Bright lights shone on her from the Coast Guard cutter. Above her a helicopter hovered, also shining lights. Someone slid down on a harness toward her.
If only they’d arrived mere moments before. The man reached toward her to secure her and hoist her back up. The vessel shifted abruptly, knocking her off-balance as she reached forward. She flipped over the rail and dropped toward the ocean.
Too shocked to even scream, she hit the cold, rough water. She’d be sucked under with the suction of the salvage boat as it went down if she didn’t swim hard to get away. Cressida gulped air, fighting the giant waves that might be the end of her. Hands gripped her and she fought, remembering Braden’s words.
“Do not fall back into Trent or Malloy’s hands.”
But it was a Coast Guard swimmer with a flotation device. “Ma’am, I’ve got you.”
“There’s a man. He fell into the ship. That part of the boat is underwater. Please save him. Please. You have to find him.”
“We’ll do our best,” he shouted. “Let me assist you out of this water before you get hypothermia.”
All the hope, all the energy, drained out of her, and she let the Coast Guard swimmer bring her to the cutter. TheKraken—the same Coast Guard cutter she’d seen on her approach to Hidden Bay. Blankets were wrapped around her. Someone tried to usher her belowdecks and out of the rain, but she refused.
“I need to see you find Braden Sanders. Is someone even looking for him?”
Dad’s words rushed back to her.
“The sea never gives back what it claims.”
No, Lord,please, no.
I don’t accept that. The sea is going to give Braden back tome alive and well. He doesn’t belong to the ocean as someone lost at sea to be remembered,or worse ... forgotten!
“We’re doing everything we can to find him.” The familiar voice sent shockwaves through Cressida. Dizzy and wobbling, trembling with fear and exhaustion, Cressida turned to face the woman. “Mom?”
Octavia Dane stood before her in the rain, her hair wet, mascara smudged down her cheeks. “I got your message.”
Message? What message? Oh ... the one where she’d told her that she forgave her. Through a shaky voice and tearful sobs, Cressida spoke. “I’m sorry that I didn’t listen. I’m sorry about everything.”
Mom wrapped an arm around her shoulder and leaned close. “It’s on me. I could have handled it much better. That’s my job, after all. You’re my everything, and when it comes to you, I’m not such a great liaison.”
Were those tears in her mother’s eyes, mingling with the rain?
Cressida hugged her, cried on her shoulder.
“Braden will be fine,” Mom said in her ear. “These guysare the best. They’ll find him. Now, please, let’s get you inside and out of the rain. You want to be well for him.”
She pulled away. “What are you talking about?”
“I can tell in your voice he means something to you, doesn’t he?”
“Yes...” She didn’t know when it happened, but she’d gone from like to something much deeper.
“And you don’t know this, but he might have fallen for you when he saw your picture on my desk. It’s one reason I sent him to Hidden Bay.”
Cressida tried not to let those words anger her again. Being angry was no way to live.
“Ma’am.” A Coast Guard officer approached Octavia. “We have news. Detective Sanders has been retrieved by a man called Captain Diggins, and they’re bringing him aboard now.”
Cressida didn’t like the tone in which the officer said the words. “Retrieved. What does that mean? Is he okay?”
“I’m uncertain of his condition. We have medics aboard to assist. We’re bringing aboard several survivors of the sinking vessel who are in need of medical attention.”
Cressida rushed from her mother and the serviceman to find Braden.
“I have to know that he’s still alive!” She hurried along the side of the deck where Diggins was climbing up and spotted a man laid out on a gurney. His eyes were closed, and he looked blue and unmoving.
