Rock Harbor Series - 03 - Into the Deep

  “They seem to be getting madder,” Nora said fearfully.

  With no way to communicate with the outside world, Cassie felt like she was trapped under water without her air tank. “There’s no reason to panic,” she said, as much for her benefit as anyone else’s. “We have food and drink in the vending machines. We’re not going to starve. We’ll just wait it out.”

  “I have to get home to my family,” Chito said. “My wife and I are invited to a dinner party in our honor tonight. I have to be home by five.”

  Cassie glanced at her watch. “It’s almost that now. When you don’t show up, will your wife come looking for you?”

  Chito looked away. “Probably not. She’ll just think I got involved in work and forgot. She will try to call, but the phone is out.”

  “What if they’re out there all night? There’s nowhere to sleep in here.” Nora paced nervously.

  Cassie didn’t relish the idea of sleeping in the straight chairs or on the floor herself. What did the protesters think they’d accomplish by this? The lab wasn’t going to close up shop and go away.

  The rumble came again. It seemed to emanate from the direction of the growing chamber. Dread froze Cassie’s limbs. “The growing chamber!” She turned and ran down the hall to the door at the end.

  “Wait, Cassie, don’t go in there!” Yancy shouted. He grabbed her as she wrenched at the door. A puff of dust flew from under the door as the rumble continued. Cassie stood on tiptoe and looked through the window into the chamber. Smoke and dust billowed in clouds and she couldn’t see the plants at all.

  “My plants,” she whispered.

  Yancy pulled her away from the door. “I think a bomb has gone off in there,” he said. “It’s not safe.”

  Cassie’s eyes burned, but not from the dust leaching into the hall from the growing chamber. She wouldn’t cry, not in front of her colleagues. They were looking to her for leadership and strength. But right now, the last thing she felt was strong. Their work of months had just been destroyed.

  Samson snarled and saliva dripped from his muzzle. Jonelle watched sadly as the big dog staggered around the pen, lunging at the stick Zane prodded him with. The drugs seemed to have done their work all too well.

  Zane laughed and poked the dog again. Samson grabbed the stick in his mouth ferociously.

  “Bring me the video camera,” Zane called. “I want some film of him like this to circulate. Those bets will come pouring in.”

  Jonelle brought the camera to him. “Aren’t you afraid he’ll kill Bruck?”

  “Nah, it’s all show. Bruck’ll make mincemeat out of old Samson here. This dog has been a pet too long.”

  Jonelle longed to do something to save the dog. But it was probably too late.

  Look, Mommy!” Davy pointed out a small deer crossing the road in front of them.

  She slowed the Jeep and allowed the animal to meander to the other side. “Are you excited?”

  Davy nodded. “Can I hold the baby eagle?”

  “I don’t imagine that would be good, but we’ll ask Kade how much they can be handled. I’ve never seen an eaglet myself.”

  Bree tapped her fingers against the steering wheel. Her breakfast with Kade this morning had been canceled, and the amount of disappointment she’d felt had surprised her. She wanted to speed to the wilderness center but forced herself to do a sedate forty-five.

  “Timmy wanted to come too. He cried when Aunt Naomi said no.”

  “We could have brought him. I should have told Naomi it was okay.” Bree pulled into the Kitchigami Wilderness Preserve parking lot. The lot was nearly full with campers, motor homes, and SUVs. She heard the sound of children from the lot behind the baby-wildlife building. She let Davy and Charley out of the Jeep, and they followed the noise.

  Kade was demonstrating how to feed baby raccoons. The partially grown coon was perched on his shoulder with its tail curled around the ranger’s neck. When he finished, the children moved to the next display.

  Kade turned, and his face lit up. “Hey, I was beginning to wonder if you were coming.”

  “Can I pet the baby eagle?” Davy pulled his hand from Bree’s and ran forward.

  “Sorry, buddy. He doesn’t like being handled. He might peck you.” Kade ruffled Davy’s hair.

  The little boy stuck out his lower lip and pulled away. “You’re mean! I want to pet him.”

  “Davy, mind your manners,” Bree said.

  “Sorry, chief. You can pet the deer though. I’ll even give you some food for him.”

  Davy ignored the offer. He ran down the bark pathway to the aviary. “Can I pet these birds?”

  “I know one who likes to be handled.” Kade turned and whistled. “Mazzy,” he called.

  A squawk came from the birch tree behind him. A flutter of black feathers swooped from among the leaves and settled on Kade’s shoulder.

  “She’s still hanging around? I thought she had forgotten you.” Bree picked up a piece of corn and held it out to the starling.

  “She probably would if I’d quit calling her and feeding her. I should have let her go fully wild, but she’s like my kid.” Kade put his finger under the bird’s feet, and Mazzy stepped onto it. He held the bird out to Davy. “Put your finger out, and she’ll come to you.”

  Davy giggled and held out his finger. The starling hopped onto it and perched. “Her feet feel funny. What did she eat when she was a baby?”

  Charley barked at the bird, and Kade laughed. “I found her on the ground before she even had feathers,” he said. “I fed her watered-down cat food for weeks until she could eat on her own.”

  “Can I keep her?” Davy asked.

  “She doesn’t like to be in a cage. She gets to town quite a bit. Next time you’re going into the Suomi with your mom, call her name and see if she’s around.”

  Charley barked again, then Mazzy squawked. She lifted from Davy’s hand and disappeared into the tree again.

  “Mazzy!” Davy called.

  The bird squawked but refused to come back. “Sorry, big guy,” Kade said. “She’ll come back when she’s hungry again.”

  “What else do you have here right now?” Bree asked, starting down the path toward the other pens.

  “Some deer, a badger, and an owl.” He lifted Davy over the fence and handed the little boy a bucket of corn. “Whitey likes corn,” he told him. Davy ran to feed the little deer. Charley whined and put his paws up on the fence. Kade petted him. “He’ll be back in a minute.”

  “You’re doing a good job here,” Bree said.

  Kade flushed. “Thanks.”

  Bree couldn’t keep her gaze from lingering on his face. “How’s Lauri?”

  “Okay. She’s talking about keeping it.”

  “And you don’t want that?”

  “I keep trying not to think about what I want. She’ll lose the rest of her childhood if she does. And I’m not sure she’s ready to be a mother.” He glanced at her. “I have to be honest and say I’m not sure I want the responsibility I know will fall on me. She’s almost grown, and I could begin to think about my own life, my own future. My own family.”

  The plea in his blue eyes made it difficult for Bree to breathe. She knew he wanted a future with her. “The right woman wouldn’t mind helping to raise her baby,” she said.

  “How would you feel about it?”

  The intense blue of his eyes darkened, and she knew the question was more than rhetorical. “I’d be okay with it,” she whispered. She’d be more than okay with it. She loved babies, but she wasn’t about to bare her heart that way. She’d told Lauri she couldn’t adopt her baby on her own, but perhaps that responsibility would be different if it were shared with Kade.

  The expression on his face was a heart-stopping mixture of yearning and tenderness. He took off his hat then took a step toward her. Her chest tightened. Before he reached her, Davy called to him.

  “Hey, Kade, I want out. I have to go to the bathroom.” Davy danced around th
e pen, then tried to climb the fence by himself.

  Kade’s face darkened with disappointment, but he turned with a good-natured shrug. “I need to get out on rounds in the forest anyway.”

  Bree didn’t know if she was relieved or disappointed when he went to grab Davy from the pen.

  I love this color!” Naomi laid a garnet-red shirt over herself and pirouetted. She wanted to forget her troubles and just enjoy the day.

  “It brings out your hair and eyes,” Bree agreed. “I’d look hideous in it.” She glanced out the window. “Wonder what all that’s about?”

  Naomi joined her at the window. The pharmacist Terry stood talking with Marika. He had his hand on her arm and was gazing down at her with a yearning expression on his face.

  Anu came up behind them. “It’s probably nothing. I believe they dated in high school.”

  “It looks like something,” Naomi said.

  “How far do you think Terry would go for Marika? Far enough to change a prescription?” Bree asked.

  “I can’t believe that of Terry,” Naomi said. But there certainly seemed to be something to the couple. Marika gave the pharmacist another pretty smile, then got in her car and drove away. “Forget it,” she said, turning to Bree. “We’re shopping. What do you like here?”

  “How’s this?” Bree held out an army-green denim shirt.

  “Eew! You always go for such drab colors. But they look good on you. Bet Kade would like you in it.”

  Bree blushed. “I saw him this morning. I took Davy out to see a baby eagle.”

  “How did that go?” Naomi kept the sweater and continued to look around Nicholls’s Finnish Imports. Anu had told the girls they could have first pick of the new shipment from Finland.

  “Kind of awkward.”

  “It will get better.” Naomi’s smile felt king-sized today. Donovan had taken the children to the store with him this afternoon to give her a little break, and she intended to milk every minute of enjoyment from it. After the stress of the past weeks with Marika popping up everywhere she turned, she wanted to laugh and giggle with Bree like the old days. Davy was with his Aunt Hilary, and it was like old times.

  “Let’s go for lunch. I’m starved,” Bree said. “I want to start the search in quadrant three this afternoon.”

  “Lunch is my treat,” Anu announced.

  The women paid for their deeply discounted purchases, then went down the street to the Suomi Café. After Molly seated them at their booth and took their order for beef pasties, Anu leaned forward and squeezed the hands of both younger women. “I thank the two of you for allowing me to join your fun day. Not many women your age would welcome an old woman.”

  “Hey, where’d that come from?” Bree’s smile faded. “We always like being with you. And you’re not old! You’re barely in your fifties.”

  Anu smiled. “I know sometimes you young ones must talk about private matters.”

  “We don’t keep anything from you,” Naomi said. “Besides, I need your help today to get through Bree’s thick head.”

  Bree’s eyebrows arched. “Why do I have the feeling I’m not going to like this? You’d make a great Dread Pirate Roberts. I didn’t even see this ambush coming. Save me, Anu!”

  Anu’s gentle smile widened. “As you wish,” she said, chuckling.

  “Inconceivable!” Naomi retorted.

  The three women laughed. It felt good to giggle like schoolgirls. When was the last time she’d laughed this way? Naomi stretched and felt the last of her gloom drift away. “I bet Anu knows what we’re going to discuss,” she said smugly.

  Anu shook her head. “Do not pull me into this too soon. You are doing just fine on your own, Naomi.” She tipped her chin into her palm and smiled.

  “Sure, throw me to the wolves,” Naomi muttered. She pulled her long braid over one shoulder and twisted the thick rope of hair around her fingers. “You ready to get back with Kade?”

  Bree went still. She took a sip of coffee. “Do we have to talk about this?”

  “Don’t blow it this time! I’d hoped one of you would get off your high horse long enough to break the ice forming between you. I bet it was Kade, wasn’t it?”

  Bree looked down and played with her napkin. “Maybe,” she said. “But I have to think of Davy. I’m not sure he’s ever going to like Kade.”

  “Does that mean you’re going to give Kade the cold shoulder again—all because Davy prefers Nick?” Naomi wanted to shake some sense into her friend. Couldn’t she see Kade was the right man for her?

  “No,” Bree muttered. “He’s—different now somehow. Truthfully, I’m finding it hard to resist him.”

  “Well, maybe you’re learning some sense then. Kade is worth a dozen Nicks.”

  “Did someone mention my name? Nick Fletcher stood at their table, his handsome face in his customary smile that said all was right with his world, and if it wasn’t, then he’d make it that way with sheer determination.

  “Nick, hello,” Bree stammered. “We were just having lunch.”

  “So I see. I stopped by to grab sandwiches for the guys at the station.”

  Nick’s muscles filled out the fire department’s light blue shirt to perfection. It was no wonder he had turned Bree’s head. But he was flashy, where Kade was quiet and steady. The fireman wasn’t a bad man—he was just the wrong man for Bree.

  “I thought I might bring a pizza over Monday if you’re free, Bree,” Nick said, taking the bag Molly brought him.

  “That would be great,” Bree said. “Davy will be glad to see you.”

  “Only Davy?”

  “Me too, of course,” Bree’s smile was distracted.

  “Good then. I’ll see you around six.”

  As he walked away, Naomi leaned forward. “See what I mean? It’s all about Davy. That’s no way to build a relationship. Someday he’ll be grown and gone. Then what?”

  “I like Nick,” Bree protested.

  “Yes, but you love Kade. You’re just too bull-headed to admit it.”

  “Naomi is right, kulta,” Anu said. “Though you must always be conscious of your son’s happiness, a strong marriage is not built on what a child wants. If his mother is happy, Davy will be happy. He will take his cue from you.”

  “What if I don’t know what I want? I don’t want to hurt either one of them.”

  “What is it you want? Who makes you feel alive and happy? Safe and secure? Whose name does God seem to be whispering in your ear?” Naomi sat back, certain her words had struck pay dirt.

  “How can I tell who is God’s will? Maybe neither one of them is right. What if God doesn’t want me to remarry at all until Davy is raised? Anu, you stayed single.” Bree turned to her mother-in-law.

  “Do you feel God is asking you to remain single?” Anu asked, a frown knitting her brow.

  Bree thought a moment. “No, not really. I didn’t mean that. But just because you’ve got honeymoon stars in your eyes doesn’t mean everyone else needs to rush out and get married, Naomi. I don’t want to make a mistake. I’ve seen too many men come and go in my mother’s life. She only ever loved my father, but she made do with other men. And a bottle.”

  “This isn’t about your mother.”

  “In some ways it is. I carry her genes. What if I’m looking for the same things she was—excitement, romance. I’ve been thinking about things since Bernard and Cassie came into my life. I don’t want to repeat her mistakes.”

  “If you can so clearly see what drove her to make poor choices, why do you have so little sympathy for her?” Anu tempered her hard question with a soft smile.

  Bree hunched her shoulders. “Enough about my mother. It’s been hard enough facing my past with Cassie and Bernard here.”

  “Have you seen them lately?” Anu asked.

  “My father called yesterday to talk to Davy. I’m going over for dinner tomorrow.”

  “You might not have much time.” Naomi knew how hard this had to be for her friend. “I think it?
??s great he’s come looking for you. It’s time to let go of your childhood.”

  “I’m afraid to trust either of them.”

  “You haven’t given either of them a chance,” Naomi pointed out.

  “My life is going in a different direction. I’m happy with the way it is. But I admit—” she broke off.

  “Yes?” Naomi wanted to know.

  “It’s painful to see how my life could have been different if it weren’t for my parents’ selfishness. They both made mistakes, and Cassie and I have paid the price.”

  “Your mother has suffered too,” Anu said gently.

  “She didn’t suffer. She drowned everything with alcohol.” Bree moved restlessly. “Look, let’s talk about something else.”

  “You’re going to have to face it someday.” Naomi said. “We all make mistakes as parents. God is the only perfect parent.”

  “This one is going to take a little while to gear up to.” Bree’s smile was strained. “Take off your Dread Pirate Roberts persona, and let’s talk about something else.”

  18

  Kade heard the ruckus before he saw it. Shouts, cries, and the sounds of a crowd of people stomping through the vegetation carried on the wind. He urged Moses into a gallop. He blinked as the scene at the mine came into view.

  An angry mob stormed the entry to the lab. Men pounded on the door with their fists, and women waved placards and signs. The news media was here as well.

  Telling them the water samples he’d taken had come back clean would fail to sway a mob like this. He needed help. Wheeling Moses around, he climbed to the top of a hill and managed to get a signal on his cell phone. The ranger station promised to send help and to notify the sheriff for more assistance. Waiting would be a good idea, but it went against his instinct. Was everyone inside all right? He knew Bree would be worried about Cassie.

  Deciding he couldn’t just wait here, Kade rode along the side of the mine. There was a side entrance back here somewhere. With luck, the mob wouldn’t know about it either. One side entrance was thronged by more people, but Kade knew of another, more hidden one that only lifelong residents of Rock Harbor knew about. Vegetation crowded in on both sides of the trail, raspberry bushes reaching out prickly fingers for him as he passed. He left Moses tied to a tree at the trail and forced his way through the thorny bushes. A dead oak tree, split by lightning several years ago, marked the overgrown entrance if he could just find it.