Title:
Lost Beneath the Tide
Author:
Zara West
Genre:
Romantic Suspense
Book Blurb:
Cat Silva loves broiled salmon as much as the next person. But the quirky marine biologist doesn’t like how fish farming pollutes the ocean. So, leaving the big city and her overbearing momma behind, she heads off to Tide Harbor, Nova Scotia to prove her point.
Single dad, Alex Harris, is in line for the lucrative head security position at Cowling Fish Farms. But when Cat’s investigation turns deadly, Alex must decide between pursuing his dream of financial security or face down his fears and risk losing everything for the woman he and his daughter have come to love.
Excerpt:
Alex stepped on the brakes, and the old pickup rattled to a halt, all four tires thankfully still intact. He peered out the windshield. A postcard-perfect sunset loomed on the horizon, the kind his mother used to call a soda pop sky, because the oranges, purples, and golds illuminating the clouds mirrored the artificially colored sodas she refused to buy for him and his brothers.
He glanced over at Ellie who was talking in a tiny voice to her imaginary pet. He sure missed having his mama around. He had no idea how to handle pretend pets or little girls who missed their mothers. But one thing he did know was he needed to do better at being father.
Letting out a puff of air, Alex pulled out his binoculars from between the seats and rolled down the window. From here, the circular pens were only several hundred feet away, as close as one could get without using a boat. Which was fine by him. He hadn’t been in a boat in a long time.
Alex scanned the water around the nearest pen. Nothing. Then the next. Nothing. He focused on the third ring. There. A black object bobbed up and down in the water. Seemed his boss had been right. Something was out by the pens. Now, was it a seal or a runaway beach ball? He adjusted the binoculars’ focus.
Behind him, the passenger side door squealed open and then slammed shut.
He spun around only to see his daughter dash toward the water. “Ellie, come back. The dock’s not safe.” Heart in his throat, Alex jumped from the truck and charged after her. “Ellie, sweetheart. Stop.” He grabbed her shoulder just as she stepped on the rickety wood of the old dock.
“Let go, Daddy.” She shook off his hand. “I’m just going to get that shell. It can be Dorchester’s water dish.” She pointed to a small clamshell wedged between the planks just a few feet from the shore.
“You’ve got plenty of shells like that one at home. Now stay right next to me.”
Ellie looked up at him, her hazel eyes so like her long-gone mother’s. “Can you get it for me?”
He looked at the gleaming white shell, and the water slapping against the piers. A cold shiver ran down his back. It might as well be on the outer islands. He put the binoculars up to his eyes. “No. It’s just an old shell. I’m here to make sure the salmon are safe.”
She scuffed her sneaker in the gravel. “Stupid fish. All you ever do is worry about the salmon.”
“The salmon pay our bills, Ellie.” He watched the bobbing object disappear under the water. “Might be a big bad seal out there trying to eat them. We can’t let that happen, can we?”
For a few moments, she stood quietly next to him, then she pulled on his sleeve. “We aren’t going to make it to the ice cream social, are we?
He shook his head. “Tell you what. We can stop at the supermarket and buy popcorn and ice cream and have our own party at home. I’ll read you your favorite book.”
Her little mouth puckered and then she nodded. “Okay.” She reached up. “Can I look too?”
How could he refuse after letting her down? Alex lowered the binoculars and placed the cord around her neck. Then he stood behind her and held the glasses to her eyes as he adjusted the focus. Narrowing his gaze against the glow of the setting sun, he guided her to the spot he’d last seen the object. “There. That black blob—can you see it?”
She gave a little jump and pointed. “Yeah, there it is. Oh, it’s coming towards us.” She waved. “Here, Mr. Seal. Here. Don’t eat my daddy’s fishies.”
Alex peered out over his daughter’s head. The seal or whatever it was, dipped and splashed toward the shore. Now that was rare. Sea mammals usually moved sleekly through the water. A bad feeling washed over him. “Can I use the binoculars for a minute, sweetheart? Not sure that’s a seal.”
Ellie held them up, and he peered at the creature as it neared the far end of the crumbling pier. For a moment, it dipped below the surface, then popped up again. With a twist, a black-suited scuba diver hitched up onto the dock and sat with his feet hanging over the edge.
Silhouetted by the setting sun, the diver removed his facemask, tore off his hood, and shook out his hair. The long, wavy strands of hair glowed pink in the sunset.
Alex focused in closer. Silhouetted against the dying light, the swimmer was all feminine curves. Not a he. A she.
For a second, he was stunned. Then he gave himself a shake. What was a strange scuba diver doing nosing around the Cowling fish pens? It didn’t matter it was a woman, a gorgeous one, at that. Whoever the diver was, she’d better have a good explanation, or she would be in deep trouble. Nobody messed with Cowling’s fish pens.
Ellie slipped her fingers into his and tugged. He glanced down. His daughter’s face was round in wonderment. She pointed toward the diver. “Look, Daddy. It’s a mermaid. Maybe she’s seen mommy?”
He glanced again at the woman, who’d slipped off her oxygen tanks and was now busy checking the gauges. In a minute, she’d turn and see them.
Alex scooped up his daughter and hurried back to the truck.
Scuba Diver Lady would be trouble all right. Trouble he didn’t want to have.
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What makes your featured book a must-read?
If you enjoy suspenseful thrillers where feisty women and protective men battle against the odds, you'll love this fast-paced, action-packed clean romantic suspense. Get caught up in the thrilling second book of the Tide Harbor Suspense series
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Author Biography:
In a life full of misadventures, Zara West has had sunstroke on the top of a Greek mountain, been partially trampled by a herd of four hundred sheep, and while she has never been kidnapped, she has been marooned on an uninhabited island in the middle of the Canadian wilderness for longer than she wants to remember. When not chasing after Greek shepherds or strolling along sand beaches searching for sea glass, Zara tends her organic herb garden, collects hats and cats, and whips up ethnic dishes for friends and family.
An award-winning author who loves mentoring writers, Zara is the author of the romantic thriller series The Skin Quartet and her new series Tide Harbor Suspense. She is also the author of the Write for Success writing craft series.
Zara blogs about romance at Zara West Romance, about writing at Zara West’s Journal and teaches numerous online writing courses. Find her current teaching schedule here, and sign up for her mailing list here.
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