Operation Swift Mercy (19 page)

“You’re certainly a strange mix, Chase Maloney,” Mercy said as she bit into her second dry biscuit and eyed him thoughtfully as she chewed. “You take care of people—which you need a gentle side for, and then on the other hand, you’re trained to kill.”

“Killing isn’t something any of us likes to do. I think if you ask even the toughest of any military man—he’d tell you
that’s
not the part of the job anyone enjoys. It’s the responsibility we take and have to live with after, when all other actions fail.”

“Well, I think the Navy is lucky to have you and I’m glad you’re happy doing what you do. I wish I could say I did something noble and worthwhile with my life, but compared to you—I’m nothing,” she smiled sadly.

“Not nothing. You’re brave and you’ve got a good heart. Not everyone would be prepared to take on a man like your ex,” he pointed out gently.

“I should have seen it earlier—if I hadn’t been so caught up in living such a meaningless life—if I’d only opened my eyes sooner!”
it upset her to think while she’d lived in comfort with everything she could ever want, Nikkos had been making women and girls
work in sex factories. Smuggling people from countries in leaky boats and God knew what else he was mixed up in, paid for her life style. It made her feel sick all over again.

“If you’d have found out sooner—I’m willing to bet you’d still be doing the same thing. It wouldn’t make a difference when you found out about it—he was still doing it, and there was nothing you could do to have changed it. The only thing you can
do
now, is let us help you put an end to it
.
”

“I’ll do whatever it takes,” she vowed, looking out into the horizon and promising herself that from now o
n she would make a difference—s
o
me
how, she’d make sure she lived her life right and helped people. She
would
make a difference.

A whistle caught their attention and she looked over to see Tupper give a wave before disappearing back below deck.

“Looks like it’s time to leave,” Chase said standing up and putting out a hand to her.

“Dare I ask how we get off this time?”

She groaned as Chase sent her a wink and turned away without answering. Oh no, what now?
S
he wondered unenthusiastically. Slowly she trailed behind him to the front of the boat and smiled in relief. Ahead of them was an island, and better yet—a long jetty which stretched out into the lagoon they were headed towards.
Finally, a civilised way of disembarking!

Mercy
looked around at her surroundings as the men unloaded their luggage from the boat onto the jetty. The timber used in the structure looked new—not the silvery colour timber she was used to seeing back home on old jetties that had once been used to support coastal
harbour side
towns from the past.
In fact, the closer she got to the island as they
walked
along the jetty, the more evidence she saw of lots of new building going on.

Off one side of the jetty was a large boatshed and inside, floated a white, sleek, rather expensive looking
,
luxury boat.

“She’s a beauty huh. It’s a S
teber
43 Flybridge Cruiser
,” Chase said and his voice held a note of pride as he stared at the big vessel.

“Very nice,” she agreed. “Do you go out in it much?”

“Not as much as we used to—but there’s been quite a few fishing trips with the boys over the years. We’re all keen fisherman on our down time,” he explained.

“Oh, the stories it could tell, huh?” she teased.

“Never. What happens out at sea—stays out at sea,” he shook his head solemnly.

Well that was good to know—she hoped that meant her less than graceful hanging over the side of the boat
,
throwing up episode
,
would also
not
be brought up in conversation!

They headed along a path leading from the beach through lush green shrubbery and tropical gardens to find a sprawling log cabin—but massive, more like a ski lodge, but built with the island
’
s tropical climate in mind. There were open breezeways with comfy looking bamboo lounges and small tables scattered around just like in the foyer of upscale motels in the
CBD’s of big
cit
ies, only where they had
marble tiles and chrome
, here it was
replaced with natural stone, timber and bamboo
.

“What is this place?”
Mercy asked as they walked up to the entrance. It looked abandoned—there didn’t seem to be a soul around.

“Welcome to Los Cavern
a
s, future resort and our home for the time being.”

“There’s certainly worse places to stay,” she said, turning
and taking
in the spectacular view of the beach and ocean from the front of the resort lodge.

She followed the men through the open corridor that linked the other side of the lodge building and headed for a tin shed, hidden behind latticed vines, she imagined to hide it from guests view—after all who wanted to see anything as mundane as a shed while on holidays on a tropical paradise!

The roller door
made a loud ruckus as it opened, breaking the tranquillity of the birds singing and insects buzzing happily all around them. Inside the large shed was an impressive array of vehicles and water craft.

Tupper headed towards an open sided jeep, and threw in his bag. Chase held out a hand to help her in and then swung into the passenger side, the absence of his solid presence next to her had her momentarily put out. Obviously this trip wasn’t considered much of a threat to her safety if he thought she would be alright in the back of vehicle
alone, which was comforting—for a change!

They followed a narrow track further into the heart of the island, for a few kilometres until eventually the track opened up into a clearing
with a small
cabin overlooking a white sandy beach.

“This is us,” Chase said, climbing out of the vehicle, waiting for her.

Tupper waved and reversed, after she got out, leaving them with a rev of the engine, the sound of the ocean lapping at the beach, soon replacing the
fading sound of the car
.

“You live here?”

“When I come to the island, I do,” he said, leading the way inside the cabin.

“Nothing’s locked around here,” she said, taking in the simple interior
.

“No need,” he shrugged. “No one ever comes here.”

That was a difficult concept to come to terms with, especially living in the heart of a city. It was so…isolated, here.

“It’s not much, but you’ll be happy to know there’s a decent shower and a comfy bed,” he told her with a grin. “Unfortunately though,” he said walking over to open a pantry in the small kitchen, “there’s not much in the way of food. Usually Summer makes sure the place is stocked whenever I come here. But we’ve got the basics and we’ll be able to get
some supplies
tomorrow.”

“From where? Is there a store on the island as well?”
S
he asked, sure she hadn’t noticed one on the way in. Maybe it was on the other side.

“Nope. We can radio the nearest island and they’ll bring across whatever we need. It’s a bit of a trip—which is why they won’t be able to do it today.”

The cabin was small, but seemed well appointed with a bedroom and bathroom off the main living area and kitchen and the view from the front little porch area…well that was a million dollar view if ever she’s seen one.

“So you all have your own places here?”

“Yeah. We’re all equal owners. Tate and Del decided it was time to get out of the
corps
, and wanted a change of pace. At the moment Tup and I are silent partners. We’ve invested our share of the inheritance into the resort venture, but we’ve got nothing really to do with the day to day running of the place.”

“That’s not something you’d be interested in?” Mercy asked, curious to what made this man tick.

“Who knows,” he shrugged. “Maybe one day. I’m just not sure I’m ready to throw in my career yet—it’s a big step
.”

And that, my friend is why you need to stop this right now!
A
little voice of caution warned her. Mercy pondered that for a moment, yes, she was honest enough to admit what she was beginning to feel for this man could be the first stirrings of love—she swallowed past the momentary anxiety that recognition brought on
. B
ut surely if she was aware that this wasn’t something permanent, she could protect herself a little? If she kept reminding herself he would one day soon leave to g
o
back to his career, surely the hurt wouldn’t be as bad as if he left out of the blue?
Besides, w
hat was she supposed to do? They were stuck together in a confined space for who knew how much longer? It wasn’t as though she could just stay away from him…and
turn off the feelings she had for him
.
She wasn’t made of stone!

“There’s a laundry out there, and help yourself to whatever you need. I’m going to head down to the beach to see if I can catch anything for dinner.”

Laundry. That was exactly what she needed to take her mind off the very problematic Chase Maloney. Something mundane and boring. She opened a door which led out the back of the cabin, down two short steps into a utility room where a washing machine stood against one wall and a row of shelves held various scuba equipment and fishing lines, sports gear and
tools. This place was so…manly
. It needed a woman’s touch, she thought, already redesigning the place and adding her own decorating touches in her mind.

She loaded the machine up and found some washing powder,
then headed back into the main part of the cabin. When she realised she had nothing to do, she decided to head down to the beach for a look around. At one end, glistening black rocks poked out from the white sand, and as she drew closer, she discovered much to her delight, there were lots of tiny rock pools.

As
a child, she was lucky to be able to escape to the
beach and
rock pools were always one of her favourite things about the ocean. She’d spend hours looking down into the little pools of seawater imagining they were tiny little worlds, trapped within a larger one
.

Looking up she shaded her eyes and saw Chase standing at the far end of the rocks, fishing rod in hand.

“Any luck?” She asked once she had climbed to the top of the rocky platform he stood on.

She followed his gaze down into the bucket at his feet and gasped. Two fat fish, still thrashing, lay in a few inches of water. “Oh wow. You’re like a better looking version of Bear Grylls.”

  “You think I’m good looking?”
H
e asked, eyeing her somewhat doubtfully.

“Oh please,” she scoffed. “As if you don’t know how good looking you are
.”
S
he saw him drop her gaze awkwardly, focusing instead far out
t
o sea
.
Was he serious? The guy was gorgeous. Well, ok, maybe not magazine model gorgeous—he was a little too rough around the edges to pose for a photo shoot, and there was no way he’d consider waxing every inch of his body for vanity’s sake. But his eyes were mesmerizing, the grey colour, striking.
Dark lashes made the stark colour
stand out even more. And his body. Well, obviously his career c
hoice had a lot to do with that –
he was
no bulging body builder, he was
fit, and his muscles were functional—not steroid induced and ugly.

“I think you are,” she said quietly, her heart melting just a little bit more at the slightest blush she caught creeping up his neck. It puzzled her that this man who had been so confident and self-assured when it came to keeping her
safe and
so bashful when it came to
something like this.

Sitting down on the edge of the rock she stood on, Mercy closed her eyes and enjoyed the warm breeze that tugged at her hair, and listened to the crash of waves on the rocks further below them.

“At the risk of sounding like a real Debbie Downer, as beautiful as it is to wake up practically on the beach and all, doesn’t this place cop some nasty seasonal storms? Don’t you feel a little bit vulnerable?”
Having a front row seat to nature’s fury would somewhat lessen the appeal of having the ultimate beach front view in her opinion.

“Yeah, it can get pretty wild sometimes, but the main house has a storm shelter, so worst case scenario, we all move up there if it looks like we’re getting a cyclone through
the place.”

“There’s none predicted any time soon is there?”
S
he asked eyeing the peaceful blue ocean and endless blue sky above them. It seemed hard to imagine at some point, all this beautiful nature
could try
to kill them!