"Redemption's Run": Chapter 10 continues

A Star Tribune serialized novel by Jane Fredericksen

Chapter 10

The story so far: Kacie wins the battle of wills with Kinney.

At Thea's Place, the restaurant owner lunged halfway across the counter.

"Kinney!" Thea spat the name. "She's with Kinney? Why?"

Pete took a step back. "I think you know why, Thea," he explained. "She wants to get to know him."

It had taken most of the afternoon on the Mainlander's radio, but he'd finally heard from Ronnie. Call off the search, she'd told him. We're all safe.

Not that it would for long. Thea could be just as determined as Kacie and no mere piece of hardware could hold her back.

"Kacie doesn't need to know him," Thea snapped. "I know him, Pete. More than I ever want to."

"But maybe less than you think," the old captain said.

"Pete, the first time I saw him and his no-account father, I knew. There's no good in him. You could see it in his eyes."

Pete remembered when he'd first seen those eyes. Eyes of a cornered teenager, hiding on True Wind. Eyes filled with fear, defiance and a desperate plea for help. Eyes that needed to chart a way out of the darkness, that needed a new horizon.

He could teach him to sail.

"There's more to Kinney than meets the eye, Thea. Far more than you know."

Thea snorted. "You're a fine one to talk. You took him under your wing. Look how he repaid you. How can you still defend him, after everything he did that night?"

The guilt dragged at Pete like an anchor. "I should have been there for him."

"It's not your fault," Thea argued. "Kinney made his own choices. You had a sick wife and a young daughter to worry about. You couldn't always save him."

But the world, and people, weren't that simple. As a sailor, Pete had learned just how messy it could be.

And how sometimes — no matter how many years had passed — some guilt would remain forever, raw-edged and ragged.

If only Thea knew that.

Perhaps she did. Her voice suddenly wavered.

"I should have warned Gina about him. God knows I tried to warn Kacie …"

She glared at Pete. "I swear to God, Pete, I'll kill him. I'll kill him with my bare hands."