Turbulence (Stone Barrington #46)(9)
“I’m afraid so.”
“Then we ought to get to a shelter.”
“There are no shelters in Key West.”
“No shelters?”
“That is correct.” Stone switched on the TV, which was already tuned to the Weather Channel. A reporter stood on the runway at the airport, leaning into the wind. “Key West International is now closed to all traffic,” she said. “And all firemen and first responders are being bused north, since there are no hurricane shelters in Key West.”
The hurricane appeared on the screen again. It was glancing off Cuba, and they were showing the predicted track, which had earlier been toward the mid-Keys, now moving in a more westerly direction. Irma’s eye was now pointing directly at Key West.
“Well,” Holly said. “That’s that.”
“Not yet,” Stone replied. “That hurricane could still do anything: it could veer to the right and hit the Bahamas or it could turn around and go the other way.”
“Yeah, sure,” Holly said.
Anna brought them breakfast, and when she came back for the dishes, Stone said, “Anna, if you want to bring your family here, that’s fine. You can take the upstairs bedroom that has its own bath.”
“Thank you, Mr. Barrington,” she replied. “We’ll take you up on that.”
When she had gone, Stone said, “Anna’s house is likely to be flooded.”
“And, of course, she’ll be perfectly safe here,” Holly said.
* * *
—
THEY GOT DRESSED, and Stone went to help George put up the last of the shutters and to take down the big awning, which was a handful, given the wind strength.
Dino came out of his room and watched them. “I saw the Weather Channel,” he said. “Are we driving out?”
Stone explained why they were not driving out.
“Helicopter? Balloon? Bus?”
“None of the above,” Stone replied. “I’m sorry about that, Dino. We’re going to have to hunker down here.”
* * *
—
STONE AND GEORGE ran a thick rope from the door of the master suite and anchored it to a column just outside the living room. Since all the bedrooms opened onto the courtyard, it would not be safe during the storm to try and walk between them without something to hold on to.
* * *
—
THEY GATHERED for lunch in the dining room, everyone looking glum.
“I’m sorry I got you all into this,” Stone said.
“I’m sorry you did, too, Stone,” Viv said, “but at least you’re here to share the fun with us.”
“Maybe it will be fun,” Dino said brightly.
“Don’t count on it,” Holly replied. “I’ve been through a few hurricanes, and there was nothing fun about any of them.”
“Well,” Dino said, “as long as there’s enough scotch.”
“We have enough scotch and food and water. We have a generator for electrical power, and that means air-conditioning and satellite TV. And if the phones go down, we have our cells. The house is battened down thoroughly. Can anybody think of anything we haven’t done?”
He got no answers.
8
THE HOWLING WIND OUTSIDE kept them awake for much of the night, and they woke to leaden skies and leaning palm trees in the garden. George was on the deck outside, tying pieces of outdoor furniture to columns. Stone switched on the TV.
“Holly, wake up,” he said. “Look at this.”
“Hmmf,” Holly replied, pulling the covers over her head.
“No, look at this. It’s good news, sort of.” He found her remote control and sat her up in bed. “What?” she asked grumpily.
“The eye,” he said, pointing. “The Cuban coast seems to have turned the hurricane more to the east. The eye looks like it’ll come ashore north of Key West—ten miles, maybe.”
“Funny,” she said, “that doesn’t sound like awfully good news. We’ll still be in the highest wind zone.”
“Yeah, but we’ll be on the west side of the eye; the worst zone is northeast of the eye.”
To Stone’s surprise, George opened their door, and Anna brought in breakfast, packed in a picnic basket. Stone told them about the eye; they were about as impressed as Holly had been.
Stone switched channels to get the news. The news was wall-to-wall hurricane.
“All hurricane, all the time,” Holly said.
“Did you call your office?” Stone asked.
“What for? They’re not expecting me back before the middle of next week.”
“You could let them know where you are and that you’re all right.”
“‘All right’? I’m all right? You want me to tell them where to look for my body?”
The TV showed the winds at the eye to be 155 mph.
“So maybe it’ll only be 140 mph in Key West,” Holly said.
“That’s my girl, always the optimist!”
“Reality is infringing on my optimism,” she replied. “What do you think the wind is now?”