Redeeming Her SEAL (ASSIGNMENT Caribbean Nights #9) - Kat Cantrell Page 0,2
Anderson hiring Dr. Reed to help him put Charlie out of business.
Rachel waited until she had everyone’s full attention in true dramatic lawyer fashion.
“Dr. Reed’s report supports the island of Ilhota Rosa as a wildlife sanctuary. She says, and I quote…” Rachel glanced at the page she took from a file folder on the table. “ ‘Both the construction project and the subsequent resort tourism would negatively disturb the dolphin pod that lives in the waters off the coast.’ She effectively killed Anderson’s bid to buy the island in one fell swoop.”
Charlie crossed his arms over the giant meat hook through his chest at Rachel’s casual mention of Audra. That needed to go back in the box too, but nothing he’d tried would erase the pure physical reaction he still had anytime his former lover came up.
The torch he still carried for the dazzling, brilliant redhead still had the power to burn him when he least expected it. But no one else needed to know about that.
“That has to be wrong.” He cleared his throat, which had gone drier than dust as a million different implications zigzagged through his mind. Clearly Anderson had expected the woman he was sleeping with to help him, or he never would have asked her to write a report to support his land grab. The fact that she hadn’t sided with her boyfriend meant something, but hell if Charlie could figure out what.
But he did know one thing: Audra held court in the center of this fiasco.
Shaking her head, Rachel tapped the sheet. “Dr. Reed’s report is very clear. She’s concerned about the dolphins and wants to be sure the island, as well as the coral reef, is not destroyed.”
Charlie swore and all seven pairs of eyes swiveled to stare at him. Clearly they didn’t understand how truly screwed Aqueous Adventures was then.
“Uh, that sounds good?” Jace glanced around as if looking for some corroboration for his thoughts. “Doesn’t it? I mean, that’s what Rachel was hoping for, that the island would become a wildlife sanctuary so it couldn’t be developed.”
“It’s not good.” Charlie clamped his back teeth together before he let loose with another string of profanities as the reality unspooled in his head. “For us, I mean. It’s good for the dolphins. But if it’s a wildlife sanctuary, the injunction against commercial ventures still holds.”
God, why hadn’t he realized that before now? Well, he knew why—Audra had done the exact opposite of what he’d expected and all his thoughts had been centered around the wrong outcome.
Dex frowned grimly. “We still can’t take snorkelers there. And the reef off the coast of Countess Cay is still in the restoration process, so we’re stuck.”
And that was exactly why Dex was the first one he’d approached to join him in this Caribbean adventure. His laser-sharp vision and straight shooting were invaluable. “Exactly. Maybe we can find a loophole. Rachel, what if you work with the court to invalidate the injunction against commercial ventures if the excursions educate snorkelers about the habitats of marine life? We’ll make it a big deal. Do school field trips and such. If Anderson wants it treated like a wildlife sanctuary, let’s treat it that way.”
As everyone jumped into the fray to hash it out, the idea unfolded inside him, soaking up some of the crappy mood all the Audra talk had brought on. They could actually increase bookings if they expanded their marketing to tourists and locals alike to highlight the educational aspects.
All they needed was an expert in dolphin habitats who could help them create the right spiel. It just so happened that he knew one who might be a little less hostile than he’d envisioned. Audra had filed that report for a reason, and he burned with curiosity to understand why. In the course of uncovering her agenda, he might also figure out Anderson’s. Surely she had the billionaire’s ear. How else was he supposed to solve his company’s problems when all roads seemed to lead to Dr. Audra Reed?
Charlie owed it to his partners to stop the hemorrhaging.
He swallowed. After a year of avoiding her, Charlie was going to have to go see Audra. And convince her to help him. It was the right thing to do—and doing the right thing was so ingrained his guys called him the Saint, which he rarely took as a compliment. The right thing usually sucked.
“Rachel is a miracle worker of the highest order, no doubt,”