wait until you get there, if you want to continue the hunt.” He really hoped they’d go back to the pod. He suspected the guy would get his balls handed to him later by his wife, but he didn’t think it was good for the kid to have to sit there and listen to them bicker any longer than necessary.
When Louise chimed in, Sean wondered if she had pull as wife of the pod’s Alpha. “It’s really okay,” she said. “Go enjoy yourselves. Everything’s okay now. It was just a little scare.”
From what he could see of Louise’s expression by his running lights, she didn’t look convinced of that, but he gave her credit for trying to put on a brave face.
“Thanks, Louise,” Kim said. After throwing a last glare at her husband, Kim sank into the water, shifted, and swam back to the pod.
“I’m sorry, Billy,” the man said. He, too, sank and shifted before swimming away.
Sean shared a glance with Louise. He didn’t have to read her mind to understand the silent words she mouthed to him.
“See? I knew there would be trouble.”
She went to check on Billy. “Oh, honey, you’re shaking.” Sean dug up another towel for him, and the T-shirt Emery had been wearing. It was big on the boy, but at least it was something. He hoped Billy wasn’t close to going into shock.
Louise sat facing Billy. “Are you okay, sweetie?”
That’s when Sean realized the boy was crying. “I didn’t want to come tonight,” he whispered. “Dad told me to man up. That my cousin Jason did it as soon as he first shifted and so could I.” He looked at her. “I’ve never been on a night swim before. I’ve only swam shifted in salt water once. In the daytime, and just off the beach. I didn’t want to come tonight. I begged Dad not to make me, but he told me to stop whining.” He looked up at Louise. “Please don’t tell him or Mom I said that. I don’t want them fighting more. She’s already mad enough at him.”
Louise slid over to sit next to him and put her arm around him. “It’s okay, honey. But would it be all right if the Alpha tells them he thinks you should become a stronger swimmer before your next hunt? And that he’ll decide when your next hunt will be?” She gently nudged him. “That way, you can tell Mr. Nadel when you want to go out for a hunt.”
He sniffled a few times as he apparently mulled it over. “Yes, ma’am. That would be okay. Thank you.”
She hugged him. “Then that’s settled. You know, there’s a McDonald’s right down the street from the marina. When we get back, would you like a shake or a sundae or something? My treat.”
He nodded. “Yes, please.”
Sean ruffled the kid’s hair and exchanged another glance with Louise over the kid’s head. He hadn’t thought about shifter parents not being any different than human parents. Competitive with their own siblings, eager to show each other up by using their kids.
Another reason to be glad I’m an only child.
He stepped to the bow and watched the pod. Either the boat had drifted, or the pod had moved, or both. They were about thirty yards away now, off his port bow.
After a few more minutes, the pod broke away and headed south and east, toward shore. Near Boca Grande Pass, where the waters were a little deeper and the current swift, they found another school of fish and tore into them. Billy’s shaking had subsided, and they’d coaxed a bottle of water and a sandwich into him. Then he was content to cuddle up with Louise again.
After a few minutes, Sean realized the boy was asleep.
She sadly sighed. “Carey and Coarman are a couple of assholes,” she whispered to Sean. “They’re always trying to one-up each other. I’m surprised their wives haven’t killed them both yet. But I expected better from Carey than this.”
“I think his wife is about to put her fluke up his ass from what I saw,” Sean whispered.
Louise pressed her lips together in an attempt not to laugh and wake Billy. She finally managed to smile without laughing. “Good one,” she whispered back. “You catch on quick.”
Chapter Four
The rest of the hunt passed without incident. Billy’s mom stopped by the boat to check on her still-sleeping son before heading back to shore. Her silent husband followed in her wake. Emery rejoined them and climbed in.
“Thanks,” he said as Sean handed him a towel. He nodded toward the boy. “How is he?”
Sean nodded. “We’ll talk later, babe.”
His eyebrows lifted. “Ah. I’m tracking. But physically, he’s okay?”
“Yeah, just tired.” Sean found Emery’s shorts and handed them to him. Once Emery had pulled them on, Sean turned the boat around and carefully navigated toward the channel leading back to Lemon Bay. He wasn’t fond of going out on such a dark night, but Emery stood in the bow and gave him directions with hand signals so he could follow the channel markers.
They safely reached the marina before Billy’s parents. Billy woke up as they bumped against the dock. Emery found his car keys and handed them to his mom. “Here, you take him. I’ll help Sean get unloaded.”
“Okay. Come on, kiddo. Let’s go get ourselves shakes.” She grabbed her purse and led the boy by the hand down the dock to the parking lot.
Emery watched them go before turning to Sean with a dark look on his face. “Let me guess. His father made him come to the hunt?”
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Because the poor kid was scared shitless out there. You could tell he was terrified. Every little thing spooked him. His father practically pushed him into the first fish ball. Asshole. That kid had no business being out there tonight. Some kids are good to go on their first hunt right after they start shifting, and some need to get comfortable in the water at night first. He’s lucky it was a small bull shark and not a big one. Poor kid could have been seriously hurt. Or worse.”
“He made your mom promise not to say anything to his parents because he doesn’t want them fighting.”
“Fuck that. I’m going to—”
“Em, it’s okay. She asked him what about having your dad make the call when he’s ready to hunt, that he needed to become a stronger swimmer first or something. That he could tell your dad when he’s ready.”
Emery laughed. “That sounds like Mom.” He scrubbed his face with his hands. “Well, let’s get unloaded.”
They were waiting in the parking lot for Louise and Billy to return when a Toyota raced into the parking lot. The car had barely slid to a stop before Kim flew out the passenger door and raced to them. “Where’s Billy? Is he okay?”
“He’s fine,” Emery assured her. “Mom promised him a shake earlier.” He glanced over her shoulder. “There they are now.” Emery’s car was turning into the parking lot.
Louise pulled up and shut the car off. Kim ran around to the passenger side and engulfed her son in a tearful hug when he got out.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” Sean heard her murmur over and over to him. “I’m so sorry I let him make you go. I love you so much.”
“It’s okay, Mom. I love you, too.”
Carey got out and stood by his car. He stared down at the ground with his hands jammed in his pockets.
Louise walked over to him and stood there, staring at him. He finally glanced at her before looking down again. “I know, I screwed up. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize to me,” she quietly said, her tone sounding steely. “Your son is the one who almost paid the ultimate price for your pride and your childish ego. It’s time you and your brother start thinking of your children instead of yourselves. If my husband has to step in to settle this, it won’t be pretty.”
Kim had helped the boy don his clothes. With her arm protectively around him, she led him over to Louise and handed back the loaned towels and T-shirt. “Thank you so much,” Kim said gratefully, sounding near tears. “Thank you for taking care of him.” She choked ou
t a laugh. “And the shake.” She squeezed her son’s shoulders. “Did you tell her thank you?”
Louise reached out and hugged her. “Yes, he did. It’s all right,” she softly said. “He’s okay. But I believe Joseph, as he is wont to do in these situations, will want to make the decision as to when he should go on his next hunt.” She caressed Billy’s cheek. “If that’s okay with you, honey?”
Billy nodded.
Kim let go of Billy to give Emery a huge hug. “Thank you,” Sean heard her say. “You and Denby saved his life.”
“It’s okay. It’s what the pod does. We stick together.”
She also hugged Sean. “Thanks for helping take care of him. I really appreciate it.” She returned to her son, bundled him and his shake into the backseat, then got into the front passenger seat with deadly glares shot at, but not a word spoken to, her husband.
Sean stood next to Emery and watched them leave. “That is a man,” Sean said, “who is sooo not getting laid for a long, long time.”
Louise shook her head. “He’ll be lucky if she doesn’t divorce him.”
“Screw that,” Emery said. “He’ll be lucky if he wakes up and she hasn’t neutered him in his sleep. That is one pissed-off momma.”
* * * *
Erik Chait held the knife’s hilt in his teeth as he dragged his victim by the tail into the shallows of the mangrove swamp near the Placida trestle fishing pier. The incoming tide would push the body farther up into the shallows, making it harder to discover.
It hadn’t been difficult to pick him off from the others in the fast-moving, deep Boca Grande channel. He’d gotten away from the pod, downstream from them. Erik saw his chance, swam up behind him where he’d shifted, driving the knife into the other shifter’s throat before he had time to react.
Perfect.
He stared down at the shifter. He barely knew the guy, Barry something or other. A youngling. He’d never fooled around with them for fuck tag.
He did know Barry was loyal to Joseph.
He rolled the dead shifter onto his back and grabbed the knife. “Emery thinks he’s better than me. You all think you’re sooo much better than me,” he muttered as he plunged the knife into the dolphin’s belly. “I’ll fucking show all of you. By the time I’m done, Emery will wish he’d never met that fucking human.”
* * * *
They took Louise home with them to wait for Joseph to pick her up on his way home.
“Can I get you anything to drink, or eat?” Sean asked her while Emery went to take a quick shower.
“No thanks, Sean. I’m okay.” She looked at her phone with a worried frown.
“What’s wrong?”
“I haven’t heard from Joseph or Christopher yet. They should be back at their cars by now. They weren’t that far behind us.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
He leaned against the counter. “You said Carey would be lucky if Kim doesn’t divorce him. How can that be if they’re mated?” Sean couldn’t imagine ever leaving Emery.
She smiled. “It’s unusual, but not unheard of. I suspect they don’t have the mate-bond you and Emery do.” She glanced at the hallway to ensure Emery wasn’t there. “I have to admit I’ve thought it once or twice about Joseph. Especially after he first retired. That man really got on my nerves.”
“What about you volunteering to marry him?”
“I said I thought about it. Never said I’d follow through with it. I do love him. And I finally made him take up a hobby to get him out of the house and out of my hair. He’s not built to remain idle.”
Emery emerged from his shower ten minutes later. At the half-hour mark, Louise texted both Joseph and Christopher to call her, after leaving voice mails for them. Even Emery was starting to worry when an hour had gone by with no word from their family.
Sean pulled him aside. “Why don’t we take a ride out there and see what’s going on?”
Emery looked like he was about to answer when Louise’s phone rang. Both men turned to watch her answer.
“Joseph? Oh, thank goodness. What? What happened?”
Emery stepped into the living room. Sean followed him. He didn’t need to have super-duper dolphin senses to see Louise was upset.
“Oh my goodness. Do you want me to have Sean get his boat?…Okay. See you shortly.” She hung up and looked at them. “Barry Dorsette didn’t return from the hunt.” She stood and picked up her purse. “Everyone is going back out now to look for him.”
Sean grabbed his keys while Emery headed for the front door. “Where are they? What happened?” Emery asked.
“I don’t know all the details. The two friends Barry swam out with lost track of him during the hunt. They figured he was hanging with some of his relatives or something. But he didn’t return to their swim-out point. They swam in near where Joseph, Christopher, and the girls did.”
Sean locked the door behind them and they all piled into Emery’s Mustang again. “Have I met this Barry guy?” Sean asked Emery from the backseat.
“No. He wasn’t at the two full moon swims you went to.”
“Is he a youngling?”
“Technically,” Louise said. “He’s thirty-four, though. This isn’t like him, either. He’s a very responsible man. I’ve known him since he was born.”
They reached the marina. Sean ran on ahead to make sure his boat hadn’t been put up yet even though it was so late. Fortunately, it hadn’t. He found a night watchman to get him his keys from the drop box after showing his ID. Emery helped him quickly hook the electronics back up, and within a few minutes, they were back on the water and speeding out toward Lemon Bay.
Sean let Emery and Louise guide him toward the pod. When they drew close, he shut the engine off. Three of the dolphins swam up to the boat. Joseph shifted back to human form while Emery stripped and dove in to join them.
“Any sign of him?” Louise asked him.
“No.” Even in the dark, Sean could see how worried the older man looked. “This isn’t like him at all. No one remembers seeing him after we herded the school in Boca Grande Pass.”
“Do you want me to shift?” Louise asked him.
“No. You stay up here with Sean and help him follow us.” He ducked under and shifted again. Emery had already shifted and taken off toward the others.
They spent all night on the water, Sean keeping a close eye on his fuel gauge so he didn’t get stranded on an empty tank. By the time the sky began turning grey in the east, there was still no sign of the missing shifter. Emery rejoined them in the boat.
“What do we do now?” Sean asked as they headed back to the marina.
Emery looked frustrated. “We start calling everyone to come help look for him. Not exactly like we can file a missing person report on him.”
“Is it possible he went home with someone else?”
“No,” Louise said. “He would have let his friends know so exactly this kind of situation didn’t happen.” She looked thoughtful. “Is it possible that shark might have gotten him, Emery? The one that attacked Billy?”
“I doubt it. Someone would have heard something, you’d think. Denby and I put a hurting on it when we ran it off. I wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t survive.”
“What can I do to help?” Sean asked. “I mean, besides playing water chauffer?”
“I need to get you home so you can get some sleep, babe,” Emery said. “We need time to organize an official search party.”
* * * *
Erik poked his head out of the water and carefully looked around the shallow canal for any signs of life before shifting and boosting himself up on the sea wall. He’d rented the tiny, fully furnished trailer in the rundown park not too far from the southern tip of the Cape Haze peninsula under an assumed name. He’d paid cash for three months. With the summer slump, the agent hadn’t been eager to ask too many questions.
The best part, the canals led out to the harbor. Screw shopping,
he could hunt every night and sleep all day.
Hunt for food…and for revenge.
He slipped inside the trailer, locked the door behind him, and grabbed a quick shower. He wondered how long until the pod realized they had a missing member and launched a search.
He smiled. That would guarantee more time on the water for Emery. Maybe even that damn human of his, too. He didn’t dare try to follow them home. He knew because of the accident he’d caused that the Highway Patrol was after him, too.
They didn’t concern him. He couldn’t, however, let the pod catch him.
Not that he thought they could.
I’m smarter and faster than most of them. He stepped out of the shower and wiped condensation off the mirror with his hand. What the fuck does Em see in that human? I’m twice the man, at the very least, that he is.
Chapter Five
Sean slept until early Sunday afternoon. When he dragged himself out of bed, he turned on the TV to listen to the Weather Channel while he put on a pot of coffee.
“…and Tropical Storm Franklin has been upgraded to Hurricane Franklin by the National Hurricane Center. It’s a Category 1 storm, and on the move and gaining speed. The entire west coast of Florida needs to closely monitor this system.”
Now wide awake, he turned on his heel and returned to the TV. Sure enough, Englewood lay dead center in the middle of the cone of anxiety, as locals liked to call the National Hurricane Center’s forecasted track.
“…with forward motion possibly bringing Franklin onshore sometime late Tuesday or early Wednesday.”
“Fuck!” Sean, the coffee forgotten, grabbed his phone from where he’d left it charging on the counter and checked for texts from Emery. The last one had been sent two hours earlier.
Back in water. Text me when ur up.
Sean shot him a quick text about the storm and headed for the shower. His phone was ringing when he stepped out a few minutes later. He grabbed it and answered without looking at the screen.
Helen Morita’s anxious voice blasted at him through the phone. “Sean? Have you seen the weather report?”