Page 92 of Fire and Rain
It was a quick drive to St. Paul Harbor. Because it was a holiday, the place was buzzing, and many of the slips were empty. She walked to where theSea Nymphwas moored, clipped into her life jacket, and made ready to sail, excited to be out on the water again. It took about fifteen minutes and a small fortune to refill the tank, but that’s why she and Justin had kept a special savings account for boat maintenance and fuel.
Save all winter, sail all summer.
She ran the blower to vent any gas fumes, then started the engine and piloted the boat away from the dock, slowing for a cuddy cabin that was towing a battered skiff. She’d just gotten underway when she heard athunk.
It seemed to happen in slow motion.
The cabin door opened, and Charlie stepped out, pointing a pistol straight at her. He hadn’t shaved or bathed for days, stubble on his jaw, his brown hair unkempt, a stench about him. “Hello, Eden.”
Eden’s mouth went dry. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“You’ve been ignoring my messages.”
She would have reached for her phone, but he had the pistol.
Pulse thrumming in her ears, she did her best not to look afraid, her mind racing for a safe answer. “Yourmessages? That was you, Charlie? I thought you were just some rando, some pervert, and I didn’t appreciate the threats.”
“Well, you’d better listen closely this time. You’re going to get me to Homer, or I’m going to decorate your dead hubby’s wedding present with your brains.”
In a blink, Eden went from fear to rage. “Can you imagine Baba’s reaction to you killing one of her granddaughters, your own wife’s cousin? You’ll be a murderer and not just a drug dealer and kidnapper. Let me go, or they’ll come after you even harder. You must know that.”
His jaw clenched. “Look. I had no idea those stupid bastards were cooking meth in a boat. I had nothing to do with the explosion that killed those two guys—”
“One of whom was family to you, Charlie. YouknewJustin!”
“I didn’t mean for him to die. If I could have stopped it, I would have. I don’t want to kill you either.Fuck!” He closed his eyes and looked away, the barrel of the pistol sagging.
That was the break she needed.
She quickly lifted the flap and pushed the button to set off the EPIRB—Emergency Position Indicator Radio Beacon. She was the widow of a Coastie and knew her way around a boat. Justin had gotten every possible safety feature installed on theSea Nymph. The EPIRB would send a signal to a satellite, which would transmit her distress call and location to the nearest Coast Guard station.
Any moment now, they would know right where she was.
But she’d forgotten about the EPIRB’s automatic strobe. She tried to cover it, but the bright flash caught Charlie’s eye. He rounded the console before she could take a single step, grabbed the unit out of its bracket, and hurled it into the ocean.
Then he took her by the throat and jammed the pistol to her temple, his breath foul. “Thatis exactly the kind of shit that will get you killed.”
* * *
Sean wasin the shower when he heard a helo lift off. For once, he was glad not to be on it. He dried off and shaved his patchy beard, so eager to see Eden again that it almost made him laugh at himself. He remembered getting an email from Justin after his first date with Eden.
She’s incredible. She loves to do all the things I do, and she’s beautiful, too. If I had to conjure a dream woman out of the air, she’d be Eden.
Sean hadn’t understood then. He did now.
He’d realized somewhere over the Gulf of Alaska last night that he needed to tell Eden how he felt about her sooner rather than later. He’d hurt her yesterday. She’d told him she’d wanted more children, and he’d been so taken aback by the realization that she might want to have kids withhimthat he’d answered like an idiot.
You still have time.
That made him sound like a dude who didn’t understand basic biology—or one who had no intention of sticking around to do the job himself.
He’d never imagined he’d want to be a father. It meant added responsibility and a lot of complications to his already busy and complicated life. He’d seen how hard it was for Coasties burdened with families to move from place to place. Their kids transferred from one school to the next, never in one town long enough to make lifelong friends. When a person served in the military, their entire family served with them.
But Eden knew the score. She knew what it took to be the wife of a Coastie. And nothing about her or Maverick felt like a burden to Sean.
Yeah, love was a crazy thing.
Sean rinsed his face, put on a clean pair of boxer briefs, jeans, and a T-shirt. He’d started packing his overnight bag when his cellphone buzzed.
