Caribbean Rescue (Coastal Fury Book 16) - Matt Lincoln (reading tree .TXT) 📗

open, and Ty’s boisterous voice filled the bar.

“Spoke too soon,” Mike chuckled as he turned to look at the group.

Ty, Charlie, Jeff, and Mac were all laughing and chatting animatedly as they walked through the bar to their usual booth. They were all decked out in swimwear, and judging by their wet hair and sandy clothes, I assumed they’d just come back from the beach.

“Hey kids,” I greeted them as I approached them with a tray of drinks. I knew all of their usual orders by heart now, they were here so often. “Looks like you had a fun day.”

“Yeah.” Jeff grinned. “We had the day off, all of us. It’s the first time in a while all of us had off on the same day, so we decided to hit the beach while it was nice out.”

“I’m glad to hear you had a good time,” I replied as I distributed the drinks. “And that you didn’t run straight here. You guys should have some fun on your days off instead of hanging around this place all day.”

“Aw, you know you love us.” Mac smirked before taking a sip of her drink.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t. I definitely had a soft spot for this group of kids, and I really enjoyed having an audience to tell my stories to.

“Hey, where’s your drink?” Charlie as me as I finished passing around their orders.

“What?” I raised a confused eyebrow at him.

“Come on.” He flashed me a lopsided smile. “You have to tell us the next part of the story!”

I smiled back as I realized what he was getting at.

“And don’t try to give us any excuses about being busy!” Ty chimed in. “We saw you chatting with Mike at the bar just now.”

“Alright, hold your horses.” I lifted a hand to stop him. “I didn’t say no. Just give me a minute to get myself a drink.”

“Yes!” Charlie exclaimed excitedly.

Honestly, it was a pretty nice stroke to my ego to have these kids so excited to hear about my stories. It had gotten to the point that I actually looked forward to their visits.

“I’m glad it’s so chill in here,” Mac remarked as I sat down at their booth with my own drink. “The beach was fun, but during the summer, the number of tourists around can get a little overwhelming, especially all the kids.”

“What’s wrong with kids?” Ty asked as he took a sip of his beer.

“Nothing, really,” Mac shrugged. “I mean, I like kids fine. I’ve babysat my niece a few times, but I’m not so thrilled when there are hundreds of them running around screaming.”

“Yeah, the beach was really crowded,” Jeff agreed with a nod. “It’s nice to be able to relax in here.”

“Well, I’m glad my bar is useful to you,” I chuckled.

“Anyway,” Charlie interjected impatiently. “About that story? You had just wrapped up the case with the Hollands, right? And you found out that they had just been messing with you about all the Dragon’s Rogue stuff?”

I raised my eyebrows at him, a little impressed. I could always count on Charlie to catch everyone up with where the story had left off. The kid had some memory.

“Speaking of the Dragon’s Rogue,” Jeff cut in, “You said you were going to tell us about the anchor.”

“That’s right!” Ty exclaimed as he turned to look at the large anchor mounted on the wall just to the right of where we were sitting. “You told us last time that this is the anchor from the Dragon’s Rogue, right? So you found it? What happened?”

“And the chest!” Jeff chimed in. “That one that you found in the sunken pirate ship. You didn’t tell us what was in there!”

“Slow down,” I replied, unable to hide my smile at the eager looks on their faces. “Yes, I did find the anchor pretty soon after we closed the Holland case, but it was still a while before I found the ship itself.”

“Wait, but… how?” Charlie sighed with frustration. “How does an anchor just become disconnected from its ship?”

“We’ll get to it,” I assured him. “To be honest, it was a while yet before I found the ship, though the search did end up ramping up in part due to what I found inside the chest.”

“Okay,” Jeff replied anxiously as he sat up straighter. “So, what happened next?

“Well, first there was the anchor,” I answered as I thought about the best point to start the story from. “To explain how I got my hands on it, I first need to tell you about how we ended up getting involved in a twenty-year-old cold case.”

“Whoa,” Mac muttered. “How’d that happen?”

“Well,” I began as I took a long sip of my drink in preparation, “it all started with a little boy that was found wandering alone on the beach.”

1

The sun was shining bright and hot above her as she made her way quickly across the beach. The sand felt warm and soft beneath her feet. She wasn’t wearing any shoes. She’d jumped into action the moment an opportunity had presented itself, so she hadn’t had time to put any on before leaving.

All around her, people were enjoying their time on the beach. Her heart pounded forcefully as she passed them by, unable to shake the feeling that they were all watching her. It was the height of tourist season, so the shore was packed. Couples were stretched out along beach towels, overpriced drinks clutched in their hands. Families played near the edge of the water, anxious parents careful not to let their small children drift too far away.

Her own fist tightened around the tiny hand clenched in hers. She looked down at the little boy at her side, stumbling across the uneven sand as quickly as his little legs would let him. He was shorter than he should have been at this age, and she felt intense sorrow over that fact. She’d do better by him, though. As soon as they were free,