Page 59 of Wild Tempest

“But I will take a rain check for after the trial. How does that sound?”

She smiled. “That sounds fantastic. I will hold you to it.”

“It’s a deal.”

“What are you going to do for the rest of the day?”

"Catch up on everything that I missed while I was gone. We still have open cases to solve."

"Right. The world just didn't stop while we were gone.” Those big eyes gazed at me. "I guess I should let you get back to work."

“I guess.”

She lifted on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek. “Until that rain check,” she said, her sweet breath tickling my ear.

Somehow, I summoned my willpower and remained immune to her charms.

"Just promise me you're not going to cook up some scheme with Demi to go back out there and salvage the gold from that wreckage."

Her face tightened with a frown. "I was really hoping I could take care of my family."

“You’ll find a way,” I said.

Tempest thought for a moment, then nodded with confidence. “You know, I will.”

“I have no doubt.”

I borrowed Jack’s keys and gave her a ride back to her apartment in the Porsche. We said our goodbyes, then I returned to the Avventura.

It was the middle of the day, but I took a quick shower, then a power nap. I needed a few hours to recuperate, still not feeling 100%.

I woke in the afternoon, crawled out of bed, and pulled on some clothes. I stumbled down to the galley to find something to eat. The last thing I'd had was the beef stew aboard the Morya. That wasn’t much to speak of. My stomach was empty and rumbled.

I put on a pot of coffee, grilled up ham and cheese omelettes, and fried bacon. Why not? After what we'd been through, I deserved a good meal, even if it was closer to dinner than breakfast.

Brenda called. “You’re alive.”

“By some miracle.”

“I’m going to be really upset with you if you end up in my morgue one day.”

“I’m doing my best to stay on the right side of the dirt.”

“I have my doubts about that sometimes.”

I chuckled.

“I’ve got some information about that skeleton found on Whistler Cay.”

“I’m all ears.”

After she gave me the scoop, I figured I ought to call Teagan to touch base with her and tell her we were okay.

Teagan had lots of questions, and I gave her the short version of our adventure.

"I knew it,” she said. “I bit my tongue. I didn't say anything. Didn't want to be negative. But I just knew something crazy was going to happen."

I chuckled. "We went to the Devil’s Tide. Something crazy always happens out there. Crazy is normal."