Runs Deep (11 page)

Keith spluttered. “You can’t come in here and—”

“I just did. And if you don’t like it, feel free to call the state and complain—although everybody’s a little busy with the storm right now. It might take a few days for them to get back to you.”

“You’re making a huge mistake here,” Keith snarled.

“No. This
town
made a huge mistake electing
you
.”

Keith narrowed his eyes. “Screw you, Declan.”

Declan turned away. “No thanks. You’re not my type.”

CHAPTER 23

S
teve stood at the back door of the diner staring out at the rain. It was as if someone was pouring water from a never-empty bucket. It just wasn’t letting up.

Should have grabbed Dad’s jacket
, he thought as he glanced down at his sweatshirt. He was going to be soaked before he made it to the end of the parking lot.

After his talk with Mel, the diner had gotten swamped again, and Steve had stayed around to help. He didn’t mind, but the rain had only gotten heavier in the last hour.

He watched the rain for a while, thinking about what Shawn had said earlier. It had gotten him thinking about where his life was heading. And where it
could
have gone—which meant Julie.

He couldn’t get her out of his head. She was a giant one of his “what ifs.” What if he had told her how he felt years ago? What if he hadn’t been arrested and sent away? Would they be living their lives together?

He shook his head. Or was he just romanticizing a childhood crush because it was the closest thing to a romantic relationship he’d ever had?

Outside, the rain showed no signs of slowing. He sighed. It was going to be one really soggy walk.

Mel walked over and eyed him. “You only got that sweatshirt?”

“Yeah. It’s okay though.”

“Hold on.” Mel ducked back into his office, then came back holding out a dark green rain poncho. “Some customer left it weeks ago and never picked it up. His loss is your gain.”

Steve hesitated, not wanting to owe Mel anything. But he shook off the thought. This wasn’t prison. It wasn’t tit for tat. He reached out and took the jacket.

“Thanks.”

“You did real good today. Haven’t missed a beat.” Mel paused. “Look, I changed my mind about tomorrow. I’m going to open up, what with everyone stuck in town. Shawn’s not going to be able to make it in though, so I could use you for the whole day, if you’re up for it.”

“Yeah. No problem.”

Mel smiled. “Great. See you in the morning.” He clapped Steve on the back and headed back to the front counter.

Steve watched him walk away. It was almost like old times.

Feeling lighter than he had since he’d arrived back in town, Steve pulled the poncho over his head and opened the back door. Rain pelted him in the doorway. He could swear the rain was coming in sideways.

He pulled up his hood, ducked his head, and stepped out. Wind and rain tore at him, but the poncho at least kept his chest and the top part of his jeans dry. His sneakers, though, were soaked within seconds.

But as his feet squished along in his soggy sneakers, he smiled. There was something wild about a storm—and something freeing.

He paused at the end of the parking lot. He should head home. But to be honest, he was enjoying himself. Besides, with the rain lashing down, the few people who were out were rushing by, their heads down. No one paid him any attention. For the first time since he’d been released, he could walk around without worrying about people’s prying eyes.

Feeling freer than he had in ten years, Steve smiled and headed for the water’s edge.

He could see the bridge shaking in the torrent. As he got closer, he could hear the groan.
Holy crap, that thing really is going to go.
He noticed that they’d switched out the sawhorses for rope. Good call. The sawhorses would never survive the wind.

Steve stood at the divider’s edge. The water looked like it was battling itself. Waves swelled and crashed, sending up plumes of water. More waves slammed into the bridge, causing it to tremble. It was violent and explosive. Steve couldn’t look away. It was incredible.

The blare of a car horn sounded behind him. Steve turned.

A red sedan, going way too fast for the road conditions, cut in front of an SUV. The SUV driver slammed on their brakes, but the tires had no traction on the rain-covered street, and the SUV fishtailed, hydroplaning directly past the spot where Steve stood. He was close enough to see the terrified female driver’s face and the small child strapped into the car seat in the back. As Steve watched in disbelief, frozen in place, the SUV careened straight onto the bridge, cutting through the rope like it wasn’t there and skidding into the guardrail.

For a second, Steve thought the rail would hold—but then, with a screech, it tore away from the bridge.

The car tumbled over the side into the waters below.

Steve sprinted to the spot on the bridge where the car had gone over, yanking his poncho off and throwing it aside as he ran. He saw other people running for the bridge as well, but he was the closest.

The SUV had fallen right side up but it was sinking fast. For just a moment, doubts crowded Steve’s mind. He hadn’t swum in a decade.

Then he pictured the small face in the back of the car.

Holding his breath, he jumped.

CHAPTER 24

D
eclan walked back down the hall of the police station, trying to cool down. He’d lost his temper, and that wasn’t good. Keith could, and
would
, make things difficult for him from this point on. Of course, Keith hadn’t exactly been going out of his way to help Declan before now, so Declan probably hadn’t lost too much.

Declan stopped at the vending machine and looked at its contents with a sigh. No Cheetos. He settled for two cans of fruit punch and a bag of pretzels. Then he made his way back to interrogation and nudged open the door. Micah jumped up like he’d been shot.

Declan cursed Keith again.
Goddamn it.
The poor kid was terrified.

Declan forced himself to smile. “Hey, Micah.” He held up the juice and pretzels. “I thought you might want a snack.”

Declan placed one of the cans of fruit punch in front of Micah. Taking a seat across from him, he opened the other can and took a sip. “Ah. I needed that.”

Micah slowly took his can, opened it, and took a careful sip.

Declan opened the bag of pretzels. He took one out, tossed it in the air, and caught it in his mouth. He offered the bag to Micah.

Micah shook his head.

Declan took a few pretzels from the bag before placing it in the center of the table. “Well, it’s here if you change your mind. How’s school going?”

“Okay.”

“I heard your school is putting on
Mary Poppins
.”

Micah nodded.

“Are you going to be in it?”

“I’m going to be a dancing penguin.”

“Really? That’s great.”

Declan reached over and nudged the pretzel bag closer to Micah. Micah’s little hand dug into the bag this time, coming away with three pretzels. “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Declan was content to let them sit and eat pretzels until Micah was comfortable talking. It only took about two minutes.

“That other guy’s not very nice,” the boy said.

Out of the mouths of babes.
“Well, he’s trying to make sure nothing bad happens to the town.”

“And he thinks Steve might do something bad?”

Declan nodded. “Yes, he does.”

Micah took a sip of fruit punch. “I don’t think he would.”

“Why not?”

Micah shrugged. “He’s nice.”

“So you talked to him?”

Micah nodded his head. “Yeah. He’s my friend.”

“How’d you guys become friends?”

Micah opened his mouth, then shut it. His gaze returned to the table.

Declan leaned forward. “You know, Steve’s a friend of mine too.”

Micah looked up at him through thick lashes. “He is?”

“Yup. In fact, I’ve known Steve since he was a baby.” Declan paused. “And I’m guessing him being your friend has something to do with your secret.”

Micah nodded.

“Seeing as I’m friends with Steve, how about if you tell
me
this secret? I promise not to tell.”

“Do I have to?”

“Well, Steve actually might get in trouble if you don’t.”

Micah chewed on his bottom lip.

Declan felt bad pressuring the kid, but he really needed to find out what the kid was talking about.

“You won’t tell my brother or the kids at school?”

Declan held up his hand. “Scout’s honor.”

Micah giggled. “You’re not a Boy Scout.”

“Am too. Or at least I was.”

Micah hesitated.

Declan stayed quiet, not wanting to interfere with whatever debate was going on in the kid’s mind.

Finally, Micah spoke. “Steve got me out of a tree.”

Declan looked at Micah, not sure he’d heard him right. “What was that?”

The words burst out of Micah’s mouth. “Darrell and Zeke said I was too small to climb the big tree by Roy’s house. So I climbed it, but I wanted to do it when no one was looking. So I did. I made it all the way up. But then I couldn’t get down. Steve climbed up and got me down. He promised not to tell anybody. And he said I did climb the tree. And I did. I just didn’t climb down. So it’s okay to say I climbed it, right?”

Declan’s mind whirled, trying to keep up with the boy. “So you climbed the tree. Why was that a secret?”

Micah looked exasperated. “Because I didn’t climb down, only up. I didn’t want anyone to know.” He looked at Declan expectantly.

Declan struggled not to laugh—all this because Steve had rescued a kid from a tree.

“So, you won’t tell anybody, will you?” Micah asked.

Declan went to nod his head, but caught himself. “Well, I have to tell the chief, but that’s it. Okay?”

Micah seemed to consider this for a moment. “Okay. But make sure he doesn’t tell anyone, all right?”

“You got it.” Declan stood up. “Come on. Let’s go get your mom and uncle.”

Micah hopped out of his chair, and the two of them walked down the hall. Declan struggled not to laugh out loud.
A tree—all this because he climbed a tree.

CHAPTER 25

T
he shock of the cold water immobilized Steve for a moment. Then he righted himself, kicked for the surface, and broke through. Waves crashed down on him, pulling him away from the car. He started to swim toward the SUV, which had landed right side up. It hadn’t sunk all the way yet. Steve fought the waves to reach it, but they kept tossing him back.

Taking a deep breath, he dove underwater, hoping swimming under the water would be easier. It was. He had to surface once more, but on his second dive he reached the car. The water had now almost reached the roof.

Steve dove under again. His hand found the door handle. He yanked, but the door didn’t budge. Locked, or maybe just stuck. He remembered once hearing something about not being able to open a car door underwater—water pressure or something. You were supposed to roll down the window. He banged on the glass, but it was too dark to see anything, to communicate with the driver.

He swam back to the surface and gasped for breath. The water was dribbling over the roof now. The car was going under.

Then Steve spotted it: a sunroof. It was closed, but a jagged crack ran across the glass. If he had something to break it with…

He remembered the pocketknife, still in his jeans pocket from this morning.
Thank you, Jack.

Steve climbed onto the roof. Fishing his knife from his pocket, he slammed the hilt of the knife into the glass. It spider webbed. He hit it again. And again. It fragmented. He kicked the glass through, and a thin stream of water began pouring through the opening.

Steve lowered himself in, crouching on the divider. The driver was unconscious. She was in her early thirties, with dark hair. He unbuckled her seatbelt, then pulled her toward the opening.

Standing on the divider between the seats, he got her shoulders out. Water was now gushing through the opening, trying to press them both back inside the car.

“Give her here!”

Russ Nash appeared in the water next to the car, a rope attached to his belt. He was ten years older than the high school friend Steve had once known, and he was wearing a policeman’s uniform, yet Steve recognized him instantly. But he didn’t have time to think about what Russ Nash, of all people, was doing here next to a sinking SUV. He just dragged the woman out through the sunroof and pushed her toward him.

Then he ducked back inside the SUV.

“Where are you going?” Russ yelled.

Steve didn’t answer. He slid between the front seats into the back. The little girl’s large eyes stared at him. She looked to be only about one, and shock seemed to have taken her voice. The water level was already up to her neck, and it was rising rapidly.

Steve took a breath and ducked under the water. He fumbled with the unfamiliar buckle, but managed to undo it. He knew the girl was underwater now.
Does a baby know how to hold her breath?
He tried to pull the baby out before realizing there was another buckle.
Goddamn car seat.

He released the second buckle and grabbed the girl by the arm. He rose to gasp for air, only to find that that there was no air; the car was now completely full of water. Holding the girl tightly to his chest with one hand, he grabbed the edge of the sunroof with the other and pulled them both out.

He swam upward with only one arm, kicking furiously for the surface, but he felt like he was standing still. Spots began to dance in front of his eyes. He wasn’t going to make it. He held the girl tighter, willing himself to find the strength. He kicked harder, stretched farther.

An arm wrapped around his waist from the right, another from the left. Together they pulled, and a few seconds later, he burst through the surface of the water.

He pushed the little girl toward Russ. “Oxygen. She needs oxygen,” he panted.

Russ pulled her to his chest, holding her on her back and breathing into her mouth.

Carlos, Steve’s sandbag friend, was treading water on Steve’s other side, keeping an arm on him. “It’ll be okay, man.”

Steve nodded, not questioning where the little man had appeared from, just thankful he’d arrived. Right now all his attention was focused on the little girl. She wasn’t moving, wasn’t breathing.

Come on. Come on
, Steve silently begged while treading water.

Finally, the little girl moved her arm, coughed up a lungful of water, and let out a cry.

Steve let out a breath, realizing he’d been holding his own while waiting for the little girl to catch hers.

Russ grinned at him. “She’s okay.”

Steve smiled.
Thank God.