Around the World in 80 Men Series: Books 11-20 (57 page)

Morgan stared into her tea,
watching the ripples from the lemon slice David had dropped into the
small blue cup. She watched it bob in the hot liquid, almost
mesmerized.

“Sugar,
cream?” Morgan slowly lifted her head to look at the man who'd
asked her, then shook her head back and forth. She tried to squeak
out a 'thank you' but no sound escaped her lips. The two of them were
still in their wet clothes, sitting at the small white kitchen table
in Tanner's house.

It
had taken David more than twenty minutes to console Morgan, just
enough, to persuade her to get into his truck and out of the rain. By
the time they'd made the drive back to Tanner's home, the tears had
slowed, but Morgan's mind had gone numb. The sun was starting to rise
and, of course, Tanner had no coffee in his home, so David had made
them both a cup of tea, although, the grief stricken girl didn't want
it.

“Is...is
there just...a chance? A chance he wasn't...” Her mind wasn't
willing to accept it. Tanner...
her
Tanner...dead?
The one who'd just said that he loved her? The one who'd made a whole
room for her and given her a key? No, not her Tanner.

“Dear,” David
began, still not knowing the young woman's name. He didn't have to
finish his thought because Morgan saw it in his eyes. There was no
chance. She already knew the facts. Six men went out...six men were
confirmed dead. There was no way around it, she knew.

Morgan pushed the cup of tea
away and laid her arms on the table, then tucked her head inside.
David watched the rapid bobbing of her head and could hear the quiet
sobs from within. He was in shock, just as much as she, but losing
men out to sea...it wasn't the first time he'd dealt with tragedy.

“Why? Why'd he have to go
out? He knew a storm was coming! Why!?” The girl pushed her
chair out and stood, then quickly walked to the other side of the
room and back toward the table. “He knew!” Her grief had
turned to anger. She didn't want to be mad at Tanner, but she
couldn't understand why he'd gone out there, or why he didn't turn
back. Her mind sped faster and faster and she couldn't make sense of
anything in her whirlwind of emotions.

“Sit down,” David
stood as well , then placed his hand on the pacing woman's shoulder,
and guided her to the couch. Morgan followed his lead, and sat down.
Her body was still shaking from a multitude of things; cold, fear,
sadness, anger. She couldn't remember feeling so many emotions in her
life, but at the same time, she felt nothing at all. “You're in
shock, just relax,” David told her as he wrapped a blanket
around her wet shoulders.

Morgan
didn't even hear him, nor did she even notice he'd put the blanket
around her. All she could do was question her lost friend.
Why
didn't you turn back, Tanner?

David
went to the table, grabbing both of their cups of tea, then returned
to the couch and sat next her. Eventually, he'd have to go down to
the wharf to sort things out, but it was also obvious he couldn't
leave the poor girl alone, not in her condition.

After sitting in silence for
nearly half an hour, Morgan stood from the couch and excused herself
to the restroom. She didn't even want to look at herself in the
mirror, knowing exactly what she'd see. Her mascara had run all the
way down to her chin; from the rain, from the tears, and she could
feel the dried clumps of mud attached to her cheeks and forehead.
Instead, she washed her hands with her head hung low, then splashed
her dirty face with cold water, washing away some of the evidence of
a long night.

Her hair was still damp,
clinging to every side of her face, neck and chest and her clothing,
down to her bra and underwear were wet as well. The coldness took
over as she turned out the bathroom light and walked out of the
bathroom.

Gathering herself, just enough
to make it back to her room, she zombie-walked to her luggage and
pulled out the first sweatshirt she could find, then threw it over
her already wet tank top.

As she walked into the living
room, she saw David was on the phone. “Tanner!? Tanner!”
Morgan ran over to David's side, hoping her Aussie was on the other
end, but David turned his back on her, sticking a finger into his
free ear so he could hear better. Morgan wasn't going to give up so
easily, she stood on her tip-toes, hovering over the mans shoulder,
trying to listen in on the conversation. When he got off the phone,
it was just more bad news.

“They've recovered all
the bodies and they're bringing them in right now.” He didn't
want to tell her that information, but the man on the other end
wanted him to come down and verify the bodies. He couldn't leave her
without an explanation...in fact, he didn't want to leave at all.
“They...uhm...they need someone to verify the victims...”

“Let's go,” Morgan
was already walking toward the front door.

“I don't think...”

“I want to. Please.”
She needed to see him, to say goodbye, to tell him that she loved
him. “I have to...”

The man sighed loudly, then
nodded his head. He was the emergency contact for the crew, so it was
his job, he just hated when there was an actual emergency. David
grabbed his keys from the counter top, then sighed again carried
himself to the front door as well. Morgan slipped on a pair of flip
flops, then followed him back out to the truck.

It was still pouring rain as
they ran to the vehicle and, once again, Morgan's clothing was
soaked. Only it was worse the second time around because a thick
sweatshirt was weighing her down instead of a thin tank top.

The wharf was nearly empty, and
that made Morgan feel even worse. She didn't know why, but if the
docks were busy, she might not have felt as alone as she did right
then. They got out of the truck and walked through the muddy lot as
they made their way to the main dock.

“There, that's the rescue
team.” She followed where David was pointing and saw a large
boat pulling up to the smaller dock to their right.

Morgan stopped walking and
motioned for David to go ahead without her. “I just can't... I
don't want...” Facing the situation head on suddenly didn't
feel like such a great idea. He nodded, then dropped his head and
met the crew that was piling onto the dock.

He's there. He's right
there! I have to tell him that I love him too. I can't go over... I
can't see him like that.
Morgan's tears never ceased as she sat
on a lone rock behind the docks. Her eyes darted to the area where
bodies were being unloaded and she knew that David was confirming the
identity of each man. She put her head between her knees and tried
to block out the scene, that was when she heard David's voice raise
above the others.

“I can't tell ya
something that isn't true!” He was furious, and Morgan's head
jerked upright when she heard his voice. She tried to make out the
argument, but it was no use, all she could hear were bits of their
voices with David's raising now and then. She stood when he started
walking back to the shore.

“What? What's wrong?”
She tried to keep up with him, even though his long legs carried him
much faster to the truck than she could manage without a decent trot.
Finally, he turned to face her, red faced and out of breath.

“Five of the men are from
Sydney's Song, a fishing vessel that I know of. The last man, I
recognize him from Triton. That means two boats went over, not one!
And they think that I'm mixed up. They want me to confirm that they
were all on the same boat. But I won't do it! Ya hear me, I won't!”
When David calmed down after a few moments, he went on to explain
that the rescue crew had been told that it was Lady Godiva that had
gone down and they nearly grilled him to confirm their report. “Ah,
I guess they're just being thorough, but I don't like to be
questioned when I've said the truth.” Morgan nodded, still
confused, but suddenly realized what he had just said.

“Wait! That wasn't
Tanner? That wasn't his crew! David! That wasn't Lady Godiva's
crew!” She jumped several times, splashing more mud on both of
them in the process. “It wasn't Tanner!” Morgan spun in
a circle and .. “Shit!” She tripped on her own flip flop
and fell to the muddy ground. David actually broke a smile at the
filthy young girl that sat on the ground, still shouting what he
already knew.

David helped pull her to her
wobbly legs, then told her what she didn't want to hear. “Slow
down with the celebrations. We still don't know where Lady Godiva
is. They can't reach him by radio or phone, so there's still a
chance...”

“No! There's no chance!
Let's go find him!” She had already started pulling him back
to the dock when he stopped her.

“I don't have a vessel,
Miss. We'll have to wait it out is all.” Morgan instantly
started to argue, he had to know someone that could take them out.
She also told him that she would pay for them to rent a boat, rent a
captain, do whatever they had to do to find him. “There's a
reason I don't go on the water any longer, and I don't plan on
sharing that with ya. I won't be looking for him, so let's just go
back to his house and we'll wait to hear something. Miss, the rescue
men will find him, and the rest of the boats out there, let's just
let them do their job.”

“You go, I'll stay here.
If I can't go out and find him, the least I can do is be here when he
comes back.” David was far too exhausted to argue with her any
longer, but he went to his truck and grabbed a blanket from the back.

“Here, keep yourself
warm. I'll be back to check on ya in a few hours. If there's one
thing I've learned in all my years it's that I'll never win an
argument with a woman who has made up her mind about something.”
He also took a moment to give her a compliment before leaving.
“You're not his type at all, so I know you're not his girl.
But I hope he knew... or knows... how much ya care for him.”
David gave her a pat on the head before heading back to his truck.

Morgan sat on the little dock
for nearly two hours before the guilt finally crept up on her. She
felt awful for the fact she'd been happy upon hearing the news about
Lady Godiva. There were still six dead men, possibly more, and all
she'd cared about at the moment was the possible thought of Tanner
being safe. She brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms
around them and stared toward the horizon. It was beautiful, the dark
gray storm clouds and brilliant rays of sunlight poking through every
so often. The rays seemed to reach their arms toward the water and
Morgan shuddered at the thought of what those poor men had gone
through just a few hours prior.

She tucked her chin into the
spot between her knees, then whispered a quiet prayer for all of the
men and their families. She prayed that if there were any other men
out there, that they'd be rescued safely and then she gave thanks
that Lady Godiva and her crew were safe.

“Come back soon, Tanner,”
she finished her thoughts and wrapped the blanket tighter around her
shoulders. After waiting for another two hours, she eventually fell
asleep with her head in her knees, but quickly after closing her
eyes, she was awakened by the sound of an incoming boat's air horn.
She stood quickly to get a better look. “Lady Godiva! Tanner!”

Morgan ran back toward the
wharf and to the spot where the boat was moving closer. The few
minutes that the boat took to tie up seemed to take longer as she
waited for the Aussie to appear. Finally, they began to climb off the
ship and down the dock. One man, two, five....
come on,
Tanner
...then the sixth man climbed off. It wasn't Tanner. The
girl threw the blanket off her shoulders and ran up to the last man
who'd gotten off. “Wh.....where's Tanner? Where is he? Is he on
there?” She leaned to the man's side to look back at Lady
Godiva.

“I wish I had a beautiful
girl waiting for me to get back!” Morgan brought her eyebrows
together and asked him again, in a less than pleasant tone. “He'll
be in soon, damn. Hold on to your fuckin' panties.” The man
started to walk away, but Morgan stopped him by the arm.

“Please! Where is he?
There...there's been an accident, don't you know?” Morgan
pleaded to find an answer.

“Accident?” the man
gave her his full attention and asked what she was talking about.
Morgan told him all that she knew. Two ships had gone down, Sydney's
Song and Triton, and that six men had already been brought in, dead.
When she mentioned the second ship, Morgan knew something was wrong.
The man's face turned to stone, just as David's had when he'd first
knocked on her door.

“Tan...Tanner went to
Triton...they....that's my ship.” The man turned around and ran
his hands through his hair, then sat on the curb of the parking lot
and put his face in his hands.

“What? What happened?”

He lifted his head, then shook
it slowly back and forth. “Triton was having engine
problems...Tanner....he...we traded...he and I. Tanner was...is....I
don't know...” The man shoved his face back in his hands and
she could hear him begin to sob before her world came crashing down
again. The man who she was speaking to was the new, in-training,
Captain of Triton...he and Tanner had switched places. That meant....