Chapter 12

Lunch time came, and the two men with the big boat were still there. "Think we should be neighborly and provide them some lunch," Yvette asked Sasha as they took the kids and moved toward the house.

"That one guy seems to be doing a lot of work. Maybe you should radio Sam and Jack and have them come back in. Either he's got some serious issues with that boat, or..."

Ray stood on the dock and watched them as they went to the house. He gave them a short wave, and the women nodded back. Yvette scanned the horizon from the front porch, but she couldn't see their boat out on the water. A cruise ship sailed off on the southern horizon, much too far away to hail if they needed help. The two men seemed nice enough, but there was something about them that put both Yvette and Sasha on edge.

"You're right, Sash. Let's be on the safe side." They entered the house and Yvette gave Micah to Sasha. "I'm going to get on the radio and contact Sam."

The radio was in a small study upstairs. Its antenna stuck up through the trees on the rooftop. Sam instructed her in how to operate it just in case, so she knew exactly what to do. After plugging it into a battery and turning it on, she picked up the mic. "Seabreeze Two, this is Sandy Island. Seabreeze Two, this is Sandy Island. Please respond." She waited, but there was no answer. "Seabreeze Two, this is Sandy Island, please respond." Her voice rose with anxiety, afraid that maybe her instincts were dead on, and that their two visitors had gotten to Sam, Jack and the kids first. No, I have to stop thinking like that!

"Sandy Island this is the Seabreeze Two."

Yvette let out a breath of relief when she heard Sam's voice.

"Eve, what's wrong?"

"I'm glad you responded! I was starting to worry about you!"

"We're fine. The kids are having a blast, and we've caught a few fish. We'll be heading back shortly after lunch."

"Can you make it sooner?"

"I think so. What's up?"

"We have a couple of unexpected guests. Two men. They're docked on the west pier, with a big boat called the Hook 'n Bait. They said they had engine trouble, but they've been here for about an hour now, and we're starting to get suspicious."

"Understood. We're heading back now, should be there in about fifteen minutes."

"Okay. It's probably nothing, but...it just doesn't feel right."

"It's okay. We can go fishing again tomorrow. Keep the radio on until we get there, okay?"

"Will do. Thanks!"

Yvette ended the conversation and went back downstairs. Sasha finished making some sandwiches and when she heard footsteps on the wood flooring, she turned abruptly, a sharp knife in her hand.

"Woah, it's just me, Sash!"

"Sorry." She blew out a breath that stirred her bangs. "Did you get a hold of the guys?"

"Yeah." She sidled up to her and spoke softly. "Sam said they'd be here in about fifteen minutes."

"You don't think they're just a couple of guys in a fishing boat with engine trouble, do you?"

Yvette shook her head. "Do you?"

"No. I don't like this."

"Help is on the way. The radio is on upstairs, and it's set to the frequency Sam was using, so if you need to call for help...it's ready."

Sasha's eyes grew wide. "Yvette, what are you going to do?"

"Nothing, just pretend like we don't suspect a thing." She picked up the plate that held the sandwiches, pulled a pitcher from the refrigerator, and headed for the door. "I don't want them to think we suspect anything's out of the ordinary, so I'm going to offer them something to eat and drink. You just stay here and be cool. Worry about feeding the kids, okay?"

Yvette used her hip to push the screen open and walked to the dock with her offerings. "You fellas hungry?"

"Oh yeah, baby. Always hungry." Ray leered at her.

She said nothing, just gave him a sour look. "We made some sandwiches, thought you might be interested. And I brought along some lemonade."

"Well, that was mighty nice of ya, ma'am!" The other man popped up from below deck in the back of the boat and adjusted his ball cap. He was shorter, stockier, and hairier than Ray. With his friendly grin, he looked like he could be as cuddly as a teddybear. Then he surprised her when he wiped his hands on his tank top and introduced himself. "My name's Teddy, ma'am. Gotta excuse my brother. I think he got dropped on his head one too many times. Ain't got no sense or manners."

Teddy amused Yvette with his smooth talking, but she couldn't help but shake the feeling that something was off. She held up the plate. "Care for a sandwich, Teddy?"

"Thank you kindly, Miss..."

"Mrs...Axe. You can just call me Yvette."

"Mrs. Axe?" Ray looked at her strangely.

"What? Do I know you?"

"No, no, don't know you at all, Yvette." He shook his head slowly, a strange smile crossing his face. "Never mind." He took the plate from her and the pitcher and set them on the dock. "Sure appreciate your hospitality, ma'am. But me and Teddy gotta get back to work. I think we almost have this thing, and then we'll be on our way."

"Okay." Yvette turned and retreated to the house, trying to keep her steps casual and even. All the while, she wished she had a watch and could gauge how much time was left before Sam and Jack returned. To be on the safe side, she locked the screen behind her. Not that it would keep them out. The flimsy lock would only serve as a short buffer for her and Sasha to prepare themselves for an invasion. The back entrance that led to the tanks was locked as well, and the door closed and bolted.

"You really think they're up to no good," Sasha said as she watched Yvette move around the house securing it.

"I'm just taking out a little insurance, that's all." She glanced out the window and saw a boat coming from the southwest. "I hope that's Sam and Jack on their way in."

Micah dropped his sippy cup on the floor and wailed, getting Yvette's attention. Sasha concentrated on finishing Ellie's lunch plate, and Yvette tended to Micah. Sasha sat next to her daughter and faced the front door. To Ellie's right, Yvette sat with Micah to her right in the high chair at the end of the table. He feasted on peach baby food, but Yvette didn't touch her lunch. She wanted one hand free in case she needed to mount a defense.

While she'd been upstairs communicating with Sam, she did some snooping around the desk in the study. In one drawer she found a nine millimeter handgun, with ammunition in the same drawer. It horrified her, knowing now that the gun had been there all the time, unsecured. But if they were in a crisis, she thanked God for providing them with a means to protect themselves if necessary. At the moment, she had the gun strapped to her thigh under a beach wrap. She was the only one who knew it was there.

She heard Sasha's uneasy breathing and turned to her. "It's going to be okay, Sash. You'll see."

"Now you know why I don't join you all in the action. I couldn't handle the stress!" She put on an uneasy smile.

They listened as the other boat pulled up to the dock and heard voices. Yvette knew she should have gotten up to see who it was, but fear gripped her. She'd heard stories about modern day pirates, and wondered if these men were involved in such a thing. Would they kidnap them and leave the kids behind? Or would they just try to have their way with them, take whatever supplies they wanted, and be gone? Whatever the case, in a little while Sam and Jack would be there, and it would be four against...

They heard shouting.

"Oh no," Sasha cried and jumped out of her seat. She grabbed Ellie and picked her up. "Yvette, we need to run, now!"

Yvette stood, grabbed Micah, but instead of going for the back door, she moved to the front.

"What are you doing?"

"Wait!" Yvette glanced out the living room window and studied the scene before turning back to yell to Sasha. "Sash, it's okay! Jack and Sam are back!" She moved to the front door, unlocked it, and hurried out to the dock.

Sasha watched in horror. Not sure what else to do, because she knew that her friend would never rush into danger with her godson accompanying her, she followed. As she neared the dock, her confusion grew. Their men stood with the strangers, locked in their grips, but it wasn't a fighting stance. There was a lot of back thumping, laughing, and grins going around.

"Honey, come here!" Jack beckoned her when he saw her standing on the end with Ellie riding her hip. "You're not gonna believe this! Come on over here and meet these guys."

"You know them?" Sasha studied the two men who apparently were not the strangers they at first seemed.

"Yeah, this is Ray Banatello, and his brother Teddy. They're twins."

"We already met," Yvette said with a sheepish smile as she nodded to the two men, inwardly kicking herself for being paranoid.

"They don't look the same." Sasha studied Ray, who was tall, muscular, and blonde with brown eyes that hid behind classic Rayban sunglasses.

"They're fraternal twins," Sam explained. "RayBan was in the last SEAL team I trained, and TBear served under Jack about that same time, wasn't it, guys?"

"Yeah, these guys were the best commanders we ever had. Ain't that right, Teddy?"

"You bet!" Teddy sat on the side of his boat and smiled at the two women. "Lordy, I never ever thought I'd see you two guys hitched! Never in a million years!" He winked at them. "And such fine lookin' ladies, sweet and polite too." He tipped his hat to them.

"They made us some lunch, although Yvette here didn't look like she quite trusted us." Ray said with a smirk. "'S alright, Yvette. If I were you, I'd be careful too."

"This is my wife, Sasha," Jack introduced her to them. "And my kids, Ellie and Micah."

"Woooheee, too much shock in one day," Ray said as he waved his hat like a fan. "I don't think I can take too many more surprises." He glanced at the Seabreeze Two and saw the two kids standing on the deck watching the drama unfold. "Are these yours, Sam?"

"Yeah, they are," Sam answered with a grin, and he motioned for them to get off the boat. "We adopted Esperanza after we had Samuel."

"Samuel." Teddy snickered. "Dang, he looks like you too, Sam! Yvette, you better teach that boy how to be a gentleman, or he'll wind up just like his daddy, and..."

Ray slapped his thigh to make him shut up. "Sorry, Teddy's got no manners, either."

Yvette couldn't help laughing at the two. "You know, ten minutes ago I was ready to blow some heads off if necessary. Now, oh boy, I feel silly for being so worried."

"Pretty hard to 'blow off some heads' without a gun," Jack said.

"Not really." She flipped back the side of her wraparound skirt to reveal the weapon. "I found it unsecured in the desk in the study."

Ray studied her leg, his head tilted crazily. Then he straightened and turned to Sam. "You got yourself one tough lady there, Axeman!" He slapped Sam's shoulder. "Good thing, too, because I don't think any other kind of woman could put up with you!"

The men laughed, and the women knew that there were a lot of inside jokes and history that these men shared, things that they would never be privy too. They just shook their heads.

"We should probably go in and get some lunch for everybody," Sasha said. "Jack, did you guys eat anything out there?"

"We had some snacks along, but nothing really for lunch."

Sasha rolled her eyes. "I knew I should have checked out that basket you took with you! Men!"

"We'll rustle up something. Kids, come on with us. We'll let your dad hang out with his friends, and they can come in when they're ready."

"Thanks, Eve." Sam kissed her cheek. Ray and Teddy whistled, and Yvette blushed before turning away and hurrying up to the house with the kids and Sasha.

"I feel like such an idiot," Yvette said under her breath.

"You didn't know who they were. They could have been trouble!"

"I know. But still, I feel like I overreacted."

"Don't worry about it. It's over." Sasha opened the door and the kids followed her inside. Yvette brought up the rear and glanced back to see Jack and Sam talking with Ray and Teddy, everyone wearing grins and looking like they had a lot of catching up to do.

The two stayed the day, because their boat was truly in need of repair. Sam and Jack spent the afternoon going over it with them, shaking their heads at the amount of jury-rigging that ultimately failed. At supper, which was shared around a very crowded table, Jack announced, "I'm taking RayBan to the mainland tomorrow to pick up some parts. That boat isn't going anywhere until we get them replaced."

"It ain't gonna be cheap, either," Ray added. "We got that boat for next to nothing when we were discharged from the Navy. Had dreams of makin' a livin' fishin' with it. But it's been nothin' but trouble since we got it. I'm just about ready to sink it way out there somewhere." He flapped his hand toward the ocean.

"He says that all the time, and then when we get it fixed, he can't wait to get out on the sea again."

"Should have stayed in the Navy," Jack said. "At least then you wouldn't have to worry about fixing the boat."

"Yeah, but you think they'd ever make me commander of one of them things? No way!" Ray laughed. "You boys, on the other hand, if you hadn't gone to the special ops stuff..."

"I wouldn't change a thing," Sam said, then stopped himself and amended his statement. "What I mean, is there are some things I would change. But as far as being a SEAL and getting into the covert stuff, I've never regretted that."

"Me neither. It was tough, but those were some of the best years of my life. 'Til I met Sasha, of course."

Sasha gave him a knowing grin and nodded. "Yeah, sure. You had to add that qualifier to make sure you didn't tick me off."

"Yeah, I wanted to make sure I had a place to sleep tonight!"

The kids sat eating their meal, wondering what all the adults were laughing about. The two friends of their dads were funny most of the time, but some of the jokes went over their heads. They all assembled on the beach for a fire again, and Teddy brought out a guitar and played by the firelight. Ray sang with him, songs from long before any of the kids were born or their parents got together. It was a fun night, and they fought sleep harder than usual, but with all the fresh sea air and the excitement of the day, they were worn out.

"RayBan, you guys sure you want to sleep on the boat," Sam spoke softly as he carried Esperanza to the house and they walked with him. Teddy graciously took Samuel, and Yvette carried the lantern.

"Oh yeah, not a problem, Axeman," Ray said. Using Sam's nickname made it feel like old times again, although now they were civilians, not commander to seaman. "We're used to sleeping on the boat."

"Okay. The weather report was calling for rain tonight, so if you aren't afraid of getting wet, I guess you'll be fine."

"Hey, she may not run, but the Hook 'n Bait is water-tight. That's one thing I can guarantee," Teddy responded proudly.

Teddy took Samuel up to the room Yvette directed him to, and Sam put Esperanza down on her bed. He covered her with a light blanket and left the room. Ray stood in the hall watching, amazed.

"She's getting a little old to be carried around like that," Sam said with a smile. "But sometimes when she's out, there's no waking her up without her being cranky. It was better to just pick her up."

"Still can't get over you bein' a dad, Axeman."

"Times change, RayBan. You just have to find the right woman to make it all worth it." He smiled at his wife and put his arm around her. "You guys want to hang out a little longer? Eve could make some coffee."

"Nah, we better go get some shut-eye. At least I need to. Jack and I are gonna have a long trip goin' to Miami to get the parts, and then we have to come back and install 'em."

"You can take your time. We're here for another two days yet. We're leaving Saturday for home." He released Yvette and she went to their room, waving goodnight to Ray.

Ray waved back with a smile. "Jack said you guys were out here to get away from it all. Not really fair of us to rain on your parade."

Sam led him downstairs, where they could talk and not disturb anyone.

"Don't worry about it, RayBan. It's been great to see you and TBear again." He gave Ray a genuine smile. "See y'all in the morning? Eve will have breakfast ready before you and Jack go."

"Alrighty, sounds mighty fine. That little lady's a good cook! You really got lucky with her, I'm tellin' you, man. Don't ever let her go!"

His smile widened. "Considering all I went through to get her, there's no way I'd give her up without a fight."

Ray smiled, and Sam saw envy in his eyes. Then Ray left the house and made his way down to the dock. A light burned inside the Hook 'n Bait, illuminating his way over the boards. Sam closed the door behind him and locked up for the night. It was out of habit, and he didn't even realize he'd done it.

Yvette waited for him in bed and curled herself around him when he slipped in beside her. She smelled deeply of his skin and moaned. "I love the scent of the ocean on you. It brings back memories of when you saved me."

"We've come a long way since then." He ran his hand up and down her back as she lay against his side.

"Yes we have." She let out a long breath. "Sam, I'm sorry I overreacted when your friends arrived."

"It's okay, you didn't know who they were."

"Ray's a real flirt. He was looking at me, and made a few comments that put me on alert."

He turned his head and looked down at her in the moonlight that filtered through the filmy curtains. "You want me to talk to him about it tomorrow?"

"No, please, don't! Once he learned I was married, he behaved himself. It's nothing worth getting upset about." She ran her hand over his chest and up his neck to rest against his jaw. "Let's forget about them now." Her hand coaxed his head to turn so his lips fitted over hers, and they easily lost themselves in each other.


RayBan and TBear were on their best behavior the next day. They complimented Yvette on the breakfast she cooked, and TBear even offered to help clean up the kitchen afterwards.

"That's sweet of you, Teddy, but I've got helpers who can take care of this." She glanced at Samuel and Esperanza, who grabbed empty plates off the table and took them to the counter. "Why don't you and Sam go hang out on the porch, or the beach, or something?"

"Yeah, we could go around to the east side of the island. There's no sandbar over there, and we can go in a bit to do some fishing."

"Sounds like a great idea! Thanks again for breakfast Yvette. That was fantastic!"

"You're welcome!"

TBear followed Sam outside. Jack and RayBan had already left for Miami, so they took a couple of rods off the Hook 'n Bait and walked up the coastline with them, a tackle box, and a net. "I've heard this is a good spot for going after bonefish," Sam said as they approached the area that appeared less hospitable for playing in the water than the rest of the beach around the island. In the tall grasses, they found shrimp and small crabs for bait, set up their lines, and waded into the water. They both wore shorts, but the waves still washed over and soaked them nearly to the waist. Neither of them cared.

"I'm surprised I hadn't heard from you guys before this," Sam said as he cast out his line.

"We've been out of the service for about five years now, decided to quit at the same time and start up this business after our daddy died and left us his money." TBear's line flew out farther than Sam's and he reeled it in. "Mama told us to go do something constructive with it, so we figured we'd get into the fishing business. Might as well do somethin' we love, right? So anyway, we were in the Gulf, had the best luck there, until that whole oil well business. We're still tryin' to bounce back from that."

"Sorry to hear it."

"Yeah, well, not much you can do when man tries to mess with nature." He snapped his gum, flicked out his line again, and let it dance on the water a little before pulling it back in. "We, uh, we've been hauling passengers and sometimes cargo across the Gulf, or between Miami and the Bahamas. It's turning into a pretty nice side job."

Sam glanced at him. "It's not illegal, is it?"

TBear met his eyes. "Not always. Oh come on, Axeman, you know what it's like! You get sneaky lookin' guys comin' and askin' for a ride somewhere, no questions asked, and you know they're black ops, so you just roll with it."

"You're sure they're our black ops, and not some foreign power's?"

"That's the story, and we're stickin' to it." TBear grinned.

Sam sighed and shook his head. "You could be getting into some big trouble, TBear. Be careful."

"We do the best we can with what we got, Axeman." He stared at the rolling waves. "Sometimes you gotta do things you don't wanna do to get the results you want."

"Doesn't make it right."

"Like you and your friends never bend the law, or the truth, to achieve a satisfactory ending to your cases?" Sam didn't reply, and TBear grinned. "I knew you'd say that."

"Just watch what you guys do, TBear. We lost too many men from bad judgment or missteps."

"Yeah."

The men fell into silence, thinking about all the men they knew from the past who made it home, albeit in a box. They lost some good guys over the dumbest things. And there were some times where Sam never should have walked away alive, but he did. It wasn't fair. That was life, and it was those close calls and brushes with death that gave them the drive to survive and party hard afterwards. He couldn't imagine what things would have been like if he'd had a wife and family back then. Well, he had the wife, and he couldn't stick around with her. Thank God there had never been any kids to suffer the fallout of his crazy lifestyle.

"Hey, Axeman."

"Yeah?"

"How do you deal with things now? I mean, you've got responsibilities you never had before." He said the word as if it were a curse.

"I still go out and do my job, but I make sure I don't take so many stupid risks, and I come home in one piece. A bruised, cut, or cracked one piece, but I'm alive." He chuckled. "And I don't drink like I used to. When you've got kids watching your every move, you realize that having three or four..."

"Or more," TBear added with a grin.

"Yeah...that many in a night is not a good example."

"You always were the most responsible one," TBear said. "Apparently, that hasn't changed. I gotta give you a lot of credit for that, man. A lot of credit." Something tugged on his line. "Hey, I think I got something!"