Read Online Close Quarters (Her SEAL Protector #1) by Roxie Rivera - Free Book Online
Authors: Roxie Rivera
Tags: romantic suspense
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that I boxed up all of Dad's stuff, and Mom put it in storage. When I decided that I needed to experience for myself what Dad was chasing every time he left, I went back to the storage locker, but I noticed some of the boxes had been opened. I bribed the owner with a wad of cash, and he let me watch the security tapes. I saw Dane go into the storage locker, but he came out empty-handed. Even so, I knew what he was looking for."
He lifted the maps and book. "This?"
"Yes. It made me start thinking about the day Dad died. He was supposed to go on that trip alone with Dane, but I begged him to take me and he finally relented. Dane wasn't happy that I was tagging along. The morning we set off to climb the cliff face, Dane insisted I take his gear instead of Dad's and he helped rig me up. He took my stuff and said that he didn't mind breaking in new gear."
Leland's stomach clenched. "Are you saying that he sabotaged your father's gear so that he would fall?"
"Yes."
"Can you prove it?"
"Not yet."
"Why would he want to kill your father?"
She pointed to the maps he held. "For that."
"This? He killed your father over a shipwreck?"
" The shipwreck, Leland," she corrected. "When I recover that galleon, you'll see what I mean. The boat sank with a full load of gold and silver coins, jewels, tobacco and indigo. The tobacco and indigo are long gone, but the coins and jewels? If the estimates are right, we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars in salvage."
The number stunned and angered him. "Jamie, you're already a millionaire dozens of times over. What the hell do you need with more money?"
"It's not about the money! It's about my father. It's about Dane killing my dad to get to that ship. I think Dad had figured out that Dane was getting into bed with the cartels, and he decided to cut him out of the Pilar salvage."
" Pilar ?"
" Nuestra Señora del Pilar ," she said. "It's the name of the ship."
"So your Dad finds out about Dane getting cozy with some narco scumbags, Dane kills him, and now you've decided that you're…what? Going to get even with him? That you're going to make him pay?"
"I'm going to ruin him."
"How? With forged maps?"
"I found the shipwreck. The real one," she explained with irritating coolness. "I quietly salvaged a very small part of it, just enough to whet his appetite, and planted it near another ship that wrecked during the same hurricane in 1622. It was a spot Dad had searched plenty of times and Dane knew all about his dives there so he believed the maps when he saw them."
"Wait." He held up a hand. "How did Dane get the forged maps?"
"I used a…mutual friend…to get him interested in the forged maps and notes that I wanted to sell."
"A mutual friend, huh?" Jealousy burned through him. "You mean someone like Hector Salas?"
She blanched. "How did you—"
"Facebook," he interjected roughly. "If you want to keep something a secret, you probably shouldn't share it on there."
"I'm not embarrassed about my friendship with Hector." She shot him an annoyed look. "You wouldn't be either if you knew what he'd done for Peyton."
"Let me guess. The time you two got thrown into a Mexican slammer during spring break?"
"I didn't get arrested. Peyton was the one who got picked up for trying to score off some very obvious Federales in the club parking lot."
He narrowed his eyes. "She said—"
"What I told her to say," Jamie interrupted. "I knew how your family would react if they found the golden child had done something so stupid. Your parents already thought I was a bad influence, and you hated me anyway, so what did it matter?"
"I never hated you."
She glanced away from him and bit her lip. "Hector owned the club we were in, and he had bought me a drink earlier in the night. I figured out what he was pretty damned quick so I kept him at a distance, but when Peyton got picked up, I had to do something. She could barely survive a night's lockup in a US jail. There was no way she was going to
He lifted the maps and book. "This?"
"Yes. It made me start thinking about the day Dad died. He was supposed to go on that trip alone with Dane, but I begged him to take me and he finally relented. Dane wasn't happy that I was tagging along. The morning we set off to climb the cliff face, Dane insisted I take his gear instead of Dad's and he helped rig me up. He took my stuff and said that he didn't mind breaking in new gear."
Leland's stomach clenched. "Are you saying that he sabotaged your father's gear so that he would fall?"
"Yes."
"Can you prove it?"
"Not yet."
"Why would he want to kill your father?"
She pointed to the maps he held. "For that."
"This? He killed your father over a shipwreck?"
" The shipwreck, Leland," she corrected. "When I recover that galleon, you'll see what I mean. The boat sank with a full load of gold and silver coins, jewels, tobacco and indigo. The tobacco and indigo are long gone, but the coins and jewels? If the estimates are right, we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars in salvage."
The number stunned and angered him. "Jamie, you're already a millionaire dozens of times over. What the hell do you need with more money?"
"It's not about the money! It's about my father. It's about Dane killing my dad to get to that ship. I think Dad had figured out that Dane was getting into bed with the cartels, and he decided to cut him out of the Pilar salvage."
" Pilar ?"
" Nuestra Señora del Pilar ," she said. "It's the name of the ship."
"So your Dad finds out about Dane getting cozy with some narco scumbags, Dane kills him, and now you've decided that you're…what? Going to get even with him? That you're going to make him pay?"
"I'm going to ruin him."
"How? With forged maps?"
"I found the shipwreck. The real one," she explained with irritating coolness. "I quietly salvaged a very small part of it, just enough to whet his appetite, and planted it near another ship that wrecked during the same hurricane in 1622. It was a spot Dad had searched plenty of times and Dane knew all about his dives there so he believed the maps when he saw them."
"Wait." He held up a hand. "How did Dane get the forged maps?"
"I used a…mutual friend…to get him interested in the forged maps and notes that I wanted to sell."
"A mutual friend, huh?" Jealousy burned through him. "You mean someone like Hector Salas?"
She blanched. "How did you—"
"Facebook," he interjected roughly. "If you want to keep something a secret, you probably shouldn't share it on there."
"I'm not embarrassed about my friendship with Hector." She shot him an annoyed look. "You wouldn't be either if you knew what he'd done for Peyton."
"Let me guess. The time you two got thrown into a Mexican slammer during spring break?"
"I didn't get arrested. Peyton was the one who got picked up for trying to score off some very obvious Federales in the club parking lot."
He narrowed his eyes. "She said—"
"What I told her to say," Jamie interrupted. "I knew how your family would react if they found the golden child had done something so stupid. Your parents already thought I was a bad influence, and you hated me anyway, so what did it matter?"
"I never hated you."
She glanced away from him and bit her lip. "Hector owned the club we were in, and he had bought me a drink earlier in the night. I figured out what he was pretty damned quick so I kept him at a distance, but when Peyton got picked up, I had to do something. She could barely survive a night's lockup in a US jail. There was no way she was going to
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