Page 102 of Storm Warning

“Erika could have been the one to take out the helicopter with Sergei and the special forces team. I was supposed to die. So was Cole.”

The storm picked up with gusts fiercer than she’d ever experienced, as if it had been holding back the last few days. Gale-force winds were upon them. They raced to the truck and got in. The forces of nature buffeted the old truck, pushing it across the mud. Hawk gained control again and steered down the mucky path, then floored it.

“You’re a speed demon, aren’t you? Anything with wheels or wings or rotors.”

“I like that you know that about me.”

I do too, Hawk. I do too.

42

Guests had left the lodge, warned away with the nonexistent threat of a gas leak by bad men who’d come to abduct Remi, and so it was eerily quiet except for the storm. Dylan and Hawk had gotten a fire blazing in the fireplace, then they’d moved the sofa, positioning it to face the window. Hawk sat next to Remi, with Cole and Jo on the other side of him. Together they watched the storm before darkness stole the view within the next few minutes. Hawk suspected they all dreaded time spent staring at four walls during the investigation into the events. Behind them at the coffee bar, in desperate need of caffeine, Dylan messed with Shawna’s espresso machine.

Cole’s wound had been doctored and the bleeding had stopped, but he still needed a surgeon.

So they waited.

Someone from the sheriff’s department would arrive soon. An ambulance too, as soon as one became available. Hawk’s entire body throbbed. He felt every bruise, every cut. His head had started aching again.

But his heart was warm and full. Cole was here withthem, alive, and he would be well. His only real crime was taking Remi, but he’d thought he was rescuing her, protecting her, even from herself, when he put the plastic ties on her. She wouldn’t be pressing charges. Almost every occasion where they had thought Cole was to blame, Erika had fooled them all.

Hawk, Cole, and Remi concluded that she’d been planted to watch Remi and neutralize her if she became a threat. Then Hawk showed up and stood in her way at every turn. But she hadn’t killed Remi in the end and instead had chosen to take out Charles Whitman—he was the bigger threat.

Remi was safe for the moment, but Hawk would remain cautious. She had a lot of information in her head to share with important people who could take the burden from her. Hawk had spoken directly with Sheriff Thatcher and requested he work through his channels to contact the Department of Homeland Security—because Remi’s information had everything to do with national security—and they could then forward it to the DOD, the powers that be. It would take time to learn the truth and find the evidence necessary to charge John. It might even be his word against Cole’s, but Cole claimed the evidence of John’s connections and dealings with Charles Whitman would take him down.

All they could do was pray and trust that the device would land in the hands of the right people and that they would be left alone. Remi would be free to stay here at the lodge and never run again. Or travel like she’d always wanted.

He would give her time to figure out what she wanted, and then, if it made sense, he might ask her out on a real date. He was old-fashioned that way, and maybe he had moved too fast and jumped the gun a little with that kiss. But pressure cookers had a way of quickly bringing all the emotions to the surface.

“I don’t believe it.” She stood and moved to the window.

He instantly missed her warmth. He frowned, unwilling to move just yet.

She touched the window. “Don’t you see it?”

“The storm? What?” Jo asked.

“I could swear it was there,” Remi said. “One minute.”

“Gone the next. The ghost ship,” Jo said. “Maybe one day someone will actually get their hands on it.”

“Not likely,” Remi said. “That thing has been floating around for decades.”

Hawk couldn’t care less at the moment. Didn’t they realize that government agents were about to descend on this place? How were they going to explain everything? And what would happen to Remi? As much as he wanted this to end and was relieved that Cole wasn’t an assassin, he didn’t know what the future held for any of them.

Remi returned to sit next to him, and he put his arm around her shoulder like it was the most natural thing to do. She leaned against him, settling into it. They’d been running on fumes for too long now, and he didn’t have the energy to keep the walls up around his heart. Besides, there was no need. He would savor every moment.

Soon he’d be whisked away to a room to answer questions. They all would. Remi would be ripped from his arms, and even after only four days, he felt as if she had always belonged there. But he had to accept the fact that she wasn’t his and he didn’t know her that well. He didn’t know what life would be like getting to know her under normal circumstances.

But the date. A good old-fashioned date. Then they’d see where it took them. That is,ifshe said yes to a date.

Incredibly, sirens screamed through the lodge over the raging monster winter storm.

Remi stood again. “And it begins.” She eyed Hawk, a little fear in her eyes.

Cole remained where he was, looking pale. He blinked up at Hawk. “I’m okay.”

“I know.” He wasn’t letting Cole out of his sight until he was better, and frankly, he needed time with his brother. They needed to reconnect, and he would never let Cole get too far out of reach again if it was up to him.

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