by Mark Stone
“Put your hands up,” I said, pulling at the casing on the bomb and revealing wires. “I need room.”
He did as I said, but his entire body jerked.
“I know you think I’m a horrible person,” he said.
“What I think doesn’t matter,” I answered. “It won’t stop me from doing my job.”
“He was going to tell everyone. He was going to tear apart my marriage, my family, and my reputation,” Gary said.
“Maybe don’t screw your kid’s girlfriend,” I said. “It wouldn’t be a problem then, would it?”
“You think you’re so much better than me, don’t you?” Gary asked, sneering down at me as the clock continued to tick away. I spied the innards of the bomb, a series of different colored wires. I remembered it being the same situation last time, when the woman on the other end of the line told me exactly the right way in which to defuse the thing to avoid Lilith and I dying. Of course, come to think of it, that might not have even been an actual bomb. Since Lilith had a part in all of this, maybe she just strapped herself to a faux explosive in some sick game of foreshadowing of what was to come.
Either way, I couldn’t think about that right now. I couldn’t engage with Gary too much either; not with precious little seconds left before this thing went off.
“I think most people are better than you,” I answered simply. “But I don’t think it matters. Bomb doesn’t care about good or bad. Both of us will die if I don’t do this the right way. So I need you to shut your trap, okay?”
Gary glared down at me. “Just do it.”
I huffed, looking at the mess of wires and trying to remember which to pull and which to leave. There were red, blue, and yellow. If this bomb was like it was last time, then I’d have to pull two of the wires in a specific order and leave the third alone.
Unfortunately for me, I didn’t have a clue which was which.
“What are you waiting for?” Gary asked as I stared, unmoving, at the wires and tried fruitlessly to search my memory.
“For nothing, I guess,” I muttered when I realized the timer had ticked down to ten seconds. I didn’t have any more time to wait. I was going to have to do this now, and I was going to have to guess.
If I pulled the wrong wire, I’d be dead before I realized what happened and, if I didn’t, I’d have another hard choice to make.
“Here goes nothing,” I said, and grabbed at the blue wire (my mom’s favorite color). I jerked it out and my entire body tensed, awaiting an explosion and the meeting with my Maker that would follow.
Nothing.
“Thank, God,” I said, as the clock ticked to five seconds.
“Wait?” Gary balked. “Was that a guess?”
“Sure was,” I said, relishing the fear in his voice a little. “Here’s another one. Wish me luck.”
I grabbed at the red wire, realizing I had a 50/50 shot of making it out of this.
“Wait!” Gary shouted. There was no time to wait though. The timer was on three seconds, and then two. Finally, as the timer struck one second left, I pulled out the red wire.
I wouldn’t have been surprised if it would have killed us both. Lord knows, I had dodged enough bullets in my life. It would have only made sense for my luck to run out here and now.
That wasn’t what happened though. The timer blinked stalwart at one, the explosion stayed, and the bomb disarmed.
“Thank you, God,” I muttered, breathing the biggest sigh of relief I ever had in my life.
“Forget that,” Gary said, his face brightening up as he literally jumped for joy. “Thank you! Thank you, Dillon Storm!”
“Don’t thank me too much,” I said, getting to my feet quickly. “There are still two things I need to do.”
“What are they?” he asked, stopping with the whole jumping thing and looking at me.
“This,” I said. Rearing back, I punched that son of a bitch right in the nose. I felt a satisfying crunch under my knuckles as he crashed to the ground below.
He looked up at me, grabbing his face. “That- that was one thing,” he said.
“Yeah,” I said, lifting my gun to him again. “Here’s the second. You’re under arrest for the murder of Sam Mayberry.”
Chapter 37
“How are you feeling?” Boomer asked, walking into my room on the Good Storm. He was all dressed up in his Sunday best; tux and bowtie. His hair was slicked back and he wore the sort of smile reserved for days free of things like murderers, explosive devices, and feuding family members.
And he should have. It was my wedding day, even if it wasn’t happening the way I thought it might.
“Feeling pretty good, Boom,” I said, nodding firmly at my best friend. “A little tired, I guess.”
“That’s to be expected,” he said, nudging me on the shoulder so that I’d push over and he could sit on the bed next to me. “We could have postponed all of this, you know? We didn’t have to do it all today.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “This is my wedding day. This is the day I promised Rebecca I’d make her my wife. I sure as hell don’t intend on letting a bunch of lunatics take that away from me.”
I thought about Lilith Mayberry, about how she expressed doubt that Rebecca and I would ever make it to this day. She thought we’d never last this long. She was almost right, but almost didn’t count. We were here, and we were stronger than ever.
“Speaking of lunatics, you did a great job out there on Marco Island, Dil,” Boomer said. “It was a stroke of genius sending Jack Lacey with that medical bracelet and having him hack into Joel’s new pacemaker. It led us right to them. They were both in custody within half an hour.”
“Good,” I said, though my voice was less than exuberant. They may have been wrong in doing what they did, but I understood it in a way. They were reacting (however wrong it was) to pain they had been caused. Sam Mayberry was gone, and they were destroyed by that.
“They’ll be locked away for a long time,” Boomer said. “As will Gary, thanks to you.”
“And Mayor Chambers Emma?” I asked, thinking of the unwilling accomplices.
“That’s up the District Attorney,” Boomer said. “I doubt either will get off scot free though. You know that Dennis Chambers told his father about the affair Gary was having with Emma? He said as much when we confronted him. That’s why they wanted him dead. Can you believe that?”
“I’m not sure what I believe anymore,” I said, nodding at him.
“Whatever the case, I’m glad you’re here, Dil. I can’t tell you how scared all of us were when we saw that boat slam into the island.”
I nudged my friend. “You should know it’ll take more than a little boating accident to get rid of Dillon Storm.”
“Don’t press your luck, Dilly,” a familiar voice said from the doorway. It was my grandfather, smiling like a cat as he walked toward me. “I’m not sure my heart could take another scare like that.”
“It won’t have to. I promise,” I said, beaming at him.
“That’s a promise you can’t keep, Son. But it means something that you’re making it anyway.” My grandfather looked over at Boomer. “Can I talk to the kid alone?”
“Absolutely, sir,” Boomer said, looking over at me and grinning. “See you at the end of the aisle, you lucky bastard.”
With that, Boomer walked out, closing the door and leaving my grandfather and me by ourselves.
“I really am sorry about everything,” I said.
“Don’t be,” my grandfather said. “I’m so damn proud of you right now I could bust.”
A wave of pride rose in me. “Thanks, Old Man.”
“I wish your mother could be here to see you,” he added.
“She is,” I said, my jaw tightening as I blinked back fresh tears. “I know she is.”
“I want to give you something,” my grandfather said settling in front of me. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a bronze looking necklace with a locket hanging from the center.
“Open that.”
I did as my grandfather asked and found a picture on either side of the locket interior. One was a faded picture of my mother, looking young and happy. The other was a black and white picture of my grandmother, standing in front of the first house she and my grandfather lived in.
“Those are my girls,” he said brightly.
“I can’t take this,” I said, tears welling up in my eyes.
“Of course you can,” he said, waving me off. “They’re your girls too. Soon enough, you can put a picture of Rebecca in there, and maybe even one of a daughter of your own.” He shrugged. “A guy can hope.”
“I’m gonna give you so many damn great-grandchildren,” I said, stuffing the locket in my pocket.
“I’m counting on it,” he answered. “Now don’t doddle. You’ve got a woman out there who is way too good for you. Let’s get this finished before she realizes it.”
He gave me a pat on the shoulder and turned to go. As he did, a knock came on the door.
He opened it, and I saw Charlotte standing there.
“What’s taking so long?” she asked, looking past my grandfather right at me. “You look good, Mr. Riggs,” she added, finally looking at the man.
“Thank you, sweetheart,” he said, walking past her and letting her enter.
“Come on, Dilly. We only have the priest for another twenty minutes,” Charlotte said, shaking her head. “You have no idea what kind of hat trick I had to pull just to get him here.”
“I think I do,” I said standing up. “Can I just say how grateful I am for all you’ve done for Rebecca and me today?”
It was true. With everything that happened, we missed the actual time for the wedding. As such, we lost the venue, the caterer, and the priest. We were a bride and groom with nowhere to go and nothing to give the people we loved who came to witness our union.
That was before Charlotte got through with things, however. After she was done, the Good Storm was decked out for the ceremony, and Rocco was on call to host a reception afterwards; complete with oysters, fried red snapper, and all. It wasn’t what we’d expected. Somehow though, it was perfect. It was just…just us.
“You don’t have to thank me, Dilly,” she said. “You’re you. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”
“That’s the truth, isn’t it?” I asked, giving her a hug. “Where’s my ring bearer?”
“Isaac is practically bouncing waiting to rush down the aisle,’ she said, grinning. “He can’t wait to have a brand-new aunt.”
“I can’t wait to give him one,” I admitted.
She blinked at me. “I’m so happy that you’re happy, Dilly,” she said. “But, more than that, I’m happy that you’ve found a way to still be in our lives. Isaac wouldn’t be the same without you. I don’t think I would be the same without you.”
I smiled at her, remembering something Justin had said to me.
“I talked to Justin,” I said. “He told me he proposed to you. He said you told him no, said there was part of the story you hadn’t told me.”
“Don’t worry about me and Justin,” she said. “We’ll figure it out or we won’t. All you need to focus on today is yourself and your beautiful wife. Promise me you’ll be happy. You deserve it, Dilly.”
“Thanks,” I said, hugging her again.
Just then, another knock came on the door. Charlotte walked over to open it and, when she did, I saw Rebecca standing there. She was in a simple white dress, opting not to wear the wedding gown that she’d be in when she was taken. It didn’t matter. She was every bit as beautiful.
“No!” Charlotte said. “It’s bad luck to see each other before the wedding!”
Rebecca laughed loudly. “I think we’re past that, Charlie.”
Charlotte looked from me to Rebecca, and back again.
“Fine,” she muttered. “But don’t let anyone know. They’ll think I dropped the ball as a wedding planner.” She winked. “You guys have five minutes. Any longer than that, and I’m coming back in here.” She laughed as she walked out.
“Everything okay?” I asked, walking to her.
“Perfect,” she said. “Absolutely perfect. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I wanted to make sure your head was still in this.”
“Every piece of me is still in this,” I answered, taking a deep breath. “You?”
“I don’t want to wait another second,” she said. “I checked my messages, the ones from the hospital.”
“You did?” I asked.
“You’re always with me?” she asked, crying and repeating something I said to her in the message I left, the one I thought would be the last words she heard from me if I died back there.
“Always and forever,” I said, nodding firmly.
“Good,” she said, wiping the tears from her cheek. “Now get your ass out here and marry me.”
I smiled at her. “Yes, ma’am.”
And that’s exactly what I did.
The End
Want to know what happens to Dillon, Boomer, Charlotte, and the rest of the gang?
Well, I’ve got some bad news for you.
Amazon won’t tell you when the next book is out!
You’ll be left wondering what happens in Naples to all your favorite characters, and that’s not great because- I promise- what’s coming up next is pretty awesome.
But don’t worry. There’s good news!
To find out what’s happening next to the Naples crew, all you have to do is:
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For more on Dillon Storm and his group of Naples neighbors, check out the sequels.
Book 1: Lost in the Storm can be found here
Book 2: Far From Shore can be found here. Check it out!
Book 3 Across the Sound can be found here.
Book 4: Caught in the Surf can be found here
Book 5: Buried in the Sand can be found here
And…
If you liked Cross and Anchor, check out their new Spinoff Series set in the Coastal Justice world. It can be found here:
Book 1: Crashing Waves can be found here
Book 2: Drifting Reef can be found here
Thanks so much and happy sailing,
Mark
