Churning Seas Read online

  “I promise,” Nick confirmed. “He’s not coming all this way to turn around and leave because you’re working. My understanding is that most of your cruises cover a span of several days. That’s not insurmountable in the grand scheme of things.”

  “I guess.” Rowan scratched the side of her nose, mostly so she had something to do with her hand. “I’m going to want answers when he gets here. I need him to know that. He can’t just show back up and refuse to tell me what’s going on.”

  “He knows that.”

  “Fine.” Rowan heaved out a sigh as she leaned back and let Quinn cuddle her closer to his side. “I really need a drink. I feel wrung out.”

  “I think we all need a drink,” Nick said. “This has been a taxing few weeks.”

  “I’m going to bet it’s been worse for her,” Quinn argued.

  “Don’t count on it.”

  2

  Two

  Two Weeks Later

  Rowan fancied herself a patient person. Sure, she didn’t look at herself in a mirror and see a benevolent saint who never did anything wrong. Patience, though, was a virtue. That was the saying anyway. After another two weeks of no contact with Nick — no sign of her father during that time either — Rowan wasn’t feeling particularly patient or virtuous.

  “This is Hell.”

  Quinn, who stood with Rowan on the deck overlooking the vast Atlantic Ocean, merely nodded. “It’s definitely Hell,” he agreed. “Never in my life have I been so unhappy. I mean ... a beautiful woman. Blech. A full moon. Stars overhead. A quiet moment for romance. What could be worse than that?”

  Rowan’s mouth dropped open at Quinn’s tone. “I didn’t mean ... .” She broke off, unsure what to say. He had a point. She’d done nothing but complain for two weeks and he’d been a virtual saint that entire time as she paced, fretted, and issued nonstop complaints about how the world was treating her wrong. Quinn deserved so much more than that. “I’m sorry.”

  Quinn quirked a brow as he regarded her. “What are you sorry about?”

  “All of it.”

  “You’re going to have to be more specific.”

  Rowan heaved out a sigh. “I’m sorry about the last two weeks. I’ve done nothing but complain and talk about myself. It’s not as if that was fun for you.”

  “Well, that’s where you’re wrong.” Quinn tightened his grip on Rowan’s waist and offered an exaggerated rocking motion that caused her to giggle despite her dour mood. “And that right there is what I was going for.” Quinn kissed the back of her neck. “For Hell, I don’t happen to think this is so bad.”

  Rowan heaved out a sigh at his schmaltzy words. “I know. I am sorry, by the way. You’ve been an angel – seriously, an actual angel with a halo and everything – for putting up with me the last few weeks. I’m ... on edge.”

  “I don’t blame you for that.” Quinn rested his head on Rowan’s shoulder and stared at the sea. The air was humid and clingy this evening, and the far-off rumble of thunder told him it was probably time to take shelter since a storm was brewing. Still, the deck was empty — which rarely happened — and they had a few minutes to take advantage of the solitude.

  “Still, I shouldn’t be complaining constantly,” Rowan persisted. “You deserve better than that.”

  “I have what I want ... which is you.” Quinn’s grin was rakish as he kissed her cheek. “I was simply messing with you.”

  “I’ll be better.”

  “I don’t want you forcing yourself to be upbeat when that’s not what you feel,” Quinn chided. “I understand that it’s essentially torture for you to wait for Nick to make contact. I can’t imagine what you’re going through. I would like it if you talked to me about it, though.”

  Rowan chewed on her bottom lip and nodded. “I didn’t want to spend all my time complaining.”

  Quinn chuckled. “Good job.”

  “I know. I didn’t realize until just now that I’ve been complaining about everything but what’s really bothering me for the past two weeks. That is not who I want to be.”

  Quinn heaved out a long-suffering sigh before moving from behind Rowan and tugging her toward one of the lounge chairs on the deck. “Rowan, who you are is fine. Actually, it’s better than fine. It’s perfect. What you’re going through, however, is not normal. Most people never have to go through something this stressful.”

  “I can’t stop thinking about it,” Rowan admitted as they got comfortable together on the lounger. “Why do you think he left?”

  Quinn wasn’t expecting the question. “I don’t know. I ... don’t know enough about the situation to even hazard a guess.”

  “Right. I just thought because you were in the military ... and a security stud ... and so smart ... that you might have a theory.”

  “Nice,” Quinn drawled, shaking his head. “I love that you’re not putting too much pressure on me or anything.”

  Rowan smiled sweetly. “It’s not my fault that you’re so wise.”

  “Keep it up.” Quinn tapped the end of her nose. “As for why he ran ... I don’t know. It occurs to me that I don’t know a lot about him. It’s not that I wasn’t interested, mind you, but I didn’t want to push you before you were ready to talk. Then all of this stuff exploded, and we still didn’t talk about it.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “For starters, what did he do for a living?”

  “He worked for a bank.”

  Quinn waited for her to expand, and when she didn’t, he fixed her with a curious look. “I need more than that. Was he a teller? A security guard? A loan coordinator?”

  “Oh, of course.” Rowan giggled at herself, releasing some of the stress squeezing Quinn’s heart. “I guess we really haven’t talked about this. One of the reasons I was so surprised when my father disappeared is because he was just a normal guy. He was the bank manager, which means he filled out a bunch of paperwork and opened and closed the branch every day.”

  “Hmm.” Quinn rubbed his cheek against Rowan’s as he watched lightning illuminate the sky over the water. “The storm will be here soon.”

  “Yeah. We still have five minutes together, right?”

  “We have forever together,” Quinn promised. “As for the next five minutes, I think we’ll be safe. We have to watch the storm, though. I think it’s moving fast.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Regarding your father, I’m not sure what to think,” Quinn continued. “It could be that he uncovered something at the bank — money laundering or something — and was forced to leave. You lived in a suburb of Detroit, right? There’s a lot of mob activity in the city. There’s also a lot of political graft. Maybe he discovered something that put his life in danger and he had to run.”

  “Maybe,” Rowan conceded. “If that’s true, why wouldn’t he take me with him?”

  “Maybe he didn’t want your entire life to consist of being on the run. Maybe he wanted you to find a home. Maybe he wanted you to find me.”

  Rowan’s lips curved. “My father wasn’t much for me dating back in the day. He used to make jokes about me becoming a nun.”

  “Well, thankfully for me, that didn’t happen. As for your father ... I don’t know. I wish I had answers for you. All I can say with any certainty is that you’re not going through this alone.”

  “No. I don’t feel alone.” Rowan fluttered her fingers over Quinn’s cheek. “Thank you for standing by me.”

  “You don’t have to thank me for that. It’s where I want to be.”

  “I know. You said it yourself, though, I haven’t exactly been easy to deal with.”

  “You haven’t been terrible either. You’ve just been ... distracted. I guess that’s the right word.”

  “I’ll try not to be so distracted. Maybe focusing on you will make me feel better.”

  “I think that’s a marvelous plan.” Quinn kissed her, soft and slow. “In fact, I think it’s such a good plan that we should head back to your room and pra
ctice focusing on me starting right now.”

  “Good idea.” Rowan giggled as Quinn pushed her to a standing position, her shoulders jerking when a rumble of thunder so loud it practically crackled and sizzled in the air caused the night to fill with debilitating noise.

  Quinn instinctively pulled Rowan flush against his chest and stared out at the sea as the sky opened and rain poured over them. “I guess we’re going to have to start with a shower to clean up before you focus on me,” he said after a beat.

  “I can focus on you in the shower,” Rowan offered, finding her voice. “We should probably get out of this rain, though.”

  “Definitely,” Quinn agreed, tugging Rowan toward the overhang that kept the tiki bar dry during brief cruise downpours. One of their friends, Demarcus Johnson, was manning the empty bar and he looked relieved to see friendly faces as he wiped down the countertop.

  “I didn’t think anyone was out there,” Demarcus intoned as Rowan and Quinn scurried under the roof cover. “This storm is going to be a doozy.”

  “It definitely is,” Quinn agreed, pushing Rowan’s hair away from her face and staring into her eyes. “Are you okay?”

  Rowan nodded as she held up her arm, laughter lighting her features. “That last bolt of lightning was so close it made the hair on my arm stand on end even though we’re at sea.”

  “It felt close,” Quinn said, rubbing his hands over her back. “Wow.”

  “Do you guys want a drink?” Demarcus offered. “It might settle your nerves.”

  “Actually, we’re heading back to Rowan’s room so she can tell me how hot I am and shower me with kisses,” Quinn replied. “We’ll take a raincheck, though.”

  Rowan, her cheeks flushed with color, scowled. “I can’t believe you just told him that.”

  “I didn’t realize it was a secret.”

  “It’s not a secret. It’s just ... you shouldn’t talk about those things in public.”

  “An empty bar and Demarcus is hardly public.”

  “True. Still ... now I’m embarrassed.”

  Since Quinn found Rowan adorable when she was embarrassed, he couldn’t help but smile. “So maybe I’ll focus on you when we get back to the room, huh?”

  “I could live with that.”

  Quinn gave her another kiss, the steam level ratcheting up a notch. “That makes two of us. Let’s get out of here and make our own storm.”

  “Ugh. You guys are officially sick,” Demarcus complained, making a face. “I can’t believe you’re going to leave me up here to monitor an empty bar while you guys run away and play a real-life version of The Little Mermaid.”

  “Well, suck it up.” Quinn wasn’t particularly worried about his best friend’s complaints as he slung an arm around Rowan’s shoulders. “I only care about myself today and I’m anxious to play some water games with my girl. As for keeping the bar open, go ahead and close. If anyone asks, say I ordered it. No one should be screwing around the deck with this storm raging. It’s not safe.”

  Demarcus brightened considerably. “That works for me. In fact ... .” He trailed off, focusing on something over Quinn’s left shoulder.

  Quinn snapped his head in that direction, widening his eyes when he caught sight of the ship’s captain cutting through the tables and heading directly toward him. “What’s going on?”

  “We have a situation,” Michael Griffin said, opting not to mince words. “There’s an oil rig about four miles from here. The Andromeda. It might be going down.”

  Quinn was all business, thoughts of escaping for a romantic interlude with Rowan pushed out of his head. “It might be going down? How does that work?”

  “They’ve asked for emergency help,” Michael replied. “The Coast Guard can’t get to them in time. They radioed for help from surrounding ships. That happens to be us. We’re the closest.”

  “So we’re going to bring a bunch of oil rig workers onto The Bounding Storm?” Quinn was dumbfounded. “How does that even work?”

  “It works because it has to work,” Michael replied. “We can’t leave those people to die.”

  “What about lodging?” Quinn challenged. “We’re not docking in Florida tonight.”

  “No, and I’ve already got Sally working on that,” Michael admitted. “We’re not sure where we’re going to house them. We might be able to find rooms for some of the crew, but we don’t have enough beds to cover everyone. We’ll figure it out. That’s not our biggest concern.”

  “What is our biggest concern?” Rowan asked, worry edging her eyes. Something about Michael’s tone set her teeth on edge. Whatever was about to happen wasn’t some standard rescue operation. Something else was going on.

  “Docking at the rig,” Michael replied without hesitation. “The water is churning. The rig isn’t stationary. There’s give. It’s going to be a hairy operation.”

  Rowan had no idea what that meant. “Are we in danger?”

  “We shouldn’t be,” Quinn answered hurriedly. “Our people know what they’re doing. I would feel better if you put on a life vest, though. Also, don’t go below deck. Stay on the main floor but inside, out of the storm.”

  Rowan opened her mouth to argue, but Quinn was already focused on Michael. “I’ll put my security team together and we’ll handle the offloading. We’ll take them straight from the rig to the lobby so we can get a head count. We need to make sure to put together a list of names so we cover ourselves on this.”

  “Definitely,” Michael agreed.

  “I can do that,” Rowan offered, refusing to make eye contact with Quinn when he shot her a scathing look. “I want to do something. Let me put together the list.”

  “That sounds good,” Michael started.

  Quinn cut him off. “No. Have whoever is behind the front desk do the list. That’s not your job, Rowan.”

  “Saving a bunch of dudes from a floating oil rig isn’t your job either,” Rowan pointed out. “That’s not going to stop you.”

  “She has a point,” Michael hedged. He didn’t mind inserting himself in Quinn and Rowan’s relationship if it involved teasing. The serious stuff was out of his depth, though.

  “I didn’t mean that I didn’t want you to help,” Quinn countered. “I simply meant that I have another job I want you to do.”

  “Put on a life vest?”

  “And take photos,” Quinn added, taking her by surprise. “The mother company is probably going to need photographs for insurance purposes and I would prefer having photos just to be on the safe side, in case something happens down the line.”

  “What is going to happen?”

  “I don’t know that anything is going to happen,” Quinn answered. “I just want to make sure we’re covered on every front, okay?”

  Rowan remained unconvinced, but she nodded all the same. “You’re going to be careful helping them on the ship, right? You won’t take any unnecessary risks, will you?”

  “I’ll be fine.” Quinn kissed her forehead. “Go put your life vest on for me. I’m going to force you to be locked in the kitchen with Sally if you don’t.”

  “You can’t do that.”

  “I’m head of security. I can do anything.”

  Rowan scowled but took a step back. “I’m going to get my vest now. I’m getting my camera, too.”

  “Okay. Go to the lobby. I’ll find you there when we have everyone onboard.”

  Rowan narrowed her eyes. “You’d better be careful.”

  “I will be. I won’t leave you. I believe I already told you that once today. I meant it.”

  Rowan exhaled heavily through her nose. “Okay. Be safe.”

  “I have everything under control. Trust me.”

  QUINN WAS LESS SURE of himself when he stood on the deck and stared at the Andromeda rig as they approached. The water had the ship bucking and the rig looked to be listing to one side.

  “That’s something you don’t see every day, huh?” Michael moved to Quinn’s side. “What do you think did
that?”

  “I have no idea.” Quinn didn’t consider himself an expert on offshore oil rigs. “The waves and wind could’ve damaged it.”

  “I thought rigs were designed to withstand hurricanes and pounding water.”

  “Yeah, but nothing is infallible,” Quinn said. “The supports simply could’ve given way at one time. It’s not our job to figure out why it’s tilting like that. Our job is to get the workers onto this ship.”

  “Do you have any ideas? I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about getting too close to that thing.”

  “I know. I don’t see where we have a choice, though.” Quinn was grim. “A lifeboat will be swallowed in this. It’s more dangerous.”

  Michael nodded, resigned. “So ... how do we do it?”

  “We have to be quick.” Quinn motioned for his men to join him on the dock as the rig grew closer. “We need to get every single person off that rig and onto this ship. Then we need to put distance between us and the rig. Be ready to move as soon as I give you the signal.”

  “I’ll be ready.” Michael cast his friend a weighted look before moving to relative safety. “Remember that you have a woman waiting for you who will be extremely upset if something happens. You don’t want that to leave her crushed, my friend.”

  “Are you saying you won’t be upset if something happens to me?” Quinn challenged.

  “I’ll be just as upset as she is. I figure you’ll care more about what she thinks than me, though, so I want to use her as motivation.”

  “She is my motivation.” Quinn tugged on his own life vest. “You keep her off this deck. I’m not kidding. I can’t do my job if I’m worried about her.”

  “I’ll take care of her.”

  “I know you will.” Quinn clapped his friend’s shoulder. “Keep her safe. I’ll be with her as soon as I can.”

  “I’ll keep her warm for you.”

  Since Michael was an avowed lothario, Quinn scowled. “Just watch her. Don’t touch her.”

  Michael grinned. “You’re going to have to come back safely to make sure I don’t.”