Читать книгу Ultimate Romance Collection - Rebecca Winters, Amalie Berlin - Страница 70

Thirteen

Flipper reached the boat and attached himself to the ladder on the side. Lucky for him, no one had thought to pull it up. Taking slow, deep breaths, he pulled air into his lungs while ignoring the pain in his arms and legs. He didn’t want to think about just how far he’d swum, but like he’d told his friends, he’d had to try.

He quickly eased back into the water when he heard the sound of an approaching boat and was grateful the vessel pulled up on the other side from where he was hiding. He glanced at his watch. It was synchronized with the ones worn by his teammates, and he knew they would do their best to get here soon. In the meantime, there was something he had to do.

Pulling a micro audio recorder off his belt, he moved back up the ladder to peek over the railing and into the boat.

Good. Everyone’s attention was on the approaching vessel and no one saw him when he attached the audio recorder that was no bigger than a dime to the interior wall of the boat. He saw Swan and Jamila seated on a bench with their hands tied behind their backs and Horacio was standing not far away. Other than a man in the cockpit, there was no one else onboard. Flipper knew that was about to change when he heard voices.

Satisfied that the conversations would be recorded, he eased back down the ladder. When his watch began vibrating, he glanced down at the text message from Bane. On our way. Had 2 take care of a little problem 1st.

Flipper wondered what kind of problem his friends had to take care of. No matter. They were on their way and that’s what counted. He listened to the conversation going on in the boat as he began pulling items from his belt. He intended to be ready to crash this little party when the time came.

He shook his head, knowing Admiral Martin would be heartbroken to discover his own daughter had sold out their country.

* * *

“I hate you,” Georgianna said, glaring at Swan.

Swan was taken aback by the woman’s words. “Why? What have I ever done to you? To any of you?” she asked, glancing around at the people she’d assumed were friends—Rafe, Horacio and Rosie. She hurt more at seeing Rosie than the others because she’d believed the woman had been a good friend.

“They work for me and did what they were told,” Georgianna said.

“Work for you?” Swan was even more confused.

“Yes. I’m in charge of the entire operation. But I’ll tell you all about that later. First, let me tell you why I despise you so much. I’ve waited a long time to get this out in the open. When your father died and your mother would send you to us for the summer, my parents thought you were golden. They put you on a pedestal, especially my father. Did you know he called you his little island princess?”

Yes, Swan knew but she also knew her godfather hadn’t meant anything by it. It was just a nickname he’d given her when she was born. All three of her godfathers called her that sometimes. “It was just a nickname, Georgianna.”

“For you, it might only have been a nickname, but for me, it was Dad shifting his attention from me to you.”

“Godpop 1 loves you. He wasn’t shifting his attention to me, he was just being nice.”

“Too nice, and I despised you for it. He had a daughter, yet any time your mother would call, he and Mom would drop everything and take off. Just because your father saved Dad’s life—that meant nothing. They were all SEALs and your dad was doing his job when he died. But it was as if Dad blamed himself and he needed to make it up by being nice to you, like you were somebody special. So, with the help of some friends, I decided to change everyone’s opinion of you.”

It was hard for Swan to believe what she was hearing. She’d never known that Georgianna harbored such feelings. Granted she hadn’t always been overnice and had a tendency to be moody, but Swan hadn’t detected animosity like this.

“What did you do?” Swan asked her.

Georgianna smiled like she was proud of what she was about to say. “I set up an espionage operation out of your shop with the help of Rafe and Horacio. Then, with Rosie’s assistance, I made it appear that the secret information being sent to China was being done through your jewelry.”

“What!” Swan couldn’t believe it. Her head was spinning from all the shocks she’d received tonight.

“I have to admit I put together a perfect plan. This guy I was sleeping with at the time assisted me by tipping off naval intelligence with what you were supposedly doing. They did their own investigation and my team and I made sure everything pointed at you. It should have been an open and shut case and you were to be arrested and charged with espionage.”

As if she was tired of standing, Georgianna moved to sit on one of the benches. She frowned over at Swan. “Everything was going according to plan until the final thread of the investigation reached Director Levart’s desk.”

“Godpop 3?”

“See what I mean? You have three godfathers and I don’t have a one,” Georgianna said in a loud voice, pointing a finger at her. “You don’t deserve such love and loyalty, and I intended to tarnish their image of you.”

* * *

Flipper’s watch vibrated and he glanced down at the text message. Here. N place. Coop got layout of boat.

He texted them back. 1 N cockpit. 4 others. 2 hostages.

He quickly received a reply from Viper. Eliminating cockpit.

Got 4 in scope. That particular text came from Bane, a master sniper.

Flipper knew that although everyone was in place, timing was everything. Georgianna had no idea her words were being recorded so he wanted to let her talk before making his move. Then there would be no way she could deny anything.

From listening to what the woman was saying, it was obvious she had mental issues. That could be the only reason to have such a deep hatred of Swan that Georgianna would go to such extremes. Georgianna assumed she’d had the perfect plan for Swan’s downfall and Flipper was glad things hadn’t turned out the way Georgianna intended.

Before inching up the ladder to listen to what else she was confessing, he texted the message: Will give signal.

* * *

Swan shook her head. It was obvious Georgianna’s jealousy had blinded her senses and fueled her hatred. Didn’t the others see it? Why were they following her blindly? Swan glanced over at Jamila and could tell by the look in her cousin’s eyes that she was wondering the same thing.

“When Director Levart saw the report, he refused to believe you could be guilty of anything, especially betraying your country.”

Thank God for that, Swan thought.

“He requested a thirty-day delay before agreeing to take any actions against you. Even after we made sure the investigation clearly spelled out your role in everything. There was no reason for you not to be charged,” Georgianna said.

She paused a moment before continuing. “Unknown to me and the others, Director Levart went to your other two godfathers and they put their heads together to see what they could do to prove your innocence. They decided to send one of their top SEALs to find out what he could and to prove your innocence.”

Swan drew in a deep breath. Oh no, please don’t let what Horacio said tonight be true. Please don’t let David turn out to be someone other than what he said he was.

Georgianna’s next words ripped into Swan’s heart.

“The SEAL they sent was Lieutenant David Holloway. I guess you didn’t know that all the time he spent with you was nothing more than an assignment. You meant nothing to him, Swan.” Georgianna laughed as if she found 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.”