Read Blue Moon for Free Online

God.”
    Gabe straightened and backed away. “Next I suppose you’ll declare yourself to be on a mission.”
    â€œEvery day is a mission, Captain,” she told him. “I’d rather think that going after the Luna Azul is a leap of faith.”
    â€œMore like a calculated risk,” Gabe said with a skeptical snort. “At least to your sponsors.”
    Suddenly at ease, Jeanne folded her arms across her chest. A gold cross hung from her neck, catching the light through the porthole as though to jump in the face of the cynicism that had riddled Gabe’s thoughts the night before . . . until he’d drunk away the silk of Jeanne’s voice whispering over and over in his mind: We might find more than a ship. All things are possible. Given a choice, he’d have opted for that We are both passionate comment .
    â€œAnd what is this expedition to you, Gabe Avery?”
    A smirk pulled at his mouth. “My redemption, golden girl. But not the kind you and your likes are so fond of. It’s the redemption of my career as a treasure hunter. It’s like you said”—he looked at the cross against her collarbone—“a chance like this comes once in a blue moon, and I’m going to take it all the way to the bank.”
    To his surprise, his companion laughed, soothing to the ear and abrasive to the ego. “You might have more faith than you think, Captain.”
    With that, she sidled past, brushing against him in the narrow confines. Why Gabe didn’t show the doctor just how wrong she was and wipe that I-know-something-that-you-don’t grin from her lips with a kiss was beyond him. It’s not as if he wasn’t tempted, he thought, watching the sway of her retreat and the bounce of her ponytail as she bounded up the companionway to the bridge.
    As Gabe reached the galley, Jeanne reappeared in the companionway. “And you’re sure you can meet us on the fourteenth of March at Punta Azul?”
    Had they discussed a date? Regardless, Gabe nodded. “Aye, aye, doc.”
    She grinned, an annoyingly happy show of white against a healthy tan. As Gabe moved toward her, Jeanne held up her hand. “No, no . . . finish your nap. Remy and I can see ourselves off.”
    That was the best idea he’d heard all day. Going out into the sunlight again could be the catalyst that blew his head to smithereens. “ Hasta marzo, then . ”
    She wrinkled her nose at him. “Until March, Captain Avery. Adiós .”
    Gabe heard his visitors’ retreating footsteps and felt the slight dip of the Angel as they disembarked.
    March .
    A deep growl rumbling in his throat, Gabe grabbed the water glass from the counter and emptied it over his head. At least the pain would be gone by then.

CHAPTER FOUR
    Two months later, in mid-March . . .
    The jungle on either side of the road from the coastal highway leading to Punta Azul seemed poised to swallow it as Genesis’s rented Chevy Suburban struck another pothole on the unpaved but hard-packed section of the road—the largest of many since the turnoff.
    â€œAnd one for the road,” the students in the rear cheered, as the vehicle bounced toward the village coming into view ahead through the jungle-bound tunnel of roadway.
    â€œAnd the end of civilization as we know it,” Remy sighed at the wheel.
    â€œNot quite, Remy. It’ll be like a fun campout in paradise.” Jeanne’s stab at seeing the bright side brought a hint of smile to her mentor’s face.
    â€œEven so,” he said, “I prefer camping out in a suite at a beachfront Hilton.”
    â€œMan, I can’t believe we’re here,” Texas A&M senior Stuart Wilson marveled from the rear seat he shared with fellow student Nick Chandos.
    â€œDefinitely beats the midterm blues,” Nick chimed in.
    Tall, thin, and gangly, with reddish-blond hair, pale blue eyes, and freckles, Stuart was the opposite in