ChasingSin by Sara Brookes Read Free Book Online Page B

miss her too, just as
much as you do.”
    “Yeah, I know.” It helped to hear Tripp vocalize the
feelings Snyder suspected all along. They should’ve talked about this long
before now, but the very mention of her name was too painful.
    “I agree with you by the way. It can’t hurt to try. She’s
worth it.” Tripp tossed a small briefcase at Snyder and smiled. “Tell me what
you have up your sleeve while we unload.”
    * * * * *
    Kate sat in the narrow driveway, staring at the house in
front of her. She’d told herself this would be easy. A walk in the park
compared to facing a spinning vortex head-on. But she’d been wrong. She’d
arrived ten minutes earlier and hadn’t worked up the courage to even get out of
the car.
    Knowing Snyder and Tripp were on the island didn’t help
matters.
    Avoiding them the past two months had been easier than she
thought. It had been a stroke of luck the hurricane season started off with a
bang. Tornadoes they chased alongside one another, but hurricanes were another
matter entirely because of their occupations.
    When they weren’t all chasing nature’s fury, they were all
usually holed up in a lab somewhere studying data. She still remembered the gleam
in their eyes when they’d showed up at her lab at the university. The two men
had sought her out in order to be a part of her chase team. The team they’d
been chasing with had spent more time arguing about where to go than actually
going after the severe storms.
    Annoyance and frustration had driven them to find a new
team. They were done playing those games. They’d wanted to actually do
something instead of sitting around. Later she discovered they’d sought her out
because they were convinced she was one of the best chasers in the field.
    As pilots for one of the monstrous planes that flew through
hurricanes to collect data which aided forecasters in predicting paths, a busy
tropical season meant the men had left for the Mississippi coast earlier than
usual. Their early departure had been convenient, and made it extremely easy to
keep the distance Kate needed.
    But seeing them here, on the island where she’d spent most
of her childhood, changed everything in the blink of an eye. She’d have to deal
with them, no two ways about it.
    The rainbow colored windsock she’d once hung on a hook on
the front porch had lost its color from the sun years ago. Though the streamers
still danced on the light breeze, the ends were tattered and frayed. Much as
she felt at the moment.
    The memories here were still vivid despite the number of
years that had passed.
    She wanted to be here, yet didn’t at the same time.
    Gathering her courage, she grabbed her laptop bag and slung
it over her shoulder as she shut the car door. Measured steps brought her to
the bottom tread of the ash-colored stairway. Despite her hesitations, it was
easy for her to see her mother standing there at the top, her father
immediately behind as they worked to air out the house for the summer. She
heard the sound of her brothers playing in the lot in front of the house,
digging their feet into the sun-warmed sand.
    Now the voices she heard were the neighbors’ children,
strangers to her since she hadn’t been here in so long.
    Even without the hurricane churning out there, she knew she
needed to be here right now. She needed the familiarity this place brought to a
life so full of chaos. For once, she needed steadiness. With so many months of
the year spent on the road, she needed a home. Hopefully, this place would give
it to her and she hoped the house still stood after the hurricane blew through.
    As she stepped through the door, everything was just as she
remembered. Though there were a few more cobwebs tucked away in the corners.
She would leave them, more because of the charm they added to the house than
because she didn’t want to clean.
    The old house was warm and tangible. Somewhere she saw
comfort around her wherever she looked. From the