Security Measures

by Sara K. Parker

  “There you are.”

  Hunter’s voice startled her, and she turned to find him inches away. He smiled softly, but there was a question in his eyes. “It’s warmer below. You look like you’re about to turn into an ice cube.” He frowned and stepped closer. “You’re crying.”

  She laughed, the sound stolen by the wind. “No. It’s the cold.” Though, she couldn’t be sure.

  He blinked, his own eyes looking suddenly glossy. His eyebrows raised humorously. “Sure is.”

  He stood next to her and looked out at the harbor, silent for a time. “Do me a favor and let me know where you’re going, okay? Scared me.”

  “Sorry.” Another long silence fell over them, and she sensed that he was on the verge of asking all the questions he’d been suppressing since yesterday, when he’d found her daughter’s things in her living-room chest. Or maybe all the questions he hadn’t asked after she had deliberately stepped out of his life and away from his kids. She wasn’t ready for any of those questions. “It’s cold, anyway,” she said, turning to go inside.

  “Kind of refreshing.”

  “Two more minutes and you’ll change your mind,” she said. “I’m heading down.”

  But he said, “Wait,” and she paused. The wind stung her eyes, her cheeks numb, but she turned back and looked him in the eye.

  “I’ve got to ask—”

  “Don’t.” Her pulse hammered in her ears, louder than the rush of the wind. She didn’t even know what he was going to ask, but she knew she didn’t want to answer it.

  “Do I make you nervous?” he asked, anyway, and she frowned, confused.

  Nervous, no. Terrified, yes. But she could never explain that to him, couldn’t explain how much she wanted to give in to the pull of her heart, no matter the grief and pain it would bring for the sake of what just might be a happiness she had always assumed she couldn’t have.

  She raised an eyebrow. “Have you ever known me to be nervous?” she asked lightly, pretending not to take the question seriously.

  “No.” He stepped closer, his warmth encircling her, though inches still separated them. “Except for the past couple of days.”

  “Well, a lot’s been going on to make me nervous.”

  “See, you’re doing it again.”

  “What?”

  “You stepped back.” He stepped closer again.

  She opened her mouth to argue, but involuntarily took another step back.

  His eyes searched hers, and he took another small step.

  This time, she didn’t budge. The truth was, and she was horrified at the realization, that the closer he came, the more she fought the urge to close the gap. She hadn’t been held in so long. Couldn’t remember the last time she’d been held with tenderness and a sense of protection she could trust. And then Hunter had pulled her from her car, lifted her into his arms, carried her from the wreck. It had done something to her, that feeling of being held, cared for, protected, but she could fight it.

  “What’s going on, Triss?” he asked, but something had changed in his eyes, the brown dark and velvety, his intentions unmistakable.

  “Nothing,” she said, her voice a whisper. “I—”

  But her words disappeared when his lips captured hers, all reasoning fleeing. His hands settled on her waist and drew her close, the warmth of his mouth on hers melting every barrier she’d built. She no longer felt the wind or the cold or the resistance of her heart—only the tug of an old, stomped-on dream that was desperate for revival.

  The shrill pitch of a scream cut through the dreamlike haze, and Triss yanked away from Hunter, alarm sending ice down her spine. Not wasting a moment, she turned and ran for the steps, terrified of what she would see next.

  SEVEN

  “It’s Iris!” Zach yelled as Triss and Hunter reached the bottom deck. He was frantically yanking at a bright red life preserver, Courtney catching up to him and attempting to help.

  Dread formed a knot in Triss’s gut, and she raced to the railing, peering over. The ferry was still moving, and she didn’t see Iris.

  She turned and caught Courtney’s shocked gaze. “Tell the captain to cut the engine!” she yelled, and Courtney took off at a run.

  “I see her!” Hunter pointed to a position closer to the boat than Triss had been looking, and she spotted Iris, too.

  “Here!” Zach threw the life preserver over the side toward Iris, but it landed much too far away.

  Below, the woman frantically treaded water, her face a pale dot in the cold black water, the boat leaving her quickly behind.

  The boat’s engine stopped, and the ferry started to turn to recover Iris. “She won’t last much longer,” Triss said. “The water’s got to be freezing.”

  Hunter looked around and opened a bin full of life preservers. He grabbed out several and handed them to Triss. “Let’s try to get one of these closer.”

  She grabbed the stack and jogged to the other side of the boat now that they were turning around. Hunter followed, along with what seemed like the rest of the passengers on the ship.

  When Triss reached the other side, her hope tanked. “I don’t see her.” She scanned the black water and found the bright life preserver, but no pale face. Her stomach rolled. They were too late. No. She clutched the cold metal railing, desperately hoping she was wrong. That victim number five had not been claimed when she’d been up on the top deck kissing Hunter, of all things.

  “There!” Hunter yelled, and she spotted Iris again. The woman was more still than before, her face nearly overcome by water. Still too far from the life preserver.

  While Hunter tossed the first of his life preservers out at Iris, adrenaline consumed Triss, and common sense failed her. She yanked off her coat, snapped on a life preserver, kicked off her shoes and jumped.

  “Triss, no!” Hunter yelled as he realized what she was doing, his hand grazing her shoulder too late as she plunged into the icy water below.

  The shock of it stunned her, disoriented her for a moment. She shouldn’t have jumped in. The water was so cold, so choppy. This was now bound to be a rescue mission for two because of her reckless move. She gasped in a harsh breath of frigid air and focused on location. The boat was to her back, the life preserver to her left. She turned right, searching for Iris but not seeing her. She had to be close. She’d jumped in nearly on top of the woman.

  She heard shouting from above and angled her head up, saw Hunter pointing directly to her right.

  “She went under!” he yelled as he threw on a life jacket, clearly ready to jump in after her.

  “Wait!” Triss shouted, finding her voice. She’d started this. She’d see it through. And they’d need Hunter to help them back into the boat.

  She forgot the cold, ignored the numbness seeping into her limbs. She had to start moving. Clumsily, she pushed forward, the life preserver more of a hindrance than a help. Blindly, she waved her arms through the dark waters, hoping against all hope that she would come in contact with Iris.

  Please, let me find her. Let her be okay. It was a prayer she had no faith would be heard, let alone answered, but it was all she had as she fought the hopelessness.

  Then, her right leg slid against something, and she turned, frantic, knowing it was Iris. Iris, under the water. Iris, sinking! She ducked her head under the water and forced her eyes open, searching the shadows. There! She could see her, but she was sinking too fast!

  Triss’s fingers were barely working, numbness setting in, but she pinched at the fasteners of her life preserver, anyway, managing to unlatch herself. She let the preserver float away, took a deep breath and plunged deep toward Iris.

  She could see her, could almost reach her. She kicked her feet with the last of her energy, gathered enough strength to reach the drowning woman and caught hold of her arm.

  Triss was almost out of air, an
d she knew it. Still, she wrapped an arm around the woman’s slight body and started reaching toward the surface.

  She pulled at the water with her free hand, kicked with her legs, but she wasn’t getting far enough fast enough. Her lungs burned as if they would burst, and Triss suddenly realized she wasn’t going to make it. She’d have to let go of Iris, get another breath and come back for her. She hoped it wouldn’t be too late.

  But just as she started to slide her arm away from the woman, a heavy swirl of water enveloped her, a firm hand grabbing her wrist. Hunter! She tightened her grip on Iris and willed her lungs to hold out until she finally broke the surface.

  Hunter shoved a life preserver at her, and she grabbed it with one hand as he pulled Iris from her arms and dragged her limp body toward the boat. Triss’s entire body felt numb, her limbs moving in slow motion as she swam closer to the boat. But her heart ached, grief welling up strong and deep as she watched Iris’s body being pulled out of the frigid waters, and she knew that she’d been too late.

  * * *

  The ferry was relatively small, the distance from the deck to the water no more than fifteen feet, but getting into the boat with Triss and Iris took far too long. By the time they’d reached the deck, Hunter wasn’t hopeful Iris would survive.

  The captain appeared as Hunter set Iris on the deck, rolling her to her side. A small amount of water emptied from her mouth, and he turned her head.

  “CPR,” the captain said grimly, kneeling by Iris’s head and taking over immediately. As the captain gave rescue breaths, Hunter realized the boat was heading back to shore. He turned to Triss, who was already wrapped in blankets, the crew tending to her to warm her up as Kaye came toward her with a steaming mug of what was probably tea. Triss hated tea, but he had a feeling she wouldn’t refuse it.

  He’d thought he’d lost her. Her reckless jump from the ferry had taken him by surprise, but he’d known that three in the water would just complicate the situation. So he’d waited, against his intuition, when she went under to search for Iris. Then he’d seen her life preserver and expected her to pop up at any second. He’d told himself to count to forty-five seconds before he jumped in, but he’d only gotten to thirty. Instinct had told him Triss was in trouble.

  Kaye held the mug up to Triss’s blue-tinged lips, and Triss drank, her eyes wide with shock as a crew member tucked a blanket closer around her wet hair and neck.

  The cold suddenly hit Hunter then, a tremor taking hold. He ignored it, turning to the captain. “Tell me how to help.”

  “Take over chest compressions.”

  Together, they worked for long minutes, but Iris was showing no signs of life as the shore drew closer. And then, suddenly, as the captain bent to give another set of rescue breaths, Iris coughed.

  Hunter helped turn her over as she expelled what seemed like a bathtub full of water.

  Shock and relief settled over the captain’s sun-weathered face.

  “We need some blankets over here!” Hunter called out, but the crew was two steps ahead and already rounding the corner with armloads of blankets. One was dropped onto his shoulders, and people began piling the others around Iris.

  As the warmth of the blanket started to cut the chill, Hunter’s senses began to clear and he searched the faces that had crowded onto the deck.

  The residents huddled together in groups, many patting one another’s backs or wiping tears from their faces. Zach and Courtney stood off to one side, Zach’s arm protectively on her shoulders. Kristy was helping a couple of crew members tend to Triss, and the Harmony staff all seemed to be milling around vigilantly as they began to encourage everyone to seek the warmth inside.

  What had happened? How had Iris gone overboard? Hunter turned to the rail, considered how he’d had to hoist himself up onto it before he jumped. Was there a broken railing? He stood, his wet clothes as heavy and cold as blocks of ice. The blanket wasn’t doing much good, but he forced himself to walk the perimeter of the deck, checking the railing as he walked. It took mere minutes to scout the area, and he didn’t find any clues as to how Iris, a woman who couldn’t be much more than five feet and a hundred pounds, had simply fallen overboard.

  There was no doubt in his mind someone had meant for her to be victim number five. He hurried to the dining area, where everyone had taken shelter from the elements. If someone had pushed Iris, that same person might be willing to do anything to make sure she couldn’t live to tell the story.

  He opened the door and entered the large room, the welcome heat bringing a measure of relief, despite the sharp pains as his fingers and toes began to warm up. Whereas earlier the room had been filled with a peaceful air of conversation and quiet music, now it was stretched with tension, nervous energy vibrating off every occupant.

  He spotted Triss sitting on the edge of a bench, where Iris had been settled atop a makeshift cushion of several stacked blankets. More blankets lifted Iris’s head, and though she looked as white as frost, her eyes were alert as several of her friends hovered over her.

  Hunter made his way to the group, noting Kaye, Sissy, George and Mack. Triss’s fellow grad students had congregated nearby and were casting worried glances toward Iris.

  Triss looked up as he approached. Her dark hair sat in heavy, wet waves, and she pulled the navy blanket tighter around her still-shivering shoulders. The blanket was soaked through.

  “Let me round up another blanket for you,” he said. “We need to get you warmer.”

  “Here.”

  He turned to find Brandon approaching, already holding out two blankets. “One for you both.”

  “Thanks.” Hunter accepted the blankets and turned to Triss, who was already shedding her soaked one.

  He set the blanket on her shoulders and drew it closed as she sat again, her eyes dropping from his. The memory of the kiss they’d shared flashed through his mind. It had been unplanned, unexpected and probably the wrong move. But it hadn’t felt like the wrong move at the time. And he knew now, with more certainty than he’d ever had, that he was not going to be able to simply walk away from Triss.

  “She doesn’t know what happened,” Triss said quietly, her gaze on Iris, who was listening intently to Kaye’s words of encouragement.

  “Nothing?”

  “She went outside because she kept falling asleep. She thought the cold air would wake her up.”

  “And then?”

  Triss shook her head. “Nothing.” Then she looked up at Hunter, her brown eyes the darkest of espresso. “But we do have something.”

  He nodded, glancing around the room. “A list.” They had a finite list of suspects here, and this was something they could give to Officer Goodson. He’d spoken to the officer on the phone on the way over to the harbor, and the news had been unsettling. Yes, the Hail family had reported suspected misuse of Genevieve’s finances, and yes, they were investigating and speaking with the other families. The officer couldn’t divulge any more details. The fire inspector hadn’t been much help, either, stating that they had no more clues from the fire. The smoke detectors had been tampered with, which led them to suspect arson, but they wouldn’t know more until accelerant test results came in—which could take another couple of weeks.

  The boat pulled up to the dock then, emergency vehicle lights flashing through the cloudy day and into the wide-windowed cabin. Hunter gripped the cold railing with frustration. Hopefully, Vince and Adam were well on their way to installing the new security equipment, and maybe Harrison would have something for them by the time they returned. He knew that running their own investigations was risky and could interfere with an eventual court case, but if they waited on proper protocols and police, someone else was going to wind up dead.

  * * *

  “What do you have for us?” Hunter asked as Triss led Harrison into her small living room. The new place was furnished, but bare, and Hunter suspe
cted Triss would leave it that way.

  Harrison sat on one of the living-room chairs and pulled his laptop from his briefcase. “A few things,” he said as he opened the laptop, his expression serious.

  Triss took the seat next to him, her hair almost dry, thick waves making her look even younger than her twenty-two years. He’d only ever seen her hair pin-straight, but the waves made her seem softer somehow. Which was probably why she made a point of straightening it, he reasoned.

  She caught him looking and quickly looked away. They’d been at Harmony for nearly two hours, but they hadn’t had much time to speak. Officer Goodson had arrived with his partner again, and had been interviewing each person who had been on the boat. They’d circle back and interview the ferry crew as well. Meanwhile, Hunter had been helping Vince and Adam install security cameras and set up the monitoring software on the new computers. They’d need more time to get all the locks changed out, even with help from Shield.

  Triss looked impatient as Harrison’s fingers flew across his keyboard. Hunter suspected he knew why. She needed to be at work in a couple of hours, and the security team had yet to announce the new security plan to the residents and staff. Vince and Adam had assured her they’d take care of it before dinner, but that wasn’t looking likely.

  “The good news is that Don is in the clear, so far,” Harrison finally said. He turned the monitor toward them—a dating web site was on the screen, Don’s profile featured with a photo that looked a decade old and the caption “Seeking Soulmate.”