Page 27 of Special Agent Raven

Finally giving up at the desk, he went to the coffee maker and began brewing a pot. As soon as the smell of caffeine made its way to the cell, he heard the occupants yelling for some. Noting the time, and not seeing any trays of empty dishes, he figured they would be looking for lunch as well. Just as he’d decided to hail one of the men from the street to give him a hand getting the prisoners food, the jeep pulled up, and Raven arrived apparently surprised to see him at the door.

“Hey, Cane. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, now that you’re here. I came outside to ask one of the men over there to give me a hand getting food for the guys, but now we can work it out between us.” He led the way back inside.

She checked her watch and nodded. “Right. According to Palmer, he picked up old Frank for being drunk and disorderly, so we can cut him loose. The other loser is a stranger around here and caught breaking and entering by the homeowner. Guess he’ll be a guest until we can get the authorities out from Houston to deal with him… oh, and of course there’s our friend Dale.”

Before they could make a move, the door was flung open, and Dwayne burst in followed by a male… a strikingly tall, good-looking one. “Hey Cane… Raven, look who I found out by my place… Sheriff Noah Williams. He’s half drowned, and completely stupid-stubborn. After I told him you’d saved his kids, he refused to let me help him with his wounds. Nothing would stop him getting here as fast as possible to prove we hadn’t made an identification error. Doesn’t believe me. Says he watched them perish himself.”

The tall stranger with the cut-up face, the ripped, bloodied shirt and pants, and hands looking like they’d been through a meat grinder stopped in front of Raven. Weaving on his feet, obviously holding on by sheer willpower and grit, he broke into Dwayne’s story. With a voice rough from fear of what he would hear, he demanded honesty. “Ami. Josh. You really got ’em? God, don’t mess with me. I saw the house break apart and fill with water.” His voice raw, he whispered, “I couldn’t get back to them.”

Raven’s tender voice washed over him with the truth, making it appear like a strong antibiotic just surged through his veins. “Don’t worry, Noah Williams. Josh and Ami are both safe with my Nana.”

Cane got to the man before Raven could step in and stop him from tumbling over on top of her. Helping him to the chair that Dwayne’s quick thinking pushed forward, Cane settled the shaken guy.

Holding his arm against his face, he bent over like a rag doll. Harsh breaths helped stifle the sobs and flood of tears spilling down Noah’s cheeks. The others let him relieve his emotions and waited, saying nothing. Eventually, the poor man drew on his inner strength, forcing sanity before looking up.

Controlling his own reaction after witnessing the poor man’s agonizing suffering, knowing exactly how gut-wrenching it was to lose one’s family and feel responsible, Cane gripped Noah’s shoulder in sympathy. Then he turned to the counter, poured a freshly brewed cup of coffee, and handed it over. “It’s true, man. They’re your family. I swear. Look, I saw the kids in trouble and was close enough to get to them. Then Raven jumped into the flood with a rope that helped get us all to the bank. She was instrumental in the rescue… don’t know what we’d have done otherwise.”

While Cane continued to reassure Noah with more details, Raven pulled Dwayne aside and spoke in a low voice. “According to the kids, he went in after his wife. Was he able to save her?”

Dwayne’s miserable expression gave her the answer before his sad words followed. “No. Says he tried to grab her body before the water washed her away but couldn’t. Then they were both carried downstream. That’s where I found him, half submerged beside her body and almost dead himself.”

“Thank God you came along.”

“Kinda what I thought, but he didn’t… not till I told him about the kids being alive. It seems the poor guy tried to get back to the kids, but a tree smashed into him… almost killed him. Yet, according to what I saw, it’s probably what saved his life. He was able to grab her, hold on, and ride it down to where it got heldup by another fallen tree and they ended up getting shifted to the shore. Figure the angels weren’t wanting his presence just yet.”

Raven looked over to where the other two men were in deep discussion. As if he sensed her stare, Cane stood and came over to her and Dwayne. “He wants to go and see the kids.”

“I don’t blame him. Sure. We can take him.” Suddenly, she looked around and remembered their circumstances. “Shit, we can’t leave the station without anyone to man the place.”

Dwayne spoke up. “Hell, I’ll stick around. Used to do it all the time for the old sheriff when Palmer was out of commission. I’m kinda the deputy-on-call in these situations.” Dwayne laughed at his joke and seemed thrilled that both Cane and Raven joined in. “Don’t worry, my son said he’d be here soon so I can get him to stay with me.”

Then Cane added, “The phone lines are still down in the office. I used my cell to return the 911 calls from today but couldn’t get through to anyone. As long as things stay quiet, you shouldn’t run into any problems. Just stay away from Dale. He’s a killer with no scruples. I’ll take him for a bathroom break now before we leave, and we’ll let the old guy loose so that leaves only two prisoners, Dale and Sonny. Other than they need some sandwiches for lunch that maybe your son can fetch, you should be fine.”

“Hey, leave it to us. I figure you both need some time off to catch up on your sleep. Take it now. They say the road to town should be open to one lane later today. You never know what’ll happen tonight. Hear it’s a full moon, and you know what the crazies are like during that time of the month.”

Chapter Twenty-one

On the drive to Winona’s, Raven felt such empathy for Noah that she had a hard time keeping her voice normal. Cane had opened the front door to the jeep to let Noah slide in next to her, taking the rear seat for himself.

Looking at the jumpy man next to her, she said, “Your children are wonderful, Noah. Josh is the little protector, and Ami seems to know she just needs to wave her little finger, and he’ll be right there to do her bidding. It’s refreshing to see their closeness. In my job, I’ve witnessed a lot of mixed-up families with more kinds of dysfunction than I can describe.”

Voice strained, Noah needed to talk, maybe to stop from breaking down from the stress of waiting for their reunion. “Yeah, it’s amazing how much they love each other. Though my wife and I had our struggles, mostly about my dangerous job, she was a wonderful mother. We were childhood sweethearts, married for fifteen years. She didn’t want kids at first, but whenshe got pregnant the first time, it was like a miracle. The second time was planned, and we were thrilled.”

“I’m so sorry about your wife.”

“Louise.”

“Yes. Josh said she jumped in to save your dog.”

“Not quite. She thought she could grab his collar before he fell in, but the house tipped at that exact moment and threw them both over the railing. She was too weak to swim back. The chemo weakened her terribly.

“Chemo. She had cancer?”

“Terminal ovarian cancer. We hadn’t told the kids about her diagnosis. She’d caught it too late, and the doctors were trying to help, but she was getting weaker. She wanted us out of the city and in a small place for the kids to grow up. Hated the dangerous life in the city and with the move and all, she put her health last. It’s why when she called about the flood waters rising, I knew I’d have to get home and help her.” His voice broke and Raven reached her hand out and felt his fingers clutch hers. Remembering his cuts and bruises, she held on gently.

A movement from the back seat had her checking the rear-view mirror to see Cane’s eyes on their hands, his face troubled. Why would that bother him? She didn’t know but sensed it to be true.