Taking Passion by Storm (15 page)

Chapter
Sixteen

Nadine
could barely walk. What little light the lanterns gave off still wasn’t enough
to prevent her from tripping over rocks and her own two feet. Addison had gone
back to put on the rest of his clothes and retrieve their backpacks, but he
caught up with them before they went inside the cave where Gina said her father
had been sheltered all this time.

Her
heart pounded so loudly she was certain they all could hear it. She followed
the others through twists and turns, Addison behind her now, until finally they
came to a smaller cave and there he was. Her father. Propped up against the
cave wall, sitting on a sleeping bag, and sporting an obviously broken left leg
that was splinted with a large tree branch. Had he done that?

“
Oh my God.” She dropped to her knees next to him, and
as he reached to hug her, she caught the stench of pain and fear on him.
Nadine’s body trembled as she cried, her father’s arms around her, and tried
not to dwell on what he must have gone through this past week.

“
How?” she asked. “How did you survive all this time?
Did you splint this on your own?”

“
This?” His voice was dry and weak. They needed to get
him out of here. “This is nothing, little lady. Yes, I did this, right after I
crawled into this cave.”

“
Why were you separated from the group?”

Addison
was next to her now, stroking her hair. “That can wait.”

Merrill
handed her a cup of water. “Here. He needs to keep drinking. He’s very
dehydrated.”

“
I’ve had ten damn cups already, and two sandwiches.”
For the first time, she noticed the bread crumbs still on his face.

“
He was almost out of food and water,” said Merrill.
“At first light we’ll get him underground.”

“
How will we do that?” she asked.

Merrill
smiled indulgently at her. “We’ll carry him, Nadine. We’ll carry him straight
to the nearest viaduct and then take him to the hospital.”

She
handed the cup to her father, who drank it without stopping.

“
What if we run into storms?” she asked, her attention
on Merrill. Nadine was sure she’d pass out as images raced through her mind.

“
I’m sure we will,” said Addison, rubbing her back
slowly. The gesture was comforting, but not enough to keep her from imagining
the worst. “We’ll deal with it, okay? We’ll get him underground. I promise
you.”

She
glanced toward Addison. “I still want to know how he ended up here. Why was he
so far from his group?”

“
Because I’m a stubborn old fool. They ran for a
shelter, and I stayed outside to film the tornado. Nadine, you should have seen
it. It started out small, but then intensified after they all went inside the
shelter. Within minutes, there were four vortices. Four! I’ve never seen
anything like it.”

The
others were gathered around now, and as Nadine scanned their faces, she
realized they were fascinated by his story. This was what they lived for, and
the fact that any of them could lose their lives, or end up hiding in a cave
for a week with a broken leg, was irrelevant to them.

“
Did you get the film?” asked Alesia, her eyes bright.

“
I sure did, but the batteries are dead so you’ll have
to wait until we’re underground to see it.”

“
Why were you caught outside, though?” asked Nadine.

“
Because it came toward me without warning. They do
that now. The storms change direction with no rhyme or reason. I knew I
wouldn’t reach the shelter so I ran and made it into a cave, but had to stay there
and wait for that storm to pass. When I emerged, my
walkie
was broken. Something had struck it, and I never even felt it. I couldn’t
contact the others, so I headed for the bunker. That’s our SOP. If we get
separated and can’t contact one another, head for the nearest bunker.”

“
You mean the one we were in?” she asked Addison.

He
grinned and nodded. “Yes, the very same one.”

As
the memories of what she and Addison had done in that bunker washed over her,
Nadine felt heat rise to her face and hoped no one else noticed. Long moments
passed before she realized no one was talking, and self-conscious now, she
turned her attention back to her father.

“
Is that how you ended up here? You got caught by
another storm?”

“
Yes. Only this time it was straight line winds, with
enough rain to cause a flash flood. That’s how I broke my leg. I was slammed
into a very large pine tree and swept along with the water. It actually washed
me into the mouth of this cave, and then I crawled until I found a tunnel that
sloped upward, and waited it out.”

Nadine
hugged herself. That was exactly what she’d been imagining in the cave where
she and Addison had just been. She suddenly felt claustrophobic as the others
crowded closer, all asking her father more questions. Addison was still next to
her, and she glanced into his eyes. “You promised me we’d find him and we did.”

The
look he gave her nearly took her breath away. It was a combination of love and
awe, and she wasn’t sure how to react to it. “I always keep my promises,
Nadine.”

“
All of them?”

“
Yes.
All
of
them. Including the ones I’ve made to you. I wish you’d believe me.”

“
I do believe you.”

The
air in the cave grew oppressive as she realized the conversation had stopped
once more. Everyone was watching them, including her father. Would Addison
mention they were engaged?
Holy shit.
She was engaged. As in she had agreed to marry this man.

Nadine
took several deep breaths and forced her gaze back to her father’s face. His
eyes narrowed as he glanced from her to Addison and back again. The man had
spent a week on the floor of a cave with a broken leg, and he still was sharp
as a tack. She had nothing to worry about. He’d survive this and probably
outlive all of them.

She’d
have to tell him about Addison, but it could wait. Their priority now was to
get him back underground and to a hospital. Nadine fussed over him with
unnecessary gestures, only to avoid everyone’s gazes. She’d have to deal with
that, too. With Addison’s friends and employees knowing what had happened in
the other cave.

The
others moved away slightly and resumed their talk about storms, while Addison
leaned closer to her. “He’s pretty upset that you’re here, you know.”

“
Yes, that’s right. I am.”

“
I couldn’t wait for word. I had to come along.”

“
Addison didn’t have anything to do with convincing
you, did he?”

Her
quick glance toward Addison was probably the wrong reaction, but of course she
realized that one second too late.

“
No,” said Addison. “This was Nadine’s idea.”

She’d
have to tell her father about the rape, too. That realization came crashing
back at her, but she knew it could wait. It would have to. She certainly
couldn’t have that conversation now, in front of everyone else. She’d tell him,
and then she’d explain that was part of why she’d decided to ask Addison to let
her come on this mission. He’d understand once she told him everything, but her
pulse raced anyway. She should have told him years ago, and she realized that
now.

“
What’s going on between you two?” Her father asked the
question quietly. Nadine was certain none of the others heard him.

“
Nothing for you to concern—”

“
Don’t try being condescending with me, Addison.”

Her
father’s voice was one step short of angry as hell. Nadine knew that tone, and
she knew she had to step in now or she’d end up explaining the entire story to
the whole group of them. “We realized our feelings for each other have run far
deeper all these years than either of us acknowledged before.”

Addison’s
eyes widened at her words, and then his features relaxed. “Yes, that’s exactly
right. This trip forced us to confront those feelings, and made us realize how
precious time and life is.”

Her
father still hadn’t stopped glaring at Addison. “So your intentions are
honorable?”

Nadine
wanted to smile at the old-fashioned word, but she knew better.

“
Completely.” Addison glanced over his shoulder, but
none of them were paying attention. “I want to marry your daughter, Dixon. I
love her.”

He
shook his head. “I had no idea you two were seeing each other.”

“
I should have talked to you about my feelings for
Nadine a long time ago.”

It
wasn’t lost on her that Addison had avoided correcting her father’s assumption
that they’d been dating.

“
You did talk to me about them,” he said, “only you
were too old for her back then.”

“
And now?” asked Addison, his voice full of
apprehension.

Her
father grasped her hand, and Nadine was shocked to find it so cold. When would
the sun come up? They had to get him back. “Is this what you want? Does he make
you happy?”

“
Yes. Absolutely. I love him.”

Her
father closed his eyes and leaned his head against the stone. “You love him. I
wasn’t even aware you knew him well enough to make a decision like that.”

Nadine’s
confidence tried to shift again, but she pushed back the doubt this time. She
did
know Addison well enough to make a
decision like that. She would prove that to her father if necessary.

“
I want to hear more about this once we’re
underground.”

“
All right. Absolutely. The important thing right now
is to get you to a place where they can take proper care of you.”

He
opened his eyes briefly and smiled at her. “The only person I care about taking
care of is you.”

She
smiled in return so he wouldn’t worry, but couldn’t help wonder now if she’d
jumped into this too quickly. Where did all this leave Addison? She didn’t doubt
he’d meant what he said to her, but what if he’d only been reacting to the
moment?

The
elation at finding her father alive faded as Nadine went over everything she
and Addison had said to each other and done in the past few days. Had they
moved too quickly? Would it all fall apart once they were underground and they
each went back to their everyday lives?

****

Nadine
knew she’d never be able to fall back to sleep again, so she was glad to see no
one else tried to. Instead, she ate something along with the others, and when
the sun came up, they left the cave.

George
tried to contact the other Storm Trooper team as soon as they were on their way
to let them know they’d found Dixon and were heading underground again, but
none of the
walkies
had enough battery power to do
it. “We’ll let them know as soon as we can.”

Merrill
scanned the horizon in the east. “They should have been here by now. It’s
possible they were delayed again.” Then he scanned the sky. “Too much cloud
cover to bother with a satellite signal today. I say we just go for it.”

Addison
scanned the clouds as well. “I agree. The viaduct is less than two hours away.”

“
My laptop battery is almost dead anyway,” said Gina.
“We’ll have to wing it.”

George
and Lee fashioned a pallet for her father from sleeping bags and rope, and the
two of them plus Nadine and Addison each took a corner. Gina, Suzanne, and
Alesia watched the sky closely as the group made their way toward the nearest
viaduct.

It
actually took them two and a half hours to reach it because they had to stop
several times and change out the people carrying her father on the pallet. The
clouds built and subsided so many times that Nadine found herself ignoring them
unless the others appeared anxious.

As
they approached it, Gina let out a frustrated sound. “Dammit! We need to move.
Fast
.”

She
wasn’t one of the people carrying her father’s pallet at the time, but she took
hold of it, slipping between Addison and Lee, and ran with the others. Debris
swirled in the air above them, but they made it inside ahead of the storm.

Lee
clapped Nadine on the back. “Nice to know you can run like that when you need
to.”

Addison
whipped his head around as the five of them placed her father’s pallet on the
floor. He glared at Lee. “She ran with us the entire time we were up there.”

“
I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“
Good to know.”

The
two stared each other down until Merrill cleared his throat. “Guess we’d best
get Dixon through these air locks, okay?”