Gio secured his lure and cast his line out. Then he didn’t know what to do. Leave it dangling there or reel it in? He decided to reel since a swimming lure made more sense. He had to laugh at himself, though. He still had no interest in fishing. Instead, he watched the island for any sign of movement or that someone might have been there recently.
Wiley suddenly whooped and jerked on his line.
“Got one?” Baer asked as he walked to his mate.
“Yeah, but it’s fighting.” Wiley grimaced as he worked to reel the fish in, but the line suddenly snapped and he staggered back. “Damn. It got away.”
Marcello had gone below and now he returned with a bottle of water, a tackle box, and a pole of his own. He settled near the bow and put his feet up as he got his line ready.
“Do you think they’re there? Should we move and check out some other islands?” Gio whispered.
Lucien shook his head. “They’re there.”
Gio’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? Can you feel them or something?”
Lucien grinned and tapped the side of his nose. “Smell. It’s faint and only comes when the wind shifts to blow across the island toward us.”
Baer grunted. “Yeah, I caught that too.” He started to reel in his line.
“What are we going to do about him?” Gio jerked his head to Baer. “He can’t exactly shift and explore with Marcello here.”
“I’ve got an idea,” Baer said, as he set his pole aside. “Just go with it. Cover for me.”
Gio nodded, his pulse quickening as he wondered what the man was going to cook up. Actually, it was rather simple. Baer groaned softly and placed a hand over his stomach as he shuffled to the bow to talk to Marcello. He could hear Baer complaining about an upset stomach—something from breakfast. Marcello instantly patted Baer’s shoulder and invited him to rest in the cabin. Get out of the sun.
Marcello came to the stern where they all stood, a frown on his face, while Baer disappeared below deck. “Your friend isn’t feeling too well, so I sent him to the cabin to lie down. Think we should leave?”
“Nah,” Wiley said. “He’ll be all right. He drank too much last night and ate too much this morning. Let him sleep it off for an hour. He’ll be fine.”
“Are you having any luck at the bow? Let me join you there,” Calder offered quickly, walking with Marcello to where his brother had been comfortably seated with his pole. It took Calder all of two minutes of talking about fishing in the Pacific to get Marcello’s mind completely off Baer.
Which was perfect timing.
A seagull tentatively toddled out of the cabin, tilting his white head one way and the another as he took in his surroundings. Was…was that Baer? How did that large, imposing man become a bird?
Wiley snorted suddenly and grinned at the bird. “No, those feathers don’t make you look fat. Now go and hurry back. Lucien can close the door for the cabin.”
Lucien nodded and dipped below deck to close the door the room Baer was supposed to be napping in.
The bird darted away, its wings flapping until they caught the wind and lifted them higher
into the sky toward the island.
“Was that really him? You could understand him?” Gio asked in a low voice as Lucien returned to his side.
“Yeah, benefit of my gift,” Wiley replied with a wide grin. “I can hear him when he’s shifted, though it can come jumbled up depending on what he is. Smaller the animal, the more unclear his thoughts tend to be. Though dogs are super clear.”
“That’s amazing.”
Lucien grunted. “Yeah, until he turns into an elephant or a rhino and tries to sit on you.”
Gio was not touching that. For now, he needed to make sure Marcello didn’t go below and discover Baer missing. He reeled in his line and headed over to where his brother and Calder were still chatting. “Show me that scent spray you talked about?”
“Sure, though I’m not sure how good it works. If I’d known you guys wouldn’t be bringing bait, I would have got some shrimp. You know what? I have some in the freezer. I’ll just go take it out to thaw.”
“No, I’ll do it,” Gio said quickly. “I uh, have to use the bathroom anyway.”
“Sure.” Marcello shrugged. “Bring it out into the sun so it’ll thaw faster.”
“Got it.”
Gio hurried to the cabin, which had a small sitting area and kitchenette, with the bathroom and tiny bedroom farther back. He didn’t really have to use the restroom, so he hung out for a moment, easily finding a pack of frozen shrimp in the freezer. When he figured he’d been down there long enough, he took the packet up with him.
An hour passed fast with Wiley having the most luck fishing. He pulled in a small redfish, but it wasn’t legally long enough to keep and use as bait, so he let it go. They were all going through the motions of having fun and laughing, but there was an underlying tension in their little group that his brother was blind to. Their eyes strayed to the island again and again.