Leaving the computer set in “alert” mode, she walked to the railing where she and Landon had stood a short while ago. As soon as she touched him, she had felt a premonition of sorts. It was fuzzy and unclear, but she sensed danger.
Castle Pinckney sat in the distance while Joanna tried to imagine it as it had once been. Suddenly, she felt as if someone or something was trying to communicate with her. Closing her eyes, she concentrated on searching for whatever was out there. It was an elusive sort; she couldn’t quite push close enough to mentally connect. As she concentrated more intently, blocking out the world around her, she felt herself being drawn toward something unexplainable. Smack! Joanna felt as if she had physically run into a wall of concrete.
Someone needed her. They were trying to tell her something important, but there was an invisible force blocking the communication in some way. She pulled on all of her energy searching for a way around the roadblock.
Yes ! There it was-- a trail as thin and fragile as a spider’s web. She followed the trail deeper and deeper. Tackling this sort of thing alone was dangerous and exhausting. Joanna knew she should pull back, but could not bring herself to sever the thin connection. Deeper and deeper she ventured, further and further away, searching, seeking.
“ Beep--Beep!” Joanna’s laptop startled her out of the trance-like state she had fallen into. Dropping her head onto the railing, she took a moment to gather her strength. So tired. “Beep--Beep!” She knew the sound would not stop until she checked it. Sighing, she forced herself to push off of the railing and make her way to the computer. She felt a splash on her forearm and saw a drop of bright red blood. Great! Could one more thing piss her off? Grabbing a tissue from beneath a bench seat, she focused on the screen.
“Tunnel found, section three.” Royce and Landon had found a secret tunnel! Where did it lead? “c u @ boat,” Sean had responded. They were returning to talk about the find and decide how to proceed.
Joanna had hoped for a little more time to rejuvenate before Royce came back on board. She hoped he didn’t notice the dark circles that now stood out beneath her eyes. At least her nose had stopped bleeding. She quickly stashed the bloody tissue in her bikini top.
As the men surfaced they ripped the regulators out of their mouths and celebrated. High-fives all around! Joanna had to laugh at their excitement.
“Nice going, guys,” Joanna called before hurrying below. She really needed to rest for just a moment longer. She slid into one of the benches surrounding the table and cradled her head on folded arms. She kept one ear tuned to the activity topside. If someone came down the stairs, she would jet into the head pretending she needed to use the girls’ room.
“Where’s Jo?” Sean asked stowing their gear. He grabbed a cold bottle of water and savored a long pull.
“I think she went below to bring up our lunch,” Royce said, knowing that it would be a cold day in hell when that happened. Joanna didn’t wait on anyone.
“Right, I’m sure that’s it,” Sean chimed in sarcastically.
Kurt dropped onto the deck, lying flat on his back to study the clouds in the sky. “Good work today guys. These old bones are worn out.”
“You are such a senior citizen,” Landon agreed heading below deck to grab some sandwiches. Diving was hungry work, and they were growing men.
# Looking forward to continuing his conversation with the sexy Witch, Landon took the stairs two at a time. The smile on his lips slipped as he saw Joanna slumped over the table. He leaped from the stairs landing beside her. She was barely breathing, and a steady flow of blood trickled from her nose.
“My God,” He said scooping her into his arms to carry her to one of the bed rooms. “Royce!” he bellowed as he placed her gently on top of the comforter. “Royce, get down here!”
“The kids are at it again,” Royce groaned as he worked up the energy to move from the comfortable chair he had just landed in. Surely they could get along for five minutes unsupervised.
Landon didn’t know much about Witches, but he knew this was serious. “Joanna is unconscious and bleeding from the nose.”
“Son-of-a-bitch,” Royce said as he lunged from his chair and hit the stairs at a run.
Sean followed closely on Royce’s heels while Kurt raced toward the captain’s chair. In a matter of seconds, they were headed back to the marina at full speed.
Joanna moaned as she opened her eyes. Three men hovered over her; panic reflected in each of their expressions. Covering her face with her hands, she tried to hide tears of exhaustion as they rolled down her face.
“I’m sorry, Royce,” she mumbled. “I’m sorry. I’m so embarra--”
“You’re going to be more than sorry,” Royce jumped on her with both feet. “I’ve had it, Jo. If you can’t use some common sense, I’ll call in Tammy.” Royce’s fear manifested in rage. “I’m not going to risk you pushing your limitations. I’ll call her right now if I can’t trust you to use your head and not--”
Landon stepped in front of Royce placing his palm solidly in the middle of Royce’s chest. “Back off,” he growled.
Royce lifted a sardonic eyebrow and looked pointedly at Landon. His hand applied enough pressure to force Royce to move back a step.
“She is sick,” Landon said softly. “Now is not the time.”
Joanna couldn’t believe Landon had intervened to stop Royce from verbally taking a piece out of her. She was too tired to give it much consideration as she slipped quietly into a deep sleep.
Taking a step back, Royce scrubbed his face with both hands. What the hell had happened? He looked at his sister lying deathly still, her face frighteningly pale and streaked with blood and tears.
Several minutes had passed. Both men silently watched Joanna, as if to confirm that she was indeed still breathing.
“Her heart rate has returned to normal. It was very sporadic for a while. And her body temperature has risen substantially. Its ninetyseven degrees right now but still on the rise,” Landon reported.
“How do you know all that?” Royce asked. Mystified by what he had just heard.
Landon shrugged. “Heightened senses-- I’m a Wolf, remember?” he said with small grin.
“Oh, yea, that,” Royce nodded. “I was out of line earlier. I, uh-appreciate you stepping in, although I was tempted to kick your ass for it.”
“Again,” Landon began drearily, “I’m a Wolf, remember?”
Royce laughed. “Don’t you worry; I’ve got ways to deal with that,” he assured Landon.
Sean appeared in the doorway. He had gone to see how much longer it would be before they reached the marina.
“We’re within five minutes. What’s the plan?” Sean asked, referring to Joanna.
“I’ll let her sleep and bring her home when she wakes up,” Landon offered. “She’ll probably be out for a while.”
After a long look, Royce agreed to leave Landon with Joanna.
“I’ll take care of her. She’s safe with me,” Landon promised her brother.
“If I doubted that for a minute, you wouldn’t be anywhere near her,” Royce assured him. “One word of warning though,” Royce continued with an evil smile, “she may be a tad irritable when she wakes up.” With that being said, he turned and climbed the stairs. Landon heard the sonof-a-bitch whistling as he helped unload their gear.
# “She’ll be fine with Landon; he wouldn’t let anything happen to her,” Kurt reassured Royce as they carried the last of the air tanks to the truck.
Royce offered Kurt his hand saying again, “I know, or I would never leave her with him.”
Shaking Royce’s hand Kurt continued, “Now, I’m not sure he is safe with her.”
“You may be right,” Royce laughed as he agreed. Turning to find Sean, Royce called, “Let’s go. I have a date tonight and I don’t want to be late!”
Kurt shook his head as Royce and Sean roared out of the parking lot. He walked back to the boat and glanced at his watch. He had close to an hour
and a half to get things done before he needed to pick up the girls for dinner.
Kurt wished he could check in with everyone at home, but his cell phone had just died. Clarissa had lost her cell phone charger, so she was using his. He had accidently run over his car charger after it had fallen out of his truck a couple of days ago. Consequently, there was no way to recharge his phone until he got home. Becki was off work today and would take care of anything that came up, but he would call them when he got to the shop, just to be sure.
“You ok, bud?” Kurt called down to Landon.
“Yea, I’ve got it covered down here. I’ll catch up with you this evening,” Landon said quietly.
“Ok, the girls and I are going to go out to eat tonight. They leave for Indiana in the morning.”
Kurt would miss his girls, but he needed to know they were safely tucked away from whatever craziness was in progress here.
“Ok, catch ya later,” Landon said, his attention being pulled once again to the woman sleeping nearby. Sean had warned that Joanna would wake up with the mother of all headaches. He had aspirin ready for the minute she began to stir.
* * * *
CHAPTER EIGHT Becki had been home all day cleaning her house. The floors positively sparkled. She was lounging on the deck drinking a glass of wine when her cell phone rang.
“Hey, you’re home safe and sound!” Becki answered.
“Yep, and already unpacked,” Natie said.
“Wow! You’re good!” Becki applauded, taking a sip of her wine. “I just called to let you know I dumped Jonah on his self-centered
ass,” Natie said without any sort of forewarning. Becki spit her wine out all over the table. “ What? It’s about damn time!” She said trying not to choke.
“I decided the night we left and told him to get his shit together and get out as soon as we got home,” Natie said proudly.
“That’s wonderful news!”
“He whined about being tired from the drive, and I told him I was pretty sure he could find someone willing to let him into their bed tonight. But, that someone wouldn’t be me!”
Becki laughed, “Ha! I bet he didn’t have anything to say to that!”
“Oh, he slammed around, and I helped him all I could… by throwing his shit out in the front yard from the second story window!” Natie bragged.
Becki laughed as Natie gave her the details. “Oh, Nat, I wished I could have been a fly on the wall,” she said, her eyes dancing with mirth. “Speaking of being a fly on the wall, tell me about your ride home with Sean the other night. He’s such a sweet-heart.”
“I know, but I’m not ready to think about anyone other than me right now, Becki. I didn’t love Jonah anymore, but he was comfortable. I’ve never been with anyone else, so I’m just going to go solo for a while,” Natie said.
“There’s nothing wrong with that. You need to come back here now that you’ve cut the ball and chain loose. We can have some real fun,” Becki coaxed.
“Maybe I’ll be able to come back in a few months. Don’t get too excited, but I’m considering moving there permanently.”
Becki screamed in excitement, “Really?” Becki asked as she stood up and danced around in circles. “That would be so awesome!” Flopping back into her seat, she grabbed her wine glass and pressed her sister for details, “When?”
“I’m thinking as soon as this semester is over. I still have a few weeks to go. I’m getting sick of school, so I might take next semester off. I figured that would be a good time to relocate,” Natie shared. “What’s that hottie’s name, the one who owns your house? Does he have any more rental properties on the Island?”
“I’m sure he does…and he is a hottie,” Becki agreed. “I’ll be glad to make the sacrifice and find out for you,” she graciously offered.
“I’m sure you would,” Natie said, mocking her sister. “Have you talked to Jenna lately?”
“She Facebooked me just the other day,” Becki said as she poured another glass of wine. She had spit most of her other glass out. “She had some new ink she wanted me to see.”
“Tweedy Bird,” Natie said laughing.
“Yep, that’s it. She also got nipple rings, but she didn’t send me pics of those. Thank God,” Becki said grimacing. That was just way too much for her. Those had to hurt like a mother.
“Just wait. I’m sure you’ll be able to catch them on Facebook,” Natie teased.
“Probably,” Becki agreed.
Jenna was a free spirit. She was into body piercings and tattoos, liked to smoke a little pot, and ride her Harley. She reminded Becki of a chocolate covered cherry-- hard on the outside and mushy on the inside. Jenna also had a pet snake that Becki and Natie were not so fond of. She insisted that he was a real “sweet heart.” But even so, they made her leave him at home, when she visited one of them.
“You should so get Jenna to come with you,” Becki said.
“Oh God, can you imagine the three of us together on an island? That place would never be the same! Me with my boobs hanging out, her with tattoos and piercings everywhere, and you trying to get us all drunk. I’m not sure the locals could take it. And then there’s the “midnight ride”. That alone would probably get her thrown in jail!”
Jenna liked to ride her Harley in the buff during the full moon. She had tried to talk Becki and Natie into it several times but hadn’t been successful, yet.
It was nice to hear Natie so happy. It had been a long time since Becki had heard that sparkle in her voice.
“You should ask her anyway. She might be ready for a change,” Becki urged.
“I will; next time I talk to her. I have to figure out what I’m going to do before I pull her into the mix,” Natie reasoned.
A call beeped in, and Becki saw it was Clarissa. “I need to take this call, Natie. It’s Clarissa…and Kurt is out on the boat.”
“Ok, we’ll talk later. Bye,” Natie said before disconnecting the call.
Becki picked up Clarissa’s incoming call.
“Hi, Hon. What’s up?” Becki asked as she topped off her glass with just a tad more wine.
“Becki?” Clarissa began nervously.
“What’s wrong, Clarissa. Is everybody ok?” Clarissa sounded as if she had been crying.
“Yes, but these men came to the door and wanted me to ask them in to wait on my Dad. I told them I couldn’t let anyone in when my dad wasn’t home.”
Beck swallowed the panic rising in her throat as Clarissa continued, “They went back out and sat in their car for a while, just watching the house. And, then I saw these other really big guys start walking over toward their car, and they took off. Then the big guys walked all around our house. It was just weird the way they kind of left all of a sudden.”
“I’ll be right there,” Becki promised as she ran into the house to find her keys.
“I’m a little scared. We have the doors locked, but I don’t know when Dad will be home,” Clarissa concluded, sniffling.
Becki knew she was more than a little scared.
“I’m on my way now. Just sit tight and don’t answer the door for anyone. If someone else shows up, call 911,” Becki insisted. “Understand?”
“Yes,” Clarissa responded.
With her heart in her throat, Becki said, “I’m going to put you on speaker, so I can have both hands to drive. You stay on the line with me. Tell me if you see anyone at all.”
Becki activated the Bluetooth speaker system, “Can you hear me, Clarissa?”
“I hear you,” she confirmed.
Becki was more frightened than she had ever been in her life. Even if she could get in touch with the guys, they were out in the middle of the water somewhere. It would take them too long to get home. Please keep them safe, Lord.
“Where are your sisters, Clarissa?” Becki asked.
“They are right here with me. We’re upstairs watching out the windows. I’m getting a little freaked with all these strangers around. No one is usually down her
e that I don’t know. We are supposed to go out for dinner, so Dad should be home soon. I wish he was home now,” she finished in a whisper.
Becki flew. In the quiet little cul-de-sac everyone stuck together. There was no reason for anyone to be down there that Clarissa didn’t know. A bunch of strangers milling around was quite disturbing.
Her phone beeped indicating a call coming in, but it didn’t display who was calling. Please let it be Royce. Becki’s tires squealed as she made the turn into the addition.
“Hold on, Clarissa. I have a call ringing in. I’m pulling in to the addition right now; I’ll be there in two minutes or less,” Becki promised.
“Ok, I’m going to try to call Dad again. I’ll see you in a minute,” Clarissa said.
Becki clicked over to the new call. “Royce, where are you? Are you back yet? Is Kurt with you?” She was firing off questions without waiting for answers.
“What’s wrong, Doll?”
“Trev,” Becki said with tears of disappointment thickening her voice. “I can’t talk now. There’s trouble, big trouble. I have to find Royce.”
Becki hung up before Trevor could formulate a question.
Her phone rang again, and this time the caller ID chose to work properly. “Royce,” she choked past the lump clogging her throat.
“What’s wrong, Becki?” Royce asked anxiously.
He had just gotten out of the shower and was in the midst of getting ready for their date. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. Becki was beautiful. She was also kind and caring. She was not afraid to stand up for herself and what she believed was right. In many ways Becki was like Joanna, who had really pissed him off earlier.
Joanna had pushed too hard today. She had risked her health because of her damn stubbornness. Joanna would fight to the death to protect those she loved. Becki was like that when it came to her family.
Royce didn’t know how he was going to keep Becki out of the middle of this mess. He would never forgive himself if something happened to her, but he couldn’t seem to stay away. He found himself just wanting to be with her. To care for her… protect her.
Treasure Tides (The Coins) Page 18