Page 12 of Pax

“What about it? You’re the most beautiful woman in the world to me, Dee. When you’re ready, we’ll go home and take that swim. You’ll see what a difference it makes for you.”

“I don’t know how a little warm water can help, but if you say it’s true, I believe you,” she said, laying her head on his shoulder. “I know you went for a run, but do you feel like taking a walk with me on the beach?”

“Every fucking minute of every fucking day,” he said, kissing her again. “You know, this house is sort of like the west coast Belle Fleur. It’s brought a lot of couples together and brought them good luck and long-term love.”

“Well, I hope we’ll be recipients of that luck,” she smiled.

“We won’t need luck, babe. We already know that we love each other and should have been together since high school. Except for your damn cousin, we would have been.” Deanna laughed, shaking her head as she reached for the thermal mug of coffee.

“It’s chilly out. Do you need a sweatshirt?” he asked.

She nodded, grabbing the one at the door, and they walked out together, hand in hand. The marine layer covered the island, clouds blocking the warmth of the sun. At the far end of the beach, near the runways of the North Island Naval Base, dogs were welcome.

Owners would arrive every morning, letting the dogs run in and out of the water, catching tennis balls and chew toys. Deanna smiled at the dogs as they ran around her legs, their owners apologizing. She kept her head down, waving them off.

“You don’t have to hide, Dee. You’re beautiful, honey.”

“You think I am, but they might think I’m a monster,” she said quietly.

He knew that she wouldn’t be convinced, so they kept walking, enjoying the sounds of the surf and the California gulls. In the distance, they could see dolphins and sea lions diving for food.

“What’s going on there?” she asked, pointing to the large Coast Guard vessel, two smaller Navy boats beside it, and the small, capsized boat.

“Damn,” he muttered. “I ran by here this morning, and they were just bobbing up and down out there. One of the SEAL instructors said the Coast Guard was coming to help them. I guess they didn’t make it in time.”

Pax noticed the divers and frowned. That meant they were looking for bodies.

“Pechkin!” yelled one of the divers. He looked toward the man, recognizing him as the instructor from earlier.

“I guess this didn’t turn out like you thought,” said Pax.

“We were doing boat drills as the Coast Guard was approaching, and suddenly, it went over. We were far enough down the beach that it took us a bit to get here.” He looked at Deanna, her head down, turned sideways.

“Oh, sorry. This is my girlfriend, Deanna.”

“Pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” said Aaron. She looked up just a bit and tried to smile. Aaron’s face darkened, and he looked at Pax. “I have to ask this, but I hope to fuck it’s wrong. Did you hit this woman?”

“No!” said Deanna loudly. “Sorry, no. Two men attacked me.”

“Jesus, I’m sorry, ma’am. Are you alright now?”

“I’m getting there,” she nodded.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you. I just thought if you were in trouble, I’d beat the fuck out of this guy.”

“You wish,” smirked Pax. “Do you need any help here?”

“You’re retired, dude. No, I don’t need help, but something was definitely wrong. They were all chained to the boat. Women, men, kids, all of them. We’ve got two survivors who were able to pull the chain loose from the boat and swim ashore. The rest couldn’t even swim.”

“Why would you take a boat that wasn’t sound when you can’t even swim?” asked Deanna.

“Desperation.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

The more Pax dug into the story, the less he liked it. This wasn’t the first boat that had experienced something similar. It was the fourth. Later in the afternoon, the crowds dispersed, but the Coast Guard vessel remained as helicopters searched above for any possible survivors.

Hope was dim.

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