Force of Nature. Dana Mentink

the beach. Wind plastered her hair to her face and left her shivering as they slogged out of the surf; Gavin reaching out to help her. She longed to throw herself down on the sand, just for a moment, to allow her lungs to catch up, but Reuben grabbed her cold hand.

      “Come on.”

      He was nearly sprinting, and she marveled that he still had so much stamina after their frantic swim. Something was fueling him with an unnatural energy. Fear? Sorrow? Anger. The realization scared her. She scrambled after him, past the packed sand and through the ripple of ornamental grasses and clustered palms thrashing in the wind. Charging under the stately oaks dripping with Spanish moss and finally across the green lawn, they made it to the graveled path to the hotel veranda. Slamming through the front door, Reuben locked it behind them.

      Silvio stood there with a phone in his hand, mouth gaping and eyes agog.

      His wife ran into the room holding a pair of binoculars. “What happened? We heard an explosion. Silvio was trying to call you.”

      “Someone blew up my boats,” Reuben snarled.

      Antonia had seen Reuben angry before only a few times. Anger was not an emotion to which he succumbed to often, but now rage flickered in his eyes like a wakening giant. Snatching the phone from Silvio, he stabbed in the numbers. “I’m calling the cops. The guy doused the dock in gasoline and fired a flare from out there on a skimmer.”

      Paula’s face went slack with horror. “What?”

      “Who would do that?” Antonia finally managed around her chattering teeth. His eyes locked on hers, but he did not answer.

      “I’d sure like to know the answer to that,” Gavin said.

      A sinking feeling flooded Antonia’s stomach. Hector’s mob connections. Crime swirled around his family like a dark, fetid wind. Reuben must have read her thoughts because his mouth twisted.

      The cold took over her body, leaving her shivering in the Isla Hotel lobby for the second time in as many days, the lazily turning ceiling fans cooling her even more.

      Gavin absently picked up Charley and cradled the cat to his chest while staring at Reuben. “This kind of thing happen to you often, Mr. Sandoval? Pretty dramatic for a guy who grows oranges and runs a hotel on the side.”

      Something glittered in Gavin’s eyes, a calculating look that surprised Antonia. Then again, the kid had a right to be suspicious after nearly being blown up right along with them.

      Reuben paced as he waited, muscles in his clenched jaw rippling. “This is Reuben Sandoval. I need to talk to an officer about an attempted murder. Someone just blew up my boats. No, no one is injured. I am positive it was not an accident.” He paused. “Myself, an employee and...a guest I was ferrying to the mainland.”

      Antonia didn’t know why the word hurt. They were not anything more than that, two people thrown together by chance. She was a guest on his island, an unwanted one.

      Gavin set the cat down and Charley made his way to Antonia, sniffing at the water puddling around her shoes. She reached down to pet him, but the animal avoided her damp fingertips. Instead he sat a safe distance away tucked next to a conch shell on the bottom shelf of a massive bookcase, regarding her with an appraising look. I don’t know what’s going on, either, she wanted to say. Ask your owner.

      Reuben made three dripping orbits around the lobby with Paula following, trying to thrust a towel around his shoulders. “Yes,” he snapped into the phone. “I understand that, but this is urgent. I know there’s a hurricane about to make landfall.” He blew out a breath. “All right.”

      He pocketed the phone. “They’re prepping for the storm. They can’t send an officer out now, but someone will attempt to get here as soon as possible.”

      “That right?” Silvio lifted a bushy eyebrow. “They don’t believe you, do they?”

      “No. Cops are not going to believe anything from a Sandoval.” He kicked at a box sitting on the floor, punching a hole in the cardboard and making Paula jump. “They destroyed my boats.”

      Antonia heard something in his tone that made her think he knew exactly who had done it. Paula interrupted her thoughts by going to the closet and getting down a basket of clothes. “Leftovers from the absentminded guests. Go change. Again.”

      Gavin had already gone upstairs to do the same.

      This time she didn’t bother to protest, squelching meekly into the tiny bathroom connected to the lobby. Avoiding her reflection in the mirror, which was no doubt ghastly, she changed into the faded jeans that were a size too big and the short-sleeved polo shirt in a pastel-pink color that she would never wear under other circumstances. Paula had even managed a man’s navy windbreaker, which extended past her thighs. There was nothing to be done about her sandals except to put them on again. Feeling marginally better, she returned to the lobby.

      She found Paula in the kitchen, putting a kettle on to boil. Reuben and Silvio stood on the wide veranda, even more spacious since Reuben had removed all the quaint rockers, binoculars raised to their eyes.

      “Do you see the skimmer?” she said, staying well back near the white-painted house to avoid the driving rain.

      Reuben did not look at her. “No.”

      Silvio spoke quietly. “Could be he’s headed back to the mainland.”

      “Or could be he’s staying out of open water, hiding out in the lagoon.”

      “Dangerous,” Silvio said. “With the storm coming.”

      “He’s got a reason to finish the job,” Reuben said.

      Antonia came closer. “What reason?”

      A quiet voice interrupted. Hector strolled into the room, his face drawn. “His boss told him to convince you. He will carry out his orders, destroying everything until you capitulate.”

      Convince Reuben? She took a step backward, a reflexive action.

      Reuben appeared just as surprised. “I thought you left.”

      “I sent Benny back. I wished to stay, to give you a hand with the hurricane preparations.” He flashed a distracted smile. “Now I see that you need another kind of help.” His smile vanished. “I did not imagine they would act so quickly, so blatantly, believe me. I would have dragged you off this island if I thought...”

      Reuben and Hector locked eyes and Antonia could see that Reuben was struggling with some internal decision.

      She felt lost. Someone blew up Reuben’s boat because their boss ordered them to. She wanted to press, but Reuben turned his back to her and spoke to Silvio. “We have to get her off this island, and Paula, too.”

      “That’s not going to happen now, and you know it as well as I do.” Silvio jutted his chin at the ocean. “Both your boats just went up in flames.”

      “The police...”

      Hector laughed. “The hurricane makes landfall within hours. Police aren’t coming.” His tone was bitter. “Not for a Sandoval. We’re all trapped right here, like it or not.”

      Paula called from the kitchen. “We’ll be fine then. If the cops can’t make it because they’re busy with evacuations, then this crazy man who blew up your boat won’t be able to call for reinforcements, either.”

      “Unless they’re already here,” Reuben said so softly Antonia almost didn’t hear him.

      * * *

      Reuben shut down his worry long enough to focus on the practical. Hector was helping Silvio board up the windows on the third story. Paula was cooking something and retrieving all the potted plants from the veranda and balconies. Gavin had gone to make sure all the lower-level windows were secure. None of them could be budged from their duties, arsonist or no arsonist, except possibly Gavin, and he had no choice at the moment. That left Antonia to deal with.

      If