Sea Struck (Lupine Bay Book 3)

by Maribel Fox

  She snorts, treading water within arm’s reach of the boat. “Not at all. It was awful. But you wanna know the weird thing? I’m so relieved. It’s been years of me imagining how it would go down, the complete disaster it would be, and it was, but also it wasn’t that bad. I’m still here. No one’s hurt or in jail… Not that I really thought that would happen, but you know how your imagination can be…”

  “I know how your imagination can be,” I agree, nodding.

  She shoves me on the shoulder, playful, joking, not even thinking about it I’m sure.

  How do I get her to have a shitty reunion with her dad every day?

  “Seriously though… It’s like he still had this hold over my brain, you know? Always in there, always making me keep an eye out to prevent a surprise attack… I feel like I can finally let my guard down. Oh! And he gave me my treasure chest. There’s another one of those rocks in there, but it’s not any different from the others.”

  “Still, means you know those have been around for the last twenty years,” I point out.

  “True,” she agrees, starting to swim further from the boat.

  “Can you float?” I ask, watching her bobbing, waving her arms to stay afloat.

  “In a pool maybe,” she says, making a face.

  “Oh, c’mon. There’s no waves here today. Just lay back and try not to think about anything.”

  “You mean try not to think about all the ways the ocean can kill me,” she says.

  “That too.”

  Callie heaves a big sigh, then shakes her head.

  “Fine. You’re the teacher. If you think it’ll help…” She starts to lay back in the water, but in full gear she struggles, kicking and sinking until I’m there to offer my arms for support.

  “Just relax,” I say softly, hands barely hovering on her back. It’s dangerous territory and I know it. I’m too close to her, actually touching her, and she’s barely tolerating me. I’m fooling myself if I try to think otherwise.

  “You know, I think he’s the reason I’m so scared,” she says, eyes closed, sunlight highlighting the freckles across the bridge of her nose.

  “Your dad?” I ask, forcing myself to focus. Do not kiss her.

  She nods, and I feel some of the tension finally leaving her spine as she allows the water to support her fully.

  “I thought it was just regular lighthouse keeper fears for the longest time, but his paranoia is stronger than that, and I don’t know if he meant to, but he passed it on to me and I need to get over it. I don’t want to let him have that control over me.”

  “Makes sense,” I say, proud of myself for holding my tongue. Callie may not know if her dad’s actions were intentional or not, but I know. He did everything he could to keep her from the ocean — and from me. Guess it worked.

  “Besides, you’re going to keep me safe, right?” she asks, laughing at her little joke. She can’t see me with her eyes closed to the sun, but it’s not a joke to me. I force a chuckle for her sake, but there’s nothing I take more seriously than keeping her safe.

  “Of course I will.”

  She’s floating well on her own now, and I know I need to put some space between us. I wade away before floating too. Neither of us says anything for a while, basking in the sun and the calm waters.

  “Okay, you win. This is relaxing,” Callie admits after a few minutes. The next thing I know, she’s softly humming, the gentle lap of waves against my boat her percussion line. It’s a sweet sound, entrancing in its simplicity.

  I could live in this moment forever, but it’s a fantasy and I know it. She’d be much happier if I wasn’t here at all.

  There’s a splash nearby and Callie’s song stops abruptly.

  “What was that?” she asks, suddenly alert, panic in her voice.

  “What was what?” I ask, turning to glance her way, still on my back.

  “The splash! You heard it, didn’t you? Was it a shark?”

  “A sh— You’re kidding, right?”

  “Don’t laugh at me! There’s something in the water!”

  As if to prove her point, there’s another splash.

  This time I catch a glimpse of white fur, black spots like a sea-faring Dalmatian. I know instantly what it is and it’s so hard not to laugh.

  “It’s not a shark,” I assure her, swimming over.

  “How do you—”

  “Come on,” I say, tugging her hand.

  “Come— Underwater?! With the shark?”

  “It’s not a shark, Cal.”

  As unsure as she is, she trusts me. I don’t know why after all this time, after claiming to hate me, but she does. I pull her under the surface with me, and then there they are suddenly.

  A whole family of Harbor Seals.

  There are a couple of adults with fat round bodies, and they’ve got a whole group of spotted, big-eyed pups.

  I look to Callie for her reaction and her eyes are huge — almost as big as the baby seal’s — and she starts to open her mouth before remembering we’re underwater.

  We surface together, and one of the curious pups follows, poking its whiskers up over the wave to sniff us out.

  “Those are… They’re…”

  “Seals, yeah,” I say chuckling. It’s not unheard of to see them around here, but it is kind of a special sight.

  The curious pup comes over to Callie nuzzling her arm before headbutting her.

  “Pretty sure he wants you to play with him,” I explain. She’s torn between being thrilled and terrified.

  “This is crazy,” she says, carefully reaching out to stroke the pup’s head before one of its siblings approaches with its own curious nose.

  The seals keep a pretty wide berth around me, which makes sense. Though we run in the same circles, we keep separate as much as possible. Nothing personal. I like the seals all right. They’re cute. I like them a hell of a lot more after this. Seeing Callie light up like this — while in the water — is incredible. I almost feel like a voyeur. Almost. I still have to keep an eye on her. I promised I’d keep her safe and even though I’m sure the seals are no threat, I know there are plenty others out here.

  10

  Callie

  Another day on the boat, scanning the bay, and I already want to be back on land. Miles is down below, but even there he has me on edge. He’s close and I know it. I can’t get it out of my head.

  I hate that I’m letting this happen. I’m trying really hard not to, but there’s always been something about Miles. Being around him so much just keeps bringing all those old feelings up to the surface. When we were growing up, I had the hugest crush on him, and I always figured someday one of us would get up the nerve to do something about it.

  Until he made it very clear that he wasn’t going to make a move. So clear he just poof vanished from my life. With my dad the way he is, Miles was the only good thing I had going for me in Lupine Bay, so when I realized I could get into an accelerated program and go to college at sixteen, I jumped at the chance.

  Dad didn’t like it, but he’d long lost any influence he had by that point, and I was too heartbroken over Miles to give a shit.

  It feels like a lifetime ago now. A story I know all the details to but wasn’t a part of. It’s strange to feel so weirdly detached from the anguish that version of me felt. But life goes on. Miles ghosting me wasn’t the end of the world.

  Me letting him back in might be, but thankfully I don’t think I’ve got to worry about that too much since he hasn’t shown the slightest bit of indication that he feels a damn thing for me.

  I don’t know why I’d think he would. Vanity, maybe. Or a hope that I was as important to him as he was to me? I don’t know. It’s stupid either way. Rose-colored glasses again.

  Miles and I never actually had anything, and we were just dumb kids. We’re adults now, different people, and probably completely incompatible.

  The surface breaks, and he emerges, shaking water out of his hair as he pulls his mask bac
k.

  “Found these,” he says, dropping a handful of blue sparklies into my palm before he pulls himself up.

  “Nothing else?” I ask, frowning at the rocks.

  We keep finding more and more of them, but it’s not helping. It’s not telling us anything.

  “That’s it,” he says, thrusting his fingers through his hair.

  I stare out at the distance, turning them over, eyes scanning the shore absently from the lighthouse down to the rocks. The beach isn’t empty today — Nora’s down there, and she’s talking to some man.

  I frown, squinting.

  It’s probably not my place, but I know the kid wanders around unsupervised a lot, and I feel like seeing her talking to a strange man is something I should maybe mention.

  “Hey, do you know that guy over there?” I ask, setting the rocks down to wave Miles over. By the time I get him to the railing, the guy’s gone.

  “What guy?” he asks.

  I frown. “There was a guy… Talking to Nora…”

  “The kid?” he asks, looking dangerously close to laughing at me. I give him a warning look and he presses his lips together, forcing himself to look serious. “Looks like she wants our attention,” he says casually.

  I glance back at the shore, and sure enough, Nora’s jumping up and down, waving her arms wildly at the boat.

  “Should we go see what she wants?” Miles asks, still sounding amused.

  Considering there was just a strange guy talking to her, I’m not going to not go see what the little girl waving for attention wants.

  “You mean instead of turning our back for a predator to snatch her? Yeah, I think we probably should.”

  “I’m pretty sure there’s not a predator on the beach, Cal,” he teases. I scoff, fold my arms, and stare intently at the shoreline waiting for the guy to pop up from behind the rocks or wherever he’s hiding.

  “Well, let’s hurry just in case,” I mutter, not willing to concede. I know I saw someone talking to Nora. I didn’t just make that up… did I?

  As we near the dock, Nora’s already running up to meet us, long braids slapping against her back. The knee-length black dress with the Peter Pan collar she’s wearing doesn’t scream ‘beach attire,’ but it does scream Nora. She’s like a little vintage gothic doll come to life, those huge round eyes staring. Always staring, seeming to see so much. What does she see? I don’t know. I don’t even know what it could be that would make me so uncomfortable for her to see, but I know she makes me squirm without meaning to.

  “What’s wrong?” I ask from the deck of the boat. “Everything okay?” Up close she doesn’t look like she’s being chased by a stranger or the victim of an attempted kidnapping. She looks like she has something important to say, but kids frequently have that look.

  Nora looks over her shoulder, staring at nothing for a moment before she nods.

  “Henri says you need to know the rocks are important,” she says matter-of-factly.

  I blink.

  “Henri? Is that the guy you were talking to?”

  Nora makes a face. “You saw him? Right, yeah, I know,” she mutters to her side.

  “The blue rocks?” Miles asks, leaning over the railing casually. I didn’t figure he’d put much stock in whatever Nora had to say, but he seems pretty interested now.

  Nora looks to her side, then back to Miles.

  “The big rocks, in the bay.”

  I look at Miles, but he’s got the same expression I do.

  Big rocks? What’s she talking about?

  “Do you have any idea what she’s talking about?” I finally ask under my breath, scooting closer to him as the boat bobs beneath our feet.

  “I might…” he mutters back.

  It’s not much, but is it enough?

  “The blue ones are important too,” Nora pipes up quickly. “But the big ones, he says.”

  It’s like she’s talking to him right now, but there’s no one here.

  Surely I didn’t ‘see’ her imaginary friend. The stress of coming up empty again and again must be getting to me.

  “Worth a shot?” Miles asks with a shrug. I know what he means. We don’t have a lot to go on, so we’re at the point that even the word of an imaginary person is giving us hope. Great.

  And I’m dipping into my savings to pay for this time on the boat.

  Freaking awesome.

  “Can I come with you? Maybe I could help?” Nora asks, rocking on the toes of her sandy Mary Janes.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I say before Miles can answer. I’ve got no idea what he’d say, but I’m not taking any chances. “Your parents would probably have a problem with that,” I add, half-way fishing for info. I’ve seen the kid around town a lot, but never with adult supervision. Where are her parents?

  Nora looks like she’s going to argue with me about it, then stops herself, pressing her lips together, eyes moving across the boat before she shrugs.

  “Good luck anyway,” she says before heading back down the dock away from the boat.

  “So? What do you think?” Miles asks.

  “Maybe I should call CPS…”

  “Not about the kid — she’s fine — about the big rocks. Think there’s anything to it?”

  “What do you think?” I ask. “You’re the one that said you might know what she’s talking about. So what is it?”

  He shrugs, running his fingers through his still-damp hair, light sparkling off it like he’s in a slow-motion Baywatch close-up.

  Keep it together, Cal.

  Doesn’t help that the guy keeps diving without a suit. He just pulls up out of the water all shirtless and covered in muscles I don’t remember him having…

  “I’ve seen some boulders on my dives. Didn’t think much of them. Rocks aren’t unusual, but I could take a closer look. Maybe there’s something I missed. Worth a shot anyway, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah,” I agree, dragging my eyes away from him back to the choppy bay. The nice weather of last week was short-lived, and it seems like our little break might be ending.

  “If we wanna do it today, we should get back out there,” Miles says, heading back to the wheel. I stay right where I am, white-knuckling the railing, constantly telling myself that I’m safe here and the ocean isn’t going to get me.

  A glance at the lighthouse just steels my resolve. I take a deep breath, and uncurl my fingers, leaving my hand just resting there lightly. It’s choppy, but I’ve started to develop sea legs. I can stay upright on deck pretty well at this point, even in rough water.

  It takes probably twenty minutes for Miles to get us to the place he wants to weigh anchor.

  “I wanna go down,” I tell him as he’s checking it’s all set. He stiffens before turning to me.

  “What?”

  “We finally have something that might be credible… I want to go down and see it for myself.”

  “Cal, I don’t know if you’re ready for that. This isn’t the inlet and the water’s rough—”

  “But—”

  “I’ll take the underwater camera with me, and I’ll come right back up to let you know if I find anything interesting, okay?”

  It’s pretty obvious he’s not going to take no for an answer. He’s not going to help me do this dive, and I know there’s no way in hell I can do it without him.

  I sigh and throw up my hands in defeat. “Fine.”

  The way he smiles at me, for just a split-second, makes me melt. It’s like we’re teenagers again and he just successfully snuck me away from the lighthouse, a moonlit picnic waiting on the beach.

  My stomach flips, and for just a second, I really wish he’d kiss me before he disappears into the inky depths.

  There’s not the barest trace of a hint that that’s what Miles wants. He flashes that smile for a nanosecond, then grabs the camera and drops over the railing, nothing but his lifeline attached to the boat visible after a beat.

  The water just swallowed him whole, the dark
ness, the murk all I can see.

  Why am I just staring at that spot getting more and more anxious by the minute? He’s going to be down there for a while and staring at the surface of the water when it’s choppy like this is making me queasy.

  I take a look at the sonar array, watching the shadows Miles taught me to look out for, rocks, fish, a big drop-off in elevation over there. It’s not enough to really tell me anything, just enough to make me more frustrated that I’m up here in the dark.

  A glint of light makes me whip my head around, but there’s nothing there when I look. I could’ve sworn I saw one of the blue shards… floating? That doesn’t make any sense. I’m starting to lose it. Maybe I need to take another day off from all of this before I have a complete breakdown.

  I slump into the Captain’s chair, idly watching the displays while the sky outside gets darker and more menacing. Being away from the railing isn’t helping mitigate the motion of the boat anymore, the waves rough enough that it’s rocking from side to side, water crashing onto the deck occasionally.

  I don’t think Miles has any way of knowing how bad the conditions are getting up here when he’s underwater, and I’m starting to wonder if I should go tug on his lifeline when he finally surfaces with a big splash.

  I hurry over to the side, there to help him up if he needs it — not that he ever does — and I wait patiently for about ten seconds of silence before I can’t wait any longer.

  “Well? Did you find anything?”

  Miles shakes out his hair, then goes for a towel, glaring up at the sky as he dries off.

  “There’s a big rock down there,” he says. “I didn’t see anything unusual about it, but the next closest one is pretty far away. If we’re going to map them, we should do it from up here.”

  “That makes sense,” I agree, nodding as I follow him back to the navigation booth. He’s intent on getting the anchor up and getting the boat moving, which I’m grateful for in the declining weather, but he’s also being… weird.

  I can’t put my finger on it, but Miles is… different.

  “Did you get any pictures?” I ask hopefully. Maybe he didn’t see anything unusual on the rock, but he’s not trained like I am. There could be all kinds of hidden information for me to uncover.