Windward Whisperings (19 page)

Snowball, he’ll go wild unless he’s contained. For now, he’ll stay in the car.”
“I agree up to a point.” She reached in and unzipped Snowball’s bag. “Can you open a window?
That way, if he needs to escape, he can.”
He got back in and started the car. A rear window spun halfway down, and the door slammed.
She walked beside him. Closer to the fire, she noticed the fumes had thickened. A dull rumbling
sound came from the inferno on the other side of the building.
He was on his cell with the mayor, a stockholder, and she did her best to eavesdrop. Naiad’s
insurance was overkill if anything. He said if the building and contents went, not to worry about it.
“Concentrate on evacuation.” Garrett wasn’t a subtle man. His lack of finesse in a social setting
might be something he could work on. Right here and now, he was telling the mayor how to
evacuate the town.
She heard more bits and pieces, enough to know National Guard helicopters would land in the
town’s largest parking lot. The civic center was at the hub of their peninsular town.
He snapped his phone shut. In another second it rang. “Hello, Chief.” He listened this time.
When the conversation was over, he said to her, “They think it’s an arson case.”
All she could do was stand and watch. Up on the flat roof of the Boatworks, silhouettes of
firefighters wetted down the surrounding area with hoses. Bundled with protection, an operator
from the town’s road department dug a trench with a backhoe. A Douglas DC-4 flew overhead and
dropped bright red flame retardant on the fire. A load of water dropped from an air tanker. It
appeared that around the Boatworks, fire fighters were getting the blaze under control.
The fire leaped across the hillside, and she watched in horror. Fire fighters were triumphant on
both sides of the Boatworks, the areas that housed the poor. She understood pressures from the
rich, and their resources to save themselves and their investments.
Firefighters scurried down to escape a sudden flare-up. In order to see what was going on, she
took a few steps toward it.
“Get back, Kitzie.” The hoarse shout in her ear was obliterated by the roar of the fire. In
another second, his body wrapped her in a protective shell. His arms held her tight.
Thor howled like a wolf. Her dog had heard something she hadn’t.
She peered around his broad chest. A ball of fire poured toward the trailer park. She heard an
explosion and buried her face against him. “What was that?”
“A car blew up. There’ll be more.” His tone was flat. As he held her, it sounded as if a string of
bombs went off. She smelled metal. Burning scraps flew into the sky. The fire spread, running up
the bank toward apartments.
She darted a quick sideways glance at the people. “Stucco City could go be the next to go.” She
saw men, women, and children of all ages dart every which way and thought of Sedona, close to her
due date.
Several helicopters dotted the sky, hovering over the center of the peninsula.
She asked, “Are those the rescue choppers?”
“A few probably carry water, but most are. They’ll take turns landing at the civic center.”
“The lines will be long for them.” She knew the more affluent surrounded it. Some would leave
in their yachts. She feared complex dynamics among those who would try to climb aboard.
His head jerked toward another deafening whoosh when huge pines went up in flames and
crashed over the Pacific Coast Highway. He pulled her close. “Louie is coordinating our evacuation.
He’ll land here, in the parking lot.”
“Small children and their mothers, Louie can take them. We need a plan B. You and I need to
launch every boat we have.”
“Our inventory? The stockholders will never go for that.”
“The stockholders will be first to evacuate. They won’t be here to vote.”
“Even if we do it, I’m not sure we’ll have takers. This crowd is in a panic. They’ll do the same
thing, head for the center.”
“I’ll catch up with some people. Tell them what we’re doing.” She was about to run when his
strong hand gripped her shoulder.
“Hold on, just a sec, Kitzie. This is as good a time as any. I love you.” He said the words softly.
“I hadn’t told you either, have I? I love you so much.” The stubble around his mouth brushed
gently against her neck. She lifted her shoulder, trying to find words. “Garrett, listen to me, please.”
He moved his forehead to hers. “I’m listening.”
She reached up with both hands and held his face. “We won’t have an easy time of it. With us,
it’s complicated.”
“I like complications. If things end, I think I’ll die.”
“I want to get married, someday.”
“I’ve never ruled out marrying you.”
They embraced for another moment until she caught sight of a familiar family.
Maria Ruiz and Miguel Torres walked briskly, holding the hands of their school-age children.
“Maria, Miguel.” She bolted for them with Thor at her side. Catching her breath, she leaned
forward. “If there isn’t room for everyone on the choppers, we’ll sail out.”
Miguel glanced at his wife. “I don’t know. We’re beginners.”
“We’ll be rigging boats in our usual spot at the wharf. Can you get the word out?”
“
Si
.”
Costing precious minutes, Kitzie rounded up around five mothers with babies. As she explained
their evacuation, she asked their mates to assist with boarding. “No, there won’t be room for
husbands. If you don’t get on one at the civic center, we’ll be launching sailboats north of Woody’s.”
Low in the sky, Louie’s chartered helicopter hovered above. Noisy rotor blades drew their eyes
to the smoldering sky. The chopper tipped forward, preparing to land.
Garrett and the guard had roped off the lot. They kept the crowd behind it until the chopper set
down.
Kitzie instructed the families with infants to stay low as they approached. Husbands helped their
wives step up into the cabin, hugged and kissed babies before handing them over. Eyes squinting
from smoke, the men reluctantly retreated. She ran up to the cabin and yelled, “Louie, one more.”
She ran to Sedona. “Hurry, you’ll get on the chopper.”
“If you see Tommy, tell him.” Sedona was the last to climb aboard.
The helicopter took off through cinders.
She found Tommy among the husbands whose wives and babies were in the air. For the
moment, she had a captive audience and explained their plan to sail out on fourteen-foot sailboats.
Coughing, Garrett choked out his need for their help, transporting sailboats to the wharf.
Several shop floor workers took him up on it. As he turned toward the building, he shouted to her
over his shoulder. “Get Snowball. We’ll meet at the launch.”
Soot came off on her hands when she opened the rear door of his BMW. Snowball was huddled
on the floor, not yet gritty. The smart kitty stayed low, she realized. From the seat, she moved the
opened carrier to the floor. Snowball walked in.
Her head pounding from lack of oxygen, she felt a sense of surreal as she lugged the carrier in
one hand and held Thor’s leash in the other. Her dog was at her heels. The leash wasn’t necessary,
and she removed it.
At the water’s edge and with more oxygen, she felt less faint. She saw a pickup truck. Edgar
hopped out and helped the shop floor guys unload. She claimed one boat as theirs and gently placed
the carrier in its bow. She threw Thor’s leash in the cockpit but didn’t attach to her dog. “Stay,
Thor.” She scratched the fur behind his ears.
For the next hour, Garrett and Edgar went back and forth with the men. She set to the task of
rigging boats. Soon they had thirty Starr-14s near the shoreline. Men teamed up and hoisted sails.
Boats sat with rudders, tillers, paddles, life jackets, and water bottles in cockpits.
Gradually, the shoreline had become gray. Wheezing, Garrett thanked the men before they
jogged to the center of town.
She heard him gag. “Garrett, you’re congested.”
He coughed and hit his chest with a fist. “I’ll be okay.” He glanced at the docks in front of
Woody’s. “Look at those empty slips.”
“Trust me, I noticed. If no one comes, maybe we’ll take
The Windswept
.” She was coughing, too,
now. Through intervening wisps of smoke, she saw his tortured face.
He looked at her, his expression strained. “We can’t wait much longer. We’ll die of inhalation.”
“I can’t think of another person I’d rather die with.”
“Me, too, Kitzie. Me, too.” He had soot on his face. “But, I’d rather we lived. I’m going to walk
out on the pier for a moment, check around. See if anyone needs a hitch out.”
“Hurry back.” She watched him, but he didn’t get far on the boardwalk.
Suddenly, a quick movement was between two figures, Garrett and another man. Then, she
heard him yell the name Biltmore. A second later, she heard a thud.
She ran closer. “Grayson Biltmore? What are you doing here?” She was close enough to smell
alcohol on his breath.
Biltmore leaned forward with a haughty expression and dark-circled eyes. “I’m finishing off the
place. I’ll finish off you, how’s that? Bet you’re just as persistent as your parents.”
“What are you talking about, my parents?”
“They were botching things up. I had them run down with a barge.”
Biltmore’s words penetrated deeply into her mind. He’d murdered them.
The roar of the fire grew louder. Shops farthest away were in flame. Lana Biltmore ran toward
them.
Kitzie shouted, “What were you doing? Starting a fire down there?”
“That obvious?” Lana’s coat opened as she pulled out a gun.
Kitzie grabbed the woman’s coat and threw her off balance. Stones slipped under Lana’s feet,
and she toppled over. Kitzie stepped on her hand, grabbed the gun, and threw it as far as she could.
The fire was a loud roar, but she assumed the gun splashed. Lana was in the water and swimming.
When Kitzie looked up, Garrett slammed a shoulder into Biltmore and punched him in the stomach.
Biltmore gagged. Garrett pulled him upright, and then shoved him against a tree. He did it again.
She stared at them. Garrett began to speak slowly. “You son of a bitch.” His words were crystal
clear but spoken in a rasp.
Their faces were almost touching. Biltmore held a can of lighter fluid. Embers glowed behind
them.
Horrified, she held her breath and backed away.
Still gasping, Biltmore lit a match. Garrett jerked him forward, and then threw him down.
Biltmore tossed the can toward the embers and dove into the water.
Garrett ran toward her, threw her over a shoulder and ran. He collapsed behind the hull of one
of their boats. Holding his head, she raised herself.
As if a door to hell had opened, Woody’s restaurant caught fire. The framework went up like a
lattice holding the weight of poisoned orange roses. The air around it wavered from heat.

Through the thick haze, she saw a woman running toward them, and it wasn’t Lana. The woman
put on a burst of speed. A man at her side lugged a child in his arms.
Kitzie wrenched her gaze toward him. “Look. One of our families.”
Garrett ran to meet them and helped them toward a boat. Together with the man, he rolled a
boat into the water. “Wear the life jackets.”
The man put one on his son, who looked about ten, and slipped into one. “We were eating
smoke, waiting forever.”
Kitzie recognized the woman, a seamstress, inching into a life jacket. “You know how to steer.
Head straight for the bay buoy. Circle it. We’ll see if others come. Then, we’ll sail out and meet
you.”
Garrett turned their boat toward the sea and gave it a shove. “You’ll find water bottles in the
stern compartment.”
The man gave them a wave with a paddle. Their son found a water bottle and guzzled. The
woman guided the boat with the tiller.
Facing the ocean, Garrett and Kitzie threw their arms around each other and watched the dingy
catch the breeze. They heard a high-pitched scream and then a lower one. “We’re back.” The lower
voice belonged to Miguel Torres. Maria and their children were already wheeling a boat to the water.
Kitzie said, “Good to see you, all of you. Follow the boat out there. We’ll catch up.”
Flames of glowing red ran in a line over the shake shingles of shops. From the opposite
direction, men darted toward them. She recognized them as the guys who’d helped them transport
the boats to the wharf, Tommy and husbands of the women and babies who had taken off with
Louie. Within minutes, they were on the water.
In clusters, more families came. Some had been in their sailing classes. If they didn’t know the
basics, they went with someone who did.
Time passed, she didn’t know how much. Impossible to pinpoint exactly, she guessed it was
around noon. Then again, she wasn’t sure. She could only gauge one thing.
The pain and effort had been worth it.
Only three boats remained on shore. Garrett said, “No one has come for awhile.”
“That boat’s ours. Snowball is inside.”
He staggered over and began backing it into the water. “It’s . . .” He coughed, not able to finish
his sentence.
“Get in now, Garrett.” She waded in and steadied the boat, and he managed to get on. “Come,
Thor.” Thor bolted into the cockpit. She turned the boat seaward, put a knee on the deck, and
shoved off. “Let’s take off our shoes. They’re wet anyway.” With one hand holding the tiller, she
unlaced hers and kicked them off. “Garrett?”
Slumped on the floor of the cockpit, facedown, he didn’t respond. She pulled up a wooden
brace to control the tiller, and the boat held its course.
She pulled off his boat shoes and covered his cold feet with the sailbag. She rasped, “We stayed
too long. I’m sorry.”
Falling to her knees beside him, she turned him on his back. His face was gray, and she quickly
realized it wasn’t just from soot. Stark horror swept through her. She shoved a life jacket under his
head to begin CPR. She held his nose and clasped her mouth over his. Instead of mentally counting,
she used the adage, ‘In with the good air, out with the bad.’ Frantic, she accidentally fell onto his
chest.
He coughed. The wham seemed to put him into a coughing frenzy. As she lifted herself up, she
saw his eyes open dully. He gagged, and then it seemed, he was trying to speak.
“Don’t talk. Just breathe.”
He drew in a shallow breath. His eyes bulged with strain and he clutched at her blouse. “Marry
me.” His desperate gaze held hers.
Tears filled her eyes, happy tears, tears of relief and joy that he’d survive. She watched his head
fall back.
He pulled her close, as if he was afraid of letting her go. He held her tight, breathing more
steadily all the while. “Want to catch up to the fleet?”
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s nice here in the cockpit.” When she pushed herself off him, Thor
appeared in her place and licked his face.
“You silly lump.” Hugging Thor, he got up and sat on the deck. “I’ll take the jib sheet.”
At the tiller, she steered toward the buoy, their rendezvous spot. “Trim for a close reach, mate.”
“Ay, captain.” Looking at her at the back of the boat, he said, “Take a look behind us.”
She couldn’t believe her eyes. Seen from the ocean, the peninsula was a narrow rim of crimson
and smoke. A gust of fresh wind blew in her face. “We’re lucky.” Water splashed steadily on the
hull.
As they rounded the jetty, an OC-TV helicopter swept toward them, low enough to churn the
water.
Gar lifted his gaze. “Hover journalism. Damn, we’re on their video.”
“Tonight’s broadcast will air at six and ten. There’s nothing like an aerial video to bring home
the scope of the fire. To drive their technology, they’ll have to give it meaning. I wonder who they’ll
interview.”
“It’s not going to be me.”
She looked at the shoreline, considering where they should head. “Huntington Beach is close.”
“I’m thinking Duke’s. We’ll beach our boats beside the pier. Dinner for our fleet is on me.” He
took his cell out of his pocket, holding it up.”
“Is it working? I believe you slipped sideways on it. I must say, though, it was with elegance.”
“Thank you. Where’s yours, babe?”
“Don’t have it, big guy.”
“You’re unprepared?”
“Punish me. Tie me up with some licorice strings.”
“Deal.” He connected to Duke’s reservations desk and reserved their banquet room. He rattled
off his credit card number, apparently from memory. He approximated the number of guests and
told them to set up a serving table with their most popular items.
It wasn’t long before they sailed near the others. Garrett stood on the foredeck and waved his
paddle in a gesture to follow.
Soon twenty-eight sailboats put out around the point. The shiny yellow fabric gleamed along the
masthead. As the convoy navigated toward Huntington, Garrett wrapped the jib sheet around a cleat
and phoned Louie, asking him to let the cops know Biltmore and his wife were swimming near the
wharf.
She gave herself a mental pat on the back for her improved eavesdropping skills. Louie’s
evacuees, mothers and babies, would meet them at Duke’s. The Red Cross and volunteers from
Catholic Worker would meet them to distribute supplies. Tomorrow, Louie would arrange
transportation to temporary housing for the families who’d lost their homes.
A coast guard cutter maneuvered alongside them. One of them held a megaphone. “Are these
Naiad Boats?”
“Yes,” Kitzie shouted.
“Who gave you permission to take them?” The man, still speaking through his megaphone,
looked around.
She couldn’t read his expression. It was possible the reporter wanted to nail the thief who stole
Naiad’s inventory.
She nodded toward Garrett. “He did. Should we hoist him up by his feet and hang him from the
mast?”
Garrett stood up and held the mast. “Did she rat on me?”
“Garrett Mackenzie, I’ll be damned. I own a few shares of stock, myself. Very good, sir, you
must have a lot of influence. With politics, the board of directors, I mean.”
“No, I have none. For business reasons, I stay out of any kind of politics.” He leaned back with
both hands on the deck. His casual position was more modest than insolent.
“Lives were saved.” The man still spoke on his megaphone. “We tried to pick up people,
couldn’t find them. It was a tough situation. I’m afraid we’re going to have to call a press
conference.”
Garrett motioned for them to come closer. “That will be after we get our folks to the
Huntington Pier. Since you have a megaphone, could you share our plans with our little flotilla? I’ve
arranged for a party at Duke’s and for their overnight lodging.”
“Absolutely,” the man shouted. The coast guard cutter hung back, watching for any signs of
trouble and amplifying the party news with his megaphone.
Garrett’s hand went around her knee.
She asked, “How are you feeling?”
“Better. Life is shaped by the people you meet and the context you meet them in. Nice people,
aren’t they?”
“Very nice. Will you be busy later?”
“Yes. I have plans with you in a motel room.” He raised an eyebrow and then let out a sigh.
“What will we do with all these boats?”
“I know a guy with a flatbed truck. Owns Greenleaf garden center. He’ll give us a reasonable
rate to haul them back. Then, we’ll settle into that motel room.”
“They don’t allow pets.”
“I’ll sneak them in.”
“Babe.” He cupped her chin in his hand, thumb sliding over her cheek. “Again, you’ve pushed
through the boundaries of your moral compass.”
“Shame on me.”