Page 1 of Island Homecoming

Chapter 1

Youcannevergohome again.

The old adage echoed in Jessica Keller’s mind. It haunted her with every passing mile as she drove north. And she really hoped it wasn’t true.

Because she’d left the place that had felt like home for the past eight years. But she couldn’t stay. Not in Key West. Not when she broke out in a cold sweat when it was time to dress for work. Sheneededa change of pace.

Needed a safe place to heal.

No point sugar-coating those facts.

It had been thirty-two days since the justified shooting. But who was counting? She’d handled her desk duty, per protocol, and met with the psychologist, per the required schedule. Her friends in Key West treated her as if nothing had changed.

Maybe it was true—for them.

She knew better. Every night, she closed her eyes and saw the face of the man she’d been forced to kill in the line of duty. She’d pulled the trigger to save lives, just as she’d been trained to do. And yet nothing about it felt normal or justified.

Nothing would ever be the same.

Logically she understood how it had unfolded. Understood she’d drawn her service weapon and taken aim at a man intent on killing others. She accepted—gratefully—that she’d been cleared of any professional wrongdoing.

And still she wrestled, hour by hour, with the feelings swirling inside her. Grief and dismay and a pervasive anger that nothing had convinced that man to stand down.

Vic Jenkins, her mentor and partner, had gone out of his way to help her put it in perspective. Helpful and kind, he kept assuring her that she’d level out with time. “You saved at least two people, likely more,” he’d reminded her. “Focus on the wins, on those lives.”

She’d tried. Hell, one of those lives saved had been her friend. The world would certainly be worse off if Jess hadn’t taken action. The big win? Her friend was now planning to marry an incredible man.

Jess believed in Vic’s experience, trusted his assessment, and she’d still elected to take a leave of absence. The sunlight seemed to dim a little more each day, leaving her feeling as if she was caught in a perpetual fog bank.

Worse, for the first time since her graduation from the police academy, she didn’t want to be a cop. She’d lost the drive, the calling.

And if she wasn’t a cop, who was she?

She couldn’t go back on the job feeling this divided. It wouldn’t be safe for her partner or the community.

Driving always calmed her nerves, gave her mind time to wander and process. So here she was. With any luck, this road trip would help her reconcile all the ragged bits of herself. If nothing else, two long days of driving would surely cure her of all this introspection. There had to be a time limit on how long a person could stay in their own head without coming to a progressive conclusion.

Or maybe that was just her.

Jess thrived on taking action. She evaluated and weighed variables, but when she made a decision, she didn’t look back. Taking the shot was one example.

Going home was another.

She’d wanted out of the small town where she grew up, so she made a plan. Took the steps to make it happen. And while many people wouldn’t consider the Florida Keys a thriving metropolis, it was bigger than where she’d been raised.

And the constant flow of tourists kept things fresh, kept the police sharp.

The tires on the highway started to lull her into a haze. Combined with the warm late-afternoon sun She knew it was time to pull over and stretch her legs.

She had chosen back roads for this stretch of the journey just to enjoy the scenery as she worked her way up the Eastern seaboard.

After winding her way through Florida’s bigger cities, across the expanse of green dotted with blue lakes, the terrain gave way to towering cypress, oak, and pine trees along the swamps and marshes of coastal Georgia.

The sights and smells were so familiar and she hoped to eventually find comfort and rest for her mind and heart.

A billboard advertised a truck stop at the next exit and Jess fidgeted in her seat. Rolling her shoulders, she anticipated a break from the hours behind the wheel.

At the truck stop, she pulled up to an open gas pump and filled the tank. She used the time to rest her eyes, glancing around the area. She checked the ads in the windows, considering what kind of snack she wanted for the next couple of hours on the road. She figured she could get in another hour at least before dark. Maybe all the way home. Although rolling in to her parents’ place in the middle of the night would be disruptive.

---