Read Savage Bay for Free Online

does have certain interesting skills? *
    That she does. Your vocabulary is improving. Or at least it isn’t still stuck in the fourteenth century.
    Quiz smiled. Working with DJ in the Ops Center was a distraction, but of the pleasant variety, to be sure.

Chapter 5
     
    ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA
    OFF THE COAST OF ANDALUSIA, SPAIN
     
    Hawkeye led Isabella Cruz inside the Alamiranta through the upper deck to a glass-walled elevator. As they descended down into the ship, the elevator passed through the Alamiranta’s eleven-story central Atrium overlooking the Grand Promenade. It was filled with cafes, shops, offices, and Caine employees dressed in varying degrees of business attire.
    The Atrium was beautifully appointed with marble, glass, and tile mosaics. A huge round aquarium dominated the central plaza on the bottom deck of the Atrium. Schools of brightly colored tropical fish swam in lazy circles around a faux-reef in the saltwater display.
    “Do any diving?” asked Hawkeye, noting Cruz’s interest in the reef tank.
    “Some. You?”
    “Yeah, you might say I’ve done a little,” Hawkeye said.
    He pulled up his sleeve to reveal a tattoo on his arm. Cruz could make out three words running beneath the faded ink emblem: Silent, Swift, Deadly. She traced the outline of the tattoo with a red-painted fingernail.
    “Navy Seal?” she asked.
    “Nope. Marine Force Recon.”
    “Say again?”
    “U.S. Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance. The special operations forces of the Marine Corp. Amphibious and deep ground surveillance, unconventional warfare, hostage rescue, that sort of thing,” said Hawkeye.
    “I always wondered where you came from. In Baghdad, you were heavy on romance and short on talk.”
    Hawkeye smiled. “My specialty was GOPLATS direct action raids. Gas and oil platforms.”               
    “Gas and oil platforms?” Cruz asked, raising an eyebrow.
    “That’s how I first met Catherine Caine. My Force Recon squad enjoyed her hospitality after we raided an oil platform that had been seized by a rather short-sighted group of South American insurgents. That oil platform was owned by Caine Petroleum.”
    When the elevator reached Deck Six, Hawkeye led Cruz away from the Atrium down a wide central corridor. The walls were paneled in dark teak and adorned with black and white photographs in ornate frames.
    “Look,” said Cruz. “Can you tell me what this is about?  Did I do something wrong?”
    “Be patient,” said Hawkeye. “Caine will explain everything.” 
    A pair of armed guards stood vigil at the entrance to Catherine Caine’s inner sanctum. A third guard was seated at a security station in front of a computer screen. Hawkeye noted the odd name on his ID badge: Zoovas.
    Cameras mounted high on the wall captured high-resolution images of Hawkeye and Cruz. The Alamiranta ’s security system performed a facial recognition and biometric identification protocol that appeared on Zoovas’ monitor.
    “Go ahead,” said the surly guard after confirming their identities.
    Zoovas punched a key on his keyboard and the double doors behind him swung open. Hawkeye led Cruz past watchful sentries and into the Gallery.
    Cruz stepped into the Gallery and stopped dead in her tracks, wholly unprepared for the wonder of the room beyond.
     
    THE GALLERY, ABOARD THE ALAMIRANTA
     
    The Gallery was the ultimate private collection: museum, library, and cabinet of curiosities all combined in a grand space unlike anything Cruz had ever seen. Filled with historical relics, antique books, and rare artifacts, the Gallery occupied over two-thousand square meters on three maze-like levels.
    Glass platforms, bridges, and stairways seemed to float in space among walls of walnut bookshelves and towering display cases. Etched glass and blue-tinted lighting added to the ambience of the Gallery.      
    “Oh . . . my . . . God.”  Cruz stared in amazement.
    “The Gallery seems to have that effect on