Phantom Prospect Read online

  Annja backed away. “I should leave you guys alone to work this out. Maybe I’ll just head downstairs and get some rest.”

  Hunter shook his head and stared at Cole. “Are you really insane? You were trying to get her to go in there with you? What was she—bait? That’s a new low for you, Cole. Seriously, man. You’ve lost your freaking mind.”

  Cole sighed. “We come from two different perspectives on this, Hunter.”

  “Yeah, you want to put your head in the mouth of every lion you come across while I know that lions aren’t made to have human heads in them. Which one of us is right, huh?”

  Hunter stalked out of the wheelhouse. Annja watched him stomp down to the back of the boat. Cole took a breath and sighed. “I’m sorry you had to hear all that, Annja.”

  “Forget it. You guys aren’t the first siblings I’ve known who didn’t have the perfect relationship. At least it’s apparent that you guys love each other.”

  “I guess.”

  Annja put a hand on his shoulder. “Think of it this way. If he didn’t care, he would have encouraged you to jump right in.”

  “Yeah.”

  Annja shoved him out of the wheelhouse. “Go. Talk to him and try to get some common ground back. You’ve both got objectives here. Maybe you can make some sense out of them.”

  “Thanks.”

  Annja watched him go. Behind her, she heard a flicking sound. She turned and saw Captain Jax eyeing her while she cleaned her fingernails with a switchblade. “That was smooth,” the captain said.

  Annja looked at the long blond hair tied back in a ponytail with a length of hemp. Captain Jax was about Annja’s age, but the crow’s-feet around her eyes belied a lot more years on the ocean than the rest of her appearance suggested.

  “How long have you been a captain?” Annja asked.

  “Why? You have issues with my skippering so far?”

  Annja shook her head. “No. It’s just that most of the captains I’ve ever known have been men. Kinda strange to see a woman in charge. Nice change of pace. That’s all.”

  Captain Jax finished cleaning one hand and adroitly flipped the knife around to work the other hand. “Yeah, well, it hasn’t been an easy slog for me to climb the ladder. I did time on tramp steamers and shitty freighters, working the south Atlantic between Africa and South America.”

  “What happened?”

  “I got tired of turning a blind eye to the crap I used to witness.”

  “Like?”

  Captain Jax stop cleaning her nails. “You ever seen eight-year-old kids forced to shovel coal into ship boilers for ten hours a day?”

  “No.”

  “You ever seen teenage girls being sold into sexual slavery?”

  Annja frowned. “Heard of it.”

  Captain Jax smirked. “Different when it’s right in front of your face, lemme tell you.”

  “So you stopped working that route?”

  “I came north after the skipper of the ship and I had a disagreement about a particular shipment of kids into the Brazilian brothels.”

  “What happened?”

  Captain Jax shrugged. “I cut his throat while he slept. And I shoved his bloated carcass overboard where the sharks tore him to bits.”

  Annja almost smiled at the candor with which Captain Jax spoke. “You don’t seem particularly upset.”

  “I’m not upset at all.” Captain Jax pointed the knife at her. “You, however, don’t seem the least bit fazed by what I just said.”

  Annja shrugged. “Let’s just say it sounds like we’ve both left a few bodies in our wakes.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yes. It is.”

  Captain Jax eyed her for a moment without moving. Annja returned the stare. A heavy silence cloaked the wheelhouse and, in the distance, Annja could hear the breeze coming off the ocean. But nothing moved in the space between her and the captain.

  Finally, Jax seemed satisfied. “Just so long as you understand that this is my boat. I have the authority here.”

  “I thought this was Hunter’s boat,” Annja said.

  “I’m the captain.”

  “No one’s trying to steal the job from you.”

  Jax nodded. “Good.”

  Annja started to leave. She took a step before she heard Captain Jax’s voice. “Annja.”

  She turned. She saw the whiz of movement through the air. Annja shifted as the blade flew past her and sank into the wood paneling next to her head. The switchblade was deeply embedded.

  Annja glanced back at Captain Jax. “You finished now?”

  Jax smiled. “Good reflexes.”

  “They’re better than you know.” Annja pulled the knife out of the wood and checked the edge. It was razor sharp. She turned the blade over and then in the next instant sent it flying right back at Jax. Jax recovered quickly and dodged the blade as it shot into the clock next to her head.

  “Not bad,” she said.

  Annja smirked. “Just remember—you aren’t the only warrior on this boat. Not anymore.”

  7

  Outside the wheelhouse, Annja ran into Hunter. He looked her over. “Everything okay back there?”

  Annja smiled. “Just a couple of dogs having a pissing contest. Nothing to get excited about.”

  “If it’s happening on my boat, I want to know about it,” Hunter said. “I’ve already lost one crew member and I don’t want any more going missing. If Jax is giving you shit, you need to tell me. She’s pretty territorial.”

  Annja shook her head. “Don’t expect me to come running to you like some lost sheep. I don’t operate that way. If Jax has a problem with me, then we’ll work it out between us. One way or another.”

  “As long as there’s not another body to worry about,” Hunter said.

  Annja frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Hunter held up his hands. “I know something of what Jax came from. She’s got a history all her own. You, I don’t know about. Only what Cole told me. And that wasn’t very much. Except that he’s very fond of you.”

  A stiff breeze blew across the bow of the ship. “We’re really not a couple, if that’s what you’re hinting at.”

  Hunter shrugged. “None of my business if you were. But he still had no right to ask you to do what he did.”

  “I don’t take it personally. It seems to be in Cole’s nature to run toward danger.” Annja looked at the swirling surf. “It seems to be mine, too.”

  “Yeah? What’s that mean? You go looking for trouble?” Hunter wore an amused expression on his face.

  Annja sighed. “Trouble usually has a way of finding me on its own without any help from me. As a result, I get into a lot of bad places. Crazy stuff, sometimes.”

  “Like a boat looking for sunken treasure being stalked by a giant man-eating shark?”

  “That’s actually a new one,” Annja said. “But it takes all kinds.” She looked toward the stern. “You and Cole talk yet?”

  “No.”

  “You should. The boat’s too small for any bad blood to ferment. It’ll end up costing us all in terms of our safety.”

  Hunter sighed. “It’s always been like this.”

  “Why?”

  “Natural competition? I don’t know. Sometimes it’s just the way brothers have to be.”

  “That’s ridiculous,” Annja said. “Families don’t come with instructions that read ‘must always be at odds with one another.’”

  Hunter leaned against the railing. “Fact is, I need him and he knows it. I blew my inheritance on treasure hunting. It’s only been with Cole’s help I’ve actually made something of myself. That tends to grate on my ego a fair amount.”

  “I imagine it would.”

  Hunter sighed. “I’ll find him. We’ll get this squared away.”

  Annja patted his arm. “Glad to hear it. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to have a quick nap. Wake me if the shark comes back.”

  “You’ll know,” Hunter said. “The whole b
oat will be in a panic.”

  “Does that concern you?”

  “Of course it does. I’ve got a major hunt going on here. The last thing I need is people freaking out over a fish.”

  “Even one that eats them?”

  “They need to keep their heads in the game. Forget about the shark. It was probably a freak occurrence. Probably long gone by now.”

  “Didn’t seem so a few minutes ago when it showed up on the scope.”

  “We don’t know if that was the shark. Could have been something else. Maybe a whale.”

  Annja raised an eyebrow. “We would have seen a spout when it breached the surface of the water.”

  Hunter started to say something and then thought better of it. Instead, he pointed at the stern. “I’m going to go find Cole now.”

  “See you later.”

  Annja let him pass and watched him work his way down the steps to the deck. He and Cole might be brothers but there were a lot of differences between them.

  Annja took a deep breath of salt air and felt herself yawn. A nap would do her some good. She made her way down to the crew compartments. The corridor led her back to her room and she pushed the door in, falling into the bed with a muffled sigh. The pillow cradled her head and, within a few seconds, she felt herself falling into a deep sleep.

  As she slept, her body seemed to relax, her muscles almost melting into the bed. Annja realized that she was truly exhausted and needed the nap badly.

  Until something made her start and come awake.

  A noise.

  She kept her eyes closed. Her stomach knotted up and she risked cracking an eyelid. She could just make out a shadowy form rummaging through her bag. The daylight had faded outside the porthole and the coming evening made it difficult to see exactly who it might be.

  Annja frowned. She hated thieves. There was one way to solve the mystery and she steeled herself to suddenly surprise the invader.

  Adrenaline flooded her system. Annja checked to make sure her sword hung where she could pull it out if need be. It was ready, hanging in the dim mist that waited between her awake and dream worlds.

  Annja steeled herself and then, with a shout, she came fully awake and launched herself off the bed.

  She felt something crash into her from behind. A bright explosion of stars caromed around her head as tears flew from her eyes. Blackness rushed to greet her and Annja sank back onto the bed, consciousness already a vague memory somewhere far off in the recesses of her mind.

  “ANNJA?”

  Annja opened her eyes. The bright light made her wince. “Ouch.”

  “Kill the light.”

  Darkness returned and Annja blinked her eyes open again. “What the hell happened?’

  “You tell us.”

  She recognized Cole’s voice. “I was napping. I heard something. Someone was in my room. I was going to surprise them and, when I did, something or someone else clocked me from behind. That’s the last thing I remember.”

  Hunter growled. “This isn’t good. A shark attack and someone attacking a guest on my ship. All within two days.” He paused and looked at Cole. “We can’t afford this kind of distraction.”

  “I know it.”

  Annja put a hand to her head. “Any chance I can get some water?”

  “Yeah, yeah, sure.” Cole handed her a glass of something cold. “Take it slow, though. That’s a nasty bump you’ve got on your head.”

  Annja ran her hand over the growing bulge on the back of her skull. “Concussion?”

  “Can’t really tell. Maybe a mild one.”

  “Add it to the scorecard,” Annja said. “I’ve had more than a few in my time. Every time I do, it only reminds me how much they suck.”

  “Are you nauseous?” Cole peered into her eyes. “You might be sick.”

  “You get any closer and I will definitely.”

  Cole leaned back. “You can’t be that badly injured. Your sarcasm has remained intact.”

  Hunter chuckled. “You always did have a way with the ladies, bro.”

  Annja took a sip of water. The cold liquid hit the back of her throat and she winced. Her stomach rolled once or twice but she fought it back and swallowed the water. When she was done, she handed the glass back to Cole.

  “Who did this?” she asked. “Was it Jax?”

  Hunter shook his head. “Couldn’t have been. She was in the wheelhouse, remember? It wouldn’t be like her to come down here and take you out.”

  Annja nodded slowly. “Fair point. I don’t think she’d mind just going straight on at me if she felt the need.”

  “That’s more her style,” Hunter said. “I’ve seen her hold her own in a bar fight outside of Norfolk, Virginia. That chick can rumble with the best of them.”

  Cole sat down in the small chair. “So, who else is on the ship that would want to see Annja get hurt?”

  Hunter sighed. “I don’t know. I mean, are we assuming that Annja was the actual target?”

  “I seem to have been,” Annja said. “As my skull will testify.”

  Hunter smirked. “Not what I meant. Obviously, you got injured. But were you the primary target? Maybe they were after something that you have and you just got in the way. I don’t think it would be too hard to see that, if they wanted you dead, they could have easily killed you without much effort.”

  Annja frowned. Hunter had a point. She would have been incapacitated and an easy mark if they’d really meant to harm her. So what did they want? What did they think she had that could prove useful to them?

  She shook her head. “I have no idea what they could have possibly been looking for.”

  “Only because we don’t know who they are,” Cole said. “Maybe they think you have something. Did you bring anything with you?”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Annja gestured for the glass and Cole handed it back to her. She took a longer sip this time. “Listen, you guys are the ones running this operation. Apparently, I haven’t made some people very comfortable. Maybe the best thing would be for me to leave.”

  Cole shook his head. “Unacceptable. I invited you to come along with me. I need you here.”

  “You don’t actually need me,” Annja said. “Fish aren’t really my specialty. I’m more into digging in sandboxes, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

  “I appreciate that,” Cole said. “But your perspective is what’s required. Someone who thinks outside of the box.”

  Hunter nodded. “Cole’s right. We don’t know what it is that we’re dealing with. Could be a shark, could be something else. But the presence of people meaning you harm on this ship is an indicator that something bigger might be going on here. That means trouble any way you look at it.”

  “Which means,” Cole said, “that we all must make sure we have one another’s backs.”

  “And not get on one another’s nerves,” Hunter said.

  Annja smiled at them. “Nice to see you guys have made up.”

  “We never stay mad at each other for long,” Hunter said. “Must be a brotherly thing.”

  “Whatever,” Annja said. “Just so long as neither of you is plotting the untimely demise of the other, I think we’ll be okay.”

  Annja finished the water. “So, where do we go from here? I’ve still got a killer headache. And there’s a fan of mine on board the ship apparently.”

  “You rest,” Cole said. “Leave this other stuff to me and Hunter for right now. We’ll start checking things out, seeing where folks were earlier.”

  “You don’t know when this happened, do you?” Hunter asked.

  “Only that it must have been late afternoon or early evening. I couldn’t make out too much. The lighting was dim.”

  “A good hit you took there,” Cole said. “You’ve probably been out for a few hours, then.”

  “You feel okay now?” Hunter asked. “One of us can stay with you if you need us to.”

  Annja shook her head. �
��I’ll be fine. And besides, I think you guys have some more important work to do than babysit me.”

  Cole stood. “We’ll be back later to look in on you. In the meantime, lock the door behind us and don’t let anyone in. We’ve got to check on Tom, anyway.”

  “Why? What’s wrong with him?”

  “Seems like lunch didn’t sit well with him. He’s been vomiting and on the toilet ever since. Might be a touch of food poisoning. Anyway, he’s down for the count right now. But I want to make sure he’s all right or see if we need to evacuate him back to the mainland.”

  Annja tried to stand and the room spun. “Whoa.”

  Cole caught her. “You okay?”

  Annja took a breath. “Yeah. I’ll be okay.”

  Hunter and Cole left the room. Annja slid the bolt in place and then collapsed back into bed. Her head throbbed.

  Despite what Cole and Hunter had said, Annja couldn’t help feeling like someone on the boat wanted her gone.

  But why?

  8

  When Annja awoke, darkness shrouded the cabin. Mercifully, her head had ceased throbbing and her stomach seemed to be relatively stable. Her throat was dry, however, and she wanted to get some fresh air. Cole was sound asleep beside her.

  She made her way to the door without fainting and opened it slowly. She was unsure what to expect on the other side. The boat was quiet and lolled gently, anchored as it was.

  Dim red lights illuminated the hallway leading out to the stairs. Annja padded down the walkway until she came to the steps and started up them. She could already feel the wind washing over the boat and her skin. Goose bumps broke out along her hairline and she shivered slightly as she crept higher.

  Her stomach didn’t hurt and Annja felt somewhat secure as she crept along the walkway toward the wheelhouse. The salt air refreshed her. Waves lapped at the sides of the ship and she felt some of the spray wash up on her skin.

  Annja felt good. She kept her hands along the railing, however, just in case she felt faint, aware that she was still recovering from the concussion she’d received earlier.

  A weak yellow light came from the wheelhouse. Annja moved toward it. Maybe she could have a word with Jax about what happened earlier. Annja didn’t like bad blood if she could avoid it. But if she couldn’t, then she’d just have to deal with it another time.