Page 111 of Heart of the Deep

“What’s going on?” Breckett asked.

“We’ll explain soon.”

“Is Jax…?”

“He’s here,” Macy said, lowering her voice so only those nearest to her could hear. “They’re…all here.”

Breckett’s eyes widened. He looked behind him to the gathering crowd, and Larkin followed his gaze with her own.

Her heart skipped when she saw him — Commander Nicholas Laster.

He strode down the length of the dock, armed rangers flanking him on either side, and the townsfolk and fishermen stood aside to allow him past with no shortage of disgruntled expressions. Larkin squeezed Randall’s hand.

“Shit,” Randall muttered, his tone a confused blend of relief and apprehension.

Larkin hadn’t expected him to get here so quickly. She glanced higher and might’ve kicked herself; how had she missed the lookout he’d posted near the clifftop warehouse?

It didn’t matter. Spotting the ranger wouldn’t have made a difference.

Her father was here, and he was alive.

“Camrin, go. Gather as many people as you can and get them here,fast,” Aymee said.

Camrin nodded and ran off, squeezing past the rangers. Nicholas glanced at him for only a moment, barely slowing.

Breckett turned toward the crowd, putting an arm around Macy as Nicholas approached.

“What the hell’s going on down here, Breckett?” Nicholas demanded. “I was told people just crawled out of the sea. You pulling some kind of—” His words — and his approach — halted as his gaze swept over Macy and Aymee, finally fixating on the people behind them.

He held Larkin’s gaze for several seconds before looking at Randall.

Macy and Aymee shifted aside as he suddenly moved forward. He paused for an instant in front of Larkin and Randall and then took them both into a crushing embrace.

Larkin wrapped an arm around him and squeezed her eyes shut as she turned her face against his shoulder.Thiswas her father. This was the man who had been missing from her life for over a year. Tears burned her eyes as she tightened her hold.

Nicholas held them for a long time. Long enough for it to hurt in the best way, long enough for her to feel his tears trickle into her hair.

“I lost you,” he whispered raggedly, “I’m so sorry I lost you.”

“We’re okay, Dad,” Larkin said.

“We’re here now,” Randall added.

He drew back, cupping the backs of their necks with his hands, and looked them over. The tears in his eyes gutted her. “How? Where’ve you been? How did you get here?”

“We swam,” Larkin replied.

“Swam,” he repeated and shook his head in disbelief. “Doesn’t matter. You can tell me all the made-up stories you want once we go into town and get a hot meal.”

“They aren’t making anything up,” Macy said. “We did swim here.”

“And we’re not going to town,” Larkin added. “Not yet.”

Nicholas glanced at Macy as though for the first time, confusion creasing his brow, but he turned back to Larkin without saying a word to the other woman. “What do you mean you’re not going to town?”

“We have a lot to talk about, Dad,” Randall said.

“And we’ll do it in the town hall while we get you two some food and proper clothing. What the hell are you wearing, anyway?”

---