“What the hell am I goin’ to do now?”
He realized he’d asked the question aloud when LT answered him. “You’ll get patched up and then you’ll be arrested.”
Once again, he squeezed his eyes closed, wanting to shut out the world. Wanting to shut out reality.
“And who’ll take care of my wife and kids while I do time?” More hot tears leaked from the corners of his eyes to slip into the hair at his temples. “My parents don’t make enough to take on that burden. God knows Sheila can’t workandlook after the boys.”
He didn’t expect an answer, so he wasn’t surprised when silence met his question.
“How did you know we brought up the treasure?” LT’s measured voice cut through the sound of the silent screams inside Will’s head.
Opening his eyes, Will saw the severe-looking man had once more crossed the room to stand over him. LT’s square jaw worked hard on a piece of gum.
The truth would come out eventually, so there was no reason for him not to answer. “A week ago, Jace’s dumbass cousin, Bernie Lutz, told us you’d be haulin’ it up on the next king tide.”
A deep line appeared between LT’s eyes. “Bernie Lutz? Who the hell is that? And how the hell would he know—”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence when a hair-raising shriek sounded from downstairs.
“Go!” Olivia said when both LT and John turned toward the noise. “I’ll stay here and keep guard.” She held Will’s own pistol in her lap. And when he turned his eyes on her, she gave it a pat as a warning.
Not that he’d attempt an escape. Even if he didn’t hurt too badly to move, he’d never leave his friends behind.
After LT and John shot out of the room, Will closed his eyes and welcomed the warm, floating sensation that came with the morphine hitting his bloodstream.
He didn’t care who had screamed. He didn’t carewhyshe’d screamed.
In fact, he couldn’t summon up the will to care about much of anything.
He’d been desperate to change his life, and that desperation had caused him to do something that’d ruined it.
Chapter 24
10:56 PM...
John’s heart was in his throat when he burst through the open front door. Which was why Dana’s name sounded strangled when he called out to her in the night.
Julia’s terrible winds had cleaned the air, making the winking stars look brighter and the big moon look closer than usual. Their light highlighted the destruction left by the storm’s passing, but John was blind to everything but Dana.
She stood near the far edge of the porch. And when she turned to him, her face filled with chagrin.
“Sorry!” She lifted a hand to her neck. “I didn’t mean to scream.” She glanced over John’s shoulder when Leo skidded to a stop behind him. She included John’s nephew in her explanation. “I just went to step off the porch and…” She pointed. “Look.”
The fiery panic that’d singed John’s veins was extinguished as soon as he saw she was fine as a fiddle. Still, he needed to feel her next to him, which was why he threw an arm around her shoulders and dragged her close as he edged toward the stairs and peered over the side.
Crabs. Loads of them. Pushed up against the steps by the storm surge. Their hard, spindly legs madescritchingnoises as they climbed over and around each other.
“Damn, woman.” He held a hand to his heart. “You can’t do that to an old man. You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
Her pretty blue eyes sparked up at him in the moonlight. “I’ll be the second person to remind you today that you’re notthatold.”
“Hmm.” He grinned down at her. “You wanna head back upstairs and help me put that theory to the test?”
Leo made a gagging noise and John whipped around to scowl at his nephew. “What? It’s fine for you to pant after your woman like a steer in rut, but the rest of us aren’t allowed?”
Leo scratched his head. “Pant away, Uncle John. But you’ll excuse me if I don’t hang around for it. It’s kinda like watchin’ my folks canoodle. Sends a shiver down my spine.”
John snorted and gestured down his length. “Take a good look, boy. If you’re lucky—and I meanreallucky—this is your future.”
