The Last Flag by James Hunt

Author:James Hunt
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9798842042616
Publisher: Independently published
Published: 2022-07-22T00:00:00+00:00

18

Shelly received more than a few eyebrows when she returned to the island with the dog and two children. Thankfully, Kayla didn’t give her too much grief.

“You remember when I tried bringing home a stray cat in the third grade?” Kayla asked, making sure the children couldn’t hear her. “I remember you telling me we couldn’t take care of it. Mind telling me why you think we can take care of these guys?”

“Their parents were killed,” Shelly said. “I couldn’t leave them.”

Kayla nodded. “I assume I’ll be watching them?”

“Please and thank you,” Shelly said.

Shelly was more than a little worried about Kayla watching the children. She knew her daughter was still processing what had happened the day of the EMP. Kayla had killed a woman and would eventually need to grieve over what she had done.

Because the woman she killed was vile and evil, and even though Kayla had been justified in her actions to save her younger brother, the trauma of the event was still present.

Shelly had never killed anyone on the job as a detective. She didn’t know what it was like. But she had known officers and detectives who had experienced it and saw firsthand the weight they carried after it was done. She didn’t want that kind of future for her daughter.

But right now, with all of the eyes on her to help fix the water situation, Shelly had to shift her priorities. Kayla was strong, Shelly had no doubts about that, and she would be fine now. This was only temporary.

With Kayla and Benji taking the other children and the new dog back to the cabin, Shelly found the maritime welder who’d be diving with her. Patrick Haus was a young man with a shrew-looking face and a wiry build. He had a mop of brown curls on his head, and when he looked at Shelly, she couldn’t be sure the man was listening. Patrick had a perpetual lazy face, and it wasn’t until he spoke and answered her that she was sure he’d been listening.

“What happens if I need more air before the job is done?” Patrick asked.

“We have enough tanks to spend twenty hours underwater,” Shelly answered. “Is that going to be enough?”

“It depends on how big the patch is,” Patrick said. “I won’t know until I’m down there.”

Shelly had grabbed all of the tanks available. She knew it might take some time to find the leak, but she hadn’t anticipated not having enough air to do the job. She wasn’t sure how many more shops were close enough to raid, but she was getting ahead.

Because it was winter, the pair donned their wetsuits before entering the water. Without them, they’d catch hypothermia within minutes.

Once Shelly gave a rundown of the equipment and gauges, she allowed Patrick to swim around in the water to get a better feel for what it was like with a tank and flippers. When he surfaced, he removed the regulator from his mouth, panting.

“It’s harder than it looks,” Patrick said.

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