Hooked (A Romance on the Edge Novel) (9 page)

“You want to run interference?” Judd asked, his binoculars pointing in the same direction, obviously catching what Garrett had.

“Let’s head over there and see if our presence reminds people of their manners.” Garrett tightened his fingers over the binoculars as Sonya gave another captain a hand gesture. At least this time she did it with a smile. She hadn’t been kidding when she’d told him she didn’t play well with others.

Judd hollered at Skip to power the boat toward the skirmish.

Garrett shook his head in disbelief as the
Double Dippin’
laid her net right in front of the
Albatross
, effectively corking them off.

“Did you see that?” Judd asked.

“Uh-huh.”

“Kendrick isn’t going to take that well,” Judd said.

Sure enough, words were being slung, and then a pop can went flying toward Sonya. Sonya actually threw her head back and laughed as it missed, spraying soda against the pilot house. Garrett swiveled his binoculars back to Kendrick.

The face of the
Albatross
’ captain was red as a heart attack. “Let’s hurry this tug boat along, Skip.” Before another weapon, more deadly, was produced. They’d already unarmed and cited another boat and the fishing period wasn’t even half over for the day.

“The woman sure isn’t out to make friends,” Skip commented, clicking his tongue.

“Doesn’t look that way.” She was going to make his job a hell of a lot harder this summer.

“What’s Kendrick doing?” Judd asked.

Garrett lowered his binoculars. “I think he just ordered his crewman to cut her line.” The
Calypso
was too far away to intervene. By the time they reached the feuding vessels, threats were being swapped and Sonya’s net was about to be cut. Funny how the knife disappeared and the crewman dropped her cork line when he saw the troopers.

“What do you want to do, Garrett?” Judd asked, lowering his binoculars. “He hasn’t broken any laws…yet.”

“Let’s board him anyway and see what we can find.” It would dispel the situation between Sonya and Kendrick, and remind Kendrick that the law was watching.

Didn’t Sonya know better than to cross men like him? Garrett caught her colorful threat of making Kendrick fish bait on the wind. Guess not.

Skip announced their intent over the loud speaker, and with the way Kendrick went off with his foul language, they weren’t welcomed. Meanwhile, Sonya smiled ear to ear, and waved to the captain of the
Albatross
as her crew began pulling in their full net.

Before disembarking the
Albatross
, Garrett wrote Kendrick up for three safety violations. The fisherman was not happy, but he’d wisely taken the tickets, stone-faced and menacing. The man was imposing with his three-foot breadth of shoulders, lumberjack arms, and keg of a belly. He reminded Garrett of Brutus in the cartoon
Popeye
, though a lot smarter and more dangerous.

Sonya had better watch who she pissed off. Some tussles weren’t worth the trouble.

Garrett reboarded the
Calypso
. “Where’s the
Double Dippin’
?”

“Are we policing her or protecting her?” Judd asked with a cocked brow.

“Both. She needs a friendly warning.”

“Another?” Skip asked. “We babysitting the woman and no one told me?”

“Just do it.”

“Would you look at the new guy, throwing his weight around?” Skip said to Judd.

“Just because he’s a decorated SEAL, the man thinks he’s hot stuff,” Judd returned.

“Stow it, boys. And I
am
hot stuff.” His comment was followed by snorts of laughter.

“Ahoy, Captain,” Peter said in a sing-song voice. “The
Calypso’s
back.”

They’d finished hauling in their net and had moved closer to the beach to lay out the next one. Nice thing about the flat bottom boat was that they could position themselves in the shallows, as long as they were careful and didn’t beach themselves when the tide turned.

Corking off the
Albatross
had been a smart, if somewhat risky move. The net they’d pulled in was stocked with fish. Looking at all the silver flashing on deck, made up for the gamble.

The
Calypso
drew as close as she dared in the shallow water. Garrett stood at the bow, his brows lowered, his face a chiseled mask of intent. “You got a death wish?” he hollered.

“No more than anyone else out here,” Sonya yelled back.

Deep lines bracketed his mouth. “Chuck Kendrick isn’t someone you want to be messing with, Sonya.”

“You know what, Garrett.
I’m
not someone to mess with. Why don’t you spread that around instead of telling me how to fish these waters?”

His eyes narrowed, and he anchored his hands on his hips. His stance reflected more than ever his position of power. He looked manly and macho, and frustrated as hell. It started private places of hers thawing, and she didn’t want to thaw for him.

“I feel sparks in the air,” Gramps commented, his voice easily reaching Sonya. Gramps turned to Wes and Peter. “You feel sparks?”

“Yep,” Wes responded with an easy going grin.

Peter glanced around the deck. “Something on fire?”

“Your sister’s about to go up in flames,” Wes said, tongue in cheek.

“You ladies through gossiping?” Sonya knew her face was flushed. She just hoped Garrett couldn’t hear the men’s scuttlebutt.

“I’m not trying to tell you how to fish,” Garrett said. “But if I have to intervene in another one of your squabbles, I’m going to write you up for harassment.”

“Harassment! Squabbles! Listen, fish cop, I haven’t been the one starting things out there.”

“You started that last one.”

She opened her mouth to argue, and then shut it. He was right. She
had
started it by laying her net out in front of Kendrick’s, but he’d escalated it. Besides there wasn’t anything illegal about what she’d done. Hell, she’d just been returning the favor as Kendrick had corked her off earlier. “There’s nothing in your rule book that says I can’t cork someone off.”

“Don’t make me find a reason to beach you.”

“You threatening me?”

“You bet your sweet ass I am.”

Sonya’s mouth dropped wide open in shock. How dare he? Who did he think he was?
Sweet ass?
“I don’t know where you’ve policed before, but it’s cutthroat fishing out here. I’m only trying to fit in.”

“Quit trying so hard. You’re going to get yourself killed.” With that, Garrett motioned for the captain of the
Calypso
to move about. She watched him until he was out of range.

“Damn stinking fish cop,” she muttered, and then looked to her crew to see how they’d taken the trooper’s warning. They regarded her with a mix of emotions—amusement from Peter, concern from Wes, and then the clincher, Gramps’s solemn look.

“You’re going to have to make nice, Sonya,” Gramps said.

“I know it.” She wanted to stamp her foot in aggravation, and would have done it, too, if it wouldn’t have undermined her as captain in front of her crew. A captain needed a level head in order to make level decisions. Right now, she was so off balance with whatever she was feeling, she wondered what it would take to get her back on even keel again.

The rest of the day proceeded fairly smooth. That was, everything except the promised rough waves and wind joining the party. They’d finished with a very respectable eight thousand pounds and had tendered, unloading their fish just as the weather started to bite. The storm had been threatening all day, but thankfully waited until the fish opening had closed to let loose her fury. Cold northwesterly wind cut like talons through the summer tease they’d been experiencing. The forecasted rain had yet to appear, but the waves had arrived. They were wicked enough that instead of returning to Red Fox Camp, where they’d have to traverse the open bay, they’d radioed to Grams, and she was meeting them at the cannery. Sonya would have to tie up to the docks for the night. It was too dangerous to be anchored out in the bay.

How dangerous would the docks be?

They tied up at the crowded dock. She wasn’t the only one thinking safety tonight. Gramps studied the line of boats nestled together like the cork line of a net. “Sonya, I want Peter and Wes staying with you tonight.” Before she could interrupt, Gramps continued, “Besides—” he punched Peter playfully on the shoulder “—the boy here needs a shower.”

He wasn’t the only one. So did she. It
did
made good sense to have someone stay with her, especially with the vandalism they’d already had.

Grams showed up with a cooler packed with salmon sandwiches, chips, canned green beans, and oatmeal raisin cookies. She was a welcome sight. Gramps returned with Grams on the 4-wheeler to camp.

Sonya, Peter and Wes chowed down, and then the men headed for the showers.

After they returned, Sonya informed them that she’d be late getting back since she had to find Garrett. Wes gave her a grin and wished her good luck with her apology. Peter was already engrossed with his hand-held video game and only grunted when she told him she was leaving.

Sonya grabbed her toiletries and headed for the cannery’s showers. After washing the day of fishing off of her body, she took extra time to smooth on lotion and apply a bit of make-up, even though she normally didn’t bother with cosmetics while at fish camp. She was going to see Garrett, and that girly part of her insisted she at least try to look her best. She wasn’t out to attract. On the contrary, she was mad at Garrett. She hadn’t liked the
Calypso
shadowing her every move. She could take care of herself, thank you very much. She proved that today, even with Garrett’s unwanted interference.

She was still a woman, and it made her feel good to take a few extra minutes over her appearance. That was all. Really.

Finished, she began the dreaded chore of tracking Garrett down. After giving him a thank you for the earlier heads-up, she planned on informing him that she didn’t need him “protecting” her from all the other big, bad fishermen. She was a big, bad fisherman herself. Someone to be reckoned with. She was smarter, and had a faster boat. They’d all taken notice. Every move she’d made today had been cataloged and most likely used as gossip now that drifting was closed for the next twenty-four hours. Set netters got their chance tomorrow, which meant
she’d
still be catching fish. Just liked she’d planned.