Page 63 of Raven's Nest
Bodie nodded. “You think whatever they’re retrieving is part of that classified research.”
Saylor raked her fingers through her hair. She’d taken it down, the long golden mass falling around her shoulders, practically begging Zain to touch it — fist it in his hands as he claimed her mouth. “Now would be a great time for one of those triggers to bring everything back.”
Zain walked over and nudged her shoulder. “Not if it means you’ll have to relive everything. You survived. That’s more than enough.”
Greer groaned. “Are they always this nauseating?”
Chase laughed, schooling his features when Zain flipped him off. “The only thing we really need to knowis whether they got what they were looking for. If we’re already too late.”
Greer shook her head. “Why keep targeting Saylor if they’ve already won?”
“Because she’s still a loose end. The kind that could bite them in the ass if she ever remembers what happened on that ship.”
Saylor let her head tilt back. “Just another reason to jog these memories loose.”
Foster moved over to the board, staring at the images until Zain wondered if his buddy had fallen asleep on his feet.
Zain cleared her throat. “Foster? Brother, are you okay?”
Foster glanced over his shoulder for a moment, then turned back to the board. “What if we’re looking at this wrong?”
“How?”
“We’re assuming Watson and Vasquez are somehow linked to whatever happened on theVigilant, right?”
Zain nodded. “Watson wasn’t on the ship that night, but the fact he should have been in command is too coincidental to overlook.”
“And we suspect they’ve been running some sort of crime ring for the past few years.”
“All those extra duty assignments Vasquez applied for.”
Foster tapped his chin. “So, why did they sink theVigilant?It seems counterintuitive. Even if they were able to pilot the ship closer to shore, they were in the middle of a freaking category one cyclone. While not thedeadliest type of storm, it definitely would have affected how the debris field spread out. If Buck’s timeline’s correct, it explains why they’ve spent the past month running grid patterns trying to locate the wreckage. If this item’s so important, why didn’t they just steal it? They could have still sunk the ship to eliminate witnesses if that was their plan. Why risk losing their prize if they could have walked away with it that night?”
Saylor inhaled. “Because it was inaccessible.”
Zain frowned. “Not to put a damper on the theory, but if they had inside help, they likely had access to every part of the ship.”
Saylor shook her head. “Not security access. Physical access. What if it wasn’t on the ship, but part of it?”
“Like a missile guidance array or something?”
Another raspy breath, some of the color draining from her face. “What if that sound I keep hearing inside my head wasn’t an explosion?”
Zain glanced at his teammates. “I’m not an expert, but a ship that big… An explosion explains why it sank fast enough to avoid detection. Why you might have memory loss. The noise, the concussive wave…”
She gasped, holding her breath until he thought he’d have to nudge her. “What did you say?”
He inched closer and grabbed her hand. “That an explosion explains some of the memory loss from the noise and the concussive shock wave.”
“Concussive…”
Zain lunged for her when she took a staggering step, hands flying to her head, a muted groan clawing free. She leaned over, elbows braced on her knees, looking asif she’d drop. He curled over her, pressing his chest against her just enough she knew he was there. That he had her back.
She wavered, her muscles shaking before she leaned fully into him, whimpering under her breath.
He eased them over to the small couch pressed against the far wall of Bodie’s office, lowering them both onto it before holding her close. He didn’t talk, just sat there, her head pressed into his shoulder, her breath wheezing wildly against his chest.
Chase had her wrist in his hand, shaking his head. “Saylor. If you can hear me, try to slow your breathing.”
