Free Claire Gulliver #06 - Carnage Goes Coastal by Gayle Wigglesworth

after deducing who the mother had to be if this really was his grandchild.
    “She’s at Gulliver’s. She’s kind of taken over the responsibility for the website business. She likes to go in Mondays to process the orders we get over the weekend as well as update the website with new items and any specials we want to run. She says it doesn’t take as long when she can work undisturbed. She’ll be home soon.”
    “And the baby’s father? Is he here?”
    Claire just shook her head.
    “But, how did Karen get here? How long has she been here? What is this all about?”
    “She’s been here since April. Be patient, Jack. When she gets here she’ll explain it all. After all it’s her story, she should have the opportunity to tell it to you. Meanwhile, I’m more interested in your story. I’m hoping you are going to say that Guiness is no longer a problem. Are you?”
    He looked at her soberly and nodded.
    She sat down abruptly, relief flooded through her. “And you’re sure?”
    Claire and Jack had gone to San Miguel de Allende in March for a bit of vacation. They were hoping the warm climate would help Jack recover faster from the ghastly wounds he had arrived with. It had been a blissful retreat until they had gotten in the way of an old enemy, who was in the midst of a scheme to create new capital to finance his terrorist activities. Their vacation had ended abruptly with Claire returning safely to her bookstore in Bayside, while Jack had followed the fleeing villain, determined this time to stop him for good.
    Claire had spent the intervening months, worrying and praying for Jack’s success, so now she felt a vast relief he had returned safe.
    He nodded. “I’m sure. It turned out to be quite a chase and in the end I didn’t have to capture him, or even kill him. He was shot by his own colleague, the Columbia drug lord, who had been supplying him with the cocaine he was processing. It seems Guiness had led the Columbian drug enforcement task force troops right to his partner’s hideout in the remote Columbian jungle and that caused no end of problems. It was apparently the last straw in the increasingly deteriorating association for the drug kingpin, so he decided to cancel the partnership permanently.
    “I saw Guiness’ body, so I know for sure he’s dead. And his partner is waiting for trial in a Columbian jail. His cocaine operation is in ruins.
    “I wasn’t needed any longer, so I headed home via Houston. I helped the authorities establish that the three people who died in an explosion outside of Houston during a drug raid were Kathleen and two men who were Guiness’ key lieutenants. That means Guiness’ whole terrorist group has finally been eliminated. Trust me on this Claire; we don’t need to worry about running into Guiness again.”
    “Jack, I’ve been so worried about you. Why didn’t you call me when you got back to the States so I’d know you were okay?”
    He looked surprised, and then sheepish. “I’m sorry Claire. I guess I should have thought to do that.”
    “You think?” she responded somewhat angrily.
    Now Jack went on the defensive. “I had to report in, and I wasn’t sure how long the debriefing would take.” He paused for a moment, taking the now empty bottle out of the baby’s mouth and lifting him to his shoulder. Apparently he thought about what he had just said, because as he started patting little Jack’s back he admitted, “I guess I wasn’t thinking clearly. I was just anticipating how excited you’d be when I just showed up and surprised you.”
    An embarrassed look spread across his face. “It didn’t even occur to me how you were waiting for word from me. Maybe I’ve been on my own too long. I was just thinking about what I was doing, what I needed to do.” He shook his head in disgust. “I’m sorry for that, Claire. I should have been thinking of how you were feeling. I promise you, I’ll shape up.”
    “You’d better,” she said seriously.