Deep (7 page)

Joel trailed his fingers down to Sean’s cheek. “What if I want to do something?”

Sean’s face lit up. “Then we do whatever you want.”

Joel stopped his exploration. “You want this? I don’t want you trying to make me happy at your own expense.”

“I learned my lesson—never lie to the captain. I want to, but we should go at your pace. This is your first time; you need to be comfortable. Whatever you want, I want.”

Joel laughed. “At the minute, I just want to touch you.”

Sean smiled. “Do what you feel comfortable with. If it gets too weird, stop. I promise I won’t be offended.”

SEEING SEAN SITTING over him stirred something in Joel he hadn’t felt in a very long time. Joel was starting to pant, barely able to contain himself. “Doctor’s orders?”

“Exactly.”

Desire took control. Joel hauled Sean up, carrying him to the bed. He rested Sean on it, frenzied lips snatching at Sean’s skin. Joel climbed on top, pausing only to take in the sight of the ship’s doctor writhing underneath him. Sean was intoxicating, and if Joel was having doubts, his body wasn’t responding to them. Joel ran his tongue down Sean’s neck, reveling in the doctor’s moans. He wondered how low he could go. Whether he could put Sean in his mouth. What Sean would taste like.

He grabbed Sean’s shirt and wrestled it over Sean’s head. Sean slipped his hands beneath Joel’s waistband, seizing his cock. For a moment, Joel lapsed into shock, but then everything fell into place. He gained confidence, running his hands down Sean’s bare stomach, ready to reciprocate.

Before he could pull off Sean’s pants an alarm started ringing out.

“What is it?” Sean said, releasing Joel.

“Shit, we’ve got a chemical leak.” This was Joel’s worst fear. “We’ve got to evacuate.”

He thought about his cargo. The big payoff he had finally found. Now he was going to lose everything.

This wasn’t right. They weren’t even in a chemical cloud. Joel was always careful. He didn’t hire Selena for her looks; she was supposed to guide them around these things. This couldn’t be happening. He looked at Sean, his body still exposed and inviting—and distracting. Joel felt like someone had slapped him in the face.

“Did you know about this?”

“About what?” Sean asked, still pinned beneath Joel.

Joel grabbed the doc and hauled them both to their feet. “Where’s your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my....” Realization dawned on Sean’s face. “He was in my quarters.”

“Son of a—” Joel pushed the doctor aside. “This was your plan, was it? Come in here and distract me while that bastard rigs my ship?”

“Joel, I had no idea. I—”

Joel gave him one last rage-filled look and stormed out.

AS HE HURRIED from the infirmary, Joel ran straight into his sister. The alarm seemed to be growing louder and she was clearly panicked. She grabbed him.

“Joel, are you okay? Were you coming out of the infirmary?”

He pushed her aside. “I’m fine. What’s happening?”

“Chemical leak. Coming from hatch four.” Right where their cargo was. “We need to evacuate before it spreads.”

Leave the ship?
That wasn’t going to happen. This was Joel’s home and he was damned if he was going to abandon it now. He put his steady hands on his sister’s shoulders. “Get everyone in the lifeboat, but wait for my word before you deploy.”

“Joel, don’t be a fool. Come with us.”

“I mean it, Mia, wait for my word.” He released her, knowing there was every chance this would be the last time he saw her.

“Joel, what are you going to do?”

“Seal the hatch and wait for my orders. If I don’t respond in ten minutes, hit the surface.”

Joel knew his ship; he’d spend nights worrying about
Ariel
’s weaknesses. The glass in the cockpit needed replacing; another two dives and it was going to start getting dangerous. The backup engine had a tendency to overheat. The navigational scanner was prone to exaggerating the size of deep-sea creatures. The shower pressure failed after every third use and the kitchen cupboards needed oiling. He knew his ship, and he knew there was no way a chemical breach could strike the cargo hold first.

Still, he wasn’t stupid. He grabbed a mask and his gun from his quarters before he went to investigate. If there was a leak, the mask would keep him alive long enough to get a message back to Mia. If it was what he thought it was, the gun would be all that he needed.

He reached the sealed door to hatch four and waited. If there was a leak, opening the door would allow the gases in. Anyone not sealed in the lifeboat was as good as dead. Joel waited, one hand pressed against the door, the other tightening around the gun. He started counting down.

Now or never. He pulled open the door, ready to step into burning fumes. But as he predicted, there was nothing. The air was clear. From the platform he could see there was nothing happening in the hold at all. Their cargo was intact; the seals were still good. He moved cautiously down the steps and then felt something dig into his back.

Shit.
Slowly Joel raised his arms, letting his own gun hang in his hand.

“I had a feeling you wouldn’t abandon ship so easily,” David said from behind him. David took his weapon and tossed it through the hatch.

“This what you did to the other crew?” Joel snapped.

“Most of them. Their captain was the same. You sailors are the most sentimental bunch of morons I’ve ever met.” He stretched out his arm and pointed his gun at Joel. Joel cursed himself for not searching the man’s belongings when he came on board. “Captain Wells preferred to go down with his ship than save his own life. So I had to shoot him.”

“You should have kept him alive. He might have been able to steer his ship out of a goddamn reef. You know, if you were this desperate for the cargo, you could have just said ‘please’.”

SEAN SAT IN the infirmary, staring at the open door. The echoing siren seemed distant, like he was hearing it through water. Joel’s words rolled around in his head. Did he really think Sean would betray him and the others? Sean’s hands were trembling. He pressed his fingers to his lips, remembering their kisses before the world went black and everything went wrong.

“Doc!” Mia shouted. He hadn’t even noticed her in the doorway. “Doc, get dressed and move out; we’ve got a chemical leak.”

Sean blinked and looked at her in confusion. “What?”

“We need to get to the lifeboat.” Mia took his arm and grabbed his shirt from the floor. “Get dressed.”

Dazed, he pulled his shirt over his head as Mia started escorting him out of the infirmary.

“Wait. Where’s the captain?”

She didn’t say anything, but instead dragged him closer to the lifeboat. He could see Selena and Harvey already inside. Kyle was coming up behind them. But there was no Joel. No Joel and no David. Sean pulled himself free.

“I have to go.”

“Not you as well. Don’t be an idiot,” Mia said.

But it was too late—Sean was already running.

He reached the hatch to the cargo hold. A gun lay discarded in the entrance. Sean swallowed. He picked up the weapon; it was heavy in his hands.

DAVID STRUCK HIM on the back of the head. Joel slipped, rolling down the metal stairs. He hit the bottom hard. When he opened his eyes the gun was pointed at his head. Joel stared at the barrel as his eyes tried to gain some focus.

“David, stop!” Sean screamed from the top of the stairwell.

The doctor was pointing Joel’s gun at their thief. His arms were shaking, but Joel couldn’t tell if it was from fear or anger.

“Sean, put the gun down,” David said.

“You put your gun down!”

“I’m doing this for us, Sean. You think it’s going to be easy getting to the surface with nothing in our pockets?”

Sean shook his head. “I’m not coming to the surface with you, David. This is where I belong.” Joel caught an uncertain look in the boy’s eye. He wanted to tell Sean that he was right, that this
was
where Sean belonged, but he didn’t.

“You think he wants you? You think he’ll want you after he knows what you are?”

Again, Joel wanted to tell Sean that he did. There were so many words he needed Sean to hear, and yet he couldn’t say anything.

Sean’s face tightened. “Don’t.”

“Do you think he wants anything more than that pretty little mouth bringing him off while he’s down here? You’re an idiot, Sean. You always were. A stupid, naive little boy who was so desperate for his father’s love that he’d fuck anything that smiled at him.”

Tears ran down Sean’s face. He was losing his nerve. “Put your gun down or I will shoot you.”

David rolled his eyes. “I should level with you, Sean. You’re not what you used to be. You’re damaged goods, and you’re not worth this cargo.” He fired his weapon.

The bang echoed across the hold. Joel jumped, his head suddenly clearing. He saw Sean touch his stomach. He saw blood flowering through the doctor’s shirt. Sean clasped Joel’s gun tightly in his bloody hand. And fired. David twisted as the bullet hit his chest. Sean fired again. David’s body toppled over the railing, hitting the lower deck hard. Apparently satisfied David was dead, Sean examined his hands more closely. Then his legs buckled and he fell back.

Joel launched himself up the stairs. He grabbed Sean, pressing his hand against the wound to stop the flow.

“What do I do, Sean? What do I do?”

“It’s not good. I’m not going to make it.”

“No! You don’t get to give up. Now tell me what the hell I have to do. If it was me bleeding out, what would you do? Please, Sean. What do I do?”

Sean’s face was already glistening with sweat. “Call Kyle. He’s got field training and a steady hand. The bullet....” Sean winced. “It’s still inside. He needs to remove it. I need blood.”

“You got it, you can have mine,” Joel said, trying not to look at the blood dripping through the metal grate.

“No, not yours. Harvey’s a match. Get Harvey’s.” Sean’s eyes closed.

“No, no, no, you’re not going to sleep, Sean. Come on, keep awake, stay with me. You know I’m no good at this kind of thing.” But the doc was already unconscious.

Joel lifted the doctor as gently as he could and ran with him to the infirmary. He slammed his fist onto the coms speaker. “Mia, I need help. Sean’s been shot. It’s really bad. I need Harvey and Kyle down here now.”

“What about the leak?”

Joel swore under his breath. “Never mind the leak. Didn’t you hear me, Sean’s been shot! Now move it!”

IT WAS RARE that Joel felt helpless. He stood outside the infirmary and watched as his crew worked. Normally he wouldn’t have been so troubled; he could trust the doc would do his best to save a patient. But it was Sean lying on that table, bleeding out and so close to death. Joel was close to giving up hope. Harvey sat beside the young doctor, transfusing his blood and willing the boy back to life. Karl and Selena urgently worked on Sean’s body. They were good enough to assist Sean in the infirmary, but not to carry out surgery on their own. The scene was too chaotic; they were making too many mistakes.

“What the hell happened, Joel?” Mia asked him, her shoulders as tightly coiled as his.

“That bilge-rat, David, faked the whole thing. He rigged the alarm thinking we’d abandon the ship if there was a chemical leak. Then he’d sail off with the booty. Same thing he did on his other ship, before he crashed it.”

“Did the doc know?”

Anger rose up in Joel. He turned and grabbed his sister. “Don’t you dare say that! Sean had nothing to do with this. The boy’s on his deathbed. I don’t want to hear any accusations about him, you hear me!” Realizing his own hypocrisy, he let her go. “I need to get back to work. Someone should be manning the ship.”

Joel’s head was swimming in a riptide. When he closed his eyes he could see Sean slipping away from him. When he licked his lips he could taste Sean. His body felt like it was in freefall and he had no idea how to rein it in. The doc was going to die and it was all his fault. He knew their interloper was no good—he knew, and he still let Sean stay with him. Just like he knew Sean would never go against the crew and yet he accused him anyway.

Throwing himself into the cockpit, Joel had to fight the compulsion to smack something. He slumped into the pilot seat and stared out at the dark ocean. How long before he had to float Sean’s body? Joel swallowed a growing lump in his throat. His eyes were welling up, but he refused to succumb.

He reached behind his chair and pulled out his emergency whiskey. He took a comforting mouthful and then glanced around at the empty cockpit. The doc had sat in the chair beside his and they had shared the bottle between them. Each burning mouthful had stripped away Joel’s inhibitions. If he’d kissed Sean that night, the doc would never have gone to David. Another regret to toast.

The spark between them still burned fiercely in him. He wanted to ignore it and pretend it wasn’t there, while at the same time he was drawn to the only piece of light and warmth he had within him. How long would it take for it to go out? Would he move on quickly—after all, it was only one kiss they’d shared—or would he spend a lifetime mourning like an old widow? It was only a matter of time now. He swallowed more whiskey: his only comfort in this mess.

“Joel,” Mia said from behind him.

Joel jumped. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting there on his own, but most of the bottle had gone. He was drunk, drunk enough to hear about Sean’s death and not totally fall apart. He pulled himself up and swayed against the chair. His plan was simple—send Sean off now and then drink himself unconscious.

He nodded at his sister, trying his best to appear strong. He was the captain and they’d had losses before. And it wasn’t like Sean had a family to report to. Joel had hated that—returning to the surface and knocking on the door to let a dependent family know that there’d be no more seasons of income. That wouldn’t happen with Sean; his loss would only be felt on
Ariel
. Once his body drifted into the deep it would be over.

“Is he ready to go?” he asked. He didn’t want to see the body. Seeing Sean unanimated would haunt him. It would be better if Sean was bagged up already.