Falling for a Stranger (3 page)

Then he remembered that she'd told him she was taking out a boat charter in the morning. He felt marginally better realizing that she'd left early to go to work. Someone at the marina would be able to help him find her, or at least tell him when she'd be back.

The dock was only a short walk away. Colorful sailboats and well-worn fishing boats filled the slips. In the distance was an enormous luxury yacht. He wondered who that belonged to—someone with a lot of money. Probably one of the people who lived in the mountain top mansions that he'd noticed while bodysurfing the previous day. It would be nice to have enough money to have a home on an island. He didn't see that in his future.

Near the entrance to the pier was a small building with a sign that read Sea Charters.

He entered the building and stepped up to the counter. A young Hispanic man with a nametag that read Juan greeted him with a friendly smile.

"Hola, Señor. How can I help you?" Juan asked.

"I'm looking for a woman. Her name is Ria. Do you know her?"

"Si," Juan said with a nod. "Ria is a beautiful girl, very popular with the customers."

"Do you know when she'll be back?"

Juan glanced down at the large calendar on the counter. "A few hours. I have other guides available if you want to go out."

"No," he said, tapping his fingers restlessly on the counter.

So that was that. Ria was out on the ocean and probably wouldn't be back before he had to catch his plane.

"Do you want me to give her a message for you?" Juan asked, a curious gleam in his eyes.

Drew thought about that for a moment, then shook his head. What the hell was he doing? It was a hook-up. That's all. He needed to let it be.

"No, thanks."

As he walked out of the office, a thunderous boom lit up the air, rocking the ground under his feet. He heard a gasp from a group of tourists on the pier. Then the door opened behind him, and Juan rushed out. Together, they looked toward the sea. Over the curve of the nearby hill, they could see smoke racing toward the sky.

"What was that?" Drew asked.

"I don't know," Juan said. He ran down the pier toward the Harbormaster's office, and Drew decided to follow.

A crowd of people gathered outside the office. Rumors were flying, all centering around a boat explosion.

Drew's stomach turned. It was crazy to think the explosion had anything to do with Ria, but he had a really bad feeling in his gut.

"Juan, I've changed my mind," he said. "I need to rent a boat."

The other man looked reluctant. "Better to wait. We should stay out of the way."

"I do search and rescue for the U.S. Coast Guard." He pulled out his wallet and all the cash he had. "I need a boat."

Juan's greed won out. "I'll take you."

It took several minutes for them to launch a boat and maneuver their way through the harbor, as more than a few people had had the same idea and desire to help. It seemed to take forever to get past the breakwater, the reef and then around the island hills.

A good thirty minutes had passed by the time they reached the burning vessel, or what was left of it. It had been completely blown apart, with nothing but fiery debris floating in the water while divers began to search the ocean for survivors.

Drew's chest was so tight he could barely get the words out. "It's not the boat Ria was on, is it?"

Juan's somber gaze said it all. Drew stripped off his shirt.

"What are you doing?" Juan asked.

"I'm going to find her."

"There's nothing left of the boat."

"She could have jumped off before the explosion. How many other people were on the boat?"

Juan shook his head. "I don't know. She made the reservation—probably one or two. I didn't see them board. They left before I got to work."

Drew looked at the debris field and couldn't imagine how anyone could have survived, but he wasn't going to give up without a fight. This is what he did—he saved people. And he was going to save Ria.

He kicked off his shoes and dove into the water. It was a strange feeling to be the one in the water when he was usually the one flying the helicopter that launched rescue swimmers into the sea. For the first time in a long time, he wasn't hovering above the scene, he was right in the thick of it.

For almost two hours, he searched for Ria, but he couldn't find her. He couldn't find anyone.

When a shiny piece of gold floated by him, Drew could no longer deny reality. It was Ria's necklace, the one he'd tugged at with his teeth as it lay in the valley of her breasts. He grabbed it and swam back to the boat. He felt completely exhausted and overwhelmed by unexpected emotion and a terrible certainty.

He stared at the gold heart with the emerald stone and knew that Ria was gone. Beautiful, sexy Ria was dead. He was never going to see her again. One night was all they would ever have.

Chapter Two

Fifteen months later

The distress call came in just before seven o'clock in the morning, a few minutes before his shift was supposed to end. A fire in a fishing boat threatened the lives of two people just off the coast of San Francisco. Drew Callaway and a Coast Guard crew that included fellow pilot, Tim Roberts, flight mechanic Connor Holmes and rescue swimmer, Michael Packer, took off five minutes later, with Drew at the controls of the MH65C Dolphin Helicopter.

As they lifted off, the usual burst of adrenaline ran through his veins. Today's mission would be challenging. The wind was gusting at twenty knots with a steady stream of rain. Even worse there was a layer of low fog blanketing the Pacific Ocean, which would make visibility more difficult. But there were two people aboard the stranded fishing boat, who were counting on Drew and his crew to come through, and he was going to make damn sure that happened.

His crew was a well-oiled machine, each person at the top of their game, and Drew was honored to be working alongside each of the men. His friend, Tim, could party as hard as he worked, but on the job, Tim was an excellent pilot, and they both trusted each other with their lives.

Only one time had Tim led him astray and that was their trip to the island, not that Tim had anticipated Drew would fall for a woman who would end up dead the next day. But if they'd never made that trip, then Drew wouldn't be haunted each and every night by the vision of a beautiful blonde with sweet lips and reckless eyes.

His focus faltered as he thought about Ria. She'd come into his life like a burst of sunlight and had made him feel like he was looking at a future that was much brighter and warmer than his past. But that warmth and light had only lasted a night. In the morning reality had returned, and even now he could feel the thunderous boom that had taken her from his life.

As the months went by, he'd started to get over her, and then five months ago he'd seen a woman on Fisherman's Wharf, and something about her had caught his attention. Her hair had been brown, not blonde, and longer than he remembered, but her body, her walk had reminded him of Ria. She'd seemed so real and alive he'd actually jumped out of his chair at the outdoor café where he was having lunch with friends and bolted down the street after her.

Unfortunately, he'd lost that woman in the crowd, and he'd been shaken by the glimpse of her ever since. But Ria was dead—wasn't she?

Drew's gut tightened as he looked down at the ocean below him. They were thousands of miles away from the spot where Ria had lost her life. But the waves still reminded him of the hours he'd spent searching for her in the water.

The memory also reminded him that in minutes he'd be sending a rescue swimmer down into a turbulent sea to do exactly what he had tried to do—save a life. Hopefully, this mission would be successful.

No
hopefully
about it, he told himself firmly. Failure was not an option.

Within minutes they reached the distressed vessel. It was taking on water fast, and two people were clinging to the side, as the boat was tossed up and down on the stormy waves. Flames lit up the interior cabin and thick smoke mixed with the rain.

Drew sucked in a deep breath. Was this the same scene Ria had faced in her final minutes? It was more likely she hadn't realized she was in trouble until it was too late. There had been no radio call for help, just one powerful explosion that had blown her boat to pieces.

Drew hovered over the scene as the flight mechanic opened the door and launched the rescue swimmer. For the next few intense minutes, Drew had to battle to keep the helicopter stable as the winds gusted. Flying helicopters was both thrilling and terrifying at times. When he'd first decided to switch from planes to helos, his instructor had looked him dead in the eye and said, "One thing you have to know. Planes want to fly. Helicopters want to crash."

He'd taken the old adage as motivation to conquer the wily bird. He liked being able to fly in and out of tight spots. In the Navy, he'd had to deal with extreme heat and dangerous mountain ranges. He'd flown soldiers into enemy strongholds in the dead of night and rescued the injured. With the Coast Guard, he was able to pluck people out of the sea just before they took their last breath.

If only he'd been able to save Ria.

"Visibility is decreasing. Wind gusting to 25 knots," his copilot, Tim, said.

He nodded. "Five minutes."

"Three," Tim said.

He gave Tim a quick look. "Whatever it takes."

Tim frowned but didn't contradict him.

"Victim one is on board," the flight mechanic said. "Cage is going back down."

Despite his boastful claim of five minutes, Drew knew they had less time than that. The weather conditions were worsening by the second and saving the other man could cost everyone on the helicopter their lives.

"Damn," Tim swore. "Victim two is in the water."

"Swimmer is going after him," the flight mechanic said.

The helicopter bounced and rolled. Drew battled with the controls.

"We've got to go," Tim said tersely.

"We'll make it," Drew said confidently, refusing to believe in any other scenario.

The helo bucked again.

"No time left," Tim said. "Call him in."

"I'm not leaving her," he said tersely as he fought to bring the helicopter back under control.

"Swimmer has the victim. We're bringing them up," the flight mechanic said.

It was a long minute before the second victim and the swimmer were on board, and then Drew headed for home.

When they landed, an ambulance was waiting, and the survivors were taken to the hospital to get checked out. It didn't appear that anyone had life-threatening injuries.

Drew finished his post-flight responsibilities and then exited the helo. The rain had stopped and the winds had decreased. It looked like the storm was on its way east.

As he stepped onto the tarmac, and took off his headset, Tim gave him an irritated look. "What the hell was that, Callaway?"

"What's your problem?"

"My problem is you." Tim glanced over his shoulder to make sure they were alone. "You like to push the envelope; so do I. But what you did risked the life of everyone on board."

"We made it back safely."

"This time."

"
This
time is all I care about," Drew said sharply. He started to walk away, but Tim was right on his heels.

"And what I care about is this reckless streak you're on," Tim said, grabbing him by the arm.

He shrugged Tim away. "I was doing my job. If you don't have the guts for what we do, maybe you're the one with the problem."

"You said I'm not leaving
her
. There wasn't a woman in sight."

"So I misspoke."

"Did you?" Tim gave Drew a pointed look. "You were talking about the woman on the island, weren’t you?"

"No."

"Bullshit! She's been on your mind for over a year. You can't get over how she died so suddenly."

"What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to tell me that you're not going to keep trying to rescue a woman who is already dead. You have to let her go. You have to stop seeing her on every damn boat in trouble. You're not making smart decisions, and you know it. This isn't the first time that you've taken too many risks."

Tim's gaze bored into his, and Drew couldn't deny the truth. For a few minutes back there, he had been thinking about Ria and not the fishermen they'd been sent to rescue.

"I've never seen any woman get to you the way she did," Tim added, shaking his head in bewilderment. "And so fast, too."

Ria had gotten under his skin in a way no other woman had. Part of him wanted to chalk it up to the island, the warm tropical breezes, the heady rum drinks, but he hadn't been drunk that night, and neither had Ria.

"I thought you were getting your head together," Tim continued. "But you're back to where you were right after you left the island."

"I was moving on. But then…" He hesitated, knowing he was about to sound like a lunatic.

"Then what?" Tim prodded, curiosity in his gaze.

"I thought I saw her at Fisherman's Wharf," he confessed.

Tim's eyes widened in surprise. "She's dead, Drew."

"Well, she appeared very much alive to me. Her hair was brown not blonde, but her face was exactly the same, and when she looked at me, she stiffened. I couldn't see her eyes, she was too far away, but I could feel her recognition."

"You could feel it?"

"I know it sounds—"

"Crazy?" Tim asked, cutting him off. "So what happened next? Did you talk to this woman?"

"I lost her in the crowd."

"If she recognized you, why didn't she stop to talk to you?"

He couldn't answer that question. "I don't know."

"You do know. It wasn't her. Whatever you thought you saw was just your imagination. Just like today, when you believed a balding forty-year-old fisherman was your hot blonde bartender."

"It wasn't like today." His jaw tightened. "I didn't see her on that boat, but I did see her on the wharf."

"You saw what you wanted to see. You're obsessed with her. I'm sorry now I ever took you to the island. I wanted you to relax and have some fun with no strings attached. That's what most people do when they go down there."