“Let’s hope this is the end of it,” I told Kerrie. “Once they see the news on the wire, they’ll believe it, even without the bodies.”
“I hope so.”
“I have a feeling they’ll be hightailing it back to Cuba tonight.”
“I don’t know how to thank you.”
“Easy. You’ll keep me informed. How they’re doing.”
“I will,” she said.
“The dolphins and your kids.”
She smiled. “Will do.”
Chapter Twenty-three
Chris and I headed back to the Hilton together, where he planned to check out and head back to his job.
“So, now what?” he said as soon as we were out of earshot.
“Now, I…I don’t know.”
“You said Hyland told you to get on the next plane.”
“Yeah, well. I’m starting to wonder if…”
Chris gave me the look. “Wonder if what?”
“If this is what I’m really meant to do.”
“Are you kidding? It’s all you’ve ever wanted. It’s all you ever talk about. Being an agent and fighting for animals.”
“Well, that’s just it. Am I? She told us to stand down. To stand down, Chris.”
“Maybe there was another plan, something you don’t know, something—”
“Dalton was right. It’s not about the animals.”
Chris walked beside me in silence for awhile. As we approached the Hilton, he said, “So, what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.” I looked down at my hands. I couldn’t look at him. I had no answer.
“Come up to my room with me. I’ve got something for you.”
I looked up at him. “You do?”
“Yeah, c’mon.”
In his room, he gathered the few things that weren’t already in his suitcase, then sat down on the bed and plunked at the keyboard on his laptop.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
He held up a hand. “Hang on.”
“But what—”
The hand. “Give me a sec.”
I waited. Finally he made a big show of hitting return with his index finger. “I just sent you an email.”
“You what? Why? I’m right here.” What was up with him?
“Listen to me.” He set the laptop on the bed beside him and rose to face me. “You’ve got this whole vision in your head about Dalton and marriage and, what did you say, being settled down. Did you ever ask him if that’s what he wants?”
I stared. “Well…”
“Well, nothing. You didn’t. You’ve been making all these assumptions.”
“But Alison—”
“He’s not married to Alison, and there’s a reason.”
“Well, yeah, she cheated on him and—”
“You don’t know that’s the reason they got divorced. Didn’t he say something about realizing…something?”
I thought about it. He had.
“Maybe he doesn’t want that either. Maybe he doesn’t even want to be married. Maybe lots of things. But that crazy brain of yours has made this all complicated. More complicated than it needs to be.”
I frowned. Was he right? He was usually right.
“Check your email. It’s a plane ticket to Bozeman. Once there, I’ve got a reservation for a rental car set up in your name.”
“Bozeman? Montana?”
“Isn’t that where Dalton is from? Isn’t that where he would have gone?”
“Well, yeah, probably, but I can’t—”
“But nothing.” His eyes softened. “Poppy, I love you, but sometimes—” He sighed. “I’ve been so worried about you I’ve knitted three sets of knockers.” He took me in his arms and kissed me on the cheek. When he pulled away, he looked me in the eyes. “So, get your skinny ass on that plane.”
After I packed my bag, I swung by the Bimini Big Game Club. I had one more thank you to deliver.
I found Rod and Alison lounging in chairs by the pool.
Alison sat up when she saw me approach.
I held up a hand to keep her from having to get up. “I just came by to say thank you.”
“Did everything work out?” she asked.
“Yeah, thanks to you and Rod. I appreciate your help.”
“Anytime,” he said.
Alison’s gaze went past me. “Where’s Dalton?”
I glanced over my shoulder. Habit. “Oh, he had to head back home already. He, uh, yeah.” I didn’t know what else to say.
A look of concern crossed her face. She turned to Rod. “Would you give us a minute, honey?”
He looked confused for a moment, then seemed to realize that it didn’t matter whether or not he knew what was going on, and did as he was asked. “I think I need another beer. Can I get you one?” he asked me.
“No, thanks,” I said to his backside.
“Where’s Dalton?” she asked before Rod was ten feet away.
“I don’t know. We had a disagreement, I guess you’d call it, and he left. The job was done, so…”
“Where’d he go?”
“I don’t know.”
With a huff, she said, “He’s in Montana.”
“How do you know that?”
“Because I know Dalton. Here.” She pulled a notepad from her purse and jotted down something, then handed me the paper. “That’s his home address. Start there, but he’ll be in the woods.”
“Why are you…?”
“I told you. I want him to be happy.”
I glanced in the direction that Rod had gone. “And you didn’t want Rod to hear you say that?”
She followed my gaze. “No. I asked him to go because I wanted to ask your advice.”
“My advice?” Was she serious?
“I don’t know what to do.”
I shifted from one foot to the other. “Okay.”
“Rod didn’t bring me here to swim with the dolphins.” Her lip curled up as she held back tears. “That was a convenient excuse.”
She hesitated, so I quietly said, “Why did he bring you here then?”
“He left me alone in the room and went to some meet up. About a job. He went with that Jesse and Deuce out in the middle of the ocean. It was all a big secret. That’s the whole reason we came here.”
“But I thought the post office—”
“Yeah, you and me both. It seems he couldn’t stand the idea of settling down.” She hugged her belly and the child that was growing there. “I should have known. Once a SEAL, always a SEAL. I don’t know what I was thinking. I mean, I couldn’t tame Dalton either.”
“I’m not sure—”
She looked on the verge of tears. “What do I do?”
“I don’t—I don’t know.”
The tears started down her cheeks.
I sat down on the chair next to her. “Maybe it isn’t what you think.”
“Oh, he explained it. He lied to me. Before we got married.” She sat up straighter to look me in the eyes. “He’s worth a fortune. Who knew? Not me.”
“What? I don’t understand.”
“Rod. He’s super rich. Inherited a ton of money. He even set up a foundation, some charity. And he bought this, like, luxury fishing boat.” The tears started again. She dug around in her purse, pulled out a tissue, and blotted her eyes with it. “All without telling me a word. Who does that?”
“Well, maybe…” I had nothing. No kidding. Who does that? I felt for her. She didn’t deserve this.
“He said he wanted to be sure I loved him for him, not the money.”
“Well, I guess I can understand that.” I cringed, hoping I hadn’t overstepped. “Can’t you?”
She shrugged. “I guess.”
“You do love him, right?”
She nodded, crying.
“Well, Rod loves you. It’s plain and simple. Anyone can see it,” I said.
“Do you really think so?”
I nodded.
“Yeah, but, will it be enough?”
> I took her hand in mine and squeezed. “I’m sure everything will work out,” I said and hoped, with all my heart, that it would. “Maybe it won’t look like you imagined. What relationship does? But when two people love each other, they make it work, right? My mom and dad did. My mom’s a Navy admiral and my dad was a free-spirited wildlife photographer. Sometimes they fought like cats. But they were madly in love. They made it work.”
“I don’t know.” She sniffled.
“I do,” I said. “It’s a job. Sure, Rod might find it meaningful, but at the end of the day, he knows it’s our relationships that matter. The ones we love.”
“Yeah?” She cocked her head to the side. “Sounds like you should take your own advice.”
I sat back. “And I was really starting to like you.” I grinned.
She smiled, but the tears kept flowing.
Chapter Twenty-four
Dalton’s house was at the end of a long dirt road that wound through wooded hills along a river of raging white-water. When I found the mailbox and confirmed the street number, I turned into the drive. Ahead, a two-story timber-frame house gripped the edge of a bluff, overlooking the river valley.
It was exactly the kind of house I pictured Dalton living in.
I rolled to a stop, killed the engine, and got out of the car.
The air smelled of pine. A magpie called from the tree overhead—wock, wock wock-a-wock.
A light was on inside. I drew in a breath. It’s just Dalton. Why are you so nervous?
I got to the door and clanked the brass knocker.
Footsteps approached across a wood floor.
The door swung open and a woman stood before me, staring with an annoyed look on her drawn face, a cigarette hanging at the edge of her mouth. A ratty T-shirt hung from her bony shoulders. She had on cotton sweatpants and thread-bare pink slippers. Her hair hadn’t been washed in days.
“What the hell you doin’ way out here?” she said. “I gave at the office.”
She spun and the door slammed shut in my face.
I stood there for a moment, unsure what to do. Was that Dalton’s mother? She seemed the right age. I dug the paper out of my pocket and double-checked the address. I was in the right place. At least, the address Alison had given me.
What the heck? I reached for the knocker and gave it another whack, whack, whack.
The door flung open again. This time, the woman held a shotgun, aimed at me.
Shit! My hands shot up in the air. “I, uh, I’m just looking for Dalton. Garrett Dalton.”
Her gaze traveled down to my shoes and back up again. “Go away,” she said and slammed the door again.
I backed away, off the porch.
What the hell? Is this why Dalton never mentioned his mom?
The distinctive hum of a car’s engine came through the trees.
An old pick up, circa 1980, pulled up behind my rental car.
A woman got out, about the same age as the woman inside the house, only this woman had a round belly and graying hair pulled up into a bun. She reached for something in the bed behind the cab.
“Hello,” I called, cautiously approaching.
She looked my way as she hauled a bag of groceries up and over the side of the truck. “Hello there.” A kind smile brightened her face.
“I’m looking for Dalton.”
“Oh, yeah?” She seemed surprised by that. “Well, you just missed him.”
“I did?”
“He’s hard to catch.”
Don’t I know it. “And you are…?”
She thrust her hand at me. “Sarah. I keep an eye on the place. And his mom.”
“Ah, yeah. We just met. Briefly.” So she was his mom. “I’m afraid that I scared her.”
The woman looked at me. “What do you mean?”
“She had a firearm.”
“Oh, that,” she said with a half grin. “There aren’t any shells in it.”
Well, I didn’t know that.
“What do you need with Dalton?”
“Oh, I work with him. I, just, needed to talk with him is all. I haven’t been able to reach him, so...”
She came to a halt in front of me, seemed to assess my story. Then she nodded, as though affirming what she thought. “Makes sense. He forgot his phone.”
“He did?”
“Sorry, I can’t help you, though. He didn’t say where he was headed, or when he’d be back. If you know Dalton, you know what I mean. He keeps everything close to the vest.”
I nodded, trying not to show my disappointment. And he’d left his phone. He wouldn’t forget that. He left it on purpose.
“Do you want to leave him a note?”
“Nah,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ll catch up with him. I’m sure he’ll call in, once he realizes he left the phone.”
I gazed out over the river into the forest behind. Where’d you go, Dalton?
My phone rang and I lurched forward.
Dalton? I read the display. It was Kerrie. “Excuse me,” I said to the woman and stepped away as I answered. “Agent McVie.”
“Poppy. I just wanted you to know, we spotted the dolphins today. They were crater feeding with some of our resident bottlenose--all five of them.”
“Oh, that’s great news.”
“I think they’re going to be fine. Thanks to you.”
I smiled. My phone beeped. Another call. Hyland. “Excuse me, Kerrie, it’s my boss beeping in.” I switched to the other line. “Agent McVie.”
“Good afternoon,” she said. “I’m glad I caught you.”
“Caught me?”
“Yes. You’re in Montana, aren’t you? With Dalton?”
How’d she—dammit. Greg’s voice echoed in my head. I’ve got your GPS coordinates, too.
“No,” I said. “Dalton’s not here. I don’t know where he is.”
“Oh,” she said, then a beat later, “well, he asked for some time off. I just figured…”
Time off? “He didn’t mention that to me,” I said. “How much time off?”
“A couple of weeks.”
Two weeks? And he left his phone...
“Had I known I’d need you two to check on something out there, I wouldn’t have approved it.”
“Out here? What do you mean?”
“We got a report of a rash of wolf kills outside Yellowstone.”
My teeth clenched. The way wolves get demonized angers me.
“The numbers are higher than the statistical average. The thing is, it’s a political hornet’s nest. I was hoping you two could do a little investigating under the radar. See what’s really happening over there.”
I still had a job. But did I want it? Would this be just like the dolphins? Go in, get information, then leave the wolves to fend for themselves? Maybe I needed a vacation too. “You know, I think—”
“I want you to run point on this one.”
“Really?”
“Get in there, assess the situation. However we move forward will be your call.”
“I’ll be in charge of this op?”
“Yeah, unless you feel you need Dalton to—”
“I don’t need Dalton.”
I don’t need Dalton. The words felt sour as they came out of my mouth.
Author's Note
Well, that fulfilled one of my BIG dreams—to write a Poppy novel about dolphins. Thanks for coming along for the adventure.
Believe it or not, most everything in this story is TRUE in real life WITH THE EXCEPTION of Russian dolphins escaping from Cuba to Bimini. But the part about Russians (and the U.S.) using dolphins for military purposes is absolutely true. The articles mentioned in the book are real and online if you want to look them up.
The history of drug running from Bimini is true. The Dolphin House is a real place (super cool). Even the part I mentioned about a sheik who has a cheetah for a pet is true.
When I had the idea that the dolphins would willingly present their dorsal fins to Poppy to
have their transmitters removed, I imagined, with no scientific confirmation, that they would be intelligent enough to recognize what she was doing. Then, I saw a video about the shark expert, Cristina Zenato, who removes fishing hooks from the mouths of sharks. She claims they come to her now, when they need a hook removed. Amazing.
For this story, I made my own trip to Bimini to swim with dolphins. It was amazing. While I was there, I decided to adopt a dolphin. Her name: Poppy McVie. You can learn about her on the Dolphin Communication Project web site. The first $750 profit from the sale of this book has supported her adoption. AND, the best part, I got to see her when I was there and I got some great video of her bow riding. Click here to check it out.
Thank YOU for reading. If you’re interested in connecting with me online, I like to share travel stories (like my own trip to swim with dolphins in Bimini) and videos (Have you ever seen a napping sloth? This is exciting stuff!), my wildlife photos, and MORE! Please sign up for my newsletter at www.KimberliBindschatel.com. You’ll be the FIRST to know about my new releases, too. (I have a special sign-up gift for you.) Join the adventure.
The adventure continues...
Can't get enough of Poppy McVie? Courageous, smart, adventurous, caring and tough as nails, Poppy is on to her next page-turning mission fighting wildlife crimes in her own, no-holds-barred style while sparks continue to fly with sexy Dalton.
Be the first to get a sneak peek of Poppy's next thrilling adventure, Operation Wolf Trap
Coming soon….Check here to be notified upon release.
Other Novels by Kimberli A. Bindschatel
The Poppy McVie Adventure Mystery Series
Operation Tropical Affair
Operation Orca Rescue
Operation Grizzly Camp
Operation Turtle Ransom
Operation Arctic Deception
Operation Dolphin Spirit
The Fallen Shadows Trilogy
The Path to the Sun (Book one)
Thanks
During the writing of this story, I had help from some wonderful people. Kelly and Nicole of the Dolphin Communication Project not only welcomed me, answering all my questions with patience, but inspired me through their love and dedication to these dolphins.
Operation Dolphin Spirit Page 20