Chapter 43
43
TWO WEEKS LATER
The heavy marine fog hadn’t burned off yet as Remi walked the disconcertingly quiet beach. At least it was peaceful now that the series of big storms had passed. Normally, the wind would still blow hard and cold on these rocky shores. But maybe nature had run out of fuel after the last fierce display.
So Remi would savor walking on the beach while no one else had ventured out. All manner of seashells littered the shore, along with a few sea creatures.
The lodge had weathered the series of monster storms and remained strong and sturdy as it had for a century. Remi had contacted the geologist specialists to come and evaluate the new gulley created by the unexpected collapse near the Bluff Cabin, and depending on their assessment, decisions needed to be made. The Bluff Cabin was off-limits until then.
Guests had already started returning to the lodge to continue watching the rough seas and the crashing waves and to walk on the beach to look at tide pools during low tides. Watch from the window during high tides. King tide season was almost behind them.
She wished that was all she had to worry or think about, but it would take her a good long while to forget all that occurred, except she didn’t want to forget. She would always remember. Forgetting was overrated.
She’d shared all she knew about the device with the two men from the DIA—Defense Intelligence Agency, part of the DOD. She relayed the information Sergei had shared, including where to find the device. While he had been speaking at a university in Europe, he was able to hand the Tempest off under the guise of a research project to a trusted friend who then shipped it to the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where it was stored until Sergei himself could retrieve it. The friend had no knowledge the package she’d sent contained the Tempest device, leaving Remi as the only one to know its location. Remi could only assume that responsible parties within the US Government had recovered it because no one had come back to question her about the location. She’d been tasked with not sharing what happened with anyone else or she would be charged with treason. She wasn’t sure about that, but she didn’t intend to test that threat.
At least the danger surrounding the device had been neutralized and the Blackfire cell of terrorists would never get their hands on it. Andre Aslam—the same man Hawk had pursued and who’d died in the helicopter collision—had belonged to that same cell. John Marshall had been arrested for his efforts in coordinating international espionage and working with a now-deceased arms dealer. John had double-crossed his partner, Charles Whitman, who had cut him a deal to retrieve the device for him. In fact, he’d gone as far as shooting himself to perpetuate Cole’s role so he could be framed when the device went missing and Remi was ultimately killed. Cole and his military hacker friend had provided evidence against John, and it sounded like Cole was coming out of this with job offers. State and federal agencies wanted his investigative skills.
And Erika...
Remi shook her head and almost smiled. The woman had tried to kill her on multiple occasions. A week after Erika had shot Gordo’s helicopter down, killing Charles Whitman, she’d appeared in Remi’s room in the middle of the night. Remi thought back to that moment.
Heart pounding, she’d reached for the gun she now slept with under her pillow. But it was too late. Erika stood over her with a knife. Always a knife with this one. A sliver of light filtered through the window. Erika was a redhead now. Remi couldn’t see her eye color. She remained a shape-shifter.
“What do you want?” Remi asked.
“Relax. I’m not here to kill you,” Erika whispered.
“Why the change of heart?”
“You’re no threat, Remi. I’m Zarovian intelligence, and my job was to prevent our star scientist, Sergei Petrov, from delivering the Tempest device into the wrong hands. We thought you were a spy sent to learn from Sergei and that you were working with Charles Whitman, who planned to sell the device to a group called Blackfire. We couldn’t allow that. Whitman thought he’d killed me and left me for dead, but I completed my mission and neutralized him. As long as he was alive, he would always be a threat to not just my country but yours.”
“So, you don’t consider me a threat?”
“I learned directly from him that you weren’t working with him. And our countries are allies, and besides ... I think of you as a friend. Yeah, I was a deadly threat right in your midst, and I’m sorry about that. Sorry I tried to kill you.” Erika smirked.
Before Remi could say more, she slipped out the window. Remi ran to look, but Erika was nowhere to be seen. Remi could breathe a little easier for the time being. She believed Erika because she could have killed her while she slept, then been well on her way to her own country before anyone would have discovered Remi’s body.
Jolting her back to the present, a wave rushed up and soaked her to the ankles. The cold sent a rush through her, and she gasped. If she ever again ended up with the choice to help someone running from bullets, would she avoid getting involved next time? She hoped not.
But the biggest pain in her chest was Hawk.
He’d saved her. They’d been running from danger together and he’d been there to help her. She’d helped him. But she had a feeling that he was like that ghost ship ... in and out of sight ... always just out of reach.
After walking as far as she could before she’d have to get wet to maneuver around that obtrusive but beautiful sea stack, Remi turned around to head back to the steps to the lodge.
The heavy marine fog cleared, revealing more sea stacks. Crashing breakers soothed her soul, and yes, maybe she could make this place her permanent home. Remi had been surprised that Mrs. Monroe hadn’t wanted to dismiss her after the guests had been endangered because of Remi.
The woman had pished. And she’d poshed. Evelyn Monroe was as eccentric as they came, and she lived in an old Gothic-style mansion to prove it. Remi smiled at the thought.
In the distance, a lone figure emerged from the fog, walking toward her. She was still a little shell-shocked after the events that had knocked her over and into Hawk Beckett’s arms. Now that she remembered and the danger was over, she was free to fall for someone. Build a life together. But where was Hawk now? Not here. He’d just disappeared.
The figure had a gait about him. Shoulders like a lumberjack.
Hawk? “Hawk!” She was an idiot to run, but she couldn’t help it. She didn’t care. She picked up her pace, stumbling over rocks here and there. Was it her imagination or was he hurrying toward her too? She wanted to run right into him. Imagined him picking her up and swinging her around. Yeah, she was an idiot.
Instead, when she approached him, she stopped a couple of feet away and squinted up at him. Took in his kind eyes, his thick hair, and strong jaw. His protective demeanor. Warmth swept through her, then settled in her heart. She had it for this guy worse than she’d thought, after only four days. What would happen if she spent more time with him? She might be in trouble.
“Come here.” Hawk stepped forward and pulled her to him. He squeezed her long and hard.
When he finally released her, it was much too soon. Remi could have stayed in his arms forever. Waves rushed in and soaked through her shoes, the cold shocking her again.
“I’m surprised to get that kind of welcome.” His grin told her he liked that she’d rushed toward him.
“I was afraid I wouldn’t see you again.”
“I thought we had an agreement,” he said. “I was going to give you the grand tour in my helicopter and then you might consider letting me run a tour package out of this lodge.” He cocked his head. “You are staying, aren’t you?”
“Whatever gave you that idea?”
He shrugged and gazed off into the distance. “I don’t know. Just a guess.”
“Yes, I’m staying. And for your information, I ran this by Mrs. Monroe just in case you ever came back, and she’s in agreement. You can run your tour package if we keep it quiet and low-key. No advertising, per se. Nothing to draw too many visitors. The place is already booked from word of mouth and decades of families visiting.”
Hawk’s smile warmed her to her cold, wet toes. The shoes weren’t as waterproof as advertised.
“I’m good with that,” he said. “But I’d still like to give you a personal tour. You made the decision before I got to show you around during good weather.”
“And I’m good with that. But what about you? Won’t you be bored? Seems like there’s an opening at the sheriff’s office since Deputy Hunter retired.”
“I don’t know what the future holds, Remi, but I hope you’re in it. If you want to be. Do you?”
“What do you think?” She smiled.
“Then how about a date tomorrow night.” He angled his head and quirked his brows like he feared she might reject him.
“What about right now?” She smiled again. “We can start making new memories.”
Hawk’s grin sent warmth racing through her. He tilted her chin up and kissed her gently, then stepped back.
She took his hand and walked with him on the beach. Someone stood on top of the cliff and watched them.
Evelyn Monroe.
To Evelyn, Remi and Hawk probably looked like they had disappeared into the fog.