Three

      A sharp report splintered the air, followed by a rapid barrage impacting like gunshots against Kate’s ears. Recoiling instinctively, she tumbled from her seat, a paperback novel flying from her lap. Crouching on the weathered dock, she braced for more.

      But there was no more. Quiet settled over a peaceful day as if it had never been broken. A flock of ibis, erupted from the limbs of a bald cypress by the first battering sound, began to return. Croaking raucously in a show of indignation, each perched precariously again in a great flap of wings and flying feathers. Once settled, wings tucked, feathers soothed, only their low grousing and the lazy lap of the river marked the passage of the day.

      Birds ceased their muttering, the river sped to the sea undisturbed. As the midmorning sun burned hotly over the dock of Sea Watch, the well of quiet deepened, only to be broken by a humorless, restless laugh.

      Rising, dusting sand and splinters away, Kate shrugged in disgust. After joining The Black Watch, she’d endured months of training. Grueling, precise drills teaching and preparing her to deal with any situation. The skills Simon McKinzie required were drummed into her. Drummed and tested, until each merged with natural abilities. Becoming first nature, as Simon promised, not second.