Heavenly Stranger

by Tina Wainscott

  “Sounded like there was trouble. I told Lila to stay put in case Maddie called and headed right over. What’s going on?”

  The boat was gone, the boat was gone. It kept running through Chase’s head, that and Wayne’s words about Maddie being in trouble. “I need to get on Allister’s yacht. Where does he keep the keys?”

  Patrick led Chase to the wood-paneled study. He opened the bottom drawer of the built-in bookcase, rifled through assorted pens and keys and pulled out the keys to the yacht.

  “But you can’t—” Patrick’s words were lost as Chase raced to the back doors and through the wind-driven rain to the dock.

  Xanadu was lashed tightly to the dock and decked out with bumpers. Chase unlocked the door and walked into the navigation station, following by a panting Patrick. Chase flipped the array of switches to turn on the lights and equipment.

  Channel 16 was already in use. A woman’s voice came through as though from a distance:

  “You didn’t murder Julie on purpose. Don’t you think the police will believe you? Isn’t it better that Patrick know she was trying to kill you, and that you had to defend yourself rather than him thinking Chase is a murderer? Rather than him knowing his father is dead and that he took an innocent woman with him? You’ll have both Julie’s and Maddie Schaeffer’s deaths on your head.”

  Then a man said, “Your death will not be on my head. I took the boat out, and you happened to be on it. There was nothing I could do about it.”

  His heart nearly exploded at the sound of her voice. “Maddie! And Allister. She’s getting him to confess to Julie’s murder.” But his father’s words sent a cold chill down his spine. “He means for them to die out there.” Then he heard a crash.

  Patrick’s face was drenched with rain and colored with confusion. “What the hell is going on, Chase? What do you mean, Dad confessing to Julie’s murder?”

  Chase grabbed the mike. “Allister. Dad, it’s Chase. Come in. We need to talk. Over.”

  Just hearing Chase’s voice sent a jolt of warmth through Maddie’s chilled body. Unfortunately, she couldn’t answer because Allister had the mike. It took everything inside her not to lunge forward and wrestle it out of his hands. And thus, probably get herself hurt. For now, she had to sit tight and hope his calm, as well as the storm’s, would continue.

  Not that it was exactly calm out there, but at least the boat hadn’t been knocked down in the last several minutes.

  “Talk to him,” she said in a soft voice.

  He stared at the mike clutched in his hand. “I…can’t.”

  Another voice, not Chase’s, came over the speaker: “People conversing on channel 16, this is the U.S. Coast Guard Miami, Florida. We need your position and a description of the vessel. Are you in immediate danger?”

  “This is Chase Augustine, Coast Guard. Please stand by. Dad,” he said more urgently this time. “We can work this out. Bring the boat back. Everyone knows the truth, but we can work this out. Give us your position. Respond, over.”

  Allister shot her a hateful look, though Maddie sank in relief that at least Chase would be cleared of Julie’s murder. If nothing else came of this, he was free. If nothing else…if she died out there.

  The boat shook under the constant barrage of waves, and she felt them get lifted up, then dropped again.

  “You had the button pressed,” he said.

  “Yes. So, it’s over. Now you can be a hero and face the consequences. That’s the only way to make it right. That’s true nobility, not dying out here.” She gestured to the boat. “And taking me with you.”

  Allister turned off the radio just as the Coast Guard officer started talking again.

  Maddie pulled herself to her feet. “Show your sons that real men take responsibility for their mistakes. And no matter what, Patrick deserves to know his fiancée was a murderer. Didn’t you raise them to respect the truth?”

  “I’d rather die out here than face them.”

  “But why? You have years to make things right with them. Didn’t you teach them forgiveness?”

  “I taught them how to be good men. Then I let them down.”

  She knelt at his feet. “We can’t die out here. Do you understand me? We can’t die!” She grabbed for the mike, but he pushed her back. She lost her balance and fell to the floor.

  “It’s for the best. A noble death. It’s for the best.” And he kicked in the radio.

  “No!” She threw herself at him, taking advantage of his one-legged stance. The boat had different ideas, though, and they both went tumbling across the cabin. More water poured in from the hatch. It wasn’t going to hold much longer. The pressure of the water was making the boat creak and groan.

  Allister had taken the brunt of the fall, smacking his head into one of the short walls. He was dazed, blinking to orient himself. Lying next to him was a metal box that looked like a toolbox. She picked it up, closed her eyes and knocked him in the head with it. The sound of metal against bone made her shudder, and she opened her eyes to see what she’d done. He was out.

  She hadn’t escaped that last tumble injury-free herself, she realized as she limped back to the navigation table. The radio was cracked. She had to fix it, somehow. She looked through the toolbox, then started going through the cubby holes and drawers looking for pliers. She found something even better: a portable VHF radio.

  “Chase!” she yelled into it after fumbling with the dials.

  “Maddie, thank God. Are you all right?”

  She would have relished the sound of his voice, but she was thrown against the side of the cabin again. “It’s pretty rough out here,” she managed a moment later.

  “I’ll bet. Where’s my father?”

  She glanced over at him. “He’s out of the way for now.”

  “Can you tell me your position? There’s a GPS—”

  “Gone.”

  “Why don’t you give me some good news?”

  “I get seasick.”

  “Oh, Maddie.” He laughed sympathetically. “I’ve been on another radio with the Coast Guard. They know the situation. They need you to count slowly to five and back again so they can get a fix on your LOS—line of position. They’re working on getting an FBI agent in to handle the situation, so hang in there.”

  She didn’t understand, but she counted to five and back anyway.

  “Okay, listen to me. The Coast Guard’s only going to get a general position on you. They’re going to send a cutter out to locate you, but they can’t do anything until they have the proper authority onboard. And it’s going to take some time to find you in this storm anyway. What we need to do is stabilize the boat. Are any of the sails up?”

  “A small one. The storm jib, I think.”

  “You know something about sailing.”

  She could hear the pride in his voice. “That’s about it, though.”

  “All right, has the boat been knocked down?”

  “A few times. Water’s coming in from around the hatch.”

  “Damn. All right, I need you to start the engine. I don’t know how much fuel’s in the tank, but you need to keep the boat turned into the storm to keep it from getting knocked down again. I don’t think you can afford to go through it again. If the autopilot’s on, you’ll need to turn it off. The engine may not last long. Every time the boat gets lifted out of the water, the engine’s going to whine, and eventually it’ll burn out. But we’ve got to take that chance.” He told her how to turn on the engine. “You’re going to have to go up on deck.”

  “Are you nuts?” she screamed.

  “Look for a life jacket in the cabinet by the companionway. There should be a line with a clip. As soon as you get on deck, clip yourself to the lifeline so you won’t get thrown overboard. Then you need to head into the storm. If that doesn’t stabilize the boat, we’ve got a couple of other options, like lashing the tiller or showing less jib.”

  Maddie looked up the steps and saw the waves pounding against the hatch. “Ar
e you sure you can’t just come save me?”

  “I wish to God I could, but not without knowing where you are. I’m afraid you’re going to have to save yourself. Hey, remember, you’re Maddiestein. You can do anything. Besides…” His voice sounded a bit choked. “You can’t die out there. I love you.”

  “You do? Like a friend, or…?”

  “Remember when you described how loving Wayne felt? That’s how I feel about you.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, really.”

  “That’s great, because I wasn’t referring to how I felt about Wayne. I was talking about you!”

  “Maddie…” He cleared his throat. “Let’s get you out of there so we can discuss this further. Now, get up on deck!”

  Fear and love welled up in her throat. Fear of dying wasn’t the worst; fear of never seeing Chase again was. She set the radio down and grabbed the life jacket out of the closet. Then she climbed the steps and prepared to enter hell again. Because if he loved her, she sure as heck couldn’t die now.

  As soon as she’d clipped herself to the lifeline, the boat lurched and snapped the line tight. She readied for it to break and send her flying into the foamy water, but it held. With a silent prayer of thanks, she grabbed hold of the wheel. Into the storm, she thought, surveying what she could see around her. Which wasn’t much. The rain blended with the sea which blended in with the black sky. She leaned over the side and watched the waves coming in from the south, then turned the boat into them.

  She could feel every bruise she’d gotten as she stepped back down into the cabin. Knowing Chase was down there, in a way, kept her going. “It’s still rocking pretty bad,” she said, not mentioning that her stomach was doing the same.

  “Okay, let’s work on the storm jib. If it’s not helping, let’s take it down.”

  “How do I do that?”

  He gave her instructions, and she climbed back up the ladder and brought the small sail down. It seemed to take hours as she struggled against the wind. Her fingers were numb, but luckily her brain was nimble as she went through Chase’s instructions. The naked mast rocked and shook its standing rigging when she was done. Maddie readjusted the wheel brake and went below.

  And couldn’t find the radio.

  The sound of the storm was louder inside the cabin. Trying not to imagine a huge gash in the side of the boat, she turned to find that the porthole above Allister was open again. And he was awake.

  “We’ll never make it,” he said in that dull voice.

  Disbelief swamped her. “You threw the radio out the window?”

  “It’s for the best.”

  She grabbed him by the shirt. “Then you get us out of here! You know how to sail.”

  “It’s too late.”

  He wasn’t going to help.

  “Fine, I’ll do it myself.”

  He tried to grab for her, though his motions were slowed. She took advantage of that and hit him over the head with the box again. He slumped back.

  “I’ve become a violent woman,” she said, but fear quickly replaced her anger and shock. Without any communication, how was she going to get this boat back into harbor?

  She wasn’t, not into the harbor they’d sailed from. Right now, she’d take any harbor, any land. The storm was heading north, so what she needed to do was sail the boat into the storm and head toward Florida’s coast. Which meant staying up on deck holding onto that wheel.

  She climbed back up and managed her way back to the wheel. The compass was covered in spray, but she wiped it quickly enough to get a reading. She could barely see through the rain, but she squinted and kept her eyes on the vast gray wall in front of her. As long as the compass maintained an easterly heading, she’d be all right.

  It felt like hours, and maybe it was. Every time they lifted up on a wave, the propeller whined. Then the sound was drowned out when the boat dropped down again. The boat fought her, but she fought back, and at last the wind and waves started easing up. The rain was a steady, but light flow.

  She pried her fingers off the metal tubing of the wheel. The pressure in her chest eased, too. It was still dark, but the boat was beginning to stabilize. She jammed her numb fingers into her pockets and felt the gold cross again. The edges bit into her palm as she squeezed it and thanked God for getting her through the storm. Now all she had to worry about was getting back to land.

  And to Chase.

  She wanted to believe they’d have a future now that he was cleared of Julie’s death. But if sailing was in his blood, she couldn’t compete with the mistress of the sea. She pushed aside thoughts of the future and relished the way her body melted in anticipation of being with him again. She had mastered the sea, and she was ready to master her future.

  Right after she threw up.

  CHAPTER 25

  Another hour had passed, or Maddie guessed it was an hour. Her watch face was obliterated with steam. She had gone below once to find something warm to put on. She climbed back down into the cabin, not sure what to expect. Allister was sprawled unconscious amid a pile of books and other clutter. She jerked some of the wires out of the radio and tied his hands behind him.

  She’d found some old shirts below one of the berths and gratefully changed into three of them before putting on the life jacket again. It was still dark outside, and a rugged wind reminded her that she hadn’t completely escaped the storm’s reaches. Bands of rain swept through every so often.

  When she saw the light in the distance, she was sure it was her imagination. It was coming from the north, bouncing up and down on the seas. Her eyes felt as big as the compass as she watched it come closer. That’s all she could do. There was no light to flash, no voice loud enough to penetrate the wind and distance. As it neared, she could make out the red and green lights on the right and left sides.

  Please let it be the Coast Guard, she thought as a large yacht came into view. No, too fancy for the Coast Guard. Then she saw a man racing along the front bow yelling something she couldn’t hear. But it didn’t matter, because her heart had already responded.

  “Chase!”

  It was too rough yet to tie the boats together. He threw her a line once the two boats were lined up and told her to secure it on her end. Then he climbed along the rope hand over hand. When he scrambled aboard, she threw herself against him so hard that she nearly pushed him back over the side.

  “Whoa!” He pulled her hard against him and didn’t let go for a long time. He said her name over and over, as though he didn’t think he’d ever get a chance to say it to her again.

  After the rush of feeling him lessened, she managed to ask, “How’d you know I was out here?”

  “First tell me where Allister is.”

  “Down below,” she answered, but she never let go of Chase. “He was pretty out of it last time I went down.”

  “You’re cold.” Chase cradled her face and smiled. “But you’re okay, you’re really okay.”

  “And you’re here. Guess you’re my guardian angel after all.”

  He shook his head. “You are your own guardian angel, Maddie.”

  “That’s silly.”

  “Think about it. All those changes you attributed to me…you made them. You changed. Nothing I could have said or done would have changed you. Wayne did send me here, but all I did was open your eyes a little. You did the rest.”

  She suddenly felt light and free inside. “You sound so certain that Wayne sent you.”

  He smiled. “I wasn’t sure the guy who sent me to Sugar Bay was Wayne. But when he woke me up tonight and told me you were in trouble, I knew.”

  A chill washed over her. “Wayne woke you up?”

  “In a dream. It was definitely the guy in the picture you showed me.”

  “You’re serious?”

  “How do you think I found you? I realized that if Wayne had sent me to you to begin with, and if he’d woken me up, then surely he’d lead me to you. And he did.”

  “There’s some
thing else you haven’t told me.”

  “I’ll tell you later.” He didn’t conceal his secret smile. He touched a tender spot on her cheek. “Did my father do this?”

  She touched it too, realizing it must be a bruise. “No, the boat did it. I’ve probably got an impressive collection all over my body.”

  “Well, we’ll just have to see about those,” he murmured, kissing her gently.

  A horn shattered the moment, bringing her attention back to the fancy yacht circling them. She was surprised to see Patrick leaning out of the doorway. “Coast Guard’s on their way,” he yelled. “Probably be another two hours.”

  “What did Patrick say about all this? How did he get involved?” she asked.

  Chase squeezed her tighter against him. “I’ll tell you all that later. Right now, I just want to hold you and enjoy the silence.”

  She guessed that meant she couldn’t ask him about him loving her, and if he could love her more than sailing. He squeezed her tighter and made a soft, satisfied sound. That would have to do for now.

  An hour later, the seas had calmed enough to lash the sailboat to the yacht. Chase helped Patrick get aboard.

  Patrick looked at the hatch door. “I want to see him.”

  It was the first time Maddie had seen his handsome face without animosity. Now it was creased with pain. “I’m sorry,” was all she could think of to say.

  Chase hadn’t gone down to see Allister. He told Maddie he didn’t want to leave her alone, even for a minute. But she suspected he just didn’t know what to say to the man who had tried to steal his life.

  Patrick climbed down into the cabin. He returned a few minutes later, his face white with stress and grief.

  “He’s still pretty out of it. He keeps mumbling about the nobility of dying at sea.”

  “Do you know…everything?” Maddie asked.

  Patrick nodded. “I heard the confession. Chase explained the rest during the ride here. I can’t believe it.” He looked at Maddie, then at Chase, running his hand repeatedly through his hair. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you. I…jumped to conclusions because I wanted to believe the worst of you.”