The Unrelenting Tide (Islands of Intrigue: San Juans - Christian Romantic Suspense)

By Lynnette Bonner

ISLANDS OF INTRIGUE: SAN JUANS

Christian Romantic Suspense

The Unrelenting Tide –
Lynnette Bonner

BOOK ONE

Tide Will Tell –
Lesley Ann McDaniel

BOOK TWO

Coming Winter 2013

Deceptive Tide –
Janalyn Voigt

BOOK THREE

Coming Spring 2014

Other books by Lynnette Bonner

THE SHEPHERD’S HEART SERIES

Christian Historical Romance

Rocky Mountain Oasis

BOOK ONE

High Desert Haven

BOOK TWO

Fair Valley Refuge

BOOK THREE

Spring Meadow Sanctuary

BOOK FOUR

Find out more at
LynnetteBonner.com

The Unrelenting Tide

ISLANDS OF INTRIGUE: SAN JUANS, Book 1

Copyright © 2013 by Lynnette Bonner. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Lynnette Bonner, images ©

www.fotolia.com, File: #1068872_M

www.fotolia.com, File: #13338057_M

www.fotolia.com, File: #4783919_XL

Author photo © Emily Hinderman, EMH Photography

Scripture taken from
The Message
. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

ISBN: 978-1484862155

The Unrelenting Tide is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity and are used fictitiously. All other characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination.

Printed in the U.S.A.

John 15:12-13

This is my command:

Love one another the way I loved you.

This is the very best way to love.

Put your life on the line for your friends.

Chapter 1

A scream gargled at the back of Devynne Lang’s throat, jolting her from terrorized slumber. With a whimper she kicked back covers tangled against damp legs, yanked open the nightstand drawer, and fumbled for the familiar feel of her .38 special.

The rubberized, laser-trigger grip felt cool against her palm. She gave a firm squeeze. The red laser light pierced the darkness beside the balcony curtains. Through the bathroom door. Into the black maw of her closet. Her gaze jerked from corner to corner, scrutinizing each shadow, each waver of light.

Nothing.

Her own ragged breathing registered and she blinked slowly. Pulled in a long full inhale, then released it along with some tension.

No one was here. It was the nightmare.

Again.

Running a hand back through her hair, she glanced down. She knelt in the middle of her bed, t-shirt and shorts plastered with sweat, knees denting sheets so jumbled it seemed a wrestling match had taken place. The angry red numbers of the clock on the nightstand read 4:30am.

If Marissa stayed true to form she would be up in a couple of hours begging to watch
Nickelodeon
while she ate her breakfast.

Devynne sank back against her ankles. Best she get on with her day. She took one more calming breath, then forced her legs over the edge of the bed.

Pulling back the floor length curtains, she peered out onto the deck and gave the slider a tug to make sure it was still locked. The faint gleam of morning, just beginning to peek above the islands across the way, tinged the water gray and outlined the evergreen trees in the back yard stark black against the sky. All was as it should be.

Still, to be safe, she padded across the hall and checked Marissa’s room. No one behind the door. No one in the closet – the light was still on, just as she’d left it the night before when she tucked Marissa in. The only sound was the soft sonorous breaths the four-year-old made from under her Disney princess blanket on the canopied bed.

She crept down the stairs from the top level of her tri-story. Checked the kitchen, guest bath, living room, and the deck’s sliding door in the same way she’d done upstairs. No one on the middle level and the back door in the kitchen was still locked too.

A quick flip of the light switch in the sewing room on the bottom floor, revealed it was also empty. The slider to its deck also remained locked.

Relief eased a little more of the strain – what she needed now was a hot shower to wash away the last vestiges.

Back in her room, she returned the Smith & Wesson Airweight to the nightstand, locked the drawer and took the key into the bathroom with her, hanging it high on the corner of the mirror like she did every morning.

She slapped on the hot water and let it run as she thought over her day.

Carcen was coming this morning to take Marissa to his team’s summer basketball game. He had mentioned the game several times this week and she knew he was a bit nervous for the varsity boys he coached, even though he wouldn’t have admitted it for anything.

Devynne pulled the shower curtain shut and stepped under the hot spray.

She would need to get Mrs. Abernathy’s quilt finished soon. She’d better concentrate on that one today. One little misstep on that project and Mrs. Abernathy would be sure to let the world know what a disaster her dealings with
The Healing Quilt
had been. Devynne couldn’t afford the bad publicity. The company she’d started after her husband’s death four years previous, had been her only means of support since.

The Seattle Quilters’ Guild had called yesterday and left a message to see if she could machine quilt three king size, a queen, and two double quilts in the next couple weeks.

Thank you God for the extra work
. The bills had been piling up for awhile now.

She rinsed the shampoo out of her hair and thought of the account she hadn’t touched since she’d fled California six years ago. How much money would be in it now?

Don’t go there
.

Marissa’s safety was too important to ever go back for that money. Shania Hane, up-and-coming actress, had died on a cold February day six years ago – at least that was the story she’d paid her agent to tell – and Shania Hane needed to remain dead.

For now.

Marissa would need a good college education someday. Maybe then they would go back for the money. Maybe.

For now, it was too dangerous.

So, even though it would mean several late nights over the days to come, she would call the guild today and agree to take on the extra pieces.

She cranked the shower head to the massage setting and rolled her neck through the pounding water letting it beat away the last of the tension and adrenaline. She could have stood there all day, but the scent of freshly brewed coffee from her programmable pot lured her back to reality, and she shut off the tap.

The towel soft against her skin, she dried off, wrapped up, and stepped out into her room to grab her jeans and a t-shirt.

She froze.

Her night stand drawer stood cracked open, the key hanging from the lock in the front face.

The room’s lights were on now. A quick scan proved she was alone. Hadn’t she just put her gun in there, locked it, and hung the key in the bathroom?

Marissa
!

She rushed to the drawer half expecting to find it empty, but the gun lay right where she always left it. Hurrying to snatch it up, she knocked it against the drawer. It tumbled from her grasp and landed on her foot.

She grunted as pain sliced across her arch, but grabbed it up again and raced across the hallway to Marissa’s room, checking the loads as she went. All chambers held rounds.

Heart thudding so hard she could feel the beat of it as she clutched the towel close, she pushed open Marissa’s door with one foot and stepped into the room, gun at the ready.

Nothing ahead. Nothing left, or right. The closet light still cast golden illumination across the Sleeping Beauty castle-shaped rug. Deep, undisturbed breathing still resonated.

Devynne slumped against the wall and leaned her head back.
Thank you, Jesus
!

Just that quickly she resumed her vigil. Someone could still be here!

No one was under the bed – she’d purposely gotten Marissa a high bed, and insisted she not store any toys underneath for times just like this – and the morning light streaming in from the window gleamed unbroken beneath it now. There was nowhere else to hide.

No one was here.
Please God, let that be true
.

A quick check through the rest of the levels, each deck, window, and door, revealed she and Marissa were the only ones in the house. And everything was still locked up.

Back in her room, she collapsed onto the edge of the bed and scooped damp hair away from her face with a trembling hand.

She was losing her mind.

She glanced down at the nightstand. There was no explanation other than she’d only
thought
she put the gun away and locked the drawer.

If Marissa had woken while she was in the shower and found the gun…

Her whole body shook at that thought. How could she have been so careless?

Tears pricked her eyes and exhaustion washed over her. She wanted nothing more than to flop over, pull the covers up to her neck, and not get up for another eight hours. The unending string of long days and late nights had been weighing heavy for the past few weeks.

She blinked hard.
Get a grip
!

She could do this. She
had
to do this. A little girl across the hall needed her mommy to be strong, keep her fed, and keep a roof over her head. And Mommy wasn’t going to let her down. Not in a million years.

She laid the gun back into the drawer. Shut it and locked it. Tested the drawer to make sure it wouldn’t open. Then pulled on it one more time, for good measure. Satisfied that she had indeed locked the gun away this time, she stood.