No. It couldn’t be. He swiped an arm over his eyes and blinked the rain and ocean away, frustrated with the wrath of nature. He trained his binoculars again. Where are you? Where are you...
There. In an instant, he got a good, close look at the panic-stricken face. The relief that the Coast Guard had arrived and the hope they would rescue her. The fact that he knew this woman sunk into his marrow.
That changed everything.
“Captain, we can’t get the line to her. The storm is making that impossible.”
“Let’s take the inflatable out to her then.” While crew members prepared the boat, Gage watched the swells overwhelm her. She appeared so small by comparison.
His gut tensed. “She’s not going to make it if we don’t get someone in the water now!”
“Get belowdecks now, Agent Sessions,” Johns said. “This isn’t part of your operation.”
“I know that woman!” I cared about her once. And he still did.
Johns nodded to crew members behind Gage and they grabbed his arms, presumably to escort him belowdecks. Gage shrugged free. He lifted his hands in mock surrender. “I’m going, I’m going.”
I’m going in to get her myself.
This time, Gage wasn’t willing to wait around for them to cross every t and dot every i. For them to follow their rules and processes. Images of a failed rescue attempt during a storm like this accosted him.
And this was Sadie. He’d rather risk his life than sit by and watch this unfold before him. Gage prepared his own tender line and hooked himself up. He could act now and ask forgiveness later. The smaller boat wasn’t even in the water yet. The tension in his gut twisted into a tight knot.
It was taking them far too long. The woman had minutes. Seconds even.
His actions were against all procedure.
“Hey, what are you doing?” someone shouted.
Uh-oh. Time was up. It was now or never.
The thick-necked Baines came running toward him, his intention to tackle Gage more than clear. He turned to confront the sea. A wave engulfed him as he stood ready to face off with the beast. Gage snatched a rescue buoy and dragged in a long, deep breath, then he launched himself into the shockingly cold water of the Pacific. He would trust Baines to handle the tender line appropriately.
Gage was in the water, and he was going after the woman. End of discussion.
Shouts and whistles from the shocked crew joined the roar of the storm. He swam furiously against the invincible force of nature, the huge swells and rough water preventing him from catching his breath. Time wasn’t on his side, but he swam forward with only one goal in mind.
Find her. Save her.
With Baines managing the tender line, Gage trusted he wouldn’t be lost at sea, and kicked harder, fighting against this monster ocean railing in the storm. How much more difficult this would be if they weren’t on the waning side of it.
Sadie was definitely the PIW—he saw her clearly now—and she waved at him, then dropped out of sight beneath the surface. In that glimpse of her, he realized she wore no life jacket. Treading water, she fought the sea on her own strength, which must be weakening. With his effort to reach her, his heart banged against his rib cage. Coast Guard protocol would dictate his objective was to establish communication with her, encourage and instruct her. Right. No time for that.
Please, God, let me save her!
Gage swam to where he last saw her. She hadn’t resurfaced. She could be anywhere beneath the water. A current could have swept her far away from him.
“No!” He dove beneath the surface but the too-violent, dark water offered zero visibility.
The crew members of the Kraken shouted at him. Blew their whistles. He glanced back and saw them pointing. They must have spotted Sadie. They’d released the smaller boat into the water, as well. Good. Gage started swimming in the direction they pointed. He couldn’t see her, but hoped he would connect.
Then she bobbed above the water, riding high on a rising swell. Gage had to get to her—he could see in her eyes that if he didn’t reach her this time, she was done. Her lips were blue already. She had to be a good swimmer to have survived this long, but even his limbs would begin to fail him soon. He was pushing the limits.
Gage forced himself to swim harder and faster against one of the strongest forces of nature, and likewise Sadie swam toward him, her strength fading, her desperation warring against her biology. The swell crested and buried her again, sucking her down and under.
Gage dove beneath it, a calculated risk on his part, and gave one last thrusting lunge for her. He felt the tug of his tender line—the Kraken crew members trying to tow him back to safety.
“No, no!” He yanked the line, hoping someone would get his message, give him the slack he needed.
He tried again...
And touched something. A hand? He grabbed it, lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her body as he held on to the rescue buoy. Rescuing a drowning person was a dangerous task—that person was reduced to their basest survival instincts and would often drown their rescuers in the process.
Sadie had already turned into that drowning person.
And she fought him. Dragged him under. Instinctually. Nothing she could control. Her survival instincts had taken over. The right thing to do, and what protocol demanded, was that he hit her hard enough to knock her out and save them both. But since when had he gone with protocol? He grabbed her arms and willed her to be still, to trust him, and she relaxed.
Now. It was now or they would both be lost.
He felt the tug of his tender line, and he held on to her. His pulse shot up even higher, if that were possible. They breached the surface. When he looked in her face he saw why she’d relaxed. She was unconscious. Unresponsive. Drowned already?
Oh, no! No, God, please, let her live.
Suddenly, she coughed up water, even as a wave crashed over them, but he held tight. The Kraken crew wouldn’t let him down.
“We’re going to make it. You’re going to be okay.” He stared into the familiar crystal-blue eyes, which widened with recognition, while the tender line tugged them back and the smaller Coast Guard inflatable made its way toward them in the dangerous waters. “I’ve got you and I won’t let go. You’re safe now.”
She shook her head. Her teeth chattered as she struggled to speak. “Not. Safe. Someone. Tried...to kill me.”
In the hospital room being treated for hypothermia, Sadie counted her blessings and watched Aunt Debby pace the small space. The woman had raised Sadie and her three siblings when their parents died over a decade ago.
“Jonna called to say she would come see you later today,” Aunt Debby said.
Sadie’s sister Jonna ran a lodge on the coast. It would take her an hour to get here if she could even get away.
“Why did you call her?” Sadie repositioned her pillow. “I don’t want anyone to worry about me. I’m okay. I didn’t die out there.”
Aunt Debby started wringing her hands. Sadie wished she would sit down and relax.
“No, but you came close.” Aunt Debby probably still grieved her sister and brother-in-law’s deaths, even after fifteen years. “I tried to contact Cora, but she works on that research vessel and all I could do was leave a message.”
A marine archaeologist, Sadie’s sister Cora explored shipwrecks. Admittedly,