“Oh, I don’t know about that.” Still smiling, he lifted the hand he’d held behind his back and fired the gun.
Brian jerked back as pain exploded in his chest. He staggered, fought to keep the world from revolving. And as he fell, he saw the eyes of a childhood friend laughing.
“One down.” Using his boot, he nudged Brian’s limp body over. “I appreciate the opportunity to fix the odds a bit, old pal. And the loan of the Jeep.”
As he hopped in, he gave Brian one last glance. “Don’t worry. I’ll see it gets back to Sanctuary. Eventually.”
***
RAIN began to lash at the windows as Kirby gathered medical supplies. She was dead calm as she tried to anticipate every possible need. If she was forced into triage, it would work best at Sanctuary. She’d already faced the very real possibility that the cottage might not survive the night.
She understood that most of the islanders would be too stubborn to leave their homes. By morning, there could be broken bones, concussions, gashes. The house trembled under a hard gust, and she set her jaw. She would be there to treat any and all injuries.
She was hefting a box, heading out to load it in her car, when her front door swung open. It took her a moment to recognize the figure in the yellow slicker and hood as Giff.
“Here.” She shoved the box into his arms. “Take this out, I’ll get the next one.”
“Figured you’d be putting this kind of thing together. Make it fast. The bitch is coming in.”
“I’ve nearly got everything packed.” She pulled on her own slicker. “Where’s Brian?”
“He was checking the campground. Isn’t back yet.”
“Well, he should have been,” she snapped. Worry dogged her heels as she ran in for the rest of her supplies. The wind shoved her backward when she tried to step out on her porch. It whistled past her ears as she bent low and fought her way forward.
“You all secure here?” Giff shouted over the pounding of the surf. He grabbed the box from her and shoved it into the Jeep.
“As much as possible. Nathan helped me with it this morning. Is he back at the house?”
“No. Haven’t seen him either.”
“For God’s sake.” She pushed back her already streaming hair. “What in hell could they be doing? We’re going by the campground, Giff.”
“We don’t have a lot of time here, Kirby.”
“We’re going by. Brian could be in trouble. This wind could have taken some trees down. If he wasn’t at Sanctuary when you left, and you didn’t pass him along the way here, he could still be over there. I’m not going in until I make sure.”
He yanked open the Jeep door and bundled her inside. “You’re the doctor,” he shouted.
***
“GODDAMN son of a bitch.” Nathan beat the heel of his hand against the steering wheel. He’d loaded the most precious of his work and equipment into the Jeep, and now it wouldn’t start. It didn’t even have the decency to cough and sputter.
Furious, he climbed out, hissing as the rising wind slapped hard pricks of rain into his face. He hauled up the hood, cursed again. He didn’t have time for the pretense of fixing whatever was wrong.
He needed to get to Jo and he needed to get to her now. He’d done everything else he could.
He slammed the hood down and, abandoning his equipment, began to trudge toward the river. He’d have to go a quarter of a mile upstream before he could cross, and the hike over to Sanctuary through the woods promised to be miserable.
He heard the ominous creak of trees being shoved and tortured by the wind, felt the hard hands of it playfully pushing him back as he lurched forward. Lightning snapped overhead, turning the sky to an eerie orange.
The wind stung his eyes, blurred his vision. He didn’t see the figure step out from behind a tree until he was almost upon it.
“Christ, what the hell are you doing out here?” It took him nearly ten baffled seconds to see past the changes and recognize the face. “Kyle.” Horror tripped over shock. “My God, what have you done?”
“Hello, bro’.” As if they were meeting on a sunny street, Kyle offered a hand. And as Nathan shifted his gaze for a blink to stare at it, Kyle smashed the butt of the gun into his temple.
“Two down.” This time, he threw back his head and roared. The storm empowered him. The violence of it aroused him. “I didn’t feel quite right about shooting my own brother, irritating bastard though he is, in what some would call cold blood.” He crouched down, whispering as if Nathan could hear. “The river’s going to rise, you know, trees are going to go down. Whatever happens, bro’, we’ll just figure it’s fate.”
