The Officer's Girl Read Online Free PDF

where the clear blue sky ended and slate-gray clouds began. “That’s a feeder band. It’s the outer edge of a Category 4 hurricane. Arlene’s hundred-and-fifty-mile-an-hour winds are going to slam this coast in a matter of hours. You want to be somewhere safe when that happens. There won’t be much left standing if we take a direct hit.”
    He watched her questioning glance wander to the new roof and concrete walls of the house and knew what she was thinking. He’d be thinking the same thing if he hadn’t seen, firsthand, the damage previous storms had inflicted. Stephanie Bryant was no match for hurricane-force winds. He needed to give it to her straight so she could understand the danger she faced.
    “Your house is not safe. It may not even exist after this hurricane strikes. The hotels are full. The closest shelter is in Orlando. You need to get in your car and drive there. If you waste time by stopping at places along the way, you’ll never make it. Trust me on this, you do not want to be on the road when Hurricane Arlene comes ashore. And she’s coming!”
    As if emphasizing his point, the first splatters of rain fell on the roof of Stephanie’s car. It was enough to seal the deal. He watched as she practically bolted for the front seat.
    Newcomers, Brett thought as he tromped across the grass to his patrol car. They were all the same. They bought riverfront houses and complained that the mangroves blocked their view. They built new homes in low-lying bogs where mosquitoes swarmed. And, unless someonelaid down the law, they put themselves in danger by riding out a hurricane on a barrier island.
    As rain pelted his windshield and blew in sheets across the roadway, Brett checked to make sure Stephanie Bryant trailed in the wake of his flashing blue lights. She hung so close to his bumper her pinched and hollow face filled his rearview mirror.
    Maybe he had overdone it a touch. It wasn’t her fault the season’s biggest storm was within striking distance. For the rest of the short drive to the causeway, he chastised himself for his bad behavior and sought a way to make amends.
     
    H ANDS GRIPPING the steering wheel so tightly her knuckles paled, Stephanie followed the flashing blue lights down one deserted street after another. Why hadn’t she noticed that every house in the beachside community was shuttered or boarded up? That yards were devoid of people because all the smart ones had long since vacated? Even the Jet Skis and small boats that had once sprouted from every driveway had disappeared. She balled a fist and struck the leather armrest.
    She lived on a barrier island.
    Okay, so maybe she was better at negotiating a new benefits package than reading a map, but someone—her Realtor came to mind—might have mentioned such an important fact. If she had known it, she would have insisted on a different house. She would have fled for her life as soon as the first alert was issued.
    But, no.
    She had spent all day unpacking when she should have been driving as fast as she could back to safety. Back to her parents’ house where she had lived until her big promotion had come through. Up the stairs and back into her old bedroom with its pink, dotted Swiss wallpaper, frilly curtains and white canopy bed built for one.
    Okay, maybe she wouldn’t go that far back, but she wouldn’t be here, either. Not driving through a vacant city behind the world’s most cantankerous cop. A man who insisted she cross two bridges and a narrow spit of land minutes before the world as she knew it was destroyed by a hurricane bearing her middle name.
    If that wasn’t enough to give a girl wrinkles, nothing would.
    Small wonder she could barely speak when Officer Lincoln motioned her to a stop at the base of a bridge. Torrential rain slacked off long enough for him to step from his patrol car without getting soaked. She watched as he grabbed something from his backseat and, pulling his cap low, dashed through the light