“Yes, sorry. I woke you.”

“No,” she said, confused and pleased at the same time. “Is everything all right?”

“I’m afraid it isn’t.”

Austin sounded different—formal and distant. Gem’s heart beat a rapid tattoo against the inside of her rib cage. “Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m sorry. Let me explain why I’m calling. There’s a developing situation that may involve the sanctuary. I’d like you to gather your people for a briefing at seven a.m. I’ll be able to explain then to everyone at once exactly what’s going on.”

“I’m not following,” Gem said quietly. “What are you talking about?”

“All I can say at this time is we have some problems that may impact the sanctuary. It’s best if everyone hears the details at one time.”

“And you want me to get the team together at seven a.m.?” Gem parroted Austin’s request while trying to assimilate the impossible. Why was Austin involved in anything to do with the sanctuary? “Can you at least tell me—”

“I’m sorry, I can’t. I know this all seems cryptic, but if you could just hold your questions until the briefing—”

Everyone kept mentioning a briefing, but no one was giving any details. Gem’s temper flared. “At seven a.m. at the sanctuary.”

“Yes, the sanctuary visitors’ center would be fine for now.”

“Austin—”

“I’m sorry, Gem, I’ll explain everything in a few hours.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on, but I don’t seem to have any choice,” Gem said, hearing the ice in her voice.

“I really am sorry.” Austin sounded weary. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Good night, then,” Gem said, understanding on some fundamental level that everything she thought she knew about Austin and what they’d shared had suddenly changed. She redialed Alex with a steady hand, but her insides roiled like rough surf.

“Martin,” Alex said almost immediately.

“I just got the strangest call—”

“About what?”

“About a meeting—”

“Hold on for a second, Gem…” Alex’s voice faded. “What is it?”

Gem could make out Alex talking to someone nearby, her tone raised in question and a low male voice replying.

“Vice Admiral? Sir, this is Commander Martin,” Alex’s muffled voice came through to Gem.

Gem waited while minutes passed, trying and failing to put Austin from her mind.

“Gem?”

“Yes, I’m here.”

“It looks like I’m going to be seeing you in the morning,” Alex said. “Zero-seven-hundred, to be precise.”

“That’s what I was about to tell you. I got a call also. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” Alex said, a hard bite to her voice. “I still haven’t been briefed.”

Her sister was not happy, and Gem didn’t blame her. She didn’t like being kept in the dark either.

“Why is this all so cloak-and-dagger?” Gem said.

“I’m not sure, but I’ve got a pretty good guess—that was Vice Admiral Moorhouse just now, informing us we’d be meeting with someone by the name of Austin Germaine, and not only that, we’d apparently be sharing incident command responsibility with her team—whatever that might be.”

A cold hand fisted in Gem’s middle. “I’m sorry? Are you sure about that name?”

“Very sure. In fact, I met her yesterday out at Rig 86.”

“The offshore oil installation?”

“Yeah—I was doing a routine check about storm preparedness and talked to her then.”

“That can’t be right,” Gem murmured more to herself than Alex. “Austin wouldn’t have any reason to be out there.”

“About thirty, average height, beyond average looks although not my type—on the rugged, adventurous side with the required dashing dark hair and intense eyes.”

“That—could be her.” Gem had thought of Austin as a pirate, and maybe she’d been more right than she knew.

“You know her?” Alex asked.

“No,” Gem said, the chill spreading through her. “No, I don’t know her at all.”

Chapter Nineteen

Austin pulled into the lot in front of the sanctuary at 6:50. She cut the engine and turned to Claudia. “There’s a possibility our reception is going to be less than friendly.”

Claudia had changed into a pale champagne business suit with a tailored emerald-green shirt with French cuffs and diamond links that glittered at her wrists, and low black heels. Her hair was swept back in a simple gold clasp. She sat, hands lightly clasped in her lap, looking coolly elegant and professional. She definitely didn’t look as if she’d spent the last few days nearly sleepless on an oil rig fifty miles out in the ocean. Under other circumstances, she would have been just the type of woman Austin would seek out for an evening’s entertainment, but that was before. Before she’d met Gem and awakened to the true pleasures of an intimate encounter. She rubbed a hand over her face, feeling the fatigue tearing at the edges of her mind. Way too early in the game for that.

Claudia gave Austin an appraising glance. “You mean something beyond the usual initial suspicion and distrust?”

“It’s possible.” Austin grimaced. “I’m…acquainted with one of the senior researchers here. Something of an unusual circumstance. Maybe a bit of miscommunication.”

“An unusual circumstance and miscommunication.” Claudia nodded as if she understood all that Austin had not said.

Claudia couldn’t know the depths of the complications unless she were psychic, and even then it would be a stretch. Austin blew out a breath. “Just don’t be surprised if we get an icy reception. My fault. I should have handled a few things differently.”

“I suspect once all the facts are laid out and the timetable is presented, everyone is going to be too busy worrying too much about what’s coming to dwell on should’ve-beens.”

“I hope you’re right,” Austin muttered.

Claudia squeezed her arm, a welcome show of sympathy Austin knew she didn’t deserve, and said, “Let’s go find out.”

The small foyer was empty, but the lights in the hall where Gem had taken her less than twenty-four hours before were on, and the faint rumble of indistinguishable voices came from that direction.

“This way,” Austin said.

“I take it you’ve been here before.”

“Yes.” Austin steeled herself for the first glimpse of Gem. By now, Gem would probably know why she was here, and even if she didn’t, she’d be confused and likely angry about the subterfuge surrounding the meeting. Even knowing her reception would be a cold one, she looked forward to seeing her again. Being near her in any way at all was infinitely better than the void her absence created.

Austin paused in the doorway of the common room to let Claudia precede her. The room looked different than it had when she’d come upon Gem making a cup of coffee the first time she’d been there. Two tables had been pushed together in the center of the room. Several half-full pots of coffee sat on the automatic coffeemaker next to a stack of paper cups. The space wasn’t large and, with six people already in it, felt a little crowded. Alex Martin, in uniform, stood near the head of the table with a young male coastguardsman who looked like an enlisted man, possibly her aide. They stopped talking when Austin and Claudia appeared.

Gem stood where she had the morning before, leaning against the counter with a cup of coffee in her hands. Emily and a tall, burly middle-aged man flanked her. The sixth man Austin didn’t know, but she knew what he did. His expensive three-piece suit, monogrammed briefcase, and five-hundred-dollar haircut advertised that well enough, even if she hadn’t worked with plenty like him before. He was an attorney for the company, here to document the proceedings and ensure that, as the company’s representative, Austin presented all the appropriate recommendations and handled negotiations in a way that would stand up to legal scrutiny.

Gem’s gaze met Austin’s across the room, cool, detached, completely impersonal. The twenty feet between them felt like two thousand miles, and a chill rolled down Austin’s spine. She waited for Gem to acknowledge her, to say something, anything, although she didn’t expect a confrontation in front of a roomful of strangers. Gem was far too experienced and professional for that. Gem’s gaze cut away as if they were strangers. Austin absorbed the sting of the rebuke without flinching. She needed to keep this meeting on track, and in order to do that, she had to put her personal feelings aside. She could do it, she’d had a lot of practice, but it hurt more this time than anything she’d done in a long time.

Silence spread through the room and Austin stepped a little away from Claudia, drawing all eyes to her. “Thanks, everyone, for getting here so promptly. I’m Austin Germaine, and I represent Global Oil Productions.” She gestured to Claudia. “This is Dr. Claudia Spencer, a meteorologist who works with us. Most of you already know each other, I gather.” Now that she saw Alex and Gem in the same room, there was no doubt their shared last name was also shared genetics. They had to be sisters. She held out her hand to the attorney. “We haven’t met.”

“Robert Cramer,” he said in a polished Boston accent. “Also here for Global Oil.”

“Perhaps we could all sit down and I’ll explain why we’re here,” Austin said.

Alex said stiffly, “Perhaps you can explain why you seem to be in charge but none of us know who you are or why we’re here to serve at your pleasure.”

“Actually,” Austin said, “we’re hoping this will be a joint venture, because everyone’s cooperation is going to be necessary.” She pulled out a chair at the end of the table opposite where Alex stood, acutely aware of Gem watching her motionlessly. Was she ever going to speak to her again? “Please, if everyone will sit, we’ll get started.”

Reluctantly, Alex and the other coastguardsman took seats. Cramer took a position midway down one side of the group of tables in neutral territory. Claudia sat at Austin’s right and Gem ended up sitting on her left. If Austin stretched out her hand on the table, their fingers would touch. She ached for just an instant’s contact, but when she glanced at Gem, Gem shifted subtly in her chair, breaking eye contact.

Austin squared her shoulders and scanned the faces watching her. She’d done this enough times to know the way to keep control was to lay out the problem and the solution before dissenters could gain a foothold. “As all of you are aware, Rig 86 is a semisubmersible drilling platform operated by GOP about fifty miles offshore. We have a slow but containable leak in the main drill shaft, and we’re concerned the approaching storm may cause an escalation of oil loss. To be on the safe side, we are proactively instituting emergency procedures to ensure the integrity of the shoreline and waters.”

Alex Martin’s eyes glinted. “Why are we just hearing about this?”

“Because at this point,” Austin said smoothly, “we don’t have any evidence of oil on the surface or tracking underwater, but the effect of the storm is a variable we can’t predict. GOP is naturally desirous to do everything possible to prevent damage to the coastline and wildlife.”

“Naturally,” Gem said, the first word she’d uttered, quiet but sharp-edged with sarcasm. “How long have you been watching the well?”

“The wells are under constant surveillance, as I’m sure you know,” Austin said just as quietly, carefully keeping any direct reference to the timeline off the record. Of course Gem would do the math and deduce Austin must have known of the problem days before.

“I’ve been asked,” Claudia interjected, drawing attention away from Austin and giving her a chance to breathe, “to consult on the impact of the storm on the rig and the potential for escalating leaks. Right now, as Dr. Germaine noted, the situation is stable and under control, but Norma’s tracking directly for us, and growing in speed and dimension hourly.” She turned to Gem as if knowing she was the other true power in the room. “This is going to be a large, powerful storm when it comes ashore. I suspect the governor will order evacuation of the island and neighboring areas sometime today.”

“We’re not going anywhere.” Emily, her chin thrust forward belligerently. She glanced at Gem as if for affirmation.

“Dr. Costanzas is right,” Gem said. “We are not leaving the sanctuary. I’ve been in contact with FEMA and we have teams on their way to help fortify the shoreline against the surge. There’s not much we can do about the trees if we get hurricane-force winds, but we’ll be prepared for the reparations if nothing else.” She looked at Austin. “How likely is it we’re going to get oil coming ashore?”

Gem’s gaze was direct and hard, her tone evenly modulated. Austin couldn’t tell if she was furious, unmoved, or had already simply dismissed her. “My guess—”