Storm Force

by Meredith Fletcher

  For a moment, she didn’t dare look back. She watched the sea crashing all around her, steering the boat as much as she was able to for the open water. She turned toward the retreating wave, hoping to climb it fast enough that she could stay on top of it instead of getting swamped by the next one. The roaring sound of the plunging, wild sea filled her ears.

  Finally, she was able to glance back, heartsick and thinking that she would find only an empty deck where Steven and Hannah, and even Shane, used to be.

  Instead, she saw Shane, his arms wrapped tightly around her children, hanging on for all he was worth, his uninjured leg hooked under one of the benches to help brace them. They were crying and scared, holding on to Shane just as tightly. Then she noticed that Shane was crying too, looking from one to the other to make sure they were all right.

  He looked up at Kate. “They’re okay,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

  “I know,” she said. She felt the hot tears running down her face. “I know.”

  Shane got Steven and Hannah up and herded them into the pilot cabin so they could be out of the rain. He searched through the compartments and found dry blankets, wrapping each of them up to stave off the cold. They huddled on the floor, teeth chattering. But they were alive.

  Unable to stand any longer, his pant-leg nearly completely stained with blood, Shane’s leg went out from under him and he sat heavily on the deck. He started shaking uncontrollably.

  “What’s wrong with him, Mom?” Steven asked worriedly.

  “He’s in shock,” Kate said. “He was hurt really bad.”

  “Did that man shoot him?” Hannah asked.

  Kate nodded, checking the sea, then looking back. “Steven, could you look for another blanket to—” She stopped when she saw Steven sitting beside Shane on the deck, extending his blanket to cover him.

  Hannah slid over and joined them, holding out her blanket so she could share it with Shane as well. “You can have some of mine, too.”

  “Thanks,” Shane said.

  “Were you crying?” Hannah asked in innocent curiosity.

  Shane hesitated just for a second. “Yeah. Maybe a little.”

  “’Cause you were scared?”

  “Yeah,” Shane answered. “’Cause I was scared.”

  “You don’t have to be scared,” Steven told him solemnly. “My mom’s the greatest wilderness guide in the world. She’ll get us home.”

  “Maybe you should think about doing commercial spots for your mom.” Shane looked up at Kate. “You’ve got great kids.”

  “I know. But thank you anyway.” Kate checked the sea and it was mostly smooth, flat and dark ahead of them. She thought about everything Shane had done, all the things he’d said. Taken as a whole, it was confusing. Thinking about his ultimate goal of finding Desiree Martini’s body for her parents kind of put things in perspective.

  But in the end, she chose to remember how he’d saved her kids. And maybe she remembered a little too fondly the way he’d punched Bryce.

  She looked back at him. “Are you really an FBI agent?”

  “Yeah,” Shane said. “I really am.” He frowned. “I may be an unemployed FBI agent after this fiasco. Things did not go as planned.” He sighed. “Got any openings for a wilderness guide-in-training? I may need to explore my options.”

  Kate looked at him huddled there with her son and daughter. Her first instinct was not to trust him. She hadn’t been attracted to a man yet that she could trust. And she was definitely attracted to Shane.

  Finally she said, “You’re not much of a guide, Special Agent Warren. You’re too much of a hunter. You see the game trails in the world, not the whole world.”

  He looked a little sad, and maybe hurt.

  Kate’s heart went out to him but she steeled herself against those old familiar and untrustworthy feelings. She made mistakes with men. Now was not the time to start making them again when Steven and Hannah were going to need her so much.

  “Yeah,” he said finally. “You’re probably right about that.” Then he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

  By the time Kate thought of something more—something better—to say, Shane had passed out.

  “Mom,” Steven said.

  “Yeah,” she replied.

  “Is he going to be okay?”

  “I think so,” Kate said. “He seems like a guy who comes through things that would stop a lot of other people. There aren’t many guys like that.” But they’re not guys you can always depend on, or ones you should get attached to.

  She pushed that thought out of her mind and concentrated on getting her bearings. All she had to do was ride out the rest of the storm and find the closest harbor that was still operational. Reaching up to the navigation center, she switched on the radio.

  “—are advised to continue staying inside,” a calm-voiced newscaster was saying. “Most of Hurricane Genevieve has passed over southern Florida. Emergency squads continue to rescue people caught in the storm, but meteorologists confirm that we’ve come through the worst of it.”

  Yeah, we have, Kate thought, looking back at her kids. Hannah was already asleep on Shane’s shoulder. Steven, though still a little uncertain, smiled up at her. We’ve come through the worst of it.

  Epilogue

  Two Months Later

  Dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, and an unbuttoned, sleeveless green-and-white-plaid flannel shirt, her hair pulled back under a Marlins baseball cap, Kate swung the framing hammer and soaked up the warm afternoon sun. She finished driving in the last nail, then stepped back and took a look at the bones of her new house.

  Dozens of people had shown up to help her. Tyler and his father, fishermen and guides who were temporarily shut down till the storm waters finished receding. Even people like Jolie Meacham—who was the biggest flirt in Everglades City and who worked at The Stone Crab Pot restaurant—volunteered time. Several vehicles had gathered, and labor and tools and raw materials all came together.

  Kate had been surprised by the number of people who had shown up at her house. She and her dad had interacted with most of them on a regular basis. But she hadn’t expected them to help her. She thought part of it might have been because she’d become something of a minor celebrity in the community.

  Still, even with them helping her, the house was coming along so slowly. Kate felt like screaming, but she knew it wouldn’t do any good. There were just so many things up in the air at the moment.

  Bryce was working out some kind of plea bargain for turning evidence against Hugh Rollins, but from what Kate was hearing through Mitch Tomlinson, the local attorney she’d hired to protect her interest in Steven and Hannah, Bryce was still going to spend some time inside a penitentiary for insider trading. Permanent custody was one of the balls she had up in the air, but Tomlinson was giving her hope. But she was going through her savings putting the house back together.

  The insurance money hadn’t kicked in, and there was some question as to if, when and how much. She tried not to think about that.

  “Take a break, kiddo.”

  Turning, Kate saw her father walking over to her with an ice-cold can of tea in each hand. A red bandanna held Conrad Garrett’s hair back and the carpentry belt looked at home around his hips. The sleeveless gray sweatshirt was darker gray with sweat.

  “Thanks.” Kate pulled the tab and took a deep swallow. The tea cut through the fatigue, tasted clean and pure.

  Her dad sat on a keg of nails. “You know, baby girl, you might be pushin’ yourself a little too hard.”

  Kate sat on the ground in front of him the way she had when she’d been a little girl. “There’s a lot to do, Dad, and not much time to do it in.”

  “You took longer to remodel it the first time than to build it this time.”

  “I didn’t have the kids with me then.” That year she’d finally gotten it together, she’d worked at the house steadily, doing most of it herself, designing, framing and finishing. What she hadn’t know
n, what her dad couldn’t teach her, she’d learned from friends and from the Internet. Now she’d already been through the process once and this time through she had improvements she wanted to make. They cost money. She would have loved to hire extra help, but that would have cut too deeply into her budget.

  “You and the kids are welcome to live with me as long as you like,” her dad said. “You know that.”

  Kate sighed. “I feel like we’re taking advantage of you too much now as it is.”

  He shrugged. “When I’m out salvagin’, I’m not home. An’ when I’m home, I’m helpin’ you build your house.”

  “You do have a social life.”

  Her dad smiled. “I do. An’ she has her own place all to herself, an’ we like it there just fine.”

  “Yeah,” Kate said, grinning and feeling just the least bit envious, “well, maybe I should let you fend for yourself when Steven and Hannah want to know where Grandpa Conrad goes when he goes out late and doesn’t get home till the next day. Or later.”

  Her father had the decency to blush. He wiped at his face with a big hand. “You’re a hard woman, Kate.”

  “It’s a hard life.” Kate looked back at the house. “We’ll be done with the framing in a few more days.” She sipped her tea. “The house is important, Dad. My attorney says that when we go to custody court, it’s important that I’m able to show that I have a house for Steven and Hannah.”

  “Well, you can stay with—”

  “I know,” Kate said. “But the judge is going to be more impressed with me if I have my own house.” She corrected herself. “Our own house.” She really liked the sound of that.

  “Well, we’re not going to get it done sittin’ here.” Reluctantly, her dad got up, finished his tea, crunched the can and fired it toward the big yellow trash can nearby.

  A dust storm rose out on the single-lane dirt road leading to Kate’s house. She squinted her eyes and looked at the car. A knot of apprehension formed in her stomach.

  “Isn’t that your attorney’s car?” her dad asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Was he supposed to meet with you today?”

  “No.” Kate walked toward the road, tossing her own can into the trash can. She had to make herself breathe slowly. Mitch Tomlinson showing up unannounced and unscheduled couldn’t be good news.

  Tomlinson pulled the car up and got out. A blond guy with wraparound sunglasses got out on the other side. He wore a dark suit that was nicer than Tomlinson’s white seersucker.

  At first Kate feared the young guy in the suit might be Bryce’s attorney. Her stomach had spasmed over that. Bryce wouldn’t have his attorney come down here alone to get Steven and Hannah. He’d want to come too, just to turn the knife himself.

  “Afternoon, Kate,” Tomlinson called. He was in his fifties, a slightly heavy man with good hair and a friendly smile.

  “Afternoon, Mitch,” Kate said.

  “Well, I apologize for not callin’,” Tomlinson said. “I know you’re busy out here an’ what you’re doin’ is important, but I wanted to tell you the news myself. Actually, I wanted to be here when you were told the news.” He shoved a hand in the blond man’s direction.

  Then Kate recognized him. She’d been so intent on trying to read Tomlinson that she hadn’t paid much attention to the other man.

  Shane Warren took his sunglasses off and revealed those hazel cat’s eyes. He smiled, smooth-shaven for the first time since she’d known him. “Hello, Ms. Garrett.”

  Kate didn’t know what to say. The morning they’d made it back to Everglades City, Shane had been out of it. She’d turned him over to the hospital, then gone to check on her dad. By the time she woke the next day, she’d found out Shane really had been an FBI agent, and that his director had ordered him medevaced out to Washington where his office was.

  She hadn’t expected to see him again.

  “Special Agent Warren,” Kate said cautiously. He’d made a few phone calls when he’d come to, and a few off and on after that. He’d been polite, asking her how she was and how Steven and Hannah were. Kate had talked to him, but had always managed to keep the conversations short and to the point, and he’d been busy himself. The bullet had broken his thighbone. He’d had to endure a couple of operations and some intensive rehab, as well as answer lots of questions about his undercover assignment and how it had gotten off track.

  At least, that was what she’d last heard a few weeks ago. That had been on her dad’s answering machine. She’d had her personal phone number changed to avoid the media people wanting to know more about the Desiree Martini kidnapping. Desiree was looking at some serious hard time for the death of the maid in addition to the faked kidnapping and the wounding of a federal officer.

  “I’m the reason Mr. Tomlinson didn’t call.” Shane walked around the car. He had the trace of a limp, but he was probably still undergoing rehab. If he’d come that far after everything he’d been through, Kate felt confident he’d make a full recovery.

  “I suppose you had a reason.”

  “I do.” Shane smiled.

  “It appears that Bryce has decided to relinquish rights to Steven and Hannah,” Shane said.

  Emotion whirled inside Kate. She felt her knees weaken a little. She put a hand to her mouth to keep herself from asking the question that she was so afraid to hear the answer to.

  “They’re yours, Kate,” Shane said softly. “For now and forever. Bryce will never have any more rights to them than you care to give him.”

  Kate looked at Tomlinson.

  The attorney laughed. “It’s true,” he said. “I was prepared to run this thing before every judge I had to, here and in New York City. But Agent Warren showed up on my doorstep today with these papers.” He took a thick envelope from his back pocket. “They grant you custody—permanent custody—the minute you sign ’em.”

  Tears filled Kate’s eyes and she fought against them. She hated to cry in front of anybody. “How?” she asked hoarsely.

  “It appears Agent Warren has a few friends in the law-enforcement business,” Tomlinson said. “Evidently some of the organized crime bureau people offered Mr. Bryce Colbert a little forgiveness in a few gray areas, enough to save him a few years in prison, during which you’d have custody of the kids anyway, if he’d sign these papers I hold in my hand. Apparently, he jumped on it like a rat on cheese.”

  Overcome, Kate didn’t know what to say. She looked at Shane. “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure,” he said. “It’s the least I could do after everything I put you through.”

  “Actually,” Tomlinson said, “I don’t agree that it was the least Agent Warren could do. But however you want to measure it, he’s delivered on another kicker to sweeten the pot.” The attorney took out another envelope. “In this envelope, I hold a certified check for seven hundred and forty-eight thousand dollars. Made out to you.”

  “Me?”

  “It’s the finder’s fee on the ransom money you found out there,” Tomlinson said. “The insurance company had to pay off on the demand, which was one of the reasons Mr. Martini went through law-enforcement channels to get his daughter back. They were the ones who ultimately paid the ransom, not Mr. Martini. Agent Warren convinced them they should pay you the finder’s fee.” He smiled again. “I hear their agreement facilitated the FBI cutting loose the ransom money from their evidence locker a lot sooner than they could have.”

  Shane nodded toward the house. “After the flooding here, I knew you needed a new house. And I knew the insurance money was going to be slow. With that money, you’ll be able to rebuild.”

  “I can,” Kate said, dazed, not believing what she was hearing, “and I can make it the way I want to. I can put the rest into a college fund.”

  Shane grinned at that. “You might want to do that, because from what I’m seeing from the IRS and other agencies, your ex is going to be lucky to keep a roof over his head.”

  “You ask me, that couldn’t happe
n to a more deservin’ fella,” her dad said.

  “Amen,” Tomlinson added. “Nothin’ like helpin’ bein’ on the delivery end of a swift kick in the ass to somebody who sorely has it comin’.”

  Shane nodded toward the house. “Looks like you could use some help.”

  Some of Kate’s old warning system flared to life. With his haircut and smooth-shaven in a suit that probably cost more than she made in a month, FBI Special Agent Shane Warren looked like trouble she didn’t need. He was big city and she was small town. She wouldn’t make that mistake again, not after she’d just gotten custody of her kids.

  “We’re doing all right,” Kate said.

  Shane retreated a little. “I’ve got some time on medical leave, and some vacation time I’ve piled up. When I was a teenager and going through college, I helped build office buildings.” His voice softened. “I’d really like to help out.”

  Her dad nodded at Tomlinson.

  The attorney dropped an arm across Shane’s shoulders. “Special Agent Warren—”

  “Shane,” Shane said, dropping his gaze then looking at the attorney. “Just call me Shane.”

  “Well, Shane,” Tomlinson said, “that’s a mighty neighborly offer you’ve made. Considerin’ that Ms. Garrett does, in fact, need a lot of help, I’d like to accept on her behalf.”

  Kate opened her mouth to object.

  “Don’t you dare,” her dad told her.

  Angrily, she closed her mouth and didn’t say anything.

  “Furthermore, while you’re here, I’d like to offer you the spare room at my house,” Tomlinson went on as he guided Shane toward the house. “You’ll get breakfast in the morning if you’ve a mind, but after that you’re on your own. I don’t think you’ll find a better deal in town. Let me show you what Ms. Garrett is plannin’ on doin’ out here.” He looked back over his shoulder and winked at Conrad Garrett.