Trapped in Tourist Town

by Jennifer DeCuir

  Her cell phone jangled in her pocket and they both paused. She pulled it out and checked caller ID: Amanda.

  “Hey, sweetie, what’s up? Some storm coming, huh?” Her smile faltered when she heard the panic in Amanda’s voice.

  “I can’t reach Chase. He’s not answering his phone. Something’s wrong, Cady. I know it.”

  “Okay, listen. You need to stay calm for the baby. Burke is on his way out to pick you and my parents up. We’re bringing you all into town to wait out the storm. Burke has no medical training, so let’s not force him to deliver a baby in the middle of a thunderstorm, all right?”

  The poor man’s eyes were wide as dinner plates as he listened in on her end of the conversation. Cady wasn’t sure whether to laugh at his reaction or freak out along with her sister-in-law over Chase’s safety. Her nerves were already completely shot.

  “Tell him to hurry. We’ll look for Chase together.”

  “Okay, sit tight, sweetie. He’ll be there in a few minutes.” She jabbed the end button and stuffed the phone back into the pocket of her denim skirt. Like hell were they driving all over Scallop Shores, putting their lives in danger to look for a police officer who was likely busy keeping the town safe. Chase would be furious enough when he learned she’d had Amanda moved into town, instead of keeping her safe at home like she’d promised.

  “She’s going to try to convince you to go looking for Chase. You take her directly to Kittredge. My brother can take care of himself.” She closed her eyes and sent up a silent prayer that Amanda’s worries were for naught.

  Cady pressed her fingers to the cool glass of the bakery case. She gulped in a long, cleansing breath. Burke stood half in and half out of the doorway.

  “I told you, I’ve got this. And Cady? I really do love you. Save one of those whoopie pies for me.” He winked and was gone.

  • • •

  Great gusts of wind, malicious in their intent, tried to push Burke’s car off into the trees. He gripped the steering wheel tightly, forcing himself to stay on his side of the road. Branches fell around him as he drove past, missiles launched from above. Though that was safer than the lawn chair that had come at him on Main Street. He’d been grateful the street was clear of traffic, as he’d had to veer into the other lane to avoid it.

  He was nearly to Cady’s parents’ house when the rain started. One minute it was dark and forbidding, windy as hell but dry. The next thing he knew, a wall of torrential rain slammed down. Scrambling to get the wipers started, Burke cursed a blue streak. Mother Nature sure was pissed today!

  The wipers going at full blast, it still wasn’t enough to fully clear the windshield before the next pass. He had to slow down as he peered hard through the glass. The Eatons’ long driveway was coming up on the left. A cluster of Oak leaves, still attached to a thin branch, thwacked against the windshield, making him jump in his seat. Heart pounding in his ears, he gritted his teeth and whipped his car hard to the left. The sooner they got back into town, the better.

  Even though he parked as close to the porch steps as possible, he was still soaked to the bone by the time he raced up the stairs and pounded on the sliding glass door. May opened the door and practically yanked him inside. Burke stood dripping on the rug, catching his breath. Compared to the raging chaos of the storm outside, the quiet of the cozy house was almost eerie.

  “Let me get you a towel.”

  “Don’t bother. I’ll just get soaked again on the way to the car. We need to hurry. It’s friggin’ nuts out there. Cady wants you guys all at Kittredge.”

  “She should have come here, instead. We could have waited it out here.”

  “Too many trees. She’s afraid something is going to happen, being too far from town. And given that drive from hell to get here, I am inclined to agree with her.”

  “Let me just pack Wallace’s medicine. Honey, get your shoes on. We need to leave.” She hollered into the living room.

  “’Bout damned time I get to leave my own house. That’s some storm, ain’t it, Burke?” Wallace shuffled into the dining room, a twinkle in his eye.

  They all jumped at the resounding crack and subsequent crash, as a good-sized branch bounced off the roof of the storage shed. Burke steeled his spine and gave Cady’s parents a grim smile.

  “Grab what you need and let’s go.”

  Buckling into the small car, the trio backed up the driveway until the fork that led to Chase’s and Amanda’s house. Fortunately, they still had power. But Burke imagined that was only temporary. It wasn’t quite noon but the darkness made it feel like closer to twilight. Lights blazed in the downstairs as Amanda waited for them.

  “I’m going to run in and get her. You wait here.” Burke barked against the roar of the wind.

  He was halfway to the door when he turned and went back to the car. His stomach churned and, though he couldn’t say what exactly, something just didn’t feel right about leaving them alone. He yanked open the door and reached a hand in to help them out.

  “Change of plans. We all go together. Let’s go!”

  They hurried up to the covered porch, raindrops the size of plums pelting them as they ran.

  “Thank God you’re here. Chase hasn’t answered his phone in hours. He knows to keep in touch because of the baby. Something’s wrong.”

  Amanda didn’t stop chattering as her in-laws and Burke pushed through the door. May slogged across the linoleum to the coat closet and took out Chase’s long rain slicker and slipped it around her daughter-in-law. Burke gripped the young woman by her shoulders, nodding his head as he listened patiently, even as his brain was screaming at him to hurry.

  A screech unlike anything he’d ever heard rent the air. His blood chilled in his veins when the unmistakable sound of breaking glass and wrenching metal met his ears. The house shook on its foundation just as the lights flickered out. Amanda screamed. Clutching at each other, they all moved as one, opening the door to take a peek outside.

  Burke’s car was crushed beneath a tall maple, ripped from the ground by its roots and now lay sideways across the driveway. Unashamed of the tears that flowed freely, he hugged May and then Wallace, kissing them both loudly on the forehead. They would have been sitting ducks out there.

  “You saved us, Burke.” May’s trembling voice came out in a croak.

  “We aren’t out of danger yet.”

  “We’re trapped. Chase is hurt somewhere and we can’t get to him because we’re trapped.” Amanda was fast becoming hysterical.

  He had to do something quickly.

  “Does Chase have a chainsaw? I need to clear a path so we can get out of here.”

  “Son, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but have you ever used a chainsaw before?” Wallace frowned, arching a bushy grey brow.

  “No, but I had never used a lawn mower before either. I can do this.” Burke stepped out onto the porch, only to be stopped by Wallace’s hand on his forearm.

  “You’ve got balls, kid. I’ll give you that. But Cady would kill me if I let you near a chainsaw, God help me.”

  “We’ve got to get the women out of here.”

  “And we will. Just have to go for a little walk through the woods, is all.”

  Huddled together, they left the house, descending the stairs and veering off for a path that Burke would have missed if Wallace hadn’t been guiding him directly toward it. Amanda was muttering under her breath, with May chanting calm reassurances to counteract the hysteria. They ducked through wet branches, dodged a few broken ones and hurried as fast as they could through the trees back to the Eatons’ house.

  “I just need to go in and get my keys in the house,” Wallace said.

  “No need. I have a set right here.” May patted the purse she held like a quarterback racing for a touchdown.

  Had the situation not been so dire, Burke would have laughed. He held out his hand and waited while she rifled through the deep purse. Wallace hovered over the women like a gruff old bear, his arms extended
as though that would protect them from the trees.

  “Ah, here they are!” May pressed the key ring into Burke’s fingers and rushed to help Amanda to the passenger side.

  Everyone clambered into the car and Burke didn’t even wait until they all had seatbelts on before gunning it up the driveway. Who knew how long they had before it, too, was blocked? The road was a barely passable mess. Wallace barked out instructions on how to turn on the wipers and where the lights were. Amanda curled toward the car door, crying softly.

  Lightning flashed across the sky, backlighting the dark clouds. Burke wasn’t sure if he was relieved or frightened when the deluge of rain quit as suddenly as it had begun, only to be replaced by hail. Now it was Wallace’s turn to chant a litany of colorful words from the backseat.

  “Hey, it could be worse. They could be the size of golf balls. These are kind of cool, actually,” Burke ventured.

  “Stop it! You’re making it worse,” Wallace snarled.

  They settled into a tense silence. Burke navigated the road with a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. Amanda studied the scenery as they passed, as though she expected to see Chase at any moment. Apparently they were the only ones foolhardy enough to be on the road.

  Pulling into the nursing home parking lot, Burke wasn’t the only one to thank his maker for getting them there safely. The rain and hail forced them to hustle to the front door. Burke guided Amanda, while he couldn’t decide who was helping whom as May and Wallace leaned on each other as they hurried up the walkway.

  The hallways were teeming with residents and unexpected guests. Burke discovered Cady in the cafeteria, presiding over her precious coffee urn. He imagined that in another life, she had been an Italian mama, happiest when she was feeding her huge family. That scene led to one of Cady in his new home, sitting down to dinner with their own large brood.

  She squealed once she’d spotted him, wiping her hands on her bakery apron that he doubted she even realized she still wore. She looked over his shoulder, trying to spot her family. He gave her a quick kiss and put an arm around her shoulders to lead her to the rec room.

  “The good news is we’re all here and in one piece.”

  “And Amanda isn’t in labor.”

  “Not unless her water broke in the time it took me to settle her on the couch with a blanket.”

  “Bite your tongue!” Cady swatted his arm. “Wait. Then what’s the bad news?”

  “My brand-new car is sitting under a giant-ass tree in your brother’s driveway. Flat as a pancake.”

  “No!”

  “It was wicked cool.” He grinned.

  “Wait. Did you just say ‘wicked’? Look at you, sounding more like a Mainer every day!”

  They joined her family in the rec room and Burke smiled to see Cady hug and touch them, reassuring herself that they were all perfectly healthy. Auntie hurried in with a handmade afghan, which she wrapped around May, stroking her damp hair before she took a seat on the couch beside her.

  “Cady, I’m not crazy. I feel it in my gut. Something is wrong with Chase. He would have checked in by now. Even just to text and let me know he’s too busy to call.”

  Burke looked from Cady to Amanda. Both women look scared spitless. The problem was, they had no idea where Chase was. He could be anywhere in Scallop Shores. Cady wrapped her arms around her friend. His jaw rigid, Burke turned to Wallace.

  “With your permission, I’d like to borrow your car and go look for Chase.” He put a hand on Amanda’s shoulder. “Do you know where he was the last time you spoke with him?”

  “He said he was on duty in the harbor. That he had to make sure no tourists were stupid enough to take their boats out with a storm coming up.”

  “It’s a start.” Burke stepped toward the door, only to have Cady jump in front of him.

  “Are you crazy? You can’t go back out in that. I can’t—”

  “Lose me? I’m going to be just fine. And I’m going to find a way to make your pain-in-the-ass brother owe me big time.”

  “Oh, well, as long as your motives are noble.” The half-smile she pasted on trembled slightly. She looked torn between wanting to keep him from leaving and needing him to rescue her brother.

  “I’m going to be okay. And Chase is going to be okay. Let me bring him back so you and Amanda can smother him together.”

  “I’ll call the station. Check again to see if they’ve heard from Chase yet. It’s probably so crazy down there that they might have forgotten to let us know. I’ll call you if I learn anything.”

  Her hands were fisted at her sides and he knew she was terrified, not just for her brother but for him. Burke had to do this. Because somewhere along the way, Chase had become his family too.

  Chapter 19

  Weren’t thunderstorms supposed to be over relatively quickly? Burke tensed the muscles in his neck as another boom rumbled around him. If he wasn’t careful, he’d end up a few inches shorter by the time he got out of the car. And this was just a summer squall. Who knew what he was in for when a hurricane decided to hit the coastal town? Or a blizzard. With a growing dread, he realized he’d really only seen Scallop Shores at its best.

  Getting his bearings, Burke headed east, toward the harbor. Now that he was in town, the damage from the storm wasn’t quite as devastating. Fewer trees meant fewer chances for downed power lines and broken branches. Lights glowed in the windows he passed, a sign that most residents were cozy and sheltered.

  But where was Chase? The guy loved a good joke, and teased him incessantly, but he would never go so far as to worry his extremely pregnant wife into an early delivery. Okay, technically it wouldn’t be early at this point. But Burke was damned sure that Chase intended to be there for every single moment of it.

  Slowing to a crawl, since he wasn’t going to aggravate anyone behind him with the road being empty, he scanned both sides. Chase’s squad car wasn’t along this stretch of beach. He hadn’t seen it as he drove past the nicer boutique shops in this part of town. Following a hunch, Burke turned off on a residential street. He took note of each turn he made, so he could find his way back to the main road.

  Burke was on his fourth right-hand turn. He was heading away from the water, uphill. How far was he from the middle of town? He blinked to refocus his gaze, as the windshield wipers were really starting to do a number on his vision. There! Parked in front of a little bungalow with a cobblestone walkway lined with rose bushes.

  Granted, this could be anyone on the Scallop Shores police force. And if it wasn’t Chase, then at least Burke had a new recruit to help him find Cady’s brother. What the hell was he doing, having tea at someone’s house? Burke sprinted from his borrowed car to the bungalow, rapping on the door and shuffling from one foot to the other as he shivered in the rain. Nothing. He pounded again, harder this time.

  He heard movement inside, saw a shadow pass across the window. Still, it took this person ages to get to the door. Just as he was about to bang on the door again, it creaked open an inch. A rheumy eye peered suspiciously at him.

  “Officer Eaton?”

  “No, but I’m looking for him. Have you seen him? He’s not answering his cell phone and his wife is scared to death.”

  The door opened a bit wider. An old woman in a ratty purple bathrobe held the doorknob in a tight grip. Her other hand was curled around one of those canes that had four prongs for more stability. She looked confused, and this immediately set off warning bells for Burke.

  “He’s here. Well, he came here. He was going to help me get LouLou Tomkins out of the tree.” She looked around, as though trying to remember something more.

  “Where’s the tree, ma’am? In the backyard? How do I get there?”

  “I must have dozed off. I’d forgotten he was here. Why hasn’t he brought me my LouLou Tomkins yet? My precious little boy isn’t used to scary storms. He’s bound to be terrified.”

  “Ma’am? The tree? How do I find Officer Eaton?”

  “
Well, it’s in the backyard, of course.” She looked at him as though he were the one who was confused.

  Burke closed his eyes, took a deep breath and tried again.

  “Can I go around the house or will you need to let me in?”

  “Boy, you’re dripping wet. You can walk around the side of the house, same as Officer Eaton did. Don’t come back without my cat.” And with that, she slammed the door.

  Feeling like he was in some sort of low-budget screwball comedy, Burke wiped the rainwater out of his eyes and jogged around the side of the bungalow.

  “Chase! Dude, you’d better have a damned good reason for hauling my ass out into this crazy freaking weather!”

  Where the hell was he? The yard was lined with mostly pine trees. Had he tried to climb one of those? No, wait, there was one on the other side of the house, lots of branches. Burke ran across the grass, slipping and sliding in the mud and the muck.

  Shit! He’d spotted Chase, lying at the base of the old tree. His leg was bent at a scary angle and he wasn’t moving. Shit. Shit. Shit. When he’d pictured this scenario, he’d figured Chase had run out of gas somewhere and his phone had died. Something they could laugh about later. He wasn’t laughing now.

  “Aw, buddy, what the hell did you do? Amanda is going to have my ass if I don’t get you to her in one piece.”

  Burke dropped to the ground, shook his friend by the shoulder and grimaced when he didn’t get a response. He slapped at Chase’s face. Still nothing. What to do? He wasn’t trained in first aid. Panic pushing bile up into his throat, Burke ripped open Chase’s rain slicker. A startled hiss and a flash of fur had him flying backwards in surprise. He recovered quickly and leaned over the unconscious man.

  “You try to give me mouth-to-mouth and I swear to God I will shoot you in the balls.”

  “Jesus, Chase, you scared the hell out of me!”

  “Yeah, seeing your mug leaning over my face wasn’t much of a picnic either.” Chase’s face was a nasty gray color and he looked as though he might pass out again at any moment.