Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 105748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105748 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
It didn’t last long. I returned to the med bay to check on Shona again. We still had to get our crew and the fishing boat back home in this gale.
With that thought, the world around me spun, my feet leaving me as the lifeboat capsized.
41. Taran
Ihadn’t spoken a word since the electricity cut out. Every now and then, I could feel Cammie or Heather shoot me a worried look. They’d ask a question, and I’d murmur a distracted answer.
The fact was that I couldn’t speak. I was afraid if I spoke, the terror would take over and I’d be fully captured in it. How that would manifest, I didn’t want to know.
None of us had a phone signal, so Cammie had retrieved Quinn’s hand radio set and radioed out for a response from Ramsay. He’d replied there was no update as yet.
“Okay, I think it’s time for you to go to bed.” Cammie sat up, gently prodding her nephew.
“No.” Angus belligerently shook his head. “No way!”
“Angus, it’s way past your bedtime, sweetheart—”
“No!”
The following tantrum pulled me out of my shell and back into focus.
Quinn’s kids were petrified, and my fear had to take a back seat to theirs.
“Hey, hey, Angus.” I stood up, placing a gentling hand on his shoulder. “Why don’t we all climb in beside you and we’ll read a story together?”
He scowled up at me. “I’m not five!”
“I know. But storms scare me, and I’d like the company. A story would help me.”
His suspicious expression softened. “We won’t all fit.”
“Why don’t we bring the covers out to the couch?” Heather suggested. “Have a wee slumber party in here?”
“I think that sounds like a plan.” I looked to their aunt.
Cammie gave me a grateful nod. “Me too.”
Not long later, both Angus and Heather had brought their duvets and pillows to the couch. We switched off every light except the one on the side table.
“I’m just about to start Dragons at Crumbling Castle.” Angus held the book out to me.
“You want me to read?”
He nodded.
Heart in my throat, I sat behind his pillow, near the light of the lamp, and opened the book. As I began to read, I found a haven in the storytelling, concentrating on creating different voices to liven up the narrative as a hush fell over Cammie and the kids. For a small blissful while, I beat back the fear in favor of soothing Quinn’s children.
I felt useful and needed.
Then the radio crackled, startling us all.
“Cammie, this is Ramsay. Do you copy? Over.”
Cammie dove to pick up the handset, almost dropping it. “Ramsay, this is Cammie. Do you have news? Over.”
The kids scrambled up from their pillows, eagerly straining toward their aunt and the radio.
“Lifeboat and crew have returned safely to the station. Over.”
A sob stuck in my throat as the kids cried out happily.
“Aw, amazing news, Ramsay. Thank you. Over.”
Cammie dropped the radio and threw her arms around me. At the sound of her relieved, muffled tears, mine started to fall rapidly down my cheeks and I shuddered against Quinn’s sister, trying to contain the violence of my relief.
42. Quinn
My patience was wearing thin. We’d returned to the station over two hours ago and yet we still hadn’t departed back to our families. Forde, along with Isla, was one of only four first aiders on the island, so they’d called one of our two island doctors out to check us over. I’d bumped my head when the boat capsized and had a few bruises here and there from where it righted itself again. But Dr. Stornoway was fairly certain I hadn’t been concussed and told me to be vigilant if I had any symptoms.
The reason we hadn’t been able to go home yet was because the police needed us to secure the fishing boat for their arrival. It turned out the crew were claiming to be victims of human trafficking. We shouldn’t have known those details, but PC William let it slip. The crew said they were illegal immigrants who had been lured to the UK with promises of a job and a place to stay, and they’d been intimidated by criminals into crewing a fishing boat as a cover for drug trafficking.
They’d asked Leth Sholas Police to check the boat, and by the expression on DI Paul Young’s face when he strode back into the lifeboat station, they had found drugs. “No one touches it. Once the storm passes, a detective and his team from the mainland will be over with forensics to deal with it. All right?”
While it was concerning to know our waters were being used in such a way, I desperately wanted to get home. “Can we go now, Paul?”
“Aye. Brave job tonight, people. You saved three lives. In more ways than one.”
Exhausted, I bid Ramsay, Tierney, and Akiva good night as I followed Forde out of the lifeboat station. The worst of the wind had thankfully calmed, though the rain still fell in slanted sheets. We braced against it as we hurried to our respective vehicles. Forde pulled me into a hug, and I gave his nape a quick squeeze.