Page 61 of Fire and Ice

"She broke her arm," Derek continued. "Bitched and moaned about the broken arm, and we joked for days that she had used up the last of her nine lives but..."

"Derek," Jack said wearily.

"Right. I'm sorry, Jack," Derek sighed. "I'm scared for her too. I guess I was trying to make myself feel better. I should let Viktor know what's going on."

After his call with Derek, Jack had walked into the living room, which was shot up pretty bad but usable. Everyone was still awake, though his mom appeared to have dozed off on the couch. They rose when he came in.

"Anything?" Brett asked.

Jack shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Jack," Brett said, his voice cracking. "I am such a fuck up."

Jack did not say anything, but simply looked numbly at his brother. His emotions were tightly coiled, and he was afraid he might lose it like he had done earlier.

After Taylor had informed him of what Maia had done, Jack went berserk: he went for the gunman who had surrendered to them and started beating the guy up, demanding the name and whereabouts of the man who had sent them. It took Brody and Maddox to pull him off. Thankfully, the police arrived, along with Detective Rick Tanner. Jack had nearly decked Rick too when he wanted to detain him when all Jack wanted to do was to go look for Maia.

"You stop me, Tanner and I will shoot you," Jack growled as Rick got in his face.

"Got five dead guys, and what looks like a war zone over here," the detective said. "You got permits for all those guns?"

"Fuck you, Tanner," Jack snapped and pushed the detective out of the way. When Rick refused to budge, Jack threw back his arm ready to let fly.

"Jack, calm down and tell me what is going on?" Rick asked, stepping away as he realized that Jack was half out of his mind. Rick held up his hands, letting Jack know that he was listening.

Jack stalked off to the cliff and pointed in the direction of the burning boat.

Rick stared at the devastation, stunned.

"Maia is missing," Jack said hoarsely. "She rammed a jet ski into the boat that was pursuing my family."

"Oh my God," Rick breathed unbelievingly.

"Now, detective, any more questions?"

Tanner stepped aside to let him go.

Jack got into his SUV and told Rick that his parents, Taylor and Brett should be on the way back and he could take their statements.

Jack thought of his last words to her:Please protect them, Maia.And she did, probably at the cost of her own life.

CHAPTER NINE

It was 2 am on Sunday morning. The breeze had started picking up and a light drizzle had begun to fall. Jack was sitting in the living room with Kane Taylor, a comprehensive map of the Outer Banks rolled out on the coffee table. They were studying the topography of the barrier island figuring out where the current would push the pieces from the wreckage. Maia was wearing a life jacket, and if she held on to some debris she would have drifted with it. Jack struggled to remain optimistic, the water temperature was around 60 degrees and the weather had recently been on a warming trend, but the Nor' Easter could not have happened at a worse possible time.

All through the ordeal, Jack did not once stop to analyze what he was feeling. The heavy loss that was weighing in his heart was pointing to an emotion that felt alien to him. He was afraid that if these deep sentiments overwhelmed him he would become useless to anyone. Maia was alive, he needed to stay strong.

Jack looked over at Taylor whose face was taut with strain.

"You should get some rest, Taylor," Jack said as he pinched the bridge of his nose, a sign of his own fatigue. "We can pick this up tomorrow."

"I'm sorry I didn't keep her safe for you, Jack," Taylor said. "Instead, she saved us all."

They both froze when they heard a vehicle pull up in front of the house. The other guys had boarded up the windows and put tarps over them to prevent the expected rain from getting in. He would have someone do major clean up after the storm blew through.

Jack locked and loaded his semi-automatic as he and Taylor cautiously approached the door, which was surprisingly intact after the firefight. Brody was on perimeter duty.

"Get out of the vehicle and keep your hands where I can see them," Brody shouted from outside. "Taylor, we've got company!"

---