His gaze went past her shoulder, and he straightened. “Speak of the devil.”
Which devil? Her aunt?
Before she could turn to look, her dad rose and said, “Hello, Matthew.”
Matthew? She turned and looked up to see her former fiancé. She felt light-headed at the sight of his blond hair and blue eyes. His surfer tan was gone, replaced with the pallor that came from days on end spent in a boardroom. His hair was trimmed close to his head and no longer curled over his ears. He was a paler replica of her father.
“W-What are you doing here?” She was either going to have to throw herself on his mercy and beg him to keep quiet about her identity, or she’d have to confess to her aunt. Neither choice seemed good.
Her father shook hands with Matthew, then gestured to an empty chair. “Have a seat.”
Was he crazy? She’d just told him how she felt about Matthew. If he was going to start pushing the man on her again, she would have a firm talk with him.
She pressed her lips together as their server brought Matthew a cup of coffee and took his order. Surely he didn’t know she’d come here? She hadn’t seen him in five years, and even now, remembering his betrayal stung. But it was only her pride, not her heart.
“What are you doing here?” she asked in a soft voice.
“I came to see your dad. We had some issues at the hotel in Sarasota, and I thought it would be better to discuss them in person. I had no idea you were here.”
“She’s not,” her father said in a stern voice. “And if you blow her cover, Matthew, we won’t be discussing anything because you’ll no longer be employed by Bergstrom Hotels and Resorts.”
Matthew paled. “What are you talking about?”
“Torie is here on the q.t. No one knows she’s my daughter, and it needs to remain that way. Do you understand?”
“Not really, but I’ll honor your wishes.” He didn’t look at Torie.
She sagged back in her chair. “Thank you.” She rose. “I’ll leave the two of you to talk business.”
As she walked away, she marveled at how different he was from Joe. And he’d never even apologized for cheating on her. Not that it would have mattered, but the man had no morals.
Chapter 18
Joe knew it was trouble when the base commander met the boat at the wharf. A passing shrimp boat had picked them up, and he’d directed them to call Ajax, who must have called the commander. In the meantime Ajax had retrieved Simon and gotten him back to headquarters.
Commander Elijah Chen had worked with the sea mammals the longest of anyone at the base. In his fifties, his dark eyes took in every bit of data and processed it before he spoke. His slow Texas drawl was in keeping with the measured way he sifted what he knew and made a decision.
Joe had never seen the man look worried, but today a frown creased his forehead, and he paced the dock as he waited for Joe to disembark. Not a good sign.
Joe nodded. “Commander.” He had to raise his voice as tourists disembarked from an excursion cruise and flowed past them.
Chen beckoned for Joe to follow him to a secluded spot where they wouldn’t be overheard. “What happened out there, Joe?”
Joe started with Simon’s agitation and ended with the boat exploding. “It’s unknown if we went out with the bomb on us or if Simon missed a hostile swimmer.”
“Any sign of a break-in at your facility?”
“No.”
“As agitated as he became, I would suspect he tried to apprehend the swimmer and missed.” The commander glanced around and lowered his voice. “We’re getting chatter about a terrorist attack on the base. The new submarine coming to port is particularly vulnerable as it passes along the Eastern Seaboard. We’re putting a lot of security on this, but I don’t want any slipups.”
“Yes, sir. Maybe your team will recover enough of the bomb to identify where the raw material came from. Do we have any idea of where the threat is originating?”
“Maybe Russia. At least that’s what Homeland Security is telling us. They’ve been monitoring transmissions, and the threat seems credible.”
“I’ll be on alert, sir.”
“Thank you.”
Joe watched him stalk off. This was big, bigger than he’d thought. A terrorist plot to take out a nuclear sub seemed unbelievable. Yet somehow against all odds, a bomb had found its way onto the hull of his boat.
He glanced at his watch. He was going to be late getting Hailey from camp. Not having his phone left him feeling crippled. He couldn’t even call and let the camp know he would be late. He didn’t take time to shower and change at the lab but dug his keys out of his desk and headed for his truck. The camp director would be livid, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it.
He drove as fast as he could to the camp and arrived just as the gates were being locked.
Hailey was outside with the director. Tears tracked down her cheeks, and he grimaced at the fear on her face. He’d never been so late, especially without a call. No wonder she was upset.
He tapped the horn, and she and the director whirled to look his way. The director was in her sixties and had never had kids. Her drill sergeant manner came to the fore as she marched to the truck. He rolled down his window to hear her recriminations.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to have Hailey back, Joe. Not after this kind of irresponsible behavior.”
“My boat blew up,” he said in a soft voice. He kept his gaze on Hailey as she knelt to grab her bag. “My phone went down with it. Don’t say anything to Hailey. I don’t want to scare her. I want to break it to her easy.”
The director blinked. “You expect me to believe that? It’s a far-fetched tale.”
“It’s the truth. You’ll likely see it on the evening news.” He gestured down to his clothing. “Look at me. I’m still in dive gear. I was rescued by a shrimp boat and didn’t take time to change after I got to shore.”
She blinked. “I see.”
Hailey came his direction, and he pasted on a smile. “Hi, honey, sorry I’m late.”
“Daddy, you scared me! It’s way past time for you to be here.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. Hop in, and I’ll tell you what happened later.” He sent a pleading glance toward the director who sniffed, then gave a jerky nod. “Thank you,” he said softly.
He ran up the window, then turned around in the parking lot and headed for the road. “I need a quick shower before we meet up with Grammy and Grandpa. Five minutes, okay? You can change too. I’m supposed to have dinner with Torie tonight. Since I don’t have my phone with her number, we’ll need to run by the hotel and take our chances on finding her. I’ll call Grammy and have her meet us there.”
Hailey looked him over. “Did you fall overboard?”
“Something like that.” He reached over and took her hand. “It’s probably going to be on the news, but as you can see, I’m fine. There was an accident with my boat. But we’re all okay. Simon is fine too. I had to wait for a boat to pick us up, and then the commander had to talk to me. My phone went into the water, too, so I couldn’t call.”