Pupwell let out a soft whine.

  “I know, baby. Mama is worried, too. Where is he, and why isn’t he answering his phone?”

  Julia debated whether she should call Deacon’s brother, Blaine, the chief of police. Technically, Blaine was Deacon’s boss, but they tried not to let that get in the way of the sibling relationship they’d worked hard to repair since Deacon had relocated permanently to Gansett Island.

  Would he want her to call Blaine? Probably not. But what if he was in trouble and needed help? She had no idea what to do, and when that happened, if Deacon wasn’t available, she called Owen.

  “Hey, Jules, what’s up?” her older brother asked when he took her call.

  “I’m worried about Deacon. He’s not in yet, and it’s dark. The seas are huge, and he’s in that little boat. I’m not sure if I should call Blaine or if he’d want me not to.”

  “Whoa, take a breath. I’m sure he’s fine.”

  “It’s really bad out there, Owen. The seas are hitting the breakwater and sending spray twenty feet into the air. He’s on that small boat… I’m worried.”

  “I take it he’s not answering his phone.”

  “No. Not for a few hours now.”

  “Hmmm.”

  Julia wanted Owen to tell her that Deacon was fine, that she had nothing to worry about, but that hmmm said it all. “I should call Blaine, right?”

  “I think so.”

  Her stomach dropped when he said that. “I’m scared, O. He’s been out all day, and he’s never this late.”

  “It’s not a usual kind of day, but it can’t hurt to let Blaine know he’s overdue. Where are you? I’ll come and wait with you.”

  “That’s okay. I’m sure you’ve got your own stuff going on.”

  “I’m coming, Julia. Are you at the dock?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ll be right there.”

  “In case I forget to tell you…”

  “I know, hon. Be right there.”

  He and Julia and her twin, Katie, had always been there for one another, in the best and worst of times growing up with an abusive, narcissistic father who was now in prison for assaulting their mother. Julia tried hard to never think of the man they referred to as “the general,” but he was inside them all, whether they wanted him there or not. They most definitely did not want him there.

  Thinking about him was better than wondering where Deacon was and if he was okay.

  Only because it was so unlike him to be out of touch with her for this long, she pulled out her phone and called his brother.

  “Hey, Julia.” Blaine sounded rushed and stressed. Who could blame him with a Category 2 hurricane bearing down on his island? “What’s up?”

  “Um, so, Deacon isn’t in yet.”

  “What?”

  “I’m at the dock. There’s no sign of him or the boat, and he’s not answering his phone.”

  “Let me try to raise him on the radio. Hang on.”

  In the background, she could hear Blaine saying, “Base to harbor master. Come in, harbor master.” She heard him say the same thing three more times with no reply.

  Julia tried not to panic, but it wasn’t easy.

  Blaine picked up the phone again. “I’ll call Linc at the Coast Guard to ask for his assistance. They can send a boat out to look for him.”

  “Blaine…”

  “Try not to think the worst. He’s highly experienced and can handle just about anything.”

  She wanted to ask if he could handle a ten-foot storm surge in a twenty-foot boat, but the words were stuck behind the massive lump in her throat.

  “Come over to the station. We’ll monitor things from here. Okay?”

  “Yeah, sure. Okay.”

  “Keep breathing.”

  “I’m trying to. Be right there.”

  Before she left the dock, she scanned the blackness outside the breakwater, looking for even the faintest of lights, but saw nothing. As she walked up the ramp, Owen approached her.

  “Anything?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “Blaine is calling the Coast Guard. He said to come to the station.”

  Owen put his arm around her, and she leaned into him, taking comfort from him the way she had all her life. “I’m sure he’s fine. He knows what he’s doing out there.”

  Julia nodded so he’d know she’d heard him, but again, her throat was too tight for words. The feeling reminded her of the many times in her life that panic had made it difficult for her to talk or eat or do anything other than wallow in fear.

  Deacon was the brightest light in her world, the undisputed love of her life. If she lost him…

  No, she couldn’t think about that. She simply could not.

  She forced herself to breathe and to put one foot in front of the other while praying as hard as she had in years for the safety of the man she loved.

  Chapter 8

  Blaine boiled with tension in his office as he waited to talk to Linc Mercier, the Coast Guard commander who ran the Gansett Island station. He’d been on hold for two minutes and was about to lose his mind when he finally heard a click.

  “Hey, Blaine, how’s it going on your end?”

  “Not great. My brother is overdue and isn’t answering his phone or the radio.”

  “Oh shit. It’s mean out there. I just came in from a patrol. We didn’t see him, but we weren’t looking for him. I’ll send a boat out and keep you posted.”

  “Thanks, Linc.”

  “You got it. I’ll be back to you soon.”

  “Appreciate it.”

  As Blaine ended the call, he slumped into his office chair, thinking of his brother and hoping he was just busy and unable to get to the phone or radio. The twinge of anxiety in his gut forced him to acknowledge that it wasn’t like Deacon to be out of touch while on the water.

  Blaine had to give his younger brother credit for having matured into a responsible, dependable colleague, friend and sibling. Their relationship had recently evolved into true friendship after years of driving each other crazy. Watching him fall madly in love with Julia Lawry had been fun and rewarding. The two of them were great together.

  If anything happened to Deacon…

  Because he couldn’t sit still, Blaine jumped up again and went to the big picture window that overlooked downtown and the harbor. He scanned the horizon, looking for any sign of a boat, but couldn’t see anything other than churning seas and whipping wind that had the rain coming down sideways. The massive seas only added to his agitation, so he did what always made him feel better when he was anxious or upset.

  He called his wife.

  “Hey, babe,” she said. “How’re things at hurricane central?”

  The sound of her husky, sexy voice was all it took to calm the storm raging inside him. “Deacon’s late coming in. I just sent the Coast Guard to look for him.”

  “What? No… He’s fine. Of course he is.”

  “That’s what I said to Julia, but it’s not like him to be so late, off the radio and not answering his phone. She hasn’t talked to him in hours.”

  “Oh my God, Blaine. Are you worried about him?”

  “Trying not to be, but…”

  “What can I do for you?”

  “I just needed to hear your voice.”

  “I can come there and bring the girls.”

  “No, don’t disrupt them at bedtime. I’m sure he’s fine, and we’ll hear something any minute.”

  “Will you keep me posted?”

  “Of course, and I’ll stop at home to see you if I can.”

  “I’ll be here.”

  “That’s all I need to know, babe.”

  “Love you. Love Deacon.”

  “Love you, too.”

  “If there’s anything I can do…”

  “You’ve already done it. I’ll let you know what’s going on.”

  “I’m saying a prayer.”

  “Thanks, love.”

  Blaine ended the call reluctantly. He wished he had nothing to do but snuggle with her for the next few days, but his community was counting on him and other leaders to get them through this crisis, and that’s what he’d do.

  Mason Johns, his counterpart at the fire department, appeared at the door to Blaine’s office. “What’s this about Deacon?”

  “No sign of him. Linc is sending a boat out to look for him.”

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I can send our boat out, too.”

  “Let’s give the Coasties a chance to do a search before we put more people in danger.”

  “Any of my people would be glad to go look for Deacon. We think the world of him. You know that.”

  “I do, and I appreciate the offer. I don’t want to send more people into harm’s way just because he’s my brother and I’m worried.” Blaine prided himself on professionalism and always keeping his emotions in check on the job. That was easier said than done at times like this. “I can’t imagine why he’s not responding to the radio.”

  “He might’ve had an electrical failure of some sort,” Mason said.

  “Yeah, possibly.” But that wouldn’t explain why he wasn’t answering the handheld radio he always carried in addition to the radio hardwired into the boat.

  “Let me ask you this… If he was anyone else, would you ask me to send out my boat?” Mason asked.

  Blaine thought about that. “Yeah, I guess I would.”

  “Then let me do it.”

  “All right. Thanks.”

  “Of course. Can I do anything else for you?”

  “No, thank you. Just hoping for the best.”

  The radio Mason wore on his hip came to life with a call about a tree down on Glen Forest Road.

  “I’ll send people to help with that,” Blaine said.

  “I’ll deploy our rescue boat and keep you posted. Let me know if you hear anything.”

  “Will do. Thanks again.”

  Blaine followed Mason out, asking the dispatcher to send a car to Glen Forest Road to assist with a downed tree.

  Owen and Julia came into the lobby with Pupwell trotting alongside her, as always.

  “Any word?” she asked, her face pale and her eyes big. She was soaking wet, and her dark hair was plastered to her head, despite the raincoat she wore.

  “Nothing yet. Come in. Warm up.” Blaine led them into his office, took their coats and hung them on the tree in the corner. “Wyatt, get some fresh coffee for my guests, and hurry up about it.”

  “Yes, sir, Chief,” the young patrolman said. “Coming right up.”

  Julia’s lips were blue, and her body trembled, probably from fear as much as the chill. “I don’t know what to do. What should I do, Blaine?”

  “We’re doing everything we can. Coast Guard and fire department boats are looking for him, and the Coast Guard will issue a distress call that’ll go out to mariners in the area.” Not that Blaine expected there to be many boats out, but you never knew who might see something. “I’d tell you not to worry, but I know that’s pointless.”

  She placed her hand over her mouth to muffle a sob.

  Owen was right there to put an arm around her, to hug her close and offer comfort.

  “I’m sorry,” Julia said. “I don’t mean to be emotional. It’s just not like him to be out of touch. I’m so scared something happened to him.”

  Blaine was, too, but he’d never say that to her. “Deacon is one of the most highly trained people on the water around here, and if anyone can get himself through a tricky situation, it’s him.”

  “I know.” Julia wiped tears from her face. “It’s just so rough out there and about to get much worse. What’ll we do if we can’t find him?”

  “We’re doing everything we can to find him,” Blaine assured her, but even that wasn’t true. If the storm wasn’t a factor, Linc would have choppers and planes assisting in the search, but that wasn’t possible in the current conditions. He also didn’t want to tell her that time was critical at a moment like this. The longer Deacon was missing, the less likely they were to find him. She didn’t need to know any of that.

  Hell, he wished he didn’t know that stuff.

  After he sent Julia and Owen home to wait for news, he decided to call Seamus O’Grady, who had taken the ferries to sea with Joe Cantrell. From his vantage point, Blaine couldn’t quite see the ferry landing, so he wasn’t sure if they’d left yet.

  “What’s up, Blaine?” Seamus asked.

  “Are you still taking the boats out?”

  “We’re already gone. Why?”

  “My brother is missing. Hasn’t come back from his afternoon patrol. Coast Guard and fire department are looking for him, but I was hoping you would keep an eye out, too.”

  “Oh my God,” Seamus said. “Of course we will.”

  “We can’t raise him on the phone or radio,” Blaine added, “and Julia tried tracking his phone, but it wasn’t available. The Coasties have a boat out looking for him, and the fire department has their boat out, but they’ll have to come in as the storm gets closer.”

  What Blaine didn’t need to tell them was that at some point, it would become illogical to risk multiple lives to save one.

  “We’ll be on the lookout,” Seamus said. “And we’ll keep in touch on the radio.”

  “Appreciate it.” Blaine cast an eye toward the roiling seas that sent spray twenty feet into the air when waves collided with the breakwater. “Be safe out there.”

  “Will do.”

  * * *

  Grant McCarthy helped his brother Evan carry the heavy wrought-iron furniture from the deck at Evan’s house into the basement. “This shit weighs a ton,” Grant said as they carried a chair down the stairs from the deck to the yard, the wind and rain making everything more complicated.

  “Why do you think I needed help?” Evan asked, panting from exertion.

  “Why’d you have to get such heavy shit?”

  “Came with the house, and Grace likes it.”

  “I see.”

  “Is your house ready for the storm?”

  “Yeah, we didn’t have to do much. We’re much more inland compared to you, so I didn’t board windows or anything like that.”

  “I debated whether I should, but I figured it’d be a major hassle to replace them.”

  “For sure. Did Mac bust your balls when you asked for plywood?”

  “What do you think?”

  Grant grunted out a laugh as he set the chair down in the basement. “One down. Ten to go.”

  “I wasn’t going to move them, but they’re saying the wind could be over a hundred miles an hour.”

  “What did you think of when you heard the storm was named Ethel?” Grant asked.

  “Oh my God! All I could think of was Ethel from the hotel!”

  “Right?” Grant imitated Ethel’s smoker’s voice when he said, “Grant McCarthy, you’re never going to amount to anything if you don’t stop being a smart aleck.”

  Evan bent in half with laughter. “That’s so spot-on. She’s probably off in some retirement village in Florida cracking up about a storm named for her bearing down on Gansett.”

  “No doubt. I’m glad you guys got home ahead of Ethel’s arrival.”

  “Grace is still sick from the flight. It was the worst one I’ve ever been on.”

  Grant cringed. “I hate flying on a good day.”

  “Yesterday was most definitely not a good day. We were so worried about the house, we decided to go for it.”

  Thanks to the success of the “My Amazing Grace” song Evan had written for his wife, they’d bought a massive home right on the coast.

  “We would’ve taken care of it for you,” Grant said.

  “You guys had your own homes to think about, plus the marina, the hotel, the Wayfarer. You didn’t need to deal with my house, too.”

  “We would’ve.”

  “I know, and I appreciate it.”

  They hefted and hauled, swearing and laughing, until all the furniture was stored inside.

  “What goes down must come back up after the storm,” Evan said.

  “Call Adam to help with that.”

  “Mac says he’s insane right now, worrying about being stranded here during a hurricane with Abby expecting quads. He’s of no use to anyone, according to our big brother.”

  Grant followed Evan up the interior stairs from the basement to the wide-open first floor that had incredible views of the angry ocean through the one small window Evan hadn’t boarded. “Abby’s not due for months. He needs to calm down.”

  Evan opened two beers and handed one to Grant. “Can’t say I blame him with the way babies arrive in our family. One niece on the ferry, two more in a helicopter, another born during a tropical storm.”

  “There’s a history. I’ll give you that.”

  “How’s Steph feeling?”

  “Great. Pregnancy agrees with her—and me. It’s made her super horny.”

  Evan laughed. “Lucky you. Grace feels like crap almost all the time.”

  “Aw, that’s rough. Sorry to hear it.”

  “She keeps saying it’ll be worth it, but I’d like to move the clock forward so she can be through it.”

  Grant downed the last of the beer and put the bottle in the recycling bin under the counter. “Our babies will be here before we know it.”

  “I still can’t believe Adam and Abby are having four. What a couple of overachievers.”

  “No kidding. I’d better get home and make sure Steph isn’t doing more than she should. She’s full of energy. I’m apt to find her swinging a sledgehammer at a wall.”

  Evan laughed. “Good thing you pulled the trigger on buying the place, huh?”

  “Right? ’Cause our damage deposit would be long gone by now.”

  Evan walked his brother to the door. “Thanks again for the help.”

  “Any time.”

  “If we end up without power, come over. We’ve got a generator.”

  Grant gave Evan a bro hug. “We’ll be here. Be safe.”