Hunter arrives at Tampa International Airport after a long trip back from England and is warmly met by his friend Jared "Rink" Rington. Their reunion quickly turns to the reason for Hunter's return: Hurricane Michael has destroyed Hunter's beach house in Mexico Beach, leaving him effectively displaced and forcing him to reconsider whether he should move closer to Tampa permanently.

Hunter reflects that the storm has wiped out much of his community, not just his own home, and he feels genuine grief for his neighbors' losses as well as his own. He had been in northern England when the hurricane struck, having gone there for an overdue visit with his mother and to see Diane, his ex-wife, who still cares for his aging dogs, Hector and Paris.

The trip lasted longer than planned because Hunter stayed until he felt he had made some peace with his mother. Even so, he still senses that his mother and stepfather have never fully forgiven him for failing to save his half-brother John, despite Hunter's past efforts to protect John and later rescue John's wife from the same killer. News of the hurricane softens his mother's attitude somewhat, and she tells Hunter he still has a room with her if he needs one.

Back in Florida, Rink offers Hunter a place to stay, either at his home or in the room behind Rington Investigations. Hunter chooses Rink's couch because the office's back room is tied to the painful memory of a woman he cared for dying there during an earlier attack. After taking a cab to Rink's condominium and sharing beers on the balcony, Hunter feels the relief of being back in Tampa and recognizes that Rink has become as much family to him as anyone in England.