Justice Is Always Ready (A Graham Family Story, 1) (17 page)

Going back to bed was an option. “Let
me get ready.”

It didn’t take her long to dress and
let Libby out. Then she called her parents and asked if they’d
swing by and let Libby out. All set, she met a fully dressed
Justice at the front door.

“
My car,” he whispered
before going out to the porch.

They hurried through the rain to his
vehicle. Sitting in the seat, she buckled her belt and stared at
the man behind the wheel.

“
I just have to run home
quick and change.”

“
Okay.”
I’m interested to see what your place looks
like.

They chatted on the drive and when he
pulled into an apartment complex she looked around with interest.
It was nice, clean, and had a lot of vehicles with military
stickers on them. He whipped the car into a spot and opened the
door only to pause and say, “Are you coming in?”

His tone was a bit different, so she
shrugged. “I don’t have to.”

“
No, I want you to. I
wasn’t sure if you wanted to.”

“
I do.”

Her belly fluttered when he winked and
said, “Good words to know.”

She followed him up a flight of stairs
to the second story then to a door with a 301B plaque on it. His
hand on the small of her back guided her into the apartment. It was
nothing like she’d imagined. Not that she had anything specific in
mind, but it wasn’t her idea of a bachelor pad.

It was open and spacious, tastefully
decorated even if a little on the empty side. “Very nice,” she
said.

“
Thank you. Make yourself
at home. I’ll be out in a few.”

“
No rush.”

He disappeared and she began to look
around. On a table near the window there sat picture frames. She
walked over and picked one up, a shot of him and his sister. There
were others of his family and what she assumed to be his crew. From
his window he had a lovely view of the waterfront. With a smile,
she crossed over to his stereo and perused his collection of
music.

“
You know you didn’t have
to stay standing.”

She turned an eye on him and her heart
pounded harder. He wore jeans and a sweatshirt. “I figured as much.
I was being nosy.”

Justice sauntered toward
her, entirely too attractive for his own good.
Or my own.

“
Nosy? Did you find
anything exciting?”

“
Not really. Didn’t get
any farther than your music collection.”

“
See anything you
like?”

Dragging her gaze up his physique, she
sent him a hooded smile. “Perhaps.”

“
Let’s go, unless,” his
tone lowered, “you’d like to see my bedroom.”

Delightful shivers overtook her.
“Maybe later.”

He nibbled the side of her neck. “I’ll
hold you to it.”

They left his apartment and got back
in his car. Kassidy relaxed as he got them on the interstate and
headed toward Roanoke Island.

Chapter
Eleven

Justice reclined back in his chair and
enjoyed the drink slipping down his throat. Things were good. He
and Kassidy had been together for a while and each day with her was
a new adventure. In all honesty he couldn’t imagine her not in his
life.

Yet, despite all the good going on, he
knew there was something which kept her from fully giving herself
to him. There remained a part of her that was cut off for him. He
doubted she even realized it, but he could see it. Times when she
didn’t think he watched, her expression would grow distant. Some
nights, he would have to wake her from nightmares, which she
claimed she couldn’t recall any of it. But he’d heard her cries,
the deep, gut-wrenching cries. Anytime he broached it, she would
immediately change the direction of the conversation.

“
Kassidy,” he muttered to
the room.

On his feet, he traversed to the
kitchen and refilled his Mountain Dew from the bottle in his
refrigerator. The glass poised at his lips, he paused when the
phone rang. Reaching over he lifted it from the base and put it to
his ear.

“
Hello?”

“
Sorry to call you in, but
y’all are needed.”

He dumped out his drink without
hesitation. “On my way.” The call ended without further words
between them and he replaced the phone.

It didn’t take him long at all to
change and grab his duffel. Heading to his car, he tossed his bag
in and slid behind the wheel. Bluetooth in, he had dialed a
number.

“
Hello?” Kassidy’s gentle
voice in his ear made him smile.

“
Hey,
beautiful.”

“
Justice. I was just about
on my way out the door to come over. Did you want me to bring
something else?”

“
I’m so sorry to do this
to you, Kassidy. I have to cancel. I just got called into work.”
Silence. “Kassidy?”

“
I’m, I’m here.” He would
have been able to hear her disappointment if he’d been deaf, it was
so palpable. “I understand. Umm, be safe.”

He needed to explain this to her but
he never got the chance for she hung up and left him with nothing
but the memory of her voice.

“
Damn!” With a frustrated
snarl, he tossed his earpiece off to land on the passenger
seat.

His mood hadn’t improved when he
arrived on the base. He hurried to the boat and stowed his gear.
While he waited for everyone else to report in, he spoke to his
commanding officer and got briefed on the situation. They had to
take over for another patrol that had found one dead in the water.
Plus there were a few smaller boats skimming nearer and they wanted
an increase in presence.

It didn’t take too long and he was at
the helm pushing the powerful boat out to sea. Behind him he could
hear his crew talking and laughing despite having been called in.
He knew they’d really rather be anywhere but where they were, but
his people were troopers and knew the job came first.

Tugging on the brim of his cover, he
rolled his shoulders and made a slight trajectory change when it
came.

“
How are you and Kassidy
doing?” Teak asked, stationing herself at his side.

“
Well, we would’ve been
doing much better if not for this call.”

“
Ahh, big plans
huh?”

“
Something like that. This
is the first time I’ve had to cancel on her. Not sure how well it’s
going to go over.”

“
She knows you don’t work
a nine to five, right? She should understand.”

Should
being the key word. “Yeah,” he said, knowing his tone sounded
as uncertain as he felt. “What about you? What did you have to
cancel?”

Terra was a very private woman. Not
much was known about her personal life. She played it close to the
vest and he respected her enough not to pry. Normally. But he
needed to talk about something other than how Kassidy would deal
with this latest development in their relationship.

“
Me? What makes you think
I had to cancel anything?”

He cut his gaze to her and laughed at
her attempt at an innocent expression. “Come on, Teak.” They were
in the enclosed pilothouse and the others were out, so for all
intents and purposes, they were alone.

“
Fine, if you
must
know I had a
date.”

“
A date. That’s it? That’s
all I get?”

She leaned in close and whispered in
his ear. “I don’t know if I can tell you any more than that. I
don’t want you to be jealous when I talk about how it would
end.”

“
Tease.”

The laugh came from her this time.
“Nothing exciting like that at all actually. It is a date with some
girlfriends. We go out, eat, talk about men, you know that kind of
thing.”

“
When am I going to meet a
man for you, Teak?”

Her smile seemed strained this time.
“When do I have time for a man. I’m swamped with testosterone here
with this group.”

“
You’re not ugly, Teak.”
And that was the truth. Terra Acre was a beautiful woman, confident
and caring, thick black hair, big eyes, winning smile, and a great
figure. And one hell of an Executive Officer.

She pinned him with her gaze. “Well
gee, thanks.”

“
That’s not how I meant
that to sound.”

She held up her hands and shook her
head. “I know and I suppose I should thank you. Things are
complicated.”

A myriad of reasons that could be ran
through his mind. His question was halted however when he spotted
something ahead. “Check out our ten o’clock, Teak. What do you
see?”

Talk was suspended while she put the
high-powered binoculars up to her eyes. “Smaller craft, possibly a
Sessa, riding really low in the water. I think it’s just listing.
Unless everyone is down below.”

Reaching up for the cb, he called it
in and increased the speed bearing down on the smaller vessel. His
men were ready and as he slowed them down, Teak announced who they
were. The skies had grown dark and the ocean had begun to pitch and
roll.

He was relieved at the helm by Petty
Officer Torgen and headed out to the side that the boat was upon.
Weapons ready, he looked over the edge.

“
Oh my,” he
muttered.

The deck had a woman with a bloodstain
spread across the light gray of her shirt. She lay on the wood
floor, her feet up on the single step. The floor of the area was
slick with blood. Beyond her sat a dog right by the captain’s
chair. The dog looked at him and began to growl, lips lifting to
expose pearly white teeth.

“
Who would do such a
thing?” Teak asked from beside him.

“
I don’t know but I have
to get them out of there.”

“
The dog? He doesn’t look
like he’s gonna be happy if you encroach.”

“
I have to try.” They made
short work of tying the boats together. “Here goes nothing,” he
muttered.

The closer he got, the louder the dog
became. Insignificant words flew from his mouth as he did his best
to calm the animal. He knew the boat was sinking. It was listing
way too far to one side.

At her side, he reached for her neck,
keeping one eye on the canine. He never moved, almost like he knew
Justice was there to help. There was no pulse and she had begun to
cool.

“
Damn it.”

“
Justice?”

“
No pulse on her. We need
to wrap her and take her back in with us.” He proceeded on, weapon
ready, and moved past the dog who just watched him. Teak backing
him up, they checked down in the cabin, there was water rising fast
and he frowned when it ran up over his boots. “Let’s get
going.”

Back topside he said to Teak, “Have
them call it in and see if they want us to attempt a
tow.”

Teak relayed his order and he frowned
when a whimper sounded. He looked back at the dog and attempted to
peer around it. The dog blocked the way leading to the area beneath
the steering wheel.

“
Is someone
there?”

“
Justice? Who are—” Teak
said.

She fell silent at his gesture. “If
you can hear me, come on out of there.” Nothing and he tried again.
“I’m not going away, so you may as well come out.”

Teak returned to his side and the dog
growled a little less. She began covering the body and he focused
back on the area behind the pup. Movement and his heart clenched
when a tiny hand appeared and touched the dog. The boat lurched and
he saw the dog scramble to maintain its position.

“
Come on,” he said in an
encouraging tone.

That small hand led to a small head
blanketed by dark curls peeking into view. Tan skin covered a
cherubic face from which big brown eyes stared back at him.
Fear-filled eyes. They moved to where the woman lay covered in a
sheet, then returned to him.

“
Mama seepin’?”

His heart broke. Reaching out with one
hand he beckoned to her. His other remained on his weapon. “Yes,
darlin’. Mama’s sleeping. Come here. I need to make sure you’re not
hurt.”

He could see the indecision in her
eyes but finally she emerged and came toward him. He could see
blood on her but wasn’t sure if it was hers or not. The dog paced
with her, no longer growling but not any less protective. He could
hear Teak’s muttered curse beside him that quickly changed to
Spanish and got a whole lot worse.

Another shift in the boat and the girl
fell toward the deck. He reached out and caught her. Immediately he
drew her in close and held her. She burrowed close into him and he
said, “Take the adult onto the boat.”

“
We need to get her off
this one too, Justice. It’s going down.” Teak’s voice was
firm.

“
I know. You take her up
once they get down.”

“
Okay.”

“
What’s your name, honey?”
he asked the child in his arms.