Radclyffe - Safe Harbor 03 - Distant Shores, Silent Thunder

by Distant Shores, Silent Thunder (lit)

"One week. Nothing before then." KT's tone indicated it was not an issue open to discussion.

  "Good enough," Reese pronounced. She turned her attention to Bri. "Try to eat something and make sure you at least drink. And take advantage of the fact that Caroline is here for a few days. Work will keep."

  Bri reached for Caroline's hand and nodded as much as she was able. "Yes, ma'am. I got it."

  "Very good." Reese smiled at Caroline. "Tory and I want both of you to stay here while Bri's recuperating."

  "Thanks," Caroline said softly as she reached for the plate and silverware. "For everything."

  "What about my black belt test?" Bri asked suddenly, ignoring the food that Caroline offered. "It's next week. I need to train."

  "We'll talk about that later," Reese replied.

  "But"

  "Honey," Caroline chided gently. "You have to get well first"

  Bri looked as if she were about to protest, but as she focused on the faces of those around her, she seemed to accept that she was outnumbered. Grouchily, she muttered, "Okay. Right. Fine."

  Caroline prevented her from saying anything else by sliding a forkful of pasta into her mouth.

  KT and Tory walked out onto the deck where they could discuss Bri's case in private.

  "What do you think?" Tory asked. "The incision seems fine, don't you agree?"

  "I do." KT leaned her elbows on the railing and studied the harbor beyond the low dunes that separated the house from the beach. "The only real danger at this point is delayed bleeding. As long as she's relatively quiet for another day or two, that shouldn't be a problem. I said a week because it's been my experience that the young, aggressive types like her are hard to hold down."

  Tory laughed. "That's an understatement. But let me tell you, it has nothing to do with age. Reese is the same way whenever she's injured."

  KT glanced at Tory. "You sound as if that's a common occurrence."

  "Unfortunately," Toiy said with a wince, "it is."

  "That's hard."

  "Very."

  "And I guess there's nothing you could say to make her give it up."

  Tory shrugged. "She would, if I asked her to. But I can't. It would take too much from her."

  "You're happy with her, aren't you?"

  "More than I can say."

  "Yeah. That's what I thought."

  "And how are things going for you?" Tory inquired gently.

  "At the rate I'm going," KT said quietly, "I'll know in another month or two if I'm going to be able to operate again."

  "And then?"

  KT blew out a breath. "I guess it depends on what the answer is. If I can operatethen I'll go back to work."

  "In Boston." Tory said it as if it were a given, not a question.

  "Well, yes." KT sounded far less certain. She kept her eyes on the water. "But there's Pia."

  "Yes. I noticed."

  "I know what you think about me and her, but"

  "I was wrong." Tory lightly grasped KT's forearm. "I was wrong to make judgments concerning something I knew nothing about. About people I don't know as well as I thought I did."

  KT turned, her eyes searching Tory's again. "You know me. The good and the bad."

  "Yes, I do." Tory smiled faintly. "But not as well as I once did. And for a while, I couldn't see the good. Or maybemaybe it's that falling in love with Pia has brought all those good things out."

  "How did?"

  "I know?" Tory laughed. "It's pretty obvious to anyone who's looking. Pia is a wonderful woman. She'll be good for you."

  "She already is."

  Startled by KT's humble tone, Tory spoke without thinking. "Then why are you thinking about going back to Boston?"

  "Iwhat would I do here?" KT asked in frustration. "You have to admit, I'm only a passable family doctor."

  Tory laughed. "The patients love you."

  "Well, it takes more than personality to do your job, and I don't want them to find out the hard way."

  "KT," Tory said gently. "Don't lose her because of a job."

  "Like I did you?"

  Tory shook her head. "MaybeI don't know, and even if I did, it doesn't matter anymore. What matters is now. I don't know what you want in your life. I don't know what Pia wants. But you need to find out before it's gone."

  KT closed her eyes for a second, then slowly nodded. "Thanks. I'll try."

  "I've never known you to fail at anything you've tried." Tory leaned close and kissed KT's cheek. "My money's on you."

  An hour later, Pia backed out of Tory's driveway and headed west on 6A toward town. She reached across the space between them and stroked KT's thigh. "You've been awfully quiet. Something happen with Tory?"

  KT turned on the seat, covering Pia's hand with her own and holding it against her leg. "What do you mean?"

  "The two of you looked like you were having a very serious conversation out on the deck. Since then, you've been somewhere else."

  "Sorry."

  Pia glanced at her quickly and then back to the road, shaking her head. "You don't need to apologize. Is there something wrong?"

  "No," KT said solemnly. "Everything is...great."

  Pia laughed quietly. "You don't sound like it." She rubbed her hand in a gentle circle on KT's thigh. "Is it Tory?"

  "Tory?" KT's voice held a hint of confusion and surprise. "Why?"

  Still staring straight ahead, Pia asked, "Are you still in love with her?"

  "I'm in love with you, " KT said immediately. "Only you. And that's the problem."

  Pia frowned and looked at her quickly. "Why?"

  "Because it isn't simple. Because for the first time in my life, when I try to see my future, I don't see anything."

  "Do you see us?"

  "I want to."

  "Then that's enough," Pia said gently.

  "How can that be?" KT's frustration made her voice harsh. "I've always known where I was going, what I needed to do to get there. Now I...I'm not even sure where I'm going to be in two months. Who I'll be."

  While they'd talked, Pia had driven through town. She pulled into the parking lot at Herring Cove and stopped on the long stretch of blacktop that fronted the beach. It was sundown, the air had grown cold as it did near the water at night, and only a lone walker far up the beach shared the solitude. Pia turned on the seat, wrapped her arms around her raised knee, and regarded KT seriously. "Who are you, KT?"

  KT ran a hand through her hair distractedly. "I used to be a surgeon."

  "And if you can't be?"

  "I don't know." KT shrugged her shoulders. "That sounds pathetic, doesn't it?"

  "No. It just sounds like you haven't been paying attention to much of anything else for a while."

  KT laughed shortly. "For a while? Try fifteen years."

  "Maybe." Pia regarded KT evenly. "You're also bright and determined and focused. You could do almost anything you wanted to do," At KT's expression of dismissal, Pia laughed, "I know. Medicine is what you do. Would you consider working with Tory at the clinic?"

  "Oh man, I don't know. It takes a certain kind of person to be good at that. Not just the medicine part, but the people part. That's never been my strong suit."

  "Everyone has their own style. Some of us like the strong, self-assured type."

  The corner of KT's mouth twitched. "I thought we were talking about doctoring."

  "I amamong other things." Pia stretched out her arm and ran a finger along the edge of KT's jaw. "You could work in the ER in Hyannis."

  "I've thought of it. I could probably work in the ER in Boston, too."

  "But," Pia reminded her, "you and I still have a long way to go on that hand, and I think you'll be operating again before the beginning of the year."

  "If that happens, I think I want to go back to the trauma unit." KT said it quickly, as if to get the words out before she changed her mind.

  Pia was silent for a few moments, and when she spoke again, her voice was carefully neutral. "That makes sense. You've been ther
e a long time, and that's what makes you happy."

  KT's head snapped around. "You make me happy. Being a trauma surgeon satisfies a need in meto do what I'm good at, to make a difference with my own hands. But you...you make me happy."

  Pia smiled. "I'm glad. You make me happy too."

  "Well hell, then. What are we going to do? You live here."

  "Are we talking about that future that you can't see clearly now?"

  KT laughed. "Yes, God damn it. I'm not comfortable unless I know where I'm going."

  "I want you in my future. I want to be in yours."

  "I want that too." KT's gaze was fierce. "I want you, more than anything."

  "Well, then, you'll commute. It's only twenty-five minutes by plane. Plenty of people do it." Pia edged closer, sliding her arm beneath KT's and cupping her palm on the inside of KT's thigh. She rested her cheek against KT's shoulder. "You come home when you can, and I'll be here."

  "I already hate the thought of being away from you," KT confessed.

  "Good. Then you'll be sure to come home often."

  KT kissed Pia slowly, enjoying the soft liquid heat of her mouth . "I love you."

  Pia snuggled closer "I love you too. That's the picture I see when I look ahead"

  "Yes," KT murmured. "So do I.

  Chapter Thirty

  R eese halted in the parking lot of the Wellfleet Sheriff's Department and waited while the driver of the Jaguar XKR parked, got out, and walked over to her. "Hello, Counselor."

  "Hello, Sheriff," Trey Pelosi replied. "Congratulations. I hear you got your man."

  "Thanks, but we only got a little piece of the great big pie. There's a lot more where Karl Smith came from, I'm afraid."

  "There always are." Trey shifted her briefcase and tilted her head toward the building. "I understand you also got a name for the girl in the dunes."

  "Is this an official inquiry?"

  Trey smiled. "Just a favor for the family. They don't want their son to live under a cloud for the rest of his life, and the less mystery surrounding the case, the better. I told them I'd find out what I could."

  "In the last three days we've interviewed three dozen of the kids we rounded up at the party Saturday night. Two of them recognized both the dead girl and your client. We made a positive ID this morning from information they provided usAngela Fisher." Reese grimaced and shook her head. "I notified the family as soon as I got a name. They thought she was living with a cousin in Boston and going to school at night. Maybe she was. The family didn't know she was missing, and the cousin assumed she'd just taken off with some 'dude' she'd run into somewhere."

  "So there's no evidence to suggest that their meeting was anything but coincidental."

  "Your boy's story holds up. In fact, no one remembers him doing anything heavier than drinking a beer. Nobody's going to be charging him in Angela's death."

  "Thanks for the information. I'll just put in an official appearance inside." Trey regarded Reese speculatively. "Why do I think you're overqualified for your job and probably wasted out here in the middle of nowhere?"

  "I can't imagine." Reese laughed. "Believe me, Counselor, I am precisely where I want to be."

  Trey's eyes dropped to Reese's left hand and the gold band she wore there. "I see that." She extended her hand to Reese, who took it. "I've enjoyed working with you, Sheriff. I hope we meet again someday."

  "Same here," Reese replied, watching while the attorney walked away. As Trey disappeared inside the low building, Reese had a feeling their paths would cross again.

  "I don't need a babysitter," Bri grumped.

  "You sure don't. You need to get your ass out of this house." Allie sauntered into the kitchen and rummaged in the refrigerator. Looking over her shoulder, she called, "Coke?"

  "Yeah. Sure." Bri flung herself, albeit gently, onto the sofa and kicked her feet up onto the coffee table. "Besides, Caroline has to go back to Paris in two days, and I don't see why she has to go out shopping now."

  "Ooh," Allie crooned, settling a hip on the arm of the couch and handing Bri the can of soda. "Someone's very cranky. Is someone getting bored? Is someone maybe not getting enou"

  "Cut it out," Bri snapped, but she was grinning. "You try sitting around here all day long with nothing to do except read."

  "Uh, well gee, hot stuff, I bet I could think of something else to pass the time."

  "Ha ha. I'm not supposed to..." Bri blushed, which made Allie laugh again, "...exert myself, okay?"

  "I'm sorry," Allie said, still laughing. "It's just that you're so cute when you're all out of sorts like this."

  "Fuck." Bri dropped her head onto the back of the couch and stared at the ceiling. "I can't believe I let that bastard get hold of me."

  Allie's laughter instantly disappeared and her face grew serious. "I missed it totally. I never got violent vibes from him. Who knew he was going to freak out?"

  "I should've been ready for it. Reese hasn't said anything, but she must think that I screwed up."

  "No!" Allie leaned forward and rested her hand on Bri's shoulder. "If it was anyone's fault, it was mine. I saw him come down the stairs behind you and head toward the kitchen. I just didn't think he was going to be that kind of problem. But I was your backup. I screwed up. Not you." Her eyes glistened but she kept the brimming tears at bay. "I'm so sorry."

  Bri's brows furrowed as she regarded Allie in confusion. "You were handling the front, just like we'd been briefed. You weren't supposed to be in the kitchen backing me up."

  Allie shook her head, refusing to listen. "I saw him follow you, but I was so focused on meeting the team in the front that it just didn't register. At least, not as something I should worry about. God, Bri, I let him get to you."

  "That's crap. We both had jobs to do, and we were doing them. There are some things you can't plan on, and he was one of them. He freaked out; I handled it. It's done."

  "I was scared, Bri," Allie whispered. "I was so scared when you got hurt."

  Bri reached up and took Allie's hand, squeezing it gently. "I'm sorry. It's tough, working with people you care about so much, especially when they might get hurt."

  Allie nodded wordlessly.

  "I think if it was you or Reese or my dad, I'd be really really scared, too. You're all special to me."

  "Caroline's got you pretty well trained." Allie smiled weakly. "You know just the kind of thing a girl likes to hear."

  "Well, yeah." Bri grinned. "But it's true. And I like us being partnered, so just forget about apologizing. It's part of the job, right?"

  "Yeah. It is." Her eyes clearing, Allie looked across the room at the clock. "You know, sitting around here is starting to make me kind of nuts. Let's go for a drive."

  "A drive?"

  "Uh-huh." Allie stood and extended her hand. "Come on. It won't exert you too much to sit in the car, will it?"

  "Ha ha," Bri muttered, but she followed willingly. Anything for a change of scenery. On the way to the door, she abruptly stopped. "Wait. I need to leave a note for Carre."

  Allie groaned, but grinned good-naturedly while muttering something about being whipped.

  "Yeah, yeah. Don't you wish," Bri grumbled back.

  Surprisingly serious, Allie answered, "Yeah. Sometimes."

  Ten minutes later, Allie pulled into the parking lot shared by the New Provincetown Playhouse and the Provincetown Martial Arts Center.

  "What's going on?" Bri asked, frowning.

  "I forgot some of my gear here earlier today. Come on in while I get it."

  "Who knows when I'll be able to train again," Bri groused as she followed Allie inside. Despite the fact that it was almost 9 p.m. and no classes were scheduled, a light burned in the practice room. Bri narrowed her eyes and looked around. Something felt off. "Allie, what?" She halted abruptly as Tory, in her gi, stepped from the shadows near the door.

  "You need to get changed, Bri," Tory said quietly, extending a pristine tournament-weight gi top in Bri's direction.
<
br />   "Whose is this?" Bri whispered, not even knowing why she kept her voice down. She did know that a gi jacket like this cost a quarter of her weekly take-home pay.

  "Yours," Tory replied.

  Bri looked in confusion to Allie, who was quickly changing into her own uniform. Then, not knowing what else to do, she stepped out of her jeans and took the new white pants that Tory offered her. Once fully dressed, she followed Tory and Allie into the practice room. Her entire class knelt in a single line along the edge of the practice mat. What shocked her into a stumbling standstill, however, was the fact that her father and Caroline sat on a bench on the far side of the room. She could feel Caroline's smile all the way to her heart. Her stomach suddenly fluttering, she followed Tory to the mat, bowed, and knelt wordlessly by Tory's side. Then, as she always did when she prepared herself for this place, for these moments when thought was abandoned and harmony flowed between mind and body, she placed her hands palm down on her thighs and closed her eyes. In some distant part of her consciousness, she registered the faint rustle of fabric and a whisper of air brushing past her face. Then, as if summoned in the silence, she opened her eyes.

  Reese, dressed in a similar snowy white jacket and black billowing hakama, knelt facing Bri and the rest of the students. Folded in front of her on the mat lay a black belt bearing the symbol of the dojo embroidered in gold on one end. She looked directly at Bri.

  With her eyes fixed on Reese, Bri placed both hands forward on the mat, fingertips touching, thumbs spread, and knelt slowly until her forehead touched the mat in the triangle formed by her hands. In response, Reese placed first her left and then her right hand in precisely the same position and returned the bow. Then she straightened, rested her hands on her thighs, and spoke while continuing to look into Bri's eyes.

  "We train for many reasons. For peace of mind, for health of body, for harmony of spirit. But always, we train for the moment when we will be challenged."

  Bri's heart pounded, and she was afraid that everyone in the room would see her tremble. But she kept her eyes on Reese's, one of the safest places she had ever known.

  "Sun Tsu said, 'If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. But if you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.'" Reese lifted the black belt and balanced it between her outstretched palms. "You have trained hard. You have been tested in battle."