Maybe the best time of my life.
And for a woman who was quickly closing in on her sixth decade, that was such a wonderful surprise.
Chapter 23
10:48 PM...
Jeezum crow. Willhurt!
And not just his arm, although now that the meds were wearing off, that was an agony that defied description.
But what had him tossing his head from side-to-side on the cot was the pain in his heart.
Fin’s dead.
His best friend from the cradle. The boy who’d taught him to tie a clove hitch knot. The teenager who’d snuck out of first period with him to spend the day getting drunk on a stolen bottle of whiskey. The guy who’d been the best man at his wedding and who’d cried in happiness with him the night his first son was born.
How am I goin’ to tell Angie?Will thought in anguish.How am I goin’ to look Fin’s sweet little girls in the eyes and explain to them their daddy’s gone?
And then it occurred to him. He probablywouldn’tbe the one to deliver the news. Because he’d be behind bars.
Thatthought had a whole new round of suffering rolling through him.
His parents were going to be so disappointed, soashamed. And Sheila? His loving wife for the last ten years? Would she leave him? Would she take their boys and go live with her aunt in Arizona? Would she find another man to warm her bed?
He wouldn’t blame her if she did.
How could I have fucked everything up so completely? How could I have let things go so far?
The plan had started out so simple. Slip onto the island in the dead of night and steal the treasure with no one the wiser. Then, when the storm had hit and they’d heard the salvage ship had docked behind Schooner Wharf Bar, it’d seemed even easier, as if the treasure had brought itselftothem. And even when they hadn’t found the booty on the ship and they’d assumed the salvors had left it on the island, even when they’d known they’d have to battle a hurricane to get to it, it hadn’t seemed so outrageous.
Then…the island hadn’t been deserted. And the instant Will had heard that call come over the radio, he’d known there was no way to pull off their heist without spilling blood. He’d known then and there just what he was capable of.
But even as he admitted it to himself now, he still struggled to believe it. He didn’t even like tohunt. How in theworldhad he resigned himself to killing someone?
Desperation,he decided.Desperation and feeling like I’d come too far to turn back.
A hot tear of remorse and self-recrimination slipped from the corner of his eye to slowly roll down his temple. When his chest shook with a sob, the agony in his arm grew teeth as sharp as a shark’s.
“More painkillers,” he whispered hoarsely. Not so much because he couldn’t stand the physical torment. But more because he sought the oblivion the morphine offered.
When he was unconscious, he could forget the horror of this day. Forget the humiliation and guilt and regret that would be his future.
“Please,” he begged and nearly choked on another sob of relief when he heard the floorboards creak as someone crossed the room.
Opening his eyes, he saw in the dim light that the sandy-haired man called LT or Leo, depending on who was addressing him, had begun rifling through the black leather bag that held the medical supplies.
“Thank you,” he whispered gratefully when LT handed him a white tablet. He quickly placed it on the back of his tongue.
“You need water for that?” LT asked.
Will shook his head, eagerly swallowing the chalky tablet down and willing it to go to work quickly. Closing his eyes, he tried to clear his mind as he listened to the big man make his way back across the room. But a second later, a knock on the door had him lifting his chin to focus on the older gentleman who poked his head into the room.
“Just got off the radio with the Coasties.” Will thought he’d heard the man’s name was John. And his drawl heralded his hometown as somewhere deep in the South. “They got a Cutter about an hour north of us. The captain is heading our way to pick up our guests.”
Will let his head fall back against the cot. A moan that seemed to have been ripped from his soul sounded in the back of his throat.
There was no more delaying the inevitable. As soon as he and his friends were in the Coast Guard’s custody, they’d have to face the consequences of their actions. The consequences of their ill-conceived plan having gone completely tits up. The consequences of what they’d all been ready to do.
