That Night in Texas

The voice in her head was from the past, but his tone was hard and demanding. Vivi slapped her hand on the button and the window slid down. A hard wave of water rocked her sideways, but she felt a strong hand on her shoulder and a comforting presence.

You can do this. Just keep calm.

Why was she hearing Camden McNeal’s voice in her head? She looked to the passenger seat, almost expecting to see the sexy ex–oil rigger there, tall and broad and so damn sexy. Clem’s eyes in a masculine, tough face.

Take a deep breath...and another...

The water hit her chin and drops of dirt smacked her lips. Vivi took in another deep breath as water covered her head.

Hold on to the wheel and release your seat belt...

She pushed the lever and felt the seat belt drift away. Without it anchoring her to her seat, she felt buffeted by the water. Panic clawed at her stomach, twisting her brain. A twig scraped over her eyebrow and Vivi closed her eyes. What was the point of keeping them open? She couldn’t see a damn thing as it was.

Survival instinct kicked in and she banged the frame of the open window, fighting the urge to haul in a breath.

She had to live. She had a little girl to raise. Grabbing the frame, she fought the water, scrabbling as she placed her feet against the console and tried to push herself through the open window. But she felt like she was trying to push through a concrete wall.

Wait five seconds and try again...

I don’t have five damn seconds, Vivi mentally screamed.

Sure you do.

Vivi cursed him, her hands gripping the door frame. Five thousand one, five thousand two—God, she needed air—five thousand—

She couldn’t wait any longer. Completely convinced that she was about to die, Vivi pushed against the console, pulled against the window frame and shot out of the car. It was dark and cold and scary, but there was light above her. She’d head for that. Light was good, light was safety...

Light meant Clem.

She was so close—her fingers were an inch from the surface—but her lungs were about to burst. Another kick, another pull...

Vivi’s head broke the surface and she pulled in one life-affirming breath before darkness hauled her away.

* * *

Camden McNeal placed his palm on the window of his home office and looked out at the disappearing fog. He rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the tension in his shoulders and his back. He’d swallowed some painkillers a half hour ago, but the vise squeezing his brain had yet to release its claws. He felt like he was about to jump out of his skin.

Lifting his coffee mug to his lips, he took a large sip, enjoying the smooth taste of the expensive imported roast. He waited for the warmth to hit his stomach, but when it did, it burned rather than comforted. What the hell was wrong with him?

Yeah, the past few days hadn’t been fun. Houston had been slapped senseless by a devastating storm and there were many people out there who were in dire straits, although he wasn’t one of them. Not this time.

Count your blessings, McNeal...

Punching a number on his phone, he waited impatiently for Ryder to answer his call. “Cam, everything okay with you?”

His old boss and mentor had a way of making Cam feel steadier. Ryder was rock solid, as a colleague and a friend, and it never hurt to have someone like him standing in your corner. “My office is still under water and mud. All my computers are fried.”

“Nasty. Hope you backed up,” Ryder said.

All the time. “Yep, to a cloud server, so no information has been lost. But two of my guys have lost their houses and possessions.” He already had plans in place to get them back on their feet.

“I’ve closed the office and told my people to care for their homes and families,” Cam added.

“Yeah, I think that’s standard procedure at the moment. Money and business can wait. There’s more important work to do,” Ryder agreed. “I spent yesterday working at a shelter. Did you go out last night?”

“Yeah, I was in one of the worst affected areas of the city—and one of the poorest. It was a community search effort to find some missing children. Two of them were found, but the third, a teenage boy, is still missing,” Cam told Ryder.

Was that why he was so tense, so worried? He knew what it was like to feel abandoned, to be scared. Sure, he’d never been swept away in a flood, but he did have an idea how it felt to be poor, to live within a world that didn’t seem to give a damn about people at the bottom of the pile.