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Dylan looked up and ran a hand through his wet hair. “Chaz, I’m sorry.”
Chaz sighed and looked at Dylan like a disheartened father who just caught his son with his hand in the cookie jar. “I expect more of you, Dylan.” Disappointment lined his weathered face and Dylan dropped his head between his shoulders and turned away.
“I’m calling the police,” Hollis said, but Chaz held up a hand.
“No, don’t.”
“Why not?”
Chaz watched Dylan hop into the dingy. “Dylan’s...had a rough time of it. Let’s cut him some slack.”
Hollis frowned at her father. He always made excuses for Dylan Ford and she was tired of it. The guy was bad news, always up to his neck in some kind of shady dealing. Apparently, now he was also a thief and she wasn’t surprised.
Dylan looked back over a shoulder at Chaz who crossed his arms. Then, Dylan turned away, feeling like a scolded child, and started the small engine.
The rain was nothing more than a drizzle now and the sky had begun to lighten with the first signs of daylight. Halfway to shore, Dylan reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out two heavy gold bars.
He wished he could have grabbed more, but at least this would pay some medical bills and get the unsavory characters who wanted to break his legs off his back.
For now, anyway.
Chapter One
Five Years Later…
The sun, a bright disc in the azure sky, shone down on the glittering ocean and the 28’ Parker Sport Cabin,Sea Struck, that bobbed on its blue-gray surface. On deck, Hollis checked her regulator. The sun’s rays emphasized the golden streaks throughout her copper hair and when she looked up, her brown eyes, wiser than before, resembled melted caramel. Still as feisty as ever, a frown of annoyance creased her brow.
Her father stood near the rail, all suited up to dive. “You’re too young and pretty to be spending so much time with your old man.”
Here we go again,she thought. Lately, more than ever, her father was pressuring her to get out and meet someone. Hollis had more important things to do than waste her time on some man. Inevitably, they let you down and walked away for someone younger and hotter. She’d seen it happen enough times with her best friend Lia to know the drill. They swept her off her feet then left with barely an excuse. Sometimes, they ghosted her completely. Then, Lia would cry her eyes on Hollis’s shoulder while eating a pint of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
No, thank you.Hollis had no interest in experiencing that.
“This is Florida, Dad. Everyone is old.”
Chaz chuckled. “All I’m saying is if you want to start treasure-hunting with some handsome, younger man, it won’t hurt my feelings.”
She rolled her eyes. “Are you trying to get rid of me?”
Chaz cracked a weathered smile. “Never. Sweetheart, you are the best thing in my life.” They shared a smile.
Ever since she could remember, it had always been just her and her Dad. Her mother left when she was very young, barely out of diapers, and she didn’t recall much about the woman. She knew her name was Victoria and that she was very beautiful. Other than that, Hollis knew she was cold and uncaring.
Apparently, she had gotten fed up with Chaz’s fruitless treasure-hunting expeditions. She thought they were a waste of time, money and energy. One day she left with another man, supposedly from a wealthy family, and didn’t look back on her way to New York City.
A year later, irony reared its head and Chaz Quinn hit the motherload when he found a sunken Spanish galleon off Florida’s infamous Treasure Coast. He became a millionaire overnight. Over the years, Hollis found herself hoping that her mother had found out and regretted abandoning them.
Now, thirty-three years old, Hollis rarely thought about her mother. Instead, she was grateful for a life of adventure with her Dad. And, she’d much rather spend the day diving with him than hanging out with some boyfriend.
Maybe there was something wrong with her, to prefer her Dad’s company and not care about dating and marriage and babies. She had gone on random dates over the years and honestly felt no connection or interest in any of the men that had tried to pursue her. Her true passion revolved around diving and searching for treasure with her Dad.
And, when she wasn’t doing that, she worked at the Atlantic Aquarium on the Board of Directors and hung out with Lia who owned the Sand Bar, a nearby bar favored by the locals for its strong drinks and chill atmosphere.
“But, that doesn’t mean you can’t spice things up and expand your horizons a little.”
Hollis shook her wild, copper locks then pulled them back into a ponytail at the base of her neck. They moved across the wide, open deck, past twin outboards mounted to an extended platform and Hollis gave him an exasperated look. “Dad, the only thing I hate more than a scavenger is a matchmaker.”
With another chuckle, he slid his mask down over his face. “I’m just saying, it won’t hurt my feelings if you get out there more.” He gave her a thumbs-up and jumped into the sloshing water.
