by J. D. Faver
“Man, you missed a great party last night.”
Javier’s lips twitched. “I’m sure I did.” He turned back to watch the sunrise, not interested in Dave’s inane prattle.
“At the Bait Camp. There was a reggae band and everybody was dancing. Your ex-girlfriend was there. Man, she can move that sweet little ass of hers. She was dancing with everyone.”
“Good for her!” Javier bit out. Grinding pain ripped through his chest as he envisioned Cassie in someone else’s arms.
“And drunk! Man, that girl can put it away. Old Calvin kept pouring her a new drink every couple of dances.” Dave walked away laughing as he entered the station to check in.
Javier’s jaw clenched, along with his fists. She was underage. How could Calvin, of all people, allow Cassie to get drunk? But, she was probably there with his brothers and not driving. Still, it shouldn’t have happened.
Strong emotions battled within Javier. In one instant, he wanted to go jerk her out of bed and ask her what the hell she thought she was doing...if she was in her own bed. That thought stunned him. In the next instant, he was filled with remorse, certain that his actions had driven her to her wild conduct.
Javier ran his fingers over the stubble on his unshaven chin and heaved a huge sigh of defeat. He knew when he was whipped. He loved her, pure and simple.
At midnight, his long shift would be over. He would find her. They would talk and he would take her back.
An uneasy shiver played around the back of his neck. If she would have him back. If someone else hadn’t snatched her while he was brooding over her superior intelligence.
Javier smacked himself on the forehead.
Damn! I really am an idiot!
~*~
A sign on the bulletin board by the time clock announced an emergency preparedness meeting for all hospital staff scheduled for nine that morning in the cafeteria.
Sky hesitated. Did that mean her? She was going to begin an extended leave at the end of her shift.
Just before nine, she took a seat at a table in the cafeteria and was quickly joined by Selena Rios and Doctor Rick.
Selena surprised her by reaching across the table to squeeze her hand and give her a big smile. “I heard about your upcoming marriage. I’m so happy for you.”
“Thank you.” Sky smiled in return.
“The Bailey’s are a fine family. I know you’ll be very happy.” Selena cleared her throat. “So, how’s your sister Cassie doing?”
Aha! So that’s what this is all about. Sky tried not to overreact. “She’s well.”
“Because my Javier brought her by the house a few days ago for breakfast. She’s a lovely girl...and so smart.”
Sky nodded. “Cassie is very intelligent, but she hasn’t dated a lot. I don’t think your son understands how naïve and innocent she is.”
Selena pursed her lips. “You could be right. I think they’ll get back together again.”
Sky smiled. “If it’s meant to be.”
The hospital administrator came into the room and cleared his throat. “Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that we are now on an emergency alert. Tropical storm Fiona has been upgraded to a hurricane and has taken a turn toward the Texas coast. The latest coordinates suggest we should expect landfall between Palacios and Brownsville sometime before Wednesday morning. I understand that most of you have family responsibilities and property to take care of, so we’ll be working with a skeleton crew until we determine exactly where Fiona will make landfall. Please make your evacuation plans accordingly. We will be prepared to evacuate the nursing home residents as well as any in-patients. This will only be undertaken if it appears that we will be in Fiona’s direct path. In the meantime, the emergency room will stay open on a patch-and-ship basis. No one will be admitted as of today.”
He looked around the room. “Most of you are old hands at this, but if the new staff will remain seated, I’ll dismiss the rest of you.”
Selena and Rick pushed back their chairs and prepared to leave.
A feeling of panic rose in Sky’s throat. “Wait! What does all this mean?”
Rick patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Sky. It will probably come to nothing, but we have to be prepared for any eventuality, just in case. Believe me, the last thing we want to do is evacuate the hospital and nursing home patients.”
Selena put both hands on her forehead. “Ay, it’s such a headache. I have to get the house prepared in case Fiona comes in here. Oh, and the children! We go to my husband’s family near San Antonio. There’s so much to do.”
Most of the employees made their way out of the cafeteria, leaving Sky and four other nervous looking individuals behind.
The administrator hiked up his pant leg and placed his foot in the seat of a plastic chair. He perched on top of a table. “I’m sorry, Miss Danforth, but your leave is hereby cancelled. We need all available personnel in case Fiona comes our way. We may be taking patients from other areas if the storm hits elsewhere.”
“Anyone who is assigned to the hospital during the crisis will receive double their pay for all the time they’re on duty. Any questions?”
Sky looked around the room and raised her hand.
“Excuse me, but if you’re assigned to work the Emergency Room during the storm, isn’t there a chance you’ll be killed?”
The administrator assumed a mildly amused expression. “Miss Danforth, this hospital is one of the sturdiest buildings in the area. It was constructed to withstand a category five hurricane. We have two emergency generators. The building will stand and the equipment will remain operable, no matter what.”
She raised her hand again. “If the hurricane lands here and all the residents evacuate, exactly who is it we’re staying open to serve?”
A snicker ran through the room. Sky pressed her lips together as her cheeks became crimson.
“Actually, that’s a very good question, Miss Danforth. There are some individuals who refuse to evacuate, no matter what. There will also be a fair number of emergency service personnel in the area who may require treatment. We remain to be available to them should they need us. The sheriff’s department, the fire department, ambulance crews, repairman from utility companies and the reporters and camera crews.”
Sky swallowed. Zach’s best laid plans had just been blown away.
~*~
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Retalliation
When Zach picked Sky up after her shift, she looked worried.
“My leave got cancelled.”
His stomach knotted up. “They can’t do that!”
“They did.” Her lower lip trembled.
Zach gathered her into his arms and held her. “Quit. You don’t need that job.”
She pulled away, looking up at him. “Yes, I do.”
“Sky, you’re a nurse. You can get a job anywhere.”
She bit her lip, nodding her head. “If we lived in a city, I could get another job in a heartbeat. Here, it’s a little more complicated. The next nearest hospital is half an hour away and I might not get on if I get a bad recommendation.”
“Sky, the hospital needs you a lot more than you need them. Please, just resign and you can get reinstated when we come back.”
She looked at him doubtfully. “When does the cruise ship leave?”
Zach rubbed the back of his neck and blew out a deep breath. “The cruise line cancelled our departure. They’re going to take the ship way up the channel for safe keeping. In the meantime, I thought we could get on a plane and go somewhere, anywhere. Acapulco, Mazatlán. They’re on the Pacific. It’s not storming over there.”
She gazed up at him. “Zach, I hope you’re not going to be mad at me, but I went ahead and signed on to work through the storm, if there is one.”
Zach felt a muscle in his jaw twitch. “I don’t understand. It’s not safe for you there.”
“I was told that the hospital can withstand a category five hurricane, whatever that means.”
Sky bit her full lower lip.
“I’m sorry, Sky,” he said. “I didn’t mean to raise my voice, but you, of all people should not make yourself more vulnerable by staying at the marginally staffed hospital during a possible hurricane.” He smiled and brushed the side of her face with his fingers. “I didn’t mean to yell again.”
“I felt sorry for all the employees with big families who were trying to figure out how to staff the hospital and still get their loved ones evacuated if the storm hits here. I won’t be alone. Doctor Rick, Lucy and a couple of the orderlies are going to be there with me. We should be able to manage just about anything.”
Zach huffed out an exasperated breath. “I guess I can’t talk you out of this, can I?”
She shook her head.
“Then you’re going to have to put up with me, because I’m not going to allow you to be there without me.”
She grinned at him. “You’re not going to allow me?”
“You know what I mean. I’m going to be there with you and that’s that.”
~*~
It was almost twelve-thirty when Javier got to the Bait Camp. He heard the noise of the crowd all the way down in the parking lot. A roar of laughter erupted, followed by the clink of glassware as a progressive country band played a two-step.
He glanced back over his shoulder. Waves crashed over the jetties, spewing spray high into the atmosphere only to be picked up by the strong winds and carried as a fine mist through the air. A gloss of sea water shown on all the vehicles under the bright security light.
Hurricane party! The revellers should be boarding up their homes and packing their cars.
Javier turned and strode up the wide planks to the entrance. The place was packed. He squeezed through a group of surfers standing together on the covered deck. They watched the wave action while clutching mugs of beer, oblivious to the fact they were blocking the entrance to the bar.
He could see over much of the throng, but didn’t spot Cassie among them. Maybe she’d stayed home tonight...or maybe she was with someone. His stomach clutched at that thought.
He shoved his way through to the bar, where Calvin reigned supreme, serving up mugs and pitchers of beer from the tap.
Calvin looked up from his task, instantly seeing through Javier’s attempt to appear casual. His rich baritone reached out through the din, wrapping around him like a conspiratorial arm. “Javier Rios, my man. What can I get for you? A long-legged blonde, perhaps?”
So much for pretense. “Have you seen Cassidy Danforth in here tonight?” Javier felt his jaw tighten.
Calvin skewered him with his all-knowing green-eyed gaze. “I sure have. Why do you want to know? Does she owe you money or something?” This must have struck Calvin as being funny, because he burst into a roar of laughter.
Javier tried to control his temper as a flash of annoyance flickered in his chest. “I just need to see her. Is she here now?”
“Try the dance floor. When she’s not dancing she comes back here to the bar.”
Javier turned toward the bandstand, a small raised triangle wedged into the far corner of the room. A packed group of dancers gyrated on the small dance floor, spilling over into the surrounding area.
He didn’t see Cassie.
Just then, the singer announced that the band was taking a break and recorded music came on. The crowd parted and Javier located her.
She was laughing. She swayed, almost stumbled, but righted herself.
Angrily, Javier turned to Calvin. “My God! She’s wasted. How much has she had to drink anyway?”
Calvin raised his brows, obviously not accustomed to being spoken to in anger by any man. “Not a damn thing. She’s under age. I’ve been giving her sodas all night. She’s the most sober person out there.”
Javier pointed to where Cassie slumped against a blonde kid. “What do you call that?”
Calvin’s face turned a deep shade of red. He threw down the bar towel and came out from behind the bar. “Why, that little fucker! He must have slipped something into her drink!”
A flame of anger raged through Javier. “I’ll kill him!”
“Not if I get to him first,” Calvin said.
The two tall men shoved people out of their way as, shoulder-to-shoulder, they formed a massive wall of fury headed for Cassie and the blonde youth who was urging her toward the door.
“No, I can’t leave,” she said. “I came with my friends.”
Calvin reached out a beefy hand, picking the surfer completely up off the floor by one shoulder.
“Ow! Ow!” The blonde kid’s eyes widened as he stared at his red-faced and highly enraged captor. “Dude! Chill!”
Cassie grinned at Javier, lurching unsteadily into his arms. “Look, Sean! It’s my boyfriend! No, it’s my dumper. Hello, dumper.” Her head lolled back as Javier’s arm caught her. She giggled with her eyes closed.
Calvin reached for the pocket of Sean’s shirt, ripping it loose before holding aloft a small vial of liquid, clear as water. “What do we have here? Is this what you put in her drink?”
Germaine had emerged from the crowd and stood behind Calvin. “You think it’s a date-rape drug? I’ll have it analyzed.” Germaine’s fingers closed around the vial as he grinned at the alleged perpetrator. “In the meantime, son, your ass is mine.”
Sean held up both palms. “Wait a minute, dude. We were just having some fun.”
Javier swallowed down the taste of bile at the back of his throat.
“Fun?” Calvin shook him, his fingers digging in painfully. “The young lady was having fun dancing with her friends.”
“Look, man. She wanted to go with me. Whatever happened would have been between consenting adults.”
“The lady is not in any condition to consent to anything,” Javier growled.
Sean shook his head, scowling. “I don’t see what you’re complaining about. I got her warmed up for you.”
An explosion of fury went off inside Javier’s head. “That’s it!” He thrust Cassie into Calvin’s arms and wrapped his fingers around Sean’s throat. “You better hope that someone stops me, Sean, because I want to kill you.” He dragged Sean across the crowded floor, out through the covered deck area and hurled him through the air.
Sean arced straight out from the deck before dropping face down onto the sand far below.
Germaine and Calvin, with Cassie in his arms, followed close behind. The three large men stood aligned at the top of the stairs.
Calvin turned to Javier. “I’ll give you a nine-point-five for that one. You didn’t touch any of the stairs.”
Germaine gave out a hearty laugh. “Naw, Man! I’ll give you a ten. It was all air.”
~*~
“Mijo! What happened?”
Oh, great! My mother would have to be working tonight. Javier gritted his teeth together as he carried Cassie into the Emergency Room. He expelled a lungful of air. “Someone may have spiked her drink. I need a blood and urine sample drawn before the evidence is gone.”
Selena gave him a sceptical look. “You need this?”
“No, Mama. The sheriff needs this. The guy is in custody. If the police lab can match the drug in her system to what they found on him, it’s jail time.”
Selena clucked her tongue. “Ay, Mijo! How could you let someone put something in her drink? You should have taken better care of her.”
Javier’s jaw tightened. “Yes, Mama. I’ll try to do better in the future.”
“Bring her in here.” Selena led him to a small room and closed the door.
Javier sat on the rolling stool and arranged Cassie in his lap.
Cassie opened her eyes. “Oh, hi, Mrs. Rios.
Is there a bathroom here? I really need to go bad.”
“Just a minute. Let me get set up.” Selena slipped on a pair of latex gloves and stepped into a small room with a toilet, arranging a plastic “hat” under the seat. “Yes, Mija, right in here.” She motioned for Javier to bring Cassie to her and then stopped him with her hand on his chest. “I’ll take it from here.”