Treasure Island SEAL: Pirate SEAL Rescues his Mermaid (Sunset SEALs Book 3) Read online

  Treasure Island SEAL

  Sunset SEALs Book 3

  Sharon Hamilton

  Sharon Hamilton’s Book List

  SEAL BROTHERHOOD BOOKS

  SEAL BROTHERHOOD SERIES

  Accidental SEAL Book 1

  Fallen SEAL Legacy Book 2

  SEAL Under Covers Book 3

  SEAL The Deal Book 4

  Cruisin’ For A SEAL Book 5

  SEAL My Destiny Book 6

  SEAL of My Heart Book 7

  Fredo’s Dream Book 8

  SEAL My Love Book 9

  SEAL Encounter Prequel to Book 1

  SEAL Endeavor Prequel to Book 2

  Ultimate SEAL Collection Vol. 1 Books 1-4 /2 Prequels

  Ultimate SEAL Collection Vol. 2 Books 5-7

  BAD BOYS OF SEAL TEAM 3 SERIES

  SEAL’s Promise Book 1

  SEAL My Home Book 2

  SEAL’s Code Book 3

  Big Bad Boys Bundle Books 1-3

  BAND OF BACHELORS SERIES

  Lucas Book 1

  Alex Book 2

  Jake Book 3

  Jake 2 Book 4

  Big Band of Bachelors Bundle

  BONE FROG BROTHERHOOD SERIES

  New Year’s SEAL Dream Book 1

  SEALed At The Altar Book 2

  SEALed Forever Book 3

  SEAL’s Rescue Book 4

  SEALed Protection Book 5

  SILVER SEALS SERIES

  SEAL Love’s Legacy

  SLEEPER SEALS SERIES

  Bachelor SEAL

  SUNSET SEALS SERIES

  SEALed at Sunset

  Second Chance SEAL

  Treasure Island SEAL

  Escape to Sunset

  STAND ALONE BOOKS & SERIES

  SEAL’s Goal: The Beautiful Game

  Nashville SEAL: Jameson

  True Blue SEALS Zak

  Paradise: In Search of Love

  Love Me Tender, Love You Hard

  NOVELLAS

  SEAL You In My Dreams Magnolias and Moonshine

  PARANORMALS

  GOLDEN VAMPIRES OF TUSCANY SERIES

  Honeymoon Bite Book 1

  Mortal Bite Book 2

  Christmas Bite Book 3

  Midnight Bite Book 4

  THE GUARDIANS

  Heavenly Lover Book 1

  Underworld Lover Book 2

  Underworld Queen Book 3

  FALL FROM GRACE SERIES

  Gideon: Heavenly Fall

  NOVELLAS

  SEAL Of Time Trident Legacy

  All of Sharon’s books are available on Audible, narrated by the talented J.D. Hart.

  About the Book

  Navy SEAL Ned Silver is lured to the Florida gulf coast by the friend of his fathers, a former Navy diver now turned treasure hunter. Between deployments, S.O. Silver is addicted to adventure, and searching for pirate booty is right up his alley. What he hasn’t counted on is that his net has also captured a local mermaid.

  Madison Montgomery has done freelance underwater modeling and film work, but she’s also an experienced scuba diver. Between jobs, she tends a salty beach bar catering to whatever the sea blows in. She’s unprepared when her heart is hooked on the muscled beach bum she’s hired to work with on a treasure dive.

  As their underwater love affair smolders like a hyperbaric welding torch, the pair will have to discover who is captain and who is captured.

  Begin Reading

  Dedication

  About the Author

  Table of Contents

  Copyright © 2020 by Sharon Hamilton

  Kindle Edition

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. In many cases, liberties and intentional inaccuracies have been taken with rank, description of duties, locations and aspects of the SEAL community.

  License Notes

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Author’s Note

  When I was researching some of the treasure hunting and shipwreck stories, I came across the story about a barge that used to run a regular route between Cuba, the Tampa Bay area, and sometimes further North. This barge sank, and just like in my story, only three crew members survived.

  There also was a cook on this barge, and he always traveled with a dog who was said to be the good luck charm of the crew. The three surviving members last vision of the barge, as it was sinking, was seeing the cook, swimming for shore. Right behind him was his little dog.

  I like to think the two of them somehow survived, though the odds were probably not great, since it was said no one else did. But who knows? Perhaps they lived on. Perhaps the dog had puppies of his own. And maybe one of them, decades later, became a stray on the beach at Treasure Island.

  I go to bed thinking about that, and it makes me smile. I hope you enjoy this story about a man re-connecting with the past of his father, seeking adventure and finding the real treasure of his life, his mermaid, Madison.

  Maybe Ned pens this poem in a future story:

  Madison

  A warm-bodied vision of perfection, she comes to me as I sleep

  Timid and frolicking in the turquoise waters of her world

  Timeless and free of the trappings of mine.

  She knows I’m watching her

  Just by the way she waves, by the way her body undulates to the gentle current

  Flying in the bright blue fresh air of the ocean

  Her touch is light as if not to disturb

  But everlasting and unforgettable.

  She is everything I am not.

  And she is everything I need.

  Sharon Hamilton

  April, 2020

  I support two main charities. Navy SEAL/UDT Museum operates in Ft. Pierce, Florida. Please learn about this wonderful museum, all run by active and former SEALs and their friends and families, and who rely on public support, not that of the U.S. Government.

  www.navysealmuseum.org

  I also support Wounded Warriors, who tirelessly bring together the warrior as well as the family members who are just learning to deal with their soldier’s condition and have nowhere to turn. It is a long path to becoming well, but I’ve seen first-hand what this organization does for its warriors and the families who love them. Please give what your heart tells you is right. If you cannot give, volunteer at one of the many service centers all over the United States. Get involved. Do something meaningful for someone who gave so much of themselves, to families who have paid the price for your freedom. You’ll find a family there unlike any other on the planet.

  www.woundedwarriorproject.org

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Sharon Hamilton’s Book List

  About the Book

  Copyright Page

  Aut
hor’s Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  About the Author

  Reviews

  SEAL Prayer

  Chapter 1

  Navy SEAL Ned Silver fingered the pendant his father had left him. He should have been happy to receive such a gift—this “piece of eight” treasure mounted in a sterling silver setting adorned by a voluptuous mermaid. His dad wore it just about twenty-four seven. He’d whispered to Ned when he was little that the mermaid had been his secret love, number two to Ned’s mother, of course. Something about that story pissed him off every time he recalled it.

  “He wanted you to have it, Ned,” his mother whispered, pressing the piece into his palm and then curling his fingers around it.

  “I always pictured him taking it to his grave.” He let the curves of the mermaid glisten in the sun, the tail slowly moving back and forth as he fluttered his fingers underneath her. He’d touched it only once over the years, when he’d found it on his dad’s dresser. It called to him.

  “No, he never wanted that for her,” his mother said casually. “It would be like burying her alive all over again. At least, that’s what I think your father would say.”

  She was referring to the fact that the coin pendant had been plucked from the warm waters of the Florida Keys by the “Pirate” Jake Silver himself more than thirty years ago, on a pleasure dive with his best friend. Back when his dad was healthy. A risk-taker. Just after Ned was conceived and during what his mother called a “rough patch”.

  He caressed the shapely form of the mermaid with his thumb, fondling her with respect. It was a symbol that the torch had been passed. Ned would be his own man now, regardless that he’d become one of America’s elite warriors a decade ago, a member of Seal Team 3 out of Coronado.

  She belongs in the ocean anyway, never to be buried on land, he heard his father say.

  At least some of his dad’s tall tales had taken hold. He remembered them more and more as the days passed since his father’s hospital confinement and ultimate death. It was funny how that worked, he thought. The long good-bye brought back into focus all the stories and memories they’d shared over his lifetime. Bringing back that which was lost. Memories buried and now unearthed. Strangely, this gift symbolized the last handshake between father and son, a compass to point the way to Ned’s future. A portent of what was to come.

  His mother used to laugh a lot more before his dad got sick. Old Pirate Jake drank like a fish until the very end, often didn’t come home and never called her, either. She loved the bastard and welcomed him back every time. She was the backbone of this family, and her love was strong enough to keep them all together when money was tight and Ned scented fear in the household.

  Even from a young age, Ned could smell fear around him. It was a constant friend, even though a pesky one.

  Today, after the funeral, his mother looked tired and cried-out, her lips forming a thin straight line as if they’d never shared a smile between them or had ever mated. She was stern but unflappable. Her worry lines were deeper despite the makeup she’d recently started to wear.

  His father had taken a long time to die, and he took a piece of her with him to his grave.

  “Thanks, Mom,” he said as he felt her body melt into him when he hugged her. He vowed to spend more time with her because of the void left with his dad’s passing. He sensed her vulnerability and fragility. The hero in him grew taller and his chest sprang out. He knew he couldn’t right every wrong or save everyone on the planet, but it didn’t stop him from trying.

  She wiped her cheeks and plastered a brave grin to her face without changing the vacancy in her eyes.

  It scared him when he realized that now more than ever before, it was important that he remain safe and always return home from deployments and dangerous trainings—for her, since there wasn’t another woman in his life. She wouldn’t be able to handle that on top of his father’s passing. She loved him with everything she had. He loved the mermaid and the promise of adventure.

  Ned slipped the mermaid around his neck like a tiny silver anchor.

  “It suits you.”

  In truth, he’d always thought it was gaudy, that his dad had been showing off. But her face brightened, and that was worth everything. Afterall, it was just a trinket that lay buried for nearly four hundred years until the Pirate stole her away from Davy Jones himself, claiming her for his own. He could do that. He could watch over both his father’s women.

  His mother’s half-sister, Aunt Flo, the one everyone worried about, approached and hugged them both.

  “So good we could all be together, isn’t it?”

  She realized her words fell flat.

  “Well, all except for—” She stopped herself and then redirected, something she’d learned to do in numerous therapy sessions and hospitalizations. “Well, we should all do something like go to a movie!”

  That fell even flatter. Ned didn’t have words, but his mother did, ever the gracious one in the family, regardless of how she was treated.

  “Flo, I know what you meant,” his mother said as she extricated herself from the bear-hug. She was covering for his poor aunt, just like she did when she paid for the items Flo had stolen from the dime store and insisted she’d bought with her own money. She had a full drawer of lipsticks she never wore and owned more socks, still in their wrappers, than she owned underwear. She was a compulsive gambler, too, with a terrible memory of what she’d spent. The wheels were beginning to fall off the cart more and more every day.

  Ned needed a break. Growing up, he thought she was funny and couldn’t understand why his father got so upset being around her. Now he understood. Now he could get away from her.

  Ned gave his aunt a peck on the cheek and headed toward a small group of friends from high school who had come to the memorial. They were signing the guest book and placing a picture on the poster.

  “Hey, Carson, thanks for coming, man.”

  Tanned and looking like a professional surfer, his best buddy on the swim and basketball teams in high school showed off his pearly whites. “No problem. I found this nice one here of you and me and your dad. Thought maybe your mom would like having it around.”

  Ned eyed the small photograph with him and Carson in their Cubs Little League uniforms, his dad playing coach. Coach Silver had insisted on grabbing the number one for himself, which Ned had forgotten, and it made him chuckle.

  “What a couple of skinny kids we were then,” Ned whispered. After some thought, he added, “What were we, ten?”

  “Just about,” said Carson, his arm around the shoulder of a pretty girl, also from their school. Jackie, he thought. Ned couldn’t remember her last name and wasn’t sure she was actually in their class or the one below.

  “Jackie? That you?”

  He’d always had a major crush on her, but Jackie hadn’t given him the time of day. Now it was completely different, and the roles were reversed. She’d grown up nice, and it appeared to be her turn to want to make an impression.

  “Ned. I’m so sorry,” she said timidly.

  He accepted her floral-scented embrace and noted Carson’s worry line form at the top of his nose, so he kept their hug brief. He scrambled to fill the air with something else.

  “So you guys seeing each other now or what?”

  “Gawd, Ned, we’re married five years now, have one kid and another one we’r
e working on.”

  Although Carson was casual, Jackie blushed. Ned couldn’t help but look at her belly and then cursed himself and glanced away.

  “I’m sorry. I’ve not been around much, and I’ve lost track of time and all my friends.” It was all he could think of, and it was a dumb-ass excuse at that.

  “Oh, shut up. You were off being a hero while the rest of us went to college and started families. I can’t believe you aren’t married yet, you stud.”

  Ned had always been uneasy with the reputation he had as a great lover of women when, in fact, he had little experience. Most people would be surprised to learn he couldn’t remember his last sexual encounter. He loved women, but he didn’t like the drama he saw between the sexes, and he never liked hooking up with damaged goods. He stuck to what he was best at—saving the day. If women didn’t come running after him, then he wasn’t going to run after them, either. Time appeared to have slipped away while he was off being a hero.

  He shrugged.

  “A Navy SEAL. That’s so impressive,” Jackie gushed, batting her eyes. “Your dad must have been proud.”

  That one hurt. Good old Pirate Jake was long in the stories but short in the ways he showed his pride or affection. Growing up, Ned had taken it to mean his dad wanted him to be a man’s man. Now, at thirty-one, he figured most men-women relationships caused more scars than bridges or healthy connections. He saw more anchors than golden magical bonds. Maybe he really was in love with mermaids, who floated around in the light blue waters of their own world, skimpily clad and elusive. Beautiful to watch but impossible to love.

  So he decided to tell the truth because his dad wasn’t there to smack him.

  “To be honest, Carson, I think my dad would have preferred I go to college like you and become a tax attorney.”

  The couple gave him long looks, blinking slowly.

  “Just kidding.” He glanced down at the picture again and saw the gold and silver mermaid pendant around his dad’s neck. Even as the team coach, he was still showing off. His life was bigger than his death, and there wasn’t a chance he’d ever be forgotten.