"Redemption's Run": Chapter 23 continues

A Star Tribune serialized novel by Jane Fredericksen

Chapter 23

The story so far: Kacie is heartbroken over the results of the blood test.

Kinney limped to the chair by the window and sat down, awkwardly. He leaned his crutches against the desk.

She was hurt, he knew it. He didn't know how to fix it. This wasn't just a scraped hull or torn sail. This injury came from deep within. Those were always hardest.

He pulled the blood results from the manila envelope, scanned it one more time to make sure there was no mistake. There wasn't.

Blood never lies. She wasn't his.

Kinney's gaze drifted out the window. Talk to me, he willed the wind, but what could it possibly say to help him now?

This time, the wind did answer. It sighed gently and stirred the tiny wind chime on the latch.

Kinney focused on the chime, transfixed.

It couldn't be.

He reached out to touch it.

"Trust the wind," Kinney murmured.

* * *

Kacie's eyes widened. "How did you know?"

He was staring out the window and she knew there was something beyond the horizon of the great lake that only he could see.

"How often did she tell you the story of the Pirate?"

"You said you wanted the truth, didn't you?"

Something in his tone warned her to pay attention. She sat up straight. "Yes."

"Truth hides in stories, Kacie. Because truth alone can't make a story. It's the what-ifs."

"What do you mean?" Her own voice shook.

Kinney continued to gaze out the window. He took a wounded breath and exhaled slowly. Kacie swore she could see it rise and spiral in the cool night air, dancing with the wind.

"What if … it wasn't his boat? What if they stole it? And the Pirate's father…"

"That's not how it goes," she interrupted, but he did not seem to hear.

"What if his father — the old man — sent cutthroats to find the Pirate? To teach him a lesson. What if they went too far?"

Kinney closed his eyes.