Page 38 of Against the Wind

“Yeah.” I gathered my medical bag, double-checking that I’d left Sawyer with enough supplies. “Let me just…”

“She’s in good hands.” Daniel nodded toward where Sawyer sat vigil beside the bed, Roy’s massive head resting on his knee. “And you look dead on your feet.”

He wasn’t wrong. The adrenaline that had carried me through the morning was fading fast, leaving bone-deep exhaustion in its wake. More than that, I needed space to process what this might mean. If those remains belonged to Gwen...

I swallowed hard against the lump in my throat. “Okay.”

EPILOGUE

DANIEL

In the wake of delivering Willa and Sawyer back to Sutter House, Gabi looked about ready to drop. I wanted to take her straight home, but I should’ve known my girl would insist on checking back in at the community center. Patients had thinned out, but there were still some lingering. She left me at the door to go touch base with the EMTs and nursing staff still running things.

I stepped away from the bustle, finding a quiet corner near the supply closets to make a call. The smell of antiseptic and bleach hung in the air as I dialed Hayes.

“What’s the update, LaRue?”

I filled him in on Mickey Doyle’s interrogation. “He folded pretty quick once we had him cornered. Gave up some names, mostly street-level dealers we already knew about. Middle management of the organization seems to be using code names, so he had nothing but those to report. But reading between the lines, I think there’s more happening here than he knows about.”

Hayes grunted in agreement on the other end of the line.

“My recommendation would be to embed some operatives in Sutter’s Ferry. Get eyes on the ground, build relationships, gather intelligence.” I sucked in a breath and took the shot. “Full disclosure, sir—the woman I’m involved with is here. I’m goingto be here during my personal time anyway, so I volunteer to be one of those embedded operatives. I’ll understand if you feel it’s a conflict of interest.”

There was a pause, then Hayes chuckled. “You work fast.”

“It was a pre-existing relationship, sir. I’m just here to fix it.”

“Well, seems like killing two birds with one stone to me, LaRue. So long as you don’t let it interfere with the job.”

“Absolutely not, sir. I can maintain professionalism.”

“Good. Any thoughts on who else would suit for this op?”

The question caught me off guard. “You’re asking me, sir?”

“You’ve shown good instincts. Done good work.”

The unexpected praise had my chest warming with pride. “Well, with Doyle implicating the fishing industry, we want somebody in that sector. If I remember from the personnel files, O’Connell is from Hatterwick. His family runs a small fishing fleet. That might give us an in.”

“I’ll speak to him and keep you informed.”

We hammered out a few more logistics before ending the call. I took a moment to send up a prayer of thanks that my gambit worked and that my work, for once, was bringing me here instead of taking me away. Then I went in search of Gabi.

“Okay,nowI can leave.”

“Where to?”

“The clinic. That’s where my car is, and by now they’ll have the debris cleared enough that I can get out.”

Despite the fact that I’d been up and moving almost all day, it felt good to move with unhurried purpose. The walk back to the clinic gave me time to gather my thoughts. Her car still sat beside the back door. It had a few more dings than before, but all things considered, it had survived quite well. The clinic itself was still boarded up. With all the staff at the community center today, no one had been around to deal with it. Tomorrow, probably. It would be one more step back to normal. I had afeeling that both she and the rest of this island were going to need it in the weeks to come.

Once inside, I helped Gabi check that everything was secure after the storm. As we wrestled mattresses back to their proper locations in patient rooms, it occurred to me that with all the rush to get to Willa, I hadn’t given her what update I could about the break-in.

“About Mickey.” I settled the last mattress back in place. “You should know, he was working alone. The break-in wasn’t part of any larger operation targeting the clinic. He got in trouble with some dealers, owed them money, and thought stealing prescription meds would solve his problems.”

Relief washed over her face. “So the clinic isn’t in danger?”

“No. But that leads me to something else I need to tell you.” I rocked back on my heels, nervously shoving my hands into my back pockets as I met her eyes. “I’m being assigned here to Hatterwick. Part of an ongoing task force operation.”

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