Wild Shores

Chapter Twenty-one

Thirty minutes had never felt so long. Austin wanted to go after Gem to continue to plead her case, to say something, anything, that would drive the distance from Gem’s eyes and bring some warmth back into her smile. But she didn’t have enough time, and this wasn’t the time or the place. Her words weren’t welcome. She’d run out of time, as she’d known she would, and if she’d listened to the voice of caution she never would have let the situation go so far. She hadn’t been fair to Gem or herself, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to regret a single moment. She hadn’t wanted to be cautious, and she hadn’t wanted to listen to reason. She hadn’t wanted to push aside what her heart demanded yet again. She’d been ruled by the dictates and desires of others most of her life, until she convinced herself what she was doing was what she wanted. Oh, she’d charted her own course—she couldn’t blame anyone else if she wasn’t completely satisfied with her life. She’d broken away from the family tradition of risk-taking and adventure and high-profile excitement, but she’d somehow ended up on the edge of danger all the same. And blood had won out. When she’d stood on the precipice facing Gem across a chasm that logic and reason dictated she avoid, she jumped, not caring that she might fall. The risk had been worth it, and she hadn’t fallen, at least not right away.

“You need me to stay for this?” Claudia asked.

Austin jerked at the sound of Claudia’s voice. She’d actually forgotten she wasn’t alone in the room Gem used as an office. The windowless ten- by ten-foot space was sparsely furnished with a serviceable plain wooden desk, a trio of metal filing cabinets, and a round table with four chairs that appeared to serve as a work space and conference area. She and Claudia had settled there to wait for Gem, and instead of reviewing plans for the containment procedures, she’d forgotten everything except the look of hurt and disdain in Gem’s eyes.

Time to get a grip. She couldn’t afford to forget anything now. A slip of attention or lapse in concentration could mean disaster not just for her, but for those who depended on her. She shook her head. “You’re welcome to stay, but if you’re really intent on going back to the rig, you should probably grab a lift before the weather gets any worse.”

“What about you?”

“I want to stay here until I get a fix on the most-at-risk areas, and I want to be sure the ground team has everything they need.”

“Your call.” Claudia paused. “I thought you might need reinforcements.”

“You noticed.” Austin winced. “I don’t expect open warfare, maybe just a cold war for a little while.”

Claudia glanced over her shoulder, then pulled her chair closer. “It’s absolutely none of my business, but I couldn’t help noticing that one of the Sisters Martin bore a striking resemblance to the woman you were sketching. They’re quite a fascinating pair.”

“They are. I met Gem on the drive in. We spent most of a day in a car together, and we…” Austin shook her head. “It was a hell of a trip.”

“I take it she didn’t know about the rig or your job out there.”

“I didn’t know what I was going to be facing, and even if I had, I wouldn’t have discussed it with anyone. You know the situation.”

“Oh, indeed I do. I signed the same forms you did.” She pushed back a whisper of hair that had fallen free from the clasp, an unconsciously graceful movement that elicited absolutely no reaction from Austin other than a distant appreciation.

“We’ll sort things out,” Austin said with more confidence than she felt. Somehow she had to sort things out, or she’d be walking around with a hole in her middle forever.

“I’m always good for backup.” Claudia gave her a sympathetic smile and squeezed her hand. “Call me anytime.”

Call me anytime.

Gem halted in the doorway to her office, a hot rush of annoyance and something that couldn’t possibly be jealousy streaking through her. An instant ago she’d been ready to face Austin in a cool, professional manner, determined not to let the past hinder their working relationship. Now that hard-earned calm boiled away. “Am I early for our meeting?”

Austin’s head jerked up. “No, I’m ready when you are.”

“I can see that.”

Claudia slowly drew her hand from Austin’s and turned toward Gem. She smiled, a neutral professional smile. “I was about to head back to the rig. I’m sure we’ll meet again before this is over.”

Gem gave her a thin smile. “Maybe we’ll be lucky and the storm will change course.” And she could get back to her life without the unsettling presence of Austin Germaine and her own treacherous desires.

“I hope you’re right.” Claudia rose, saying to Austin, “I’ll call you with an update as soon as I get to the rig.”

“Thanks. Be careful.”

“Of course.” Claudia nodded to Gem and disappeared.

Gem took the seat Claudia had just vacated, edging the chair back a few inches from Austin, who was far too close. So close Gem could smell the spice and sandalwood, the same scent that clung to her pillow. Her throat ached even as her pulse quickened. Annoyed, aroused, she asked sharply, “What is it you need from me?”

Austin couldn’t begin to answer that, not when Gem looked at her as if they’d never touched. So she’d start at the beginning, where she should have before she’d let her heart lead her head. “Since you and I will be the primary coordinators, I wanted to give you some perspective on my role.”

“I thought you already did that,” Gem said.

“The briefing was mostly a sit rep to establish the task force.”

“What else is there?”

“I hope there’s more.”

“A little late for introductions,” Gem said without a flicker of a lash, “but go ahead.”

Austin tamped down a rejoinder. Gem wasn’t going to make it easy for her. Fair enough. “You already know that I’m the point man for GOP in the developing situation out at the rig.”

“How long have you been doing it?” Gem hadn’t planned on asking any personal questions, but she couldn’t help herself. She wanted to know more about Austin. She wanted to know something about her that she could believe—facts, not feelings.

“About five years,” Austin said. “I started out as an engineering consultant, but it turns out I’m pretty good at interfacing with the media too.”

“So you’re not just a good-looking mouthpiece.”

Austin let out a sigh. “I’d say thanks but I don’t think there’s a compliment in there. No, I’m not a PR person—in cases like this the media want to talk to the people on the ground, the ones with oil on their hands. I fit that bill.”

Gem pounced. “So why are you here if there’s no spill?”

“Are you also an attorney along with your other degrees?” Austin thought she saw a fleeting smile.

“No, that’s my brother,” Gem said.

“We don’t have a spill, but we do have a leak.”

“Fine distinction.”

“An important one.” Austin took her through the early response actions Tatum and Reddy had instituted.

“And Spencer?”

“The rig is a big float, more or less. They don’t tip if carefully balanced and adjusted for dynamic ocean conditions—with the storm surge, the best information will come from assessing the situation right at sea level,” Austin said. “Plus Claudia will liaise with the federal and state scientific support teams, when and if we get to that point.”

“How bad is the leak?”

“Manageable, possibly containable under other circumstances, but as I told you and the others earlier, I don’t think we can get out of this without some tangible spill.”

“I don’t have much experience with this stage of things,” Gem said. “I was in the Gulf after Deepwater Horizon, but only during the rescue phase.” Even now she could remember the bone-weary hours and mind-numbing devastation. The weeks she’d spent attempting to save the hundreds of birds trapped in the oil spills had been heartbreaking work. So many they hadn’t been able to save. “There was oil everywhere.”

“We’re not going to let that happen here,” Austin said determinedly. “We’re ahead of things now, because with Deepwater, they didn’t have any warning and they couldn’t get booms and floats in place fast enough. We can.”

Gem had seen the huge lines of floats and the skimmers vacuuming oil from the surface of the water, and she’d seen the coastline drenched in oil that drowned the sea life, starved the waterfowl, and ravaged the ecosystem for decades to come. “What if it gets past the booms? Can we keep it offshore?”

Austin felt Gem’s probing gaze, knew Gem was looking for truth, and she had to convince her she was capable of it, for more reasons than the job. “We’re hoping it won’t even get that far. The booms are backup. Our first choice is to burn it right on the surface when it emerges.”

“Isn’t it dangerous—burning so close to your rig?”

“We’ve had plenty of experience with it.”

Gem knew it couldn’t be that simple. “How likely are you to be able to do all this with the hurricane coming?”

“The burn may be enough. Even the storm isn’t likely to extinguish it.”

The edge of Gem’s anger and resentment dulled as she envisioned Austin and the others on a floating platform miles out in the ocean, corralling a burning oil slick with the hurricane bearing down on them. “That sounds insane.”

Austin grinned thinly. “The whole idea of sinking a twelve-inch drill shaft miles down into the surface of the earth from a floating platform is pretty crazy too. But believe it or not, the safety record is pretty damn good. The crews are the best.”

Of course Austin was going to say that, but Gem couldn’t help imagining the risk. A frisson of fear skittered down her spine. “I suppose you have to be out there during all of this.”

Austin lifted a shoulder. “As you said, I’m not just a mouthpiece.”

Gem pressed her fingers to her eyes. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. I’m a little off balance. Things have been moving so quickly.”

“I know,” Austin murmured, aching to touch her, aching even more to know she wasn’t welcome. “In more ways than one. Gem, I’m sorry you found all this out this way.”

Gem leaned back in her chair and let out a long breath. Austin didn’t deserve her bitterness, not when a big part of her anger was directed at herself. She’d gone willingly into Austin’s arms, and looking at her now, so close, so damn electrifying, she wanted to again. “Why don’t we agree to set our personal issues aside. I don’t want you out there thinking about anything except what you’re doing. And Lord knows, I’m going to have enough to think about here.”

“I’d agree with you,” Austin said, “but I don’t really think I can do that. I haven’t stopped thinking about you since the minute we met.”

“Don’t,” Gem said softly.

“Don’t what? Tell you the truth? Isn’t that why you’re angry, because you think I didn’t?”

“Partly,” Gem admitted. “But only partly. I’m just as angry at myself for falling into something for completely irrational reasons.”

“Don’t you mean falling into bed with me?”

“Not just falling into bed,” Gem murmured, afraid to admit and unable to deny her feelings were much more than just sexual attraction. She couldn’t use chemistry as an excuse. Her attraction to Austin had always been more than physical, and time didn’t seem to be of any consequence. Their connection had been deep and terribly, wonderfully personal from the beginning. Heaven help her, she’d been falling in love with her since the minute she’d met her. “This isn’t the time for this.”

“It’s never been time—it’s just been right,” Austin said, finally taking a chance. She slid her hand across the table and rested her fingertips on the top of Gem’s balled fist. “I know you’re angry and you don’t trust me. But just believe this one thing—when I touched you, when you touched me, it was real. Everything you felt and you sensed from me was real.”

“I can’t think about that right now,” Gem whispered.

Austin nodded, rewarded by the softening in Gem’s eyes. “All right, then we’ll work.”

“Let me see your maps,” Gem said, slowly pulling her hand away.

Austin turned her laptop toward Gem and pulled up the aerials of the coastline. “We don’t have a lot of time, so I want to optimize our positioning of the booms.” She pointed a finger. “These show the projected direction of currents and the way the oil is likely to flow if it escapes the burn. Where are the key areas we need to blockade?”

Gem pointed to several places on the map. “These are estuaries leading into the sanctuary. They feed much of the salt marsh, which is critical as both habitat and feeding ground. Contamination here is likely to destroy much of the essential vegetation and trap a great many of the birds.”

“Where will you stage the recovery operations, if necessary?”

“Initially at the sanctuary, until we can set up mobile decontamination stations.”

“How many people?”

Gem winced. “As many as we can muster. It takes about an hour per bird to wash the oil clear, get them rehydrated and fed, prior to relocation.”

“That’s a lot of man-hours.”

“We lose a lot because we just can’t get to them in time.”

Austin would do anything to drive the clouds from Gem’s eyes. “We’ll seed the water between the booms and the shoreline with emulsifiers and chemical solvents if anything gets past the blockades. With the storm surge, though, our best hope is for the oil never to get this far.”

“So we’re back to the burn again,” Gem said.

Austin nodded. “Best case. I need to get back out to the rig.”

Gem’s stomach tightened. “I’m going to be busy organizing the ground teams, but you’ll…keep in touch?”

“Of course.”

Gem struggled with the line between personal and professional, a line she’d crossed unwittingly once. She knew better now, crossing it willingly as she reached for Austin’s hand. “You’ll be careful, won’t you.”

Austin closed her fingers around Gem’s, the link easing the pain in her chest. “I will. You too.”

“I’m not the one sitting on top of the powder keg.”