C H A P T E R   O N E 

SHADOWED STORM

by Mavery Ellscott

Chapter One

Alexis surfaced when she was close enough to pass herself off as part of the group taking snorkeling lessons. The instructor had over a dozen students and wouldn’t notice an extra body following the brightly colored reef fish darting in and out of the nooks and crannies created by the coral reef surrounding Garden Key.

“You’ve got to see these pretty yellow fish. They actually sparkle.” The woman closest to her lifted an arm out of the water and pointed to a spot a few feet away. “This is so much fun.”

“I’ve only seen green ones so far,” Alexis said, mimicking the woman’s excitement.

She reached for the diving mask strapped to her snorkeling belt and scanned the water, moving from one person to the next. South Beach was the more popular of the two beaches on the fourteen-acre island. It would be more difficult for someone to spot her, but it also made it challenging to locate Finlay or whomever Finlay had sent to help her.

A stocky man caught her attention. Tense and alert, he stood out from the carefree snorkelers around him. The man’s sunburnt face betrayed him as he removed his mask. White raccoon circles stood out against the bright red. He must have gotten the short straw. Alexis wondered how many days he’d been watching for her.

He turned toward the beach and shook his head. She followed his gaze. A man—his face, legs and arms also burnt to a crisp—gave him a thumbs down as he laid a towel on the sand.

Alexis adjusted her mask, bit down on the snorkel’s mouthpiece, and floated above the brilliant yellow French Grunts, wondering how they’d tracked her to the Florida Keys. Other than her friend Finlay, only Joe knew she’d risked sailing across the Atlantic at the tail end of hurricane season. The disappearing act had been his idea. Using her sailboat had been hers.

It was Joe who had spotted the men following her and watching her apartment in Paris. Alexis had felt foolish once he pointed them out. She should have been more aware of her surroundings, considering what she’d discovered on her dive.

She’d left a brief message for her personal assistant Solange, letting her know she’d made a last-minute decision to sail to Italy to meet up with a colleague who studied Maltese Rays. Alexis had discussed photographing the endangered rays at the last team meeting. No one at the Paris-based oceanographic institute she worked for would question her absence.

Alexis had even contacted her colleague to tell him she was on her way. When she’d reached the Canary Islands, she’d risked a satellite call instructing Solange to let him know she’d be arriving later than planned. She was observing and photographing a school of basking sharks off the southern coast of Spain. As the leading expert in the second largest fish in the world and vulnerable to extinction, Solange wouldn’t question the story concocted to delay Alexis’s arrival in Italy.

Pushing back the anxiety that threatened to overwhelm her, Alexis allowed the calm water and warm sunshine to relax her. She breathed slowly in and out through her snorkel while her eyes followed the fish’s graceful movements.

There hadn’t been time to work out a plan, so Alexis had identified three rendezvous points along the stretch of islands. Finlay has assured her she would find a way to signal Alexis if they were being watched and move to the next location on Alexis’s list.

When Alexis arrived at the beach in Bahia Honda Key, it had been impossible to miss Finlay and her boyfriend Drake in their fire engine red swimsuits. It didn’t take a genius to interpret the hideous swimwear as a danger warning. Nor any skill to spot the two men watching Finlay and Drake, hoping they’d lead them to her.

The red swimsuit theme was repeated at Key West. This time, it was Drake’s partner Pavlo who sported bright red swim trunks. Alexis assumed the blonde woman and child beside him, also dressed in red, were his fiancée and her daughter. She had yet to meet them.

Garden Key in the Dry Tortugas was the last place on Alexis’s list. She hadn’t thought they’d need a Plan D.

Alexis inhaled another deep breath. She was an oceanographer. She wasn’t a badass investigative reporter like Finlay, or a former Navy SEAL like Drake. He could probably kill a person a hundred and one different ways with a dessert spoon.

She’d tried the spoon trick on the Internet to open a can. After ruining three perfectly good soup spoons, she had to resort to a can opener.

Focus and pull yourself together, Alexis. You can figure this out.

She’d whined to Finlay once that she was logical and realistic. People found her boring. But it was those two qualities she’d need to rely on if she had to make her way by herself to the University of Miami.

The stakes were too high to fail. Alexis couldn’t allow anyone to stop her. She needed a second opinion before she informed the scientific community they had a worldwide problem.

It sounded melodramatic, but it was the truth. Some of the scientific discoveries made through innocently grown cultures in a petri dish belonged in dystopian novels. Only Alexis didn’t believe the genetically engineered algae she’d stumbled across was accidental. The presence of the men at Bahia Honda Key, Key West, and now Garden Key would support that.

Determined to continue on her own, Alexis stood, pulled the snorkel out of her mouth, and removed her mask. She smiled at the woman waiting to see her reaction to the French Grunts.

“That’s amazing. I’m so glad my friend talked me into this,” Alexis lied, further solidifying her connection to the newbie group of snorkelers. “My dad loves to fish, and I’d wanted to sign up for a deep-sea fishing expedition. You know, get a picture of me barely able to hold the enormous fish I just caught.” She assumed the angler’s hero pose, pretending to struggle with the fish. “It would top any of his fishing stories I’ve heard through the years.”

The woman let out a soft chuckle and then pointed to a spot a few feet away. “Wow, it’s like a moving rainbow in the water. Come on.”

She put on her snorkeling gear and chased after the school of fish.

Alexis scanned the area once more. A vibrant canvas of blues, greens, pinks, and various other colors dotted the beach and bobbed in the water, but no fire engine red. She resisted the urge to pull herself under the water and swim back to her sailboat anchored a half-mile out to work on Plan D. She needed to be sure Finlay wasn’t among the snorkelers or people lying on the beach.

“You’ve done this a few times.” Alexis turned abruptly. The fish that’d been darting around her feet scattered in a flash of color.

The snorkeling instructor grinned and pointed to her mask and snorkel. They weren’t beginner’s equipment. Neither was her wetsuit, but there was nothing to set it apart from those worn by the other snorkelers in the water, except the discreet logo between her shoulder blades. Only a hardcore scuba diver would be familiar with the brand.

“Yeah, but my friend hasn’t.” Alexis waved her hand in the general direction of his students, keeping up the façade of being part of the group. “I didn’t want to ruin our friendship by teaching her. When she sucked in her first mouthful of salt water, she wouldn’t speak to me for a month. She’s a bit of a princess.”

“We have several in the group,” the guy laughed and then frowned as a teen struggled with his mask. “After the lessons wind up, I’ll have an hour to kill. There are some beautiful places further out I could show you if you’re interested.”

Immediately suspicious, Alexis hesitated before answering. The guy had a beach full of tall, lithe women in bikinis. Why on earth would he want to snorkel with her?

He seemed like a nice guy, but high school had taught her to hand out her trust sparingly. There were magazines that would pay a lot for someone’s inside story about a date with world renowned oceanographer Alexis Hayes. A lot more, if he got her into bed.

As if that happened often. Her social life resembled the solitary female green sea turtle who mated every three to four years.

“I’d love to explore the reef further out with you,” Alexis said, her third lie in about as many minutes. She had no intention of sticking around much longer.

“I’m sorry, it’s a big group and I can’t remember your name,” the guy said.

“Cathy,” Alexis replied and caught herself before she asked for his. He would have introduced himself to the group at the start of the snorkeling lessons and would expect them to remember his name.

“I’m looking forward to snorkeling with you, Cathy,” he said and glanced in the teenager’s direction once more. He sighed. “I better help the kid with the mask problem before he damages it.”

The instructor headed over to the group of well-intentioned newbies huddled around the poor teen.

While Alexis wouldn’t be taking him up on his invitation to explore the reef, he wouldn’t question her hanging around. The two men watching her would dismiss her as part of the group.

Alexis put on her mask and popped the snorkel’s mouthpiece in her mouth. She floated closer to the group and looked down at her diving watch. Ten more minutes, then she’d swim back to her sailboat.

As much as Alexis loved the Sea Serpent, she was ready to curl up in a bed that didn’t shift in tune to the ocean and sleep for a couple of days. The trip across the Atlantic had been exhausting. Alexis had made the trip twice before, but never alone. The three-week journey had been challenging without a crew.

Alexis stood when she was close enough to be mistaken for part of the group taking lessons, but far enough away so another student wouldn’t approach her. She scanned the water once more, then checked her watch. Five more minutes.

Alexis was ready to give up when two bikini-clad women and a man in a wetsuit, the same brand as hers, turned in her direction. The smile on the man’s face widened as he made eye contact with her.

Sebastien Tremblay had come to her rescue.

Finlay’s boyfriend Drake, Seb, and three of their Navy SEAL buddies owned Shadow Defense Security, a private military firm. Alexis had met Seb a couple of months ago when Finlay had run into trouble investigating a human trafficking ring in Paris. Drake had called him in as backup.

There was no trace of red on Seb. The tightness that had gripped Alexis’s chest released its hold. He was there to help her, not warn her away from the island.

Alexis knew what the former Navy SEAL was capable of. He’d get her to Miami. She also knew the two women drooling over the six-foot man in peak physical condition was a normal occurrence. According to Finlay, the man was a confirmed bachelor and rarely seen without a woman on his arm.

Seb slowly made his way over to where Alexis pretended to be peering down at the reef fish swimming around her in the crystal-clear water. She caught snippets of their conversation as Seb named the various reef fish they spotted in the water. The women seemed impressed.

He reached for his mask and the women followed suit. All three of them hung in the water for a few seconds before Seb slipped beneath the surface and swam away from the women.

Alexis quickly put on her mask and adjusted her snorkel. She floated in the water, waiting for Seb. As he passed beside her, she took a deep breath, spit out her snorkel and dove under the water to follow him.

They surfaced far enough away from the two women to be unrecognizable and treaded water.

“Where’s your sailboat?” Seb asked without preamble.

Alexis turned in the water and pointed to a cluster of boats further out. “I anchored the Sea Serpent a short distance away from the group of sailboats, so it wasn’t easily recognizable. The motorboat on the starboard side wasn’t there when I left.”

“Sea Serpent?” Seb grinned.

Alexis felt her cheeks warm. “Many cultures consider sea serpents guardians and protectors of the waters they dwell in.”

“It fits,” Seb nodded, and abruptly changed the subject. “I’ll follow you. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

Seb didn’t mean a casual a conversation about what she’d been up to since she’d seen him in Paris. Other than telling Finlay she’d uncovered something disturbing and needed her help, Alexis had been purposefully vague, worried her cell phone was being monitored, even though Joe had done something to it to make it as hack proof as possible. Tech was not her thing.

Alexis dove under the water and headed for the sailboat. Seb swam off to her left. Several times, they rose to take a breath, but remained silent, reserving any discussion for later.

They surfaced close to the boat, and Alexis froze. She placed a finger over her lips, worried their voices would carry to the Sea Serpent, and pointed to her sailboat. A man stood onboard, his back to them.

Seb swam over to her and whispered, “Is there anything on board you need?”

“My gear bag.” Alexis had hidden the dry box with the algae sample and USB drive under her scuba gear.

“You can pick up new gear later,” Seb said.

“I’m not worried about my gear.” Alexis watched the man guzzle what she was sure was one of the few cans of beer she’d brought with her. He was certainly making himself at home. “It’s the dry box I hid under the gear that I need. It contains a sample of a genetically engineered algae.”

“I’m assuming it would be a bad thing if the guy onboard the Sea Serpent found the dry box,” Seb said, his voice filled with concern.

“Yes,” Alexis replied. In epic proportions, if the quick preliminary tests she ran were correct. “Just a small sample of the algae could poison the world’s freshwater supply.”