Current to Trouble
Every current hides a mystery, and every heartbeat hides a story.
Cap never expected—or—wanted to find love on the water.
Jilted once, Emma would sooner drown than fall for another man.
Strong currents soon carry them toward life-threatening danger—and each other.
A jilted bride’s revenge trip turns deadly…
Emma Brown never imagined being jilted, or discovering her ex-fiancé’s appalling secret life. Her big day in ruins, Emma trades vows for vengeance and takes her bridesmaids on the charter fishing trip she’d booked for her ex. Perfect, until it’s clear the grumpy, gorgeous captain isn’t happy with his boat full of man-haters.
No longer working as a drug investigator, Cap Samuelson left chaos and stress behind him. All he needs is open water and customers thrilled to catch the ultimate salmon. What he doesn’t need is a group of chatty women with no interest in fishing who boarded his boat. Especially the feisty beauty who pushes all his buttons.
Certain that the charter couldn’t get worse, Emma’s ex turns up, along with drug dealers, and now a bridesmaid has gone missing.
Will Cap’s skill set from his days with the police force kick in before things turn fatal for his crew and customers?
Chapter One
“I’m moved beyond tears, and I’m mad as hell,” Emma Brown said, calm settling into her bones.
Her would-be bridesmaids stared at her wide-eyed.
“We’re taking this trip, and we’re going to have fun. Got it?”
Morgan nodded. Carly followed. Hailey hesitated, then nodded too.
Emma tossed her thousand-dollar wedding dress, loaded with pearls and sequins, into the flames of her outdoor firepit. The veil followed.
“Toss in your dresses! I want no remembrance of what nearly occurred. The biggest near-mistake of my life.”
No one moved.
Emma pointed at the fire.
Morgan, Carly, and Hailey tossed their coral-colored dresses into the flames.
Emma stared at the fire until every last piece of material had transitioned to ashes. How had it come to this? Dumped two weeks before her wedding. She’d worked so hard to perfect every little detail. For the past year, her life had revolved around making sure everything would be perfect for her and Jonathan on their big day. The most important day of her life. Now, here she sat with her three best friends, burning their dresses as if that would help to erase all thoughts of the wedding—Jonathan —from her mind.
When the flames died, she straightened. “It’s time. Let’s go.”
Morgan grimaced. “Are you sure you really want to do this? A charter fishing trip. Can’t we just go to wineries or something?”
“Yeah. Let’s do that instead,” Carly said. “I’ve done the wine tour in Door County before. It’s fun.”
Hailey nodded in agreement.
“No, we’re taking this stupid charter fishing excursion I paid for. It was non-refundable, and I’ll be damned if I let Jonathan and his buddies enjoy the trip I gave him for his bachelor party.”
Jonathan had nearly lost it when she told him she’d canceled it. Which she hadn’t. He’d paced around like a caged animal. She didn’t understand what the big deal was. He could take a charter anytime he wanted. Except for anytime soon out of Sturgeon Bay. It was June, and likely all charters were fully booked, even on a weekday. Even if Jonathan tried to rebook with Reelin’ In Charters, he’d be out of luck. Captain Samuelson was booked. By her.
She glanced over at the black duffel bag lying next to her beach bag.
“And that bag is coming with us.”
Emma grabbed the black duffel bag from the ground. Jonathan’s fishing gear.
The fishing gear meant nothing to her, but it meant something to him, so she swiped it when they split their belongings yesterday. He’d put it in the back of his truck, and she nabbed it when he wasn’t looking. It was heavier than she imagined it would be for fishing gear, but what did she know?
The four of them loaded into Hailey’s sedan, and she set them on the course to Door County. The drive from Appleton would take just over an hour, so they had plenty of time to get to the dock for their two o’clock charter.
Hailey pulled into the packed parking lot at Sawyer Park. The place swarmed with people. Boats lined the dock.
Emma shouldered her beach bag on one side and Jonathan’s black duffel bag on the other. Hailey carried their small cooler filled with snacks and drinks, Carly carried both of their beach bags, and Morgan flung her bag over her shoulder. It was likely they wouldn’t actually fish. That wasn’t the plan. The point of taking the trip was to keep Jonathan from fishing.
With her friends in tow, Emma walked toward the fish cleaning stations.
The smell hit hard. Carly gagged.
Men elbow-deep in fish guts laughed. One looked them over with open amusement. Emma shot him a glare. He looked away.
“I’m not going any closer to that. And the boat better not smell like that or I’m not getting on it,” Carly muttered.
“It’ll be fine. We’ll be surrounded by fresh air,” Emma assured.
Emma stepped under the shelter and walked up to the nearest fish cleaning station, taking care not to breathe through her nose to avoid the horrid stench. That may have been a mistake as the taste of raw fish seeped into her mouth.
She focused her gaze on the first man who made eye contact with her. He was tall and lean. Though it was only June, his skin was sun-darkened. He wore a baseball cap with sunglasses perched on the brim. Judging from the white circles around his eyes, she assumed those glasses were normally perched on his nose. He pulled his gaze from her and dropped a large fillet into a bag held by a lanky young man who bore a similar tan.
“I’m looking for Captain Samuelson from Reelin’ In Charters. My friends and I have the afternoon voyage with him,” she said.
“Voyage?” she heard a nearby man repeat.
Laughter followed.
She cut her eyes in that direction, and all gazes landed on their feet.
She turned her gaze back to the man she’d originally addressed. He wore a look of dismay.
His broad shoulders slumped. “Are you sure your charter is today?”
“Yes.”
“On Reelin’ In Charters?”
“Listen, I certainly know who I’ve booked a charter with. Now, do you know where I can find him and his boat, or not?”
“Yes, I’m Captain Samuelson. Call me Cap.” His brows furrowed. “But there must be some mistake. We’ll find a way to work it out, but my afternoon charter is already booked.”
“No kidding. I booked it.”
The man rinsed his hands and dried them with a piece of paper towel. Then, he pulled his phone from his shorts pocket, tapped at the screen, and studied it.
“My records show that I’m taking four guys out. It’s a bachelor party. Jonathan Milbourne is the unlucky soul.”
Heat rushed to her face. She lifted her hand and pointed at Cap.
“What a horrible comment to make. I bet you’re still single. Aren’t you?”
“Single and loving it, sweetheart.”
His sarcastic tone sent fire through her veins.
“Jonathan would have been lucky to marry Emma. The jerk doesn’t deserve her. I’m glad the wedding is off,” Morgan said as she slung an arm around her shoulders.
Thank God for her friend stepping in, or she may have slapped that smug smile off of Captain Samuelson’s face. Okay, no, she wouldn’t have because she wasn’t a violent person, but as mad as she was that his heartless comment struck a nerve just now, she wouldn’t mind if the machine spinning fish guts would spray him full of the nasty stuff.
“Let’s go, Emma. This wasn’t a good idea anyhow,” Morgan said as she shifted her friend in the opposite direction of the captain.
“Wait!” Cap called out.
BUY NOW
