Kaia swallowed hard. She turned away and went to join Jesse.
He threw the mic down. “I can’t fix it. I don’t know what we’re going to do.” He stood, and his gaze met hers. “I thought we were dead. If I had died without telling you how I felt . . .”
He held out his arms, and Kaia went into them without hesitation. He was soaked and shivering, but so was she. She rubbed her face against his wet suit. He tipped her chin up and kissed her. She closed her eyes when his lips touched hers. Wrapping her arms around him, she put the love she’d just discovered into the kiss.
She was trembling when they broke apart. “I love you,” Jesse whispered. “I didn’t want to. I’m too old for you—old and jaded. But it happened anyway.” He cupped her face with his big hands.
“I love you too.” Kaia felt tongue-tied. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“We’re entering uncharted territory,” he said. “And I want to explore it with you as soon as we get a chance.” He kissed her on the tip of her nose. “Let’s finish saving the day first. We’ll have to take the boat to rendezvous with the Porpoise II.”
Twenty-nine
Jesse put his hand to the engine ignition. “Duncan took the key. Great.”
“Can you hot-wire the boat?” Kaia asked. “It’s nearly eight thirty. You said the missile test is at nine.”
Jesse glanced at Brad, who was trussed up and lying in a corner. “You have a key to this thing?”
“Nope.” The man smiled. “You think you’ve won, but time has run out. You’re stuck out here in the ocean.”
“Duncan’s equipment is here, and you’re in custody,” Jesse pointed out.
“What makes you think he was going to take control of the missile from here?” Brad’s smirk deepened.
Kaia heard the smugness in his voice. “What’s he talking about?”
“Hide and watch,” Brad said.
“Where’s Duncan going?” Jesse demanded.
Brad laughed. “I’d love to tell you and watch you stew since you can’t do anything about it, but on the slim chance you manage to get to shore before nine, I’d better keep my mouth shut.”
Jesse went to where Brad lay. He checked the man’s pockets for a key but came up empty-handed. Brad’s grin grew wider. Jesse turned to Kaia. “Something’s about to happen. We’ve got to get some help. Let’s swim for it.”
“I don’t think so.” She pointed at the sharks still circling the boat as they searched for more of the raw meat Duncan had thrown out.
Jesse paled, and Kaia remembered his fear of sharks. “I hate sharks,” he muttered. He hesitated. “I’m going to have to risk it. Can you call Nani?”
She didn’t want Nani in danger. “Sharks eat dolphins, you know.”
“We can’t stand by and let thousands of people die! Look, we have no time to stand here and argue.”
She rushed past him to the aft side of the boat. “The sharks are mainly on the other side. They don’t usually attack divers. I wish we had our tanks.”
“Maybe there are tanks aboard.” He began to rummage in the storage compartments, but they found nothing. “I have to try. I’ll get the boat and come back for you.”
“I’m coming too.” These were tiger sharks, one of the most dangerous species. She swallowed and pressed her lips together. “Let me call Nani.” She grabbed her whistle and blew it. A few moments later, she pointed. “There she is! But she’s not coming close.”
“If she sees me in the water, maybe she will.” Jesse sat on the railing and slung his legs over.
“Uncle Jesse, you can’t go! There are sharks in the water.” Heidi ran to grab his hand.
He squeezed it. “You pray for me, okay? I have to go. It’s really important.” His gaze met Faye’s. “Take care of her. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“We’ll pray,” Faye promised.
“Try to ease into the water with as little splash as possible,” Kaia said. “And dive as deep as you dare. We don’t want them to mistake us for seals on the surface.” She grabbed the railing and let herself down toward the water. She was halfway submerged before she let go, and she entered the waves with hardly a ripple.
Jesse saw her and motioned her back, but she shook her head. “You may need my help. Make sure you come up for air as little as possible,” she told him.
He nodded and pulled his mask into place. “See you aboard the boat.” His head disappeared into the water.
Kaia took a deep breath and dove. She saw a large shadow off to her right and paused to look. A large tiger shark loomed in the murky water. She dove deeper, trying to emit as many bubbles as she could to let it know she wasn’t a seal. That’s what she’d always been taught, but this particular shark didn’t seem to get it. It followed her down.