the entire thing amusing while Swan’s heart broke.
“Imagine how amused I was to find out just how taken you were with him, while not knowing the true purpose as to why he showed up here on the island. You were played, Swan,” Georgianna was saying in between laughter. “But don’t worry. I sent some other members of my group to take care of him for you. I think he’s dead by now.”
Suddenly a deep voice at the back of the boat said, “As you can see, I’m very much alive.”
* * *
Swan gasped just as the others did. Standing with legs braced apart and wearing only a pair of swim trunks with a utility combat belt around his waist, David looked like a mad badass. It was obvious everyone was shocked to see him, especially Georgianna, who had assumed he was dead.
“Drop your gun,” he ordered Horacio, who was still holding his weapon on Swan and Jamila.
“How the hell did you get here?” Horacio asked, enraged.
“I swam from Swan’s home.”
“That’s impossible!”
“Not if you’re a SEAL master swimmer,” David said. “Now, do like I said and put your gun down.”
“And if I don’t? It will be a shame if I kill Swan or Jamila before you can get to anything on that belt you’re wearing,” Horacio sneered.
“Don’t try it, Horacio. One of my team members who’s a master sniper has all four of you within his scope. Before you could get off the first shot, you’d be dead.”
“I don’t believe you. There’s no one else out here,” Horacio said. When he lifted his gun to take aim at Swan, a shot rang out, hitting the man in the chest. The impact toppled him to the floor.
Jamila screamed and Swan understood. Jamila had fallen in love with a man who’d betrayed her and then gotten shot right before her eyes.
Suddenly, Rafe dived for the gun that had dropped from Horacio’s hand. Before he could reach it, another shot rang out that hit him in the side. He fell to the floor as well.
“Either of you ladies want to join them?” Flipper asked Georgianna and Rosie.
Rosie looked like she was in shock and ready to pass out.
However, Georgianna looked furious. “You won’t get away with this. No matter what you tell my father, he will never believe you over me,” she said with absolute certainty. “I’ll tell him that you decided to team up with Swan and she turned you against your country.”
“I figured you would lie. That’s why I’ve recorded your little confession to Swan detailing everything. I can’t wait for your father to listen to it.”
Suddenly the boat was surrounded by several naval vessels and sharp beams of light shined on them. A voice through a foghorn said, “Lieutenant Holloway, we are coming aboard.”
A dozen men wearing SEAL gear rushed on board with their guns drawn, immediately taking Georgianna and Rosie into custody. Bane, Viper, Coop and Mac boarded the boat as well. Mac rushed over to check Horacio and Rafe. There really was no need since they were both dead.
Flipper rushed over to Swan and Jamila to untie their hands. More than anything, he wanted to pull Swan into his arms and tell her he loved her. He wanted her to put out of her mind what Georgianna had said about him until she’d heard his side of things. However, he knew when she pulled away from him to give her cousin a hug that she didn’t want to give him a chance to explain.
He didn’t intend to let her walk away.
“We need to talk, Swan,” he said, looking down at her.
She glared up at him. “We have nothing to say to each other. Your assignment is over, Lieutenant Holloway. Now leave me alone.”
Two weeks later
“How long are you planning to be mad at the world, Swan?”
Swan glanced over at Candy. Her best friend had returned to the Keys after hearing about what happened and she’d decided to stay. Swan was glad Candy had returned home but she was saddened by what had brought her back.
“I am not mad at the world,” Swan said, taking a sip of her orange juice.
“But you are still mad at one particular man,” Candy said, coming to sit beside Swan on the sofa.
Swan couldn’t deny that was true so she didn’t. “And what if I am?”
“He had a job to do, Swan. He was given orders. Surely you understand that.”
Swan glared at Candy. “I’m sure none of my godfathers’ orders included sleeping with me.”
“I’m sure they didn’t but David didn’t force himself on you.”
“No, but he deceived me.”
“So did the others.”
Did Candy have to remind her? “And I’m not talking to them either.”
That wasn’t totally true since Swan had reached out to Georgianna where she was being held at a federal prison in Orlando. The woman had refused to see her. Swan knew Georgianna was undergoing psychiatric evaluations to see if she was fit to stand trial.
Swan’s godparents were heartbroken and she understood how they felt. Like her, they’d had no idea Georgianna harbored such hatred toward Swan, enough to do what she’d done. With both Rafe and Horacio dead, it was Rosie who was singing like a bird, telling everything she knew for a lessened sentence.
According to Rosie, Georgianna had manipulated a number of the men at naval intelligence into doing whatever she wanted them to do. When you were the admiral’s daughter, you could wield that kind of power. She had even threatened a few with blackmail. She’d deliberately recorded several of the men having sex with her and then threatened to give the tape to her father and accuse them of rape.
Some of the men were not only married but a number were high-ranking military officers. Fearful of court-martial, the men had done whatever Georgianna asked, including falsifying records. So far, more than twelve men had been named in the scandal.
“I take it David hasn’t called.”
Swan drew in a deep breath. She had seen him last week when they’d had to show up at the naval station to give statements. “Yes, he’s called. Several times. But I refuse to answer. Like I told him, we have nothing to say to each other. His assignment is over.”
“And do you honestly think that’s all you were to him, Swan?”
“Yes, but it doesn’t matter.”
“I think it does,” Candy countered.
“And you think too much,” Swan said, easing off the sofa.
The
