planned on giving Devereux the ring. But I also didn’t have the money for the boat repairs, or the fines. Remember when I said Bear sank a boat? True story. And it wasn’t our boat. It happened to be a port official’s boat. Sadly, that’s how I got wrapped up with the shady ways of Belmont. And I’ve regretted every moment since. Between the fines we’d gotten from the port for the illegal… okay, lack of fire system we had on our boat, and fishing for a species that hadn’t been in season, we were fucked. We were looking at a fifty-thousand-dollar fine and possibly a court appearance. When you’re just trying to make fish counts for the year and keep yourself above water, you make deals to get out of the hot water you find yourself in.
That’s exactly what I did. Made a deal with the devil.
Devereux stands next to me, his hands in his pockets. He sighs and stares at his feet. “I don’t have it.”
Anger surges through me in waves. I turn toward him. I face him full-on. “Where is it?”
“Ask your little girlfriend.” He snorts, his eyes on the boats coming in.
The dock rocks back and forth. My jaw tightens, unable to follow where he’s going with this. “What?”
“She threw it in the fucking ocean.”
That’s why he’d been looking for her the other night. What a fucking loser. Gave a girl a ring when he was already married. I can’t say I’m any more honest than he’s being, probably worse, but the fact that he gave away something that wasn’t his, you pay the consequences for that shit. “That was my wife’s ring.”
“I’d give you the money, but I’m getting a divorce. It’s not like I can just hide that kind of withdrawal.”
“Guess you’re gonna find out what it’s like to be chum.” I grab him by the front of his jacket and yank him to my chest.
To my surprise, he doesn’t look as scared as he had been when I threatened him the other day. Now, he looks amused. As if he knows something I don’t. The corner of his mouth kicks up into a half-smile. “I have one question for you?”
I don’t say anything, but I wait.
He searches my blistering stare. “Does she know?”
I frown, my grip loosening. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Journey.”
My heart kicks at the mention of her name. “Know what?”
I hate the vindictiveness in his eyes. “That your brother was the captain of the boat her parents died on?”
Much like other times I’m sent over the edge, I don’t remember hitting him. I don’t remember pulling out my knife, and I don’t remember it getting knocked out of my hand or when he stopped fighting back. Maybe he hadn’t fought back at all. I do recall Bear pulling me off him, and the officials from Fish & Game helping him up.
He scoots away from me, wiping his bleeding mouth. He looks down at his hand and back up at me. “I can’t wait to see how this is going to end,” he growls, spitting blood.
“Are you fucking kidding me, man?” Bear stares at me, his hands in his hair, breathing heavy. “That’s why we’re here? So you could find her?”
I take my flannel off and wrap it around my bleeding knuckles. “Stay. Out. Of. It.” It’s more than that, so much more, but I’m not about to tell Bear this.
“Jesus Christ, man.” He groans, following me to our boat. “You’re in deep.”
I grab the rope, preparing for cast off. “Shut up and get on the fucking boat.”
He’s right though. I am in deep, and I don’t know how to dig myself out. It’s brutal, this mess.
“What the fuck is going on?” Bear shouts at me when we’re in the wheelhouse. “Why are you beating the shit out of Belmont?”
“He lost something that wasn’t his to lose,” I snap, pushing plot maps out of my way.
“Athena’s ring?”
That ring, which happened to be my mom’s ring my dad gave her, it was supposed to be buried with Athena. Only her mom wouldn’t allow it and gave it back to me. Told me to give it to Atlas, and someday, he’d give it to his wife. I fucked all that up. For what? To keep Bear and me out of fucking jail.
Still, how’d Bear find out? “How’d you know about that?”
Crossing his arms over his chest, Bear’s jaw works back and forth. “Just because I don’t always think clearly, doesn’t mean I’m