“You mean the wall. I don’t know what good that would do,” Linnea said. “Most of Charleston is built up from swampland. It’s been flooding since the city was built. I think they should consult Holland. They’re experts at keeping the water out.”

Anna strode in and headed to the sink to wash her hands. “Well, they’ve got to do something. And soon. I’m so mad I could cry. Trying to get home was a nightmare.” She grabbed the towel and dried her hands with agitation. “I took all these side routes to avoid flooded streets and ended up caught on a one-way street that was flooded. Some ass was behind me honking and there was no place to turn around. So I tried to get through.”

Cooper, scanning the contents of the fridge, paused to look at Anna. “Oh no.”

“Oh yeah,” she replied. “I got halfway through and, sure enough, it got deep. The car died.”

“Oh no,” Linnea sighed in commiseration.

“That saltwater is death for an engine,” said Cooper.

“Ya think?” Anna scowled and said, “Hand me a beer, would you?”

Cooper reached in and pulled out a few. Linnea put her hand up to refuse. After handing Anna her beer, he asked, “So where’s your car now?”

She took a long swallow. “Sitting in the street, blocking traffic. It has to be towed. There’s a long list of us waiting to get our cars towed.”

“I’m sorry,” Linnea said. “Can it be repaired?”

“I don’t know,” Anna said morosely. “Even if it could, I doubt I could afford it.”

The reality of this shocked Linnea. She knew too well how tight money was. “What are you going to do without a car? You have to get to work.”

Anna bent her head. “I don’t know.”

“I’ll drive you.”

Linnea turned her head to see Gordon standing at the outer door into the kitchen. He had returned from work and already had a beer in his hand from the loft.

“Hey, come on in.”

Gordon smiled and came to gently kiss her. Then, straightening, he focused again on Anna. “I couldn’t help but overhear. I drive through the city every morning on my way to James Island. I can drop you off. We’ll have to work out how you’ll come back. I can pick you up on days I’m not doing fieldwork.”

Cooper offered, “I’ll pick you up on the other days.”

“Thanks, guys. Really.” Anna looked at the bottle in her hands. “I don’t know how long I’ll be working anyway. There are whisperings of another layoff until they can open the doors again. But in the meantime,” she said with renewed energy, “I’m going to study up on the flooding situation. There’s a lot of controversy about it. What’s that saying, revenge is best served cold? Mine will be ocean temperature.”

“Watch out, world,” Cooper said, clinking bottles with her.

“Great idea,” Gordon said with encouragement. “Dig in. Research. Get your own answers.”

“Right,” she said, a light sparking in her eyes. “That’s just what I’m going to do.”