by Ronie Kendig
Her heart thrummed like the engine as they revved it. She checked the gauge. Less than two minutes! Holding the sides, she waited as Reece rigged the prop to maintain full throttle.
He pushed her away, resolute.
Shiloh gulped but propelled herself away. Wasn’t he coming? Surely he wouldn’t try something stupid. Reece, please … She slowed her pace, the distance between them growing. Her heart staggered as another few seconds passed without him.
Like a rocket, the prop angrily bolted from Reece.
Relief swept through her as he launched toward her. Shiloh paddled her legs furiously.
The bomb sped through the distant, dark waters. Not visible, but deadly dangerous all the same.
Shiloh kicked harder. Up. Away.
She’d no sooner seen Reece's dark form glide next to her than a deep rumbling rent the serenity of the sea. He reached out and grabbed her. The concussion of the explosion tumbled them faster. Shiloh dug her fingers into him. With the near-centrifugal force rocketing them through the sea, there was no telling where they’d end up. At some point, the force ripped them apart.
Like a missile, she sailed up. Out of the water. And plopped right back in. Shiloh pushed herself back to the surface. Above water, she flipped off the mask, turning, searching. Where was Reece? Where did he go? “Reece?” Her head spun. Ears rang. She scoured the darkened water for him but only saw flames dancing over the tumultuous sea. “Reece!” A spurt of water hit her temple.
She jerked to her right. Where was he? “Reece?” Water hit her again. This time—she saw where it came from and grabbed at the spot, realizing she was getting gleeked, hit by a stream of water.
Laughter suffused the night. “Okay, okay. I’m here.”
“I can’t believe you’re playing around.”
“Why? We beat the bad guys. Defied death yet again. I daresay you might be getting Anubis a bit miffed.”
She laughed. “You really enjoy this, don’t you?”
“Beating the bad guy? Absolutely.” He waded closer to her. “You did real good, babe.”
“Babe, huh?” She wrapped trembling arms around his neck. “You knew I wasn’t going to help Sajjadi, didn’t you?”
“I don’t fall in love with terrorists.” He motioned behind her where a black boat pounded across the waves toward them. “So I knew whatever idea you got into that beautiful mind of yours, I had to trust you. No matter how much it killed me to let you go.”
Shiloh smiled at the man before her, a hero and guardian, just like her father. “So, guardian, do I get to be a star?”
“Why would the sun want to dim her brilliance?”
She laughed. “Kiss up.”
Reece grinned unabashedly as a strobe of light struck them. “If you insist.” He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. “So, I know this preacher …”
Epilogue
READY?” REECE GRINNED AT HER, REGULATOR POISED IN FRONT OF HIS mouth.
With a grin, she shoved backward off the boat, launching into the warm waters of Mumbai Harbor. An hour ago Reece had rushed into her flat and announced that a clearance for an archeological dig had just come through the consulate's office. The professional archeological team would arrive in two days. That gave Shiloh twenty-two hours to scour the site and see what they were coming after. The temptation was too much. She’d fled the apartment with him to the open water. Miller waited with Bronco and Stick. Because Toby had provided the information, he’d bartered his way onto the trip with Julia.
Three months after Sajjadi had been taken down and all she had to show for the nightmare were two small, pink scars. Reece called them her red badges of courage. She wagged her feet, propelling herself toward the ocean floor. Rumor of Greek pottery twenty meters below lured her deeper.
Reece swam into view, the blue glow of his shoulder lamp shattering the darkness around him. His presence spurred her on. He had promised to help her train for the Pacific Rim Challenge, but it just didn’t have the allure it had once held. She was right where she wanted to be for the first time in her life.
Another ten meters provided the first signs of coral. She took her time, surveying the area and videotaping it, so the team on the surface could track their movements and mark the location. If they did find something, they could come back with better equipment.
Five yards to her right, she spotted a mound in the silt. She tapped Reece and paddled toward it. It didn’t look ancient. As a matter of fact … She lifted the object, confused when a wide-mouthed jar in the shape of a monkey smiled back at her. What … ?
Reece removed the lid.
Inside, she spotted a black object. Too bizarre. She reached for it. Her fingers tracked over the black object.
His light flared into the jar and hit the box.
A jewelry box. She peered at him through her goggles, her heart stuttering.
He shrugged.
Shiloh lifted it and popped open the lid. A ring gleamed back at her with a princess-cut diamond. She widened her eyes. Looked at Reece.
He cocked his head and raised his eyebrows, as if saying, Well?
She catapulted toward him. He caught her and wrapped his arms around her tightly. They spiraled through the water in each other's embrace. After a moment, she touched down on the sea floor with Reece. He pointed to the surface.
Torpedoing upward, she gripped the ring tightly in her hand. Light fractured the blue-green waters, streaking out from the dive boat. Memories of months previous when her life had turned upside down darted through her mind, but she shoved them behind her. Her future felt promising for the first time. Reece had been patient, but firm and loving with her. Once-a-week dinners with her father had built the bridge to restore their relationship.
A school of fish swarmed around her, as if they, too, celebrated her discovery of the ring. His proposal. Yes, absolutely, she would marry Reece Jaxon.
She broke the surface, bright sun flashing at her. Regulator out, Shiloh wiped her face and hooked her arm over the grate of the rig.
Reece glided up next to her, his regulator already dangling down his shoulder. “Like your treasure?”
“You did this. Plotted against me.” She laughed as he swept her into his arms and kissed her.
“You ready?”
She frowned. “For what?”
He nodded toward the boat. “Now or never, chicken.”
She glanced up at the deck of the rig—and gasped. A white tent stretched the length of the boat and billowed under the teasing fingers of a warm wind. Julia and Toby waited with Miller and two of his men … and a man she didn’t recognize.
“That's Pastor Roy.”
She darted Reece a glance. “Right now?”
“If I gave you time to back out, you would.”
A slow smile stole into Shiloh's face. “I think you were afraid you’d get cold feet.”
“Not on your life.”
With one last look to the guests, she climbed up on the grate and removed the tank. “I don’t know …” She held the open box, admiring the way the sun caught the brilliance of the square stone.
Reece hauled himself aboard and unloaded his gear. He took the ring and slid it on her finger. “That belongs on your left hand. I belong in your life. What's to know?”
“Hey!” Miller shouted over a gull's call. “Are you two getting married or what?”
Reece cocked his eyebrow and held out his hand. “What say you?”
“Are you sure you want to be married to a spy?”
His forehead wrinkled. Then he blinked, the shock registering. “You mean …”
“My clearance came through this morning. I am seizure-free, and my synapses have regenerated. I’m good to go.”
Pulling her into his embrace, Reece kissed her soundly.
“Hey! You aren’t married yet,” Miller taunted. “You better hurry before this pastor gets cold feet.”
Laughing, Shiloh let Reece lead her under the tent. Her love and excitement burn
ed such that she barely noticed the loss of the sun's warmth beneath the white canopy.
Holding hands, they stood before the pastor.
Reece nodded. “Go ahead.”
Discussion Questions
1. The title of this book, Dead Reckoning, is a navigational term that means the process of estimating one's current position based upon a previously determined position, or fix, and advancing that position based upon known or estimated speeds over elapsed time and course. How does this play a key role at the end of the story? Have you ever been so intimately aware of someone that you have been able to predict their reaction, or even prevent something bad from happening?
2. Shiloh is an underwater archeologist with one goal on her mind. What is that goal? Does she achieve her goal? What does Reece say is the real reason she's in the region?
3. Do you believe Shiloh understands what true love is or what it means? Why? She makes a decision in Chapter 10 that could alter her life. What do you think drives her decision?
4. The Doctrine of Competing Harms comes from English common law and refers to the judicious use of deadly force when one feels there is a legitimate threat of bodily harm or death, or in other words, the lesser of two evils (kill or be killed). At the train station (Chapter 14), Reece is forced to protect Shiloh with the use of deadly force. What is it? How do you think he resolves situations like this with his faith?
5. Shiloh harbors a lot of anger and bitterness toward her father because of his life as a covert operative. What does the Bible say about anger and bitterness? Do you have any unhealed hurts or anger? Is there one thing you can do that would open the door to reconciliation?
6. Espionage operatives defend and ensure our freedom throughout the world, using covert and often dangerous means. Yet these men and women must use deception and sometimes deadly force to accomplish their objective. The Bible warns us against lying lips and deceitful tongues (Psalm 120:2), which would seem to suggest that the means employed by a covert operative is sinful, yet even King David used spies to gain the advantage. What do you think about espionage and the agents who protect their countries and put their lives on the line without ever being acknowledged or thanked?
7. Shiloh falls in love with India, a beautiful but pagan nation that predominantly practices Hinduism, a faith that worships thousands of gods. Although Shiloh does not embrace the beliefs of the country, she also does not embrace Christianity. Why? Can you relate to her hesitancy toward spiritual things?
8. Reece is a strong, heroic character who thrives on being the one to save the day. Where did this drive come from in his life? Also, what is it that enables him to cope with the gruesome realities of his occupation?
9. At one point in the story, Shiloh finds comfort in a memory long suppressed—her mother praying with her the Lord's Prayer. What verse in the Bible gives you comfort or has helped you through a particularly difficult time in your life?
10. How would you describe Shiloh's spiritual journey? What role does her father play in it? Why is she so determined not to be like her father?
11. At the opening of the story, Reece is still struggling with an event that happened two years earlier. What is it and why did it impact him so deeply? What similarities are there between that event and what's happening in his life now?
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