She cut the connection and softly, with Lacey on her heels, made her way into Rainbow’s room.
Dr. Frownfelter and the nurses were turning away from the bed.
Kateri could hardly speak for grief and remorse. “Is she gone?”
“The crisis is over. She’s stabilized once more.” Dr. Frownfelter patted Kateri’s shoulder. “She wants this life. I wish I could help her.”
One by one, the nurses left the room, and each of them patted her, too.
Alone with Rainbow, Kateri went to the bed once more. And cried.
*
Kateri drove with Lacey to City Hall, turned off the car, stared at the entrance, then started the car again and drove to the harbor, to the Coast Guard office. She parked and with Lacey on her heels, went in, and just … stood there.
The tsunami had swept away the old Coast Guard headquarters. She had never worked in this building. But in a glass case on one wall, a series of miniatures told the history of the Coast Guard in Virtue Falls. Kateri wandered over and saw the representation of the tsunami, recognized a tiny Kateri doll and saw, beneath the giant waves, two glassy green eyes peering up. Somebody had respected the Native American legend enough to represent the frog god in the story. Which was nice, but those eyes were real enough to make Kateri remember why she no longer went too close to the ocean. To see that cold, enormous face once more would freeze her soul with fear. Even now, years later, the memory sent a shiver down her spine.
Petty Officer Tyler Kovavitc came out of his office and welcomed Kateri with a grin. “Good to see you again, Sheriff Kwinault! I imagine you’ve come to talk to Commander Luis about yesterday’s incident on the docks.”
“Sure. Of course. That makes sense. That’s why I’m here.”
If a dog could snort, Lacey did it.
Kovavitc took Kateri and Lacey to an open door and ushered them into Luis’s office. “Sheriff Kateri Kwinault to see you, sir.”
Lacey realized who sat at the chair behind the desk, gave a yip and raced around to greet Luis.
Kovavitc added, “And her dog.”
Luis looked up from his paperwork. “Baby, it’s so wonderful to see you!” He dropped to his knees and came up holding Lacey. To Kateri, he said, “You, too, Kateri. Come in! You must have read my mind. I was just finishing up this report.”
Kateri sat down in the chair in front of the desk and started to lie. “Yes, I came to hear the…” But she couldn’t finish. “I wanted to be somewhere I felt at home.”
Luis smiled and he honest-to-God looked pleased. “You feel at home here?”
“I do. My twenties were spent trying to be the best Coastie I could be. I’m not that person anymore, but I remember how much I loved the job and the camaraderie. If the tsunami hadn’t changed our world, I would still be here, and gladly.”
“I’d be glad if you were still in this chair.” He rubbed Lacey’s head, then placed her on the floor. “I’m proud to be the commander, but…”
“I know,” Kateri said. “I am so tired of being…”
He finished her sentence. “In charge.”
Kateri remembered now why they had been friends. They completed each other’s thoughts.
Lacey trotted over and sat on Kateri’s feet.
Luis said, “We had some overnight developments. We got a distress call from Bardsey Island.”
“Ruth Blethyn’s place?” In Kateri’s opinion, nothing was more unlikely. Kateri remembered Mrs. Blethyn as English, stout, organized, dignified and wealthy.
“Right. Turns out Mrs. Blethyn has a secret life. She’s a ‘friend’ of John Terrance’s.” Luis used air quotes.
“You are kidding.” Only too well, Kateri remembered John Terrance’s appearance. Scrawny, smelly, with greasy hair, dirty fingernails and that nasty leer that showed off teeth that had seldom seen a toothbrush.
“He appeals to her ‘wild streak.’” More air quotes.
“Like … you mean … she … they…” Kateri wanted to plug her ears. “I don’t want to think about that.”
“She believes that deep down inside he’s ‘a good man worth saving.’” Yet more air quotes.
“She’s an educated woman. It’s not like his appearance is the worst part of him, although it’s … ew. Ruth Blethyn and John Terrance. He hates women! Not just me, all women!”
Luis suspended his air-quoting fingers in midair. “I’m not arguing.”
Kateri continued as if he were. “She has a PhD in psychology. Does she know what this says about her?”
“He just ‘needs the right woman.’” Eye roll and air quotes. “He showed up at her house with buckshot in his ass. She removed it for him. He was worried someone—land-based law enforcement, the Coast Guard—was going to track him. So she carried him away to her private island to canoodle.”
“Canoodle?” Kateri laughed. “Her words?”
Luis looked surprised at himself. “Actually, my grandmother’s. But that was the meaning. Mrs. Blethyn was vague on the details, but I do believe there was some canoodling, also some food and drink and fresh clothing. Then he stole her boat and left her stranded on the island.”
Sarcasm spilled from Kateri. “I’m stunned that he would betray his lover in such a manner. You’d think she could recognize his character. Or lack of it.” Then she realized—who was she to mock? She had talked with Stag, slept with Stag, allowed him to scold and care for her. And she still hadn’t known him. Pain twisted her heart.
She must have gotten an expression on her face, because Luis asked, “Ribs hurt?”
To her horror, she burst into tears.
Luis leaped to his feet and shut the door, came back and dug around in his desk drawer and produced a box of tissues. He offered them to her. “What’s wrong? Did Stag get mad because you announced you two were in a relationship?”
She shook her head.
“This is about Stag, isn’t it?”
She nodded.
Luis knelt before her. “What did that bastard do?”
“He was nice about the relationship. And I…” She cried harder.
He put Lacey into her lap. “What did you do?”
“Asked … accused…”
“Accused him of what?”
“The shooting.”
“What shooting?” Luis’s voice dropped to a hush. “At the Oceanview Café?”
Kateri nodded.
Lacey sighed.
Luis’s voice got loud. “What in the hell were you thinking?”
“That … he…”
Luis didn’t wait for her to stammer through her words. “He wouldn’t work with an amateur like John Terrance.”
“If he … shot law enforcement … his life would be”—Kateri took a long breath and wailed—“easier.”
Luis was unrelenting. “Are you kidding? If Stag Denali wanted you dead, you’d be dead.”
She nodded. Apparently everyone knew that. Except her.
“As it is, he wants you alive so he can bang your brains out. All the time.”