Page 23 of Sink With Me

“Ass…hole…” Sharkie’s voice comes out hoarse and broken. I can’t help but focus on the way her throat bobs, trying to swallow when she throws her head back. We gained all the information we needed after I was cleared. Clever she thought she could infiltrate my base without me recognizing her.

“Happy now?” I draw my attention back up to hers. If only you knew how happy I am. I grin.

“Want another boat? Three’s a lucky…number.” Her yell is quietly breaking in and out like a teenager through puberty. I tap my finger to the sleeve of my shirt. She thrashes her arms again, the cuffs only hitting repeatedly off the railing.

“I didn’t sink your precious little ship.” My tone holds a warning below my whisper. She coughs and sputters, kicking her feet in a weak attempt. Her movements are slow and sluggish. I should drop it. She's here, breathing, responsive. I have time in the world to get all the information I need.

“I'll take a ‘thank you’ for saving your life.” What am I doing?

“Saving my life?” The words are slow, rolling off her lips in an attempted growl. Her tongue darts out to wet her bottom lip. Don't look. I stand, wrapping my fingers around the railing. Her eyes drop to where she's linked to the bed.

“You sick son of b–” I brace my hands into her pillow shaking the bed from my sudden pull away from the cot side as I lean over her, cutting off her pitiful attempt at an insult. That’s right, little shark, you’re not as brave as you think you are. Her back arches off the bed and her head writhes side to side as I duck mine lower beside hers. She’s entertaining when pissed off, more so when she can’t get away from me.

“I didn’t sink your precious fucking ship.”

I had hoped she’d calm down; except she only gets even more pissed flailing her limbs and jolts her forehead in my direction. I pull back with a low vibration rattling my chest. It's enough for one day. She’ll calm down eventually.

Her eyelids grow heavy trying to remain focused on my motions.

“Get some rest. You have plenty of time.”

Turning my back to her, I smile at the air that escapes her lungs from a weak yell and I allow it to follow me out of the room.

Date: 5-3-2024

Time: 1121

I blow out a puff of smoke, the white cloud spirals above my head mimicking the motion of my chair swiveling in circles. It's quiet. Not just the office, or my base–everything is quiet. No Bay members walk my shores, my little shark isn't wreaking havoc on my soldiers. If I thought I wasn't prepared for war, then I’m certainly not prepared for this middle ground I've found myself in.

Flattening my feet, the chair goes still. I glance to the drawer of my father's desk that I refuse to open. My desk. If I don’t pull out the journals, I know lie within then it won't feel like he's really gone. They were personal, marking his every memory. There were times Moe, and I would lounge in the corner while he wrote his day away. I place the cigar back between my teeth.

I reach for the drawer, hesitating over the handle. It's unlikely there's anything in them that's useful. The office door flies open, knocking into the wall making the frame filled with medals go crooked. Casually leaning forward, I pull the stick from my lips, pushing it into the stone ashtray.

“Is everything okay?” I cock a brow, intertwining my fingers on my abdomen as the seat creaks beneath the pressure of me leaning back.

“Sorry…sir.” Jasmine pants like she just ran a marathon. I tap a finger against a knuckle. The way her hand presses to her chest grasping at the fabric wrinkling her uniform has my mind reeling. What the fucking hell has my little shark done now? I was just there earlier and she was still asleep.

“Sam, couldn't reach you over the comms line, said it was important.” She cuts off my thoughts, forcing my body into action. The chair scratches against the floor toppling over onto the floor.

“He's in the control room!” Jasmine's yell follows my body pushing past hers in a hurry.

If Sam says something is important and it's urgent enough to have Jasmine sprinting across base to get me then it's the equivalent of a battle raging in my backyard. Every corner I turn and each flight of steps I climb are a blur, forming hazed streaks in my peripheral vision. Maybe I've been too distracted, lost in the quiet without recognizing the threat it can hold. My chest heaves. Maybe threats have come in or falsified information has been spread which will endanger my team. I barge through the door, nearly blinded from the various flashing screens. Sams unfazed, hardly acknowledging my presence.

“You might want to see this.” He points to the display in front of him. Rounding the room, I bend at the waist to get a better view of the lowest monitor. I grin as my little shark lifts her head to better examine her cuffs. Look who’s finally awake. My tongue drags along my bottom lip.

Her head falls back, and her mouth opens with what I’m assuming is a scream.

“I thought you said this was important.”

Sam clears his throat turning his head to the screen recording the adjacent hall. I set my jaw, gripping my hand into the back of Sam’s seat.

He better not—

Sharkies head snaps up, her head tilting curiously. I specifically told Moe to stay the hell away from her. He doesn't know what she's capable of—of the destruction she is. Anything that goes near her is torn to shreds. Sam flicks on the speakers.

“Are you going to stand there staring or are you going to take me out of these things?” Sharkie’s voice comes through statically.

“You keep yellin’ like that you're gonna take longer to heal. I can get you some water.” Moe’s head dips into the room while he speaks and looks around, only to pull back into the corridor.

---