lonely. Bandit had a history of stealing things when he was left alone, and Zev had experienced his thievery firsthand that morning when Bandit had stolen his towel while he was showering, leaving him to dry himself off with a frilly little hand towel.
“This place is going to be incredible,” Zev said as they left the building that would house the aquarium and headed into the survivalist area. “Thanks for letting me bring Bandit.” Bandit, with his thick black fur and ever-present red bandanna tied around his neck, trotted happily beside him, looking up every few steps. He had a white stripe down the center of his snout, and Zev had to admit, he was a damn cute thief.
Noah ruffled Bandit’s fur and said, “Bandit and I are good buddies. Beau brings him everywhere.” Noah was a few years younger than Zev. As a marine biologist, he spent his time at sea or in a laboratory. He sported a year-round tan and his sandy-brown hair always looked windswept, as if he’d just stepped off his boat. As they walked into another building, he said, “Jack is going to have interactive survivalist exhibits here, and that hallway connects us to the mini racetrack that Hugh is setting up.”
Zev followed him down the hallway. From what Zev had already seen, he was sure the Real DEAL was going to be something people came from all over to experience. “It’s hard to believe all of this started with Dane and Lacy’s idea to build a small aquarium and a few educational exhibits.”
“When have you ever known a Braden project to stay small? Dane and I worked together on a number of expeditions these last few years. When he mentioned the idea of the park, I jumped at the chance to join him. I figured it was a great use of my inheritance. I’m pumped that I’ll be educating kids about marine life, and I’m working on collaborating with a local college for use of our lab. They want me to hold lectures and that kind of thing.”
“That’s great. I know you said you’ll be teaching kids about marine life, but have you considered marine and land archaeological exhibits? When I was a kid, we went to an archaeological museum, and that’s when I knew I wanted to explore. I was so pumped about the idea of finding history, I used to dream about it.”
“Used to?” Noah arched a brow. “Dude, you told me that you’ve wanted to find the Pride since you were a kid.”
“You got me there.” Although his dreams of exploring had been pushed to the side the day he’d left Pleasant Hill, and he’d replaced them with dreams about Carly. Thoughts of her had only increased his desire to find their ship. “I saw a documentary about it when I was in third grade. We were studying pirates, and that stuck with me.” He and Carly had been in the same class, and from that moment on, the Pride had gone to the top of their one-day list—the list of things they wanted to do together, like a bucket list. They’d later added other places they wanted to explore and things they wanted to do, like getting matching tattoos, cliff diving, surfing, and dozens of other things.
“Sounds to me like maybe you should think about partnering with us. You could teach kids about shipwrecks and treasure hunting, what happens to things when they get lost at sea.” Noah nudged his arm and said, “You could spark interest for future treasure hunters.”
Zev shook his head. “I don’t know, man. I’m not great at staying in one place, and hopefully I’ll be unearthing treasures from the Pride for years to come. But I really appreciate you letting me work here this week.”
“I’m happy to. I’ll be in and out during the day doing some research now that my lab is up and running. It’ll be nice to have company.”
Bandit trotted happily next to Zev as they made their way through more buildings.
When they headed across the grounds toward the laboratory, Zev said, “How are you handling being landlocked?” Like Zev, Noah was usually on the move. They had connected a few times during their travels over the years, and Zev had never pegged him for the kind of guy to settle down in one place.
“It’s taken some getting used to, but I’m not done with the sea. That’d be like being done with women.” Noah cocked a grin. “I saw you talking