of an approaching boat and was grateful the vessel pulled up on the other side from where he was hiding. He glanced at his watch. It was synchronized with the ones worn by his teammates, and he knew they would do their best to get here soon. In the meantime, there was something he had to do.
Pulling a micro audio recorder off his belt, he moved back up the ladder to peek over the railing and into the boat.
Good. Everyone’s attention was on the approaching vessel and no one saw him when he attached the audio recorder that was no bigger than a dime to the interior wall of the boat. He saw Swan and Jamila seated on a bench with their hands tied behind their backs and Horacio was standing not far away. Other than a man in the cockpit, there was no one else onboard. Flipper knew that was about to change when he heard voices.
Satisfied that the conversations would be recorded, he eased back down the ladder. When his watch began vibrating, he glanced down at the text message from Bane. On our way. Had 2 take care of a little problem 1st.
Flipper wondered what kind of problem his friends had to take care of. No matter. They were on their way and that’s what counted. He listened to the conversation going on in the boat as he began pulling items from his belt. He intended to be ready to crash this little party when the time came.
He shook his head, knowing Admiral Martin would be heartbroken to discover his own daughter had sold out their country.
* * *
“I hate you,” Georgianna said, glaring at Swan.
Swan was taken aback by the woman’s words. “Why? What have I ever done to you? To any of you?” she asked, glancing around at the people she’d assumed were friends—Rafe, Horacio and Rosie. She hurt more at seeing Rosie than the others because she’d believed the woman had been a good friend.
“They work for me and did what they were told,” Georgianna said.
“Work for you?” Swan was even more confused.
“Yes. I’m in charge of the entire operation. But I’ll tell you all about that later. First, let me tell you why I despise you so much. I’ve waited a long time to get this out in the open. When your father died and your mother would send you to us for the summer, my parents thought you were golden. They put you on a pedestal, especially my father. Did you know he called you his little island princess?”
Yes, Swan knew but she also knew her godfather hadn’t meant anything by it. It was just a nickname he’d given her when she was born. All three of her godfathers called her that sometimes. “It was just a nickname, Georgianna.”
“For you, it might only have been a nickname, but for me, it was Dad shifting his attention from me to you.”
“Godpop 1 loves you. He wasn’t shifting his attention to me, he was just being nice.”
“Too nice, and I despised you for it. He had a daughter, yet any time your mother would call, he and Mom would drop everything and take off. Just because your father saved Dad’s life—that meant nothing. They were all SEALs and your dad was doing his job when he died. But it was as if Dad blamed himself and he needed to make it up by being nice to you, like you were somebody special. So, with the help of some friends, I decided to change everyone’s opinion of you.”
It was hard for Swan to believe what she was hearing. She’d never known that Georgianna harbored such feelings. Granted she hadn’t always been overnice and had a tendency to be moody, but Swan hadn’t detected animosity like this.
“What did you do?” Swan asked her.
Georgianna smiled like she was proud of what she was about to say. “I set up an espionage operation out of your shop with the help of Rafe and Horacio. Then, with Rosie’s assistance, I made it appear that the secret information being sent to China was being done through your jewelry.”
“What!” Swan couldn’t believe it. Her head was spinning from all the shocks she’d received tonight.
“I have to admit I put together a perfect plan. This guy I was sleeping with at the time assisted me by tipping off naval intelligence with what you were supposedly doing. They did their own investigation and my team and I made sure everything pointed at you. It should have been an open and shut case and you were to be arrested and charged with espionage.”
As if she was tired of standing, Georgianna moved to sit on one of the benches. She frowned over at Swan. “Everything was going according to plan until the final thread of the investigation reached Director Levart’s desk.”
“Godpop 3?”
“See what I mean? You have three godfathers and I don’t have a one,” Georgianna said in a loud voice, pointing a finger at her. “You don’t deserve such love and loyalty, and I intended to tarnish their image of you.”
* * *
Flipper’s watch vibrated and he glanced down at the text message. Here. N place. Coop got layout of boat.
He texted them back. 1 N cockpit. 4 others. 2 hostages.
He quickly received a reply from Viper. Eliminating cockpit.
Got 4 in scope. That particular text came from Bane, a master sniper.
Flipper knew that although everyone was in place, timing was everything. Georgianna had no idea her words were being recorded so he wanted to let her talk before making his move. Then there would be no way she could deny anything.
From listening to what the woman was saying, it was obvious she had mental issues. That could be the only reason to have such a deep hatred of Swan that Georgianna would go to such extremes. Georgianna assumed she’d had the perfect plan for Swan’s downfall and Flipper was glad things hadn’t turned out the way Georgianna intended.
Before inching up the ladder to listen to what else she was confessing, he texted the message: Will give signal.
* * *
Swan shook her head. It was obvious Georgianna’s jealousy had blinded her senses and fueled her hatred. Didn’t the others see it? Why were they following her blindly? Swan glanced over at Jamila and could tell by the look in her cousin’s eyes that she was wondering the same thing.
“When Director Levart saw the report, he refused to believe you could be guilty of anything, especially betraying your country.”
Thank God for that, Swan thought.
“He requested a thirty-day delay before agreeing to take any actions against you. Even after we made sure the investigation clearly spelled out your role in everything. There was no reason for you not to be charged,” Georgianna said.
She paused a moment before continuing. “Unknown to me and the others, Director Levart went to your other two godfathers and they put their heads together to see what they could do to prove your innocence. They decided to send one of their top SEALs to find out what he could and to prove your innocence.”
Swan drew in a deep breath. Oh no, please don’t let what Horacio said tonight be true. Please don’t let David turn out to be someone other than what he said he was.
Georgianna’s next words ripped into Swan’s heart.
“The
