Page 32 of Pax

“Shut up,” he frowned. “I don’t want her to risk her life for this. Can’t we send Dee, Mom, and Alice home?”

“You tell them that!” laughed Bogey. “Damn, you boys are stupid sometimes.” Brax laughed at his brother, then looked down at his phone, frowning.

“What’s wrong?”

“Aaron. He said another boat capsized, but this time, it was off the coast of Mexico. The boat held forty-three people but was legal for only twelve.”

“They didn’t have a chance,” said Pax. “We need to find out what’s happening here and who’s behind it.”

“I’m ready,” smiled Deanna, standing at the bottom of the steps. Alice and Annie both gave her a big smile and wink. She was wearing high-heeled wedge sandals, a pair of white short-shorts, and a paper-thin tank top with a Rolling Stones logo on it.

“Nope,” said Pax, shaking his head. “You are not wearing that in a convention full of slimy, drunken male boaters. No.” When his mother and Alice appeared in nearly identical outfits, his father and Bogey said the same thing.

“Look, this is how we’re going. You can go with us, or we can go alone,” said Annie. She walked outside, the other two women behind her.

“You’re responsible for this,” said Pax, looking at his father.

“Me!”

“Yes. You told Mom to take her shopping. Now I’ve got a hot as fuck fiancée about to show her assets to ten thousand men.” Cam smiled at the younger man, shaking his head.

“Don’t forget your gun.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The boat show drew in potential buyers, boat enthusiasts, and lookers from every state, plus Mexico and Canada. Thousands of people descended on the area, trying to find just the right boat. Scantily clad women danced on top of mega-yachts or stood in the aisles waving overweight, middle-aged men into their booth for a chance at spinning a wheel for a prize.

Of course, no one told those gullible men that it was a plastic cup or koozie, or worse, a pen. They were grateful to take the hand of the girl and take a shot at something. Even if it wasn’t the girl.

“Geez, who knew there were so many different types of boats,” whispered Deanna.

“You haven’t seen the Belle Fleur fleet yet,” grinned Pax. She smiled at him, nodding as they walked down the aisles.

The groups had split up, with Benji and Annie taking one end of the hall, Bogey and Alice the other, and Pax and Deanna starting in the middle. The guys were scattered around the massive 2.6 million square feet of convention space.

“What exactly are we looking for?” asked Deanna.

“Sometimes, we don’t know exactly what we’re looking for either until we see it. We know we’re looking for the three men who were at the bar. I’ve got the key and medallion. We’ll see how they react to that when I pull it out.”

Walking hand-in-hand down the aisles, Deanna was happy just to be out and about with Pax. She did notice that the men were definitely noticing her in her little white shorts. Self-conscious, she kept pulling on the hem, hoping to make them longer.

“Stop fidgeting,” he grinned. “If you’re going to be a sex-kitten, own it.”

“I’m not trying to be a sex-kitten,” she frowned. “I mean, maybe for you, but not for all these people.”

“Babe, when you wear something like that everyone is going to look, even women. They’re jealous of how fucking hot you are,” he smiled.

“No, the women are jealous that I’m walking with you,” she said. “Do I have permission to throw a punch if one comes for you?” Pax laughed, shaking his head.

“Why don’t we try to keep this outing violence-free.”

“Anyone see anything?”asked Bogey through comms.

“Negative,” said Pax. He heard the same reply in his ear from the rest of the men.

“Who are you talking to?” she whispered.

“We all have communication devices implanted behind our ears. It connects to the auditory system, allowing us to hear the others and to speak without any visible wires.”

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