Saving Summer (11 page)

I wanted to protest. But my dad nodded with enthusiasm. “That would be great. It’s tight here. You sure they won’t mind?”

“No, they won’t. It’s the safest place in town, besides the hospital.”

So it was settled, and without me having a say.

Super.

I went home and packed for me and for my mom and dad. On the way to the police station Damian helped me drop the things off and say goodbye. I still couldn’t see my mom or new sister, but there would be plenty of time for that later once we were all safe and the storm had passed.

My car was safely tucked into the parking garage under the hotel, and I stayed close to Damian as we walked for a flight of stairs. The wind whistled and gusted down the breezeways, and my hair flew in front of my face. It wasn’t long before we reached the third floor. The room was boarded with heavy duty hurricane shutters and stocked with emergency supplies, food and water.

I set my bag on the bed and wondered why Damian was staying. He was a lifeguard. A great one, but still just a lifeguard. “So how can Vic let you stay here and help?”

“They need all the help they can get. Especially afterwards. Right now I’m just hanging out, but once the storm is over, I’ll be out with everyone else helping people.”

“But you’re just a lifeguard.” I smiled, feeling a little nervous since we were now alone in a hotel room.

“I have advanced training in aquatic first aid, wilderness survival, and tons of other stuff that I have learned over the years being on a beach pulling swimmers out of the water. If we start sifting through rubble, its better for me to find someone in distress than someone with no training at all.”

Right, okay then.

“I want to help too.” It just kind of popped out. Like, I had no clue what I’d said until after I’d said it. I didn’t want to take it back though.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I do. I can’t just sit here.”

“Well, I’ll see what I can figure out.” He put some distance between us and sat in a chair on the far side of the room, answering his phone when it rang.

I grabbed my umbrella and left the room. It was clear now that one conversation could fix everything between us, but it could just as easily ruin all the progress we’d made too.

I stayed outside, leaning against the railing looking over the parking lot. The weather seemed to have calmed some. It was the calm before the storm. Very eerie. I held my umbrella tight against the wind and went down the stairs. Across the parking lot was a small boat launch and dock. Further down was a strip of beach. It wasn’t very big, and the place was mostly packed with police boats and equipment.

I passed the dock, and the boat launch, heading to the small area of beach. It wasn’t sand. The ground shore was more like ground coral and not very fun for the feet. So I kept my shoes on.

I’d only been walking for a short while when I noticed two boats bobbing close to shore. One was sleek and new, the other old and battered. I walked closer, trying to get a better look. On the side of the smaller older boat, I saw the word, Wilbur.

Wait, was that Gael’s boat?

Why would Gael have his boat all the way over here, when I overheard Damian talking to someone about his brother docking it at the family restaurant and leaving town?

The second boat ran aground. What a way to treat a new boat.

I walked closer, and noticed a rope was tied to the new boat. A man on the back cut it, letting Wilbur start to drift out into open water.

“Hey!”

The man turned. But it wasn’t a man. It was Danny Richards. “Oh, hey Violet.”

I walked toward him, wondering why he would have Gael’s boat, and what he was thinking just letting it drift off like that.

“What are you doing?” I asked, thinking that it was a little odd. Gael left yesterday. The boat should have been at the restaurant. Unless Danny went to the restaurant and stole it?

But that didn’t make any sense at all.

“Oh, nothing, just getting ready for the storm.” He smiled. “You should be somewhere safe before it gets bad.”

I nodded. “Yeah, you should too.”

“Want me to walk you home?”

Ah, such a gentleman. I knew when I looked into his overly tanned face and green eyes that something was off. Really off.

“Why did you cut the line on Gael’s boat?”

“Oh…” he ran a hand through his hair. “Just a little joke, that’s all Vi. Nothing to worry about.”

I crossed my arms, trying to reach my full height of five and a half feet in the gusting wind. “How is that a joke? That’s someone else’s property, which will be damaged because of this storm. You should go get it and put it back where you found it.”

He bent forward to look me in the eyes. “This is none of your business.”

I leaned closer, so we were nose to nose. “I don’t care. Go get that boat!”

Danny shrugged back, glanced behind him, and then walked past me. “Just leave it Vi, you don’t need to get involved.”

Call me crazy, but I just couldn’t leave it like he said. I dogged his heels down the beach. “Stop walking away, and tell me what’s going on.”

“I stole the boat.”

“You took it from the restaurant?”

“No.”

“Why would you take…wait. If you didn’t take it from the restaurant, then where?”

“Gael and his righteous attitude about drinking and partying and girls is getting to me.” He glanced over his shoulder with a smirk. “I just want to have a little fun.”

“You took it from Half Mile?” I shouted. “Damian said that Gael and Summer were on Half Mile, getting ready to leave.”

He laughed. “Yeah, so?”

“So you stranded them!” I was screaming, furious now. “Danny, this storm could kill them!”

“They’ll be fine.” He kept walking down the beach, and I let him.

I turned and ran. My umbrella flew out of my hand, and I pumped my legs to get down the beach. I had to get back to the hotel and find Damian before the storm hit. We had to get Gael and Summer off the island.

I’d gotten half way.

Then something slammed into my back. I flew forward, my hands flying out to break my fall. My face went into the sand, and felt someone grab a fistful of my hair and yank me back up.

“Let me go!” I kicked my feet and smacked at Danny. His arm went around mine to hold me still, and his hand went over my mouth.

I tried to scream and plead with him, but I found myself being dragged backwards down the beach. If he stranded Gael and Summer on Half Mile…

Then what was he going to do with me?

Chapter 3
Damian

The lights flickered.

I glanced up from the news about the storm, and checked my phone. For some reason I hadn’t heard from Gael or Celso. I wasn’t too worried about them, but it would have been nice if they texted me.

The weather was getting worse. I heard the wind howling, and went over to the door and opened it. “Vi, I think you should get inside now… Vi?”

I went out onto the walkway, and it was empty.

“Violet?” I shouted.

Nothing.

“Great, just what I need.” I had to fall for the girl with a tendency to wander. I grabbed a flashlight and my phone, and headed down to the docks. It was the place she’d most likely go. There wasn’t anything else around here, besides the police station, and she wouldn’t venture there without me or Vic.

When I got to the docks she wasn’t there. Neither was anyone else. The boat launch was empty, and all that was left was the beach.

So I started walking.

It was totally deserted.

“Violet?” I called, a little half-heartedly. I mean, it’s not like she would hear me over the wind.

I stopped.

Could have sworn I heard someone…scream?

Nah.

I kept going, and rain started to fall in sheets.

My pocket vibrated. A text from Celso told me that his truck was gone from the restaurant, meaning Gael and Summer were on their way out of town.

Good. Less people for me to worry about.

Now all I had to do was find Violet.

I stopped again.

I’d heard a very faint cry. A bird, maybe? Or a cat?

I swept my gaze across the beach. An umbrella was caught up near some rocks. I jogged over and pulled it out, and my stomach turned. This was Vi’s umbrella.

“Violet?” She had to be out here somewhere.

I left it and ran further down the beach, around the curve towards the end. A boat was run aground.

Danny’s boat.

I started towards it. There was a another muffled cry, like a scream.

It was coming from the boat.

I climbed in and zeroed in on the small door that lead down into the hold. It was locked. I knelt down and put my ear to it, trying to hear over the wind. It was silent. I almost pulled back when I heard a thud from the inside.

“Dan?” I got out and circled the boat, looking for him. But he wasn’t there. Something or someone was locked inside the hold. And for some reason, I had a feeling it was Violet.

I climbed back in, and stood in front of the door. There was only one way to get in.

I kicked it.

I must have kicked it five times before it started to give way. The side splintered, and the hinges broke. With one last kick the door was gone, and I turned on my flashlight, shining it into the dark interior.

“Hello?” I edged inside.

There was a squeal to might right, and I swung the flashlight around.

“Damian, how did you find me?” Violet stood from where she had been sitting on an overturned bucket.

“Luck,” I helped her out of the boat and looked her over. Other than being shaken up and a few scrapes, she was okay.

“Back to the hotel, now.” We had to get inside before it got any worse. The wind had picked up to the point where it was getting hard to stay upright.

She shook her head and protested. “No, we have to save Gael and Summer.”

“What?” I shouted over the roar of the storm. “Gael and Summer got out. They’re fine.”

I couldn’t see her expression, but when she sagged against my side I figured she wasn’t going to fight me on this. I got us back across the beach, up to the hotel, and we were safely locked in the room. It was raging outside. We’d been blown off our feet a couple times, but now we were safe.

I turned on the lights and grabbed some clean clothes. But Violet stood in the room shaking. Just standing there shaking.

Clearly she’d experienced some trauma from being locked up in the boat. I wasn’t exactly sure what to do though. I could save someone from drowning, administer first-aid, but an emotional injury wasn’t in my field of expertise.

“Hey, come on Vi.” I went into the bathroom and turned the shower on so it was nice and warm. I got her to pull off her shoes, and basically stuck her under the spray of water fully clothed. She didn’t care, and after a few minutes the heat seemed to relax her.

I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her when she stepped out. “How are you feeling?”

“Better,” she smiled weakly. “Just, shocked. Think about it, Damian. If you hadn’t found me, I’d probably be dead by morning.”

“Don’t say that.” Thinking I could have lost Violet made something inside me crumble. “You’re here. I won’t let anything happen to you, I promise. Now tell me who did this to you so I can get Vic.”

“Danny.”

I stepped back, my heart seemed to slam into my chest. “What?”

Violet buried her face in the towel, before looking up at me and shaking her head. “Danny stole Wilbur from Half Mile to strand them. I stumbled across him getting rid of the evidence, your brother’s boat. He had it tied to his boat and cut the line, letting it drift out to sea.”

“Why did he lock you up?”

“Because I confronted him, and threatened to tell you.” She began to cry, and I made myself give her space. “He didn’t care. He left me there. I don’t know who that person was, but it was not our friend.”

“Vi, are you sure you’re okay? You’re not hurt?”

She crossed her arms. “I’d be a lot better if you stopped keeping your distance and hugged me.”

I blinked. “What?”

“Damian, I need you to be cuddly right now. Please.”

I held open my arms and she nearly knocked me over. “It’s not that I didn’t want to comfort you, Vi. I just wasn’t sure you’d want me to.”

She swatted my chest and glared at me. “Of course I’d want you to make me feel better!”

I sighed. “I just didn’t want you to think that I was…you know. Trying to…”

“Damian, just shut up and kiss me.” She grabbed the back of my head and pulled me toward her.

“Wait.”

“Look, it hurt me, seeing you out with those other girls. It was like you didn’t care for me anymore. That’s not something I can just get over.”

“I know.” I lowered my voice. “This whole thing was stupid. Once Celso went with Felicity, I should have sought you out, but I was just so…I don’t know. I was mad at myself.”

“Why?”

“Because I went out with those girls. I put up this front that I wanted to party, and hook up with these random girls… Also, the hooking up part is a total lie. Don’t believe what people say.”

“Damian, we weren’t together. It doesn’t matter what you did.”

“It matters to me. And once the truth came out and I knew that you and Celso weren’t really together…I’d already dug myself into a huge hole I wasn’t sure how to get out of. I’ve been a grumpy bastard for way too long.” I hugged her closer. “What I don’t understand is why you didn’t try to set me straight a little harder.”

I heard her gulp. “I was scared.”

I frowned. “Of me?”

“Not really of you…just the you everyone sees. Celso kept warning me that I could end up like all the other girls you’ve dated. It made me wary. I didn’t want him to be right.”

“I’m going to kill my brother.”

“He was just doing what he thought was right. I can’t fault him for that.”

“I wish I could rewind time. That none of this ever happened. That I didn’t start all this partying and…serial dating…as Gael calls it. That I had just asked you out, and ignored your relationship with Celso.”

“If you showed up at the coffee shop once in a while, it wouldn’t be so bad.”