Caught in the Current (Pacific Shores Book 2)

by Lynnette Bonner

  A huge crash shuddered through the evening, and glass shattered. Adrenaline cinched up every muscle in her body. A wall of air hit her. Her hand slipped, and her forehead cracked into the corner of the fridge. She gave herself a little shake in an attempt to dispel the throbbing pain.

  She’d somehow ended up on the floor. Had she really felt air? Another gust blew over her. Yes. Definitely. The chill sweep of icy Pacific air, and the sting of slashing rain. Rain? She turned over slowly, groaning as pain sliced across her temple. Her eyes widened.

  Where the corner of her office had been only moments ago, she could see thick gray clouds, flying debris, and sluicing rain.

  What in the world…? Pushing her hands into the carpet, she stood and lifted her gaze to assess what had happened. She staggered a sideways step. And shook her head again. Surely she was just seeing things. Disbelievingly, her gaze swung back to the window she’d stood at only seconds before. The glass was now a web of fissures and jagged shards with a frame of mangled metal. But through one of the larger intact sections, she could see that one of the trees that should be standing tall in the back yard, was no longer standing. She pressed a hand to the ache in her head. “Oh, wow. This is so not good!”

  Her focus swung back to the missing corner of the house and began to pick out more details. Evening had fallen quickly, but the growing dusk did nothing to hide the serrated wall and splintered siding; the section of roof, and the large trunk of a tree with jagged branches that angled across her desk.

  If I’d still been sitting there… She swallowed.

  Rainwater was beginning to puddle and snake across the carpeted floor.

  She jolted herself to action. “I have to do something!” She scooped her hand back through her hair. What? “Think!”

  A tarp. She knew there was a tarp on the shelf in the garage. It wouldn’t stop all the water damage, but surely it would minimize it some.

  My computer!

  Only one corner of her monitor could even be seen. The rest of it lay smashed under a splintered beam and she could see sparks pinging off of something. The desk lamp?

  Electricity first. Then the tarp.

  She ran – tried to run, but her legs trembled to the point of near uselessness, and it didn’t help that she was wearing her favorite mint suede heels – down the hall toward the breaker box. She flung it open, feeling pain zing across a couple fingers. Where was the main switch? Daddy had always said in an emergency to throw the main breaker. This box didn’t seem to have one. Of course it didn’t. This house was as ancient as the tree that had just tried to kill it. She gritted her teeth and quickly began switching everything off.

  It wasn’t till she got to the fuse that turned off the hallway lights that she realized she had no flashlight. She turned it back on and quickly dashed back down the hallway to her office. When she jogged inside, her feet splashed against soggy carpet.

  Hurry!

  She yanked open the drawer next to the coffee maker and snatched out the flashlight, then ran back to the fuse box. She finished throwing all the switches and then darted down the hall following the beam of her flashlight toward the garage and the tarp and ladder kept there.

  She would have to open the garage door manually. Maybe she should run out to assess the damage first so she would know what she would need to bring with her. She yanked on the cord to disengage the carriage from the garage door motor and then heaved up on the garage door. It groaned and rattled as it trundled upward, and before it was even half way open, rain was slashing into the garage.

  She hesitated. Might as well keep as much of the water outside as possible. Leaving the door where it was she ducked under it.

  A man loomed in front of her – a dark bulky shape against the gray of the sky.

  She screeched and swung hard with the flashlight.

  But the man was quick and ducked inside it. He gripped her shoulders and gave her a slight shake. “Dakota, it’s okay. It’s just me. Justus Teague. Reece’s friend. We met several months back. Do you remember?” He pulled her back under the overhang of the eves.

  Dakota swallowed. Did she remember. How could she forget meeting a man she’d called “calendar worthy” when she thought he wasn’t around, only have him overhear it and tease her about it?

  Despite the chill of the wind and the pelts of rain that managed to find them in their meager shelter, she felt her face heat. “Ju-Justus.” It didn’t matter that she’d been plotting all week how she would avoid him once he arrived in town for the wedding. She was just glad to see someone. “I’m glad someone is here. Can you help me? I need to—I’m not even sure what’s happened—I was just running out to look. There was a crash, and rain, and sparks, and—” Words failed her, but her mind seemed to be working overtime. What was he doing here? Even if Reece and Marie had sent him, they hadn’t planned to stop by for another hour.

  Lightning flashed and Justus took her chin firmly in one hand and canted her head to an angle.

  Dakota held her breath, chastising herself for continuing to feel attraction for the man at this most inappropriate of moments.

  Concerned gaze fixed on her forehead, he slid his hand down her arm and pried the flashlight from her fingers. He lifted it and shone it just above her left eye. One of his brows quirked upward.

  She angled her gaze up to see what had drawn his attention. The beam of the flashlight illuminated a stream of red rain dripping from one of her eyebrows. She must have a little cut from where she’d hit her head on the fridge.

  But she could deal with that later. They were wasting time here. She pushed his hands away from her face. “There’s a hole in the ceiling. We need to get a tarp over it. But I need to go see the damage first.” She made to dash past him even as sirens sounded just around the corner on Sand Dollar Lane.

  He gripped her arm firmly and held her in place. “You aren’t going anywhere. Let the fire crew take care of that for you. They’ll have all the equipment to do what needs to be done. And they’re nearly here. You need to be looked at by the medic.”

  Dakota shuddered. She hadn’t even thought to call a fire department. On the mission field, where she’d grown up, you took care of your own emergencies when they happened. Her forehead throbbed and she touched it. “I didn’t even think—how did they know?” Every thought she searched for seemed buried in mud.

  Justus’s hands felt warm and comforting against her damp shoulders. “It’s okay. I called them. Is there anyone else in the house?”

  She shook her head. “No. I’m the only one here right now.” She glanced toward the corner of the house where her office was. She couldn’t quite see the extent of the damage to this front side of the house in the darkness, but what she could see didn’t look good. And she didn’t know how she would finagle a tarp around those up-thrust branches. She hadn’t thought about maybe needing a saw as well.

  Hopelessness begged for entrance. Her shoulders slumped. Fine, if the firemen would do that for her that would be great. It wasn’t like she was dressed for roof rescue at the moment, anyhow. Her black, calf-length wrap skirt probably wasn’t the best thing to be climbing ladders in. She turned back for the garage. “Let me just grab them the tarp.”

  He followed her inside, but she realized he still had the flashlight when he took her arm and shone the light on a big metal tool box. “You sit there.”

  “I have to—”

  “Dakota, it’s too late for the house. It’s not too late for you. Sit.”

  There was an edge of something in his voice that made her follow his instructions.

  “Thank you. Be right back. Don’t move.” He disappeared into the house.

  The exasperating man had taken her only light. But it only took that moment of sitting to recognize that she was trembling from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She pressed her quaking hands between her knees and winced as pain took a leisurely stroll through her wrist. She tucked her lower lip into her mouth and chose instead to cradle h
er arm against her chest.

  She closed her eyes and saw again the tree toppled over her smashed desk. The orange sparks arcing into the darkness.

  Would insurance cover something like this? Would the church hold her responsible? Was there something she could have done? Should she have insisted the trees be inspected when she took over the ministry for Marinville Assembly? She’d only been working this job on her own for two weeks. Before that she’d let LoriMay handle all that sort of thing.

  Still cradling her wrist, she leaned forward and pressed her forehead into her knees.

  She shuddered as she remembered Justus’ question about other people. Thankfully Riley was the only resident living here right now, and she’d gone with Marie to run wedding errands.

  Riley. Tears threatened. Women like her were the reason it was so important to keep this place running. And as if she wasn’t carrying a big enough burden trying to figure out how to keep House of Hope afloat, she had no idea how she was going to be able to help Riley. Dakota had only been working here a few weeks, and Riley was the first woman she’d ministered to who had lost so much. And LoriMay had up and left only a week after Riley moved in. That had been two weeks ago.

  Dakota had no experience helping a woman who’d been beaten by her husband so badly that she’d lost her pregnancy of six months. She had no experience at keeping a passive expression when looking into an eye where the sclera was totally red due to the fist that had burst the vessels there. Riley’s broken arm and ribs Dakota could deal with. There were doctors and prescriptions, and heaven knew she certainly had her fair share of nursing experience. It was the wounds left on Riley’s heart she was having a hard time figuring out how to heal.

  A hand touched her shoulder, and jolted her back to the present. Justus squatted in front of her.

  As she sat up something stung her eye and she swiped at it.

  Justus moved her fingers away from the area and pressed a soft cloth to her forehead. “Hold this.” He guided her hand back to press the cloth in place, then squeezed her shoulder. He set the flashlight on the floor beside her, the light spilling across the concrete floor. “Stay put for a couple more minutes while I get a paramedic to look at you, okay?” He jogged toward the half open garage door before she could even give a response.

  She nodded, but she needed to get the tarp or the rain was going to ruin the flooring in the entire house. So, as soon as he was out of sight, she stood. Dizziness drained through her and she bumbled a couple of steps and threw her arms wide to catch her balance.

  Chapter 2

  Justus ducked out into the rain and jogged toward the paramedics who were just exiting their vehicle. “I’ve got one person injured,” he yelled through the rain and wind. When the paramedic looked up, he could tell the man hadn’t heard his exact words. He pointed to the garage and motioned for the man to follow, then turned and ran back toward Dakota.

  As he ran up the drive, he tossed a glance at the huge tree thrusting across the roof from the back yard. A shudder quaked through him. He’d been driving down the street when he’d seen the tree give way before the wind. He was in town for Reece and Marie’s wedding on Saturday and they’d forgotten they had an appointment with the minister this evening, so had asked if he minded picking Dakota up. He hadn’t minded in the least and in fact had headed this way a little early, looking forward to seeing her again – probably more than he’d been willing to admit to himself until he’d seen that nasty gash on her forehead, and witnessed her determination to do all in her power to lessen the damage to the house. He was so glad someone had been here to stop her from climbing up onto that roof in her condition. The gash on her head was definitely going to need stitches and maybe would even cause a bit of a concussion.

  He ducked back under the garage door. Dakota had apparently tried to move because she was now sitting in the middle of the garage instead of on the tool box where he’d left her. Even as he watched she unsteadily tried to stand again. “Whoa!” He lurched forward, gripped her shoulders, and guided her back onto the tool chest. Those crazy high heels she was in weren’t doing her any favors. He heard the paramedics enter behind them. “You’re hurt worse than you realize. But the paramedics are here. Just let them have a look at you, okay?”

  A guy with Marinville Fire and Rescue emblazoned on the front of his jumper, squatted before her with a med. kit. He pulled a small pen light from his pocket and peered into Dakota’s face. “Hi there. My name is Pete. And this is my partner, Joel. We’re just going to do a quick assessment to make sure you are safe, okay? What’s your name?” He eased the cloth she still pressed to her forehead away and gently set her hand into her lap.

  “D-Dakota.”

  Justus eased out a breath. At least she still remembered her own name. He started to move back out of their way but Dakota shot out one hand and gripped his arm. Her fingers slid over his forearm till they found his own. Her small hand trembled in his grasp. He swallowed and in that moment he wouldn’t have moved for a million dollars. “I’m not going anywhere, just let them look at you.”

  The first paramedic shone his light into her pupils. Over the still bleeding gash on her forehead, and then down to the wrist she held gingerly in her lap.

  Justus pulled in a breath. Her arm was blue and swollen.

  The paramedic named Luke kept speaking to Dakota in a calming tone, even while he pulled bandages and gauze from his kit and spouted some medical jargon to his partner. It was the words “overnight observation” that set Justus’ heart to thumping so hard he was afraid the medics would hear it and turn to examining him, next. His hand tightened of its own volition around Dakota’s.

  Lord, haven’t I had enough of ambulances and hospitals for a lifetime?

  He forced the memories that tugged for his attention to the back of his mind and concentrated on the here and now.

  Blood streaked one side of Dakota’s hair, turning the long blonde tresses into a dark matted clump. Even though a white bandage now compressed the wound, he could see blood already seeping through it. As the medic lifted her arm to examine it more carefully, she tucked her lower lip into her mouth and scrunched her eyes closed.

  His stomach clenched. Would that he could save her from the pain.

  Outside the sound of firefighters clomping through the yard and yelling to one another over the wind could be heard. Justus dropped his head down, staring at the blackness between his knees. The flash of another night so similar to this would no longer be abated. A night with so much more blood. So much more tragedy. So much more evil. A night filled with police, a man hunt, and a boy-not-quite-turned-man who had so much of his life left ahead of him, but so much revenge filling his heart.

  He clenched his jaw and wrenched himself back to the present in time to hear…

  “Would you like your boyfriend to accompany you on the ride to the hospital?”

  Dakota’s gaze flashed to his, her eyes widening. “No, I’m fine. I can get myself there.”

  The medic shifted in an uneasy way that raised Justus’ concern several notches. “I’d really like to encourage you to ride in the ambulance. We’d like to stabilize your arm a little better, and keep a careful watch on your head wound there.” The man tilted her a smile, that tightened something inside of Justus. “Riding with us won’t be so bad. Joel might even tell you a few jokes along the way.” The man chuckled and despite his annoyance over the slight flirtation, Justus appreciated his attempt to lighten the situation.

  Both medics had eyed the structure overhead a few times and he knew they were considering the soundness of the building since the other end had been smashed by the tree.

  Justus didn’t bother correcting their misperception over his relationship with Dakota. He wouldn’t abandon her for anything, but he was going to need his wheels once he got to the hospital. “You should ride in the ambulance. I can’t have you getting blood all over the inside of my Z3.” He winked at her. “Will you be okay if I follow right behind you t
o the hospital?”

  “O-of course.”

  The paramedics both scowled like he was the lowest form of humanity.

  But it wasn’t them who changed his mind. It was the disappointment he saw flash through Dakota’s eyes. He tilted his head and squeezed her fingers gently. “Never mind. It’s fine. I’ll just leave my car here and ride with you.”

  “No. It’s okay. You don’t have to.” A frown pinched her brow.

  “It will be fine. I’ll just have Jalen drive it over for me later.”

  “Jalen?”

  He brushed off her question. He could explain all about Jalen and why he was here later. If he himself could figure out why Jalen was here, that was. “Let’s just get you to the hospital, okay?”

  “Wait, what about the hole in the roof? The flooring will be ruined if we don’t cover it.”

  Justus almost chuckled at her worry over the crazy tarp. Instead, he touched her shoulder. “Let’s just worry about you first. Besides, a single tarp isn’t going to be able to cover that hole out there.”

  She swallowed. “It’s just…I’m responsible.”

  He was stirred by her concern. “I know. But there’s nothing you can do about a tree falling on the house. Right now the best thing you can do is to get yourself better. You can deal with the damages later, alright?” He gently prodded her to her feet.

  The paramedics rolled a gurney near her and helped her climb onto it. And as Justus followed her into the back of the ambulance he cast one more glance toward the house. He swallowed at the sight of the huge tree and the caved in end of the house. Things could have been worse. So much worse.

  Dakota woke to weak rays of sunshine and a dusky hospital room. Her brow furrowed. What was she doing here? She rolled her head toward a cart rolling by in the hallway, and pain sprang up from every corner of her mind. A low moan escaped.

  A rustle of movement sounded on the other side of her bed and despite the throbbing she rolled her head toward it. The pain wasn’t so bad this time.