No recognition appears.
“I was, um, I was supposed to meet Sawyer a half hour ago. He’s not back yet, and he’s not answering his phone, and it looks like it’s about to rain. I was wondering, is there some way you can call the boat? Check on him?”
Dusty isn’t reclined anymore. He’s sitting, then standing, a confused, concerned expression appearing on his face. “What are you talking about? Bennett has a boatout?”
“Yeah.”I think.“Someone named King wanted him to check steering? He told me more, but I don’t really know anything about boats and didn’t understand all the details …”
Dusty isn’t listening to me anymore. He’s talking on the phone, tone low and serious as he speaks. I can only make out snippets of the conversation, not enough to tell me what’s going on. But I hear enough to tell me Dusty is distressed, and that freaks me out.
I wish I had Gus’s number. Or Wade’s.
Dusty hangs up.
“Are you calling the boat?” I ask.
“We’ll try.”
“Try?” I repeat incredulously. “Can’t you take another boat out? Go find them?”
He shakes his head. “Not in these conditions. That was the harbormaster. The storm is expected to worsen in the next couple of hours.”
“So, we should gonow, before it gets worse.”
Dusty is already shaking his head. “Too dangerous. We don’t know where they are. No distress signal or coordinates have come through.”
“Something is definitely wrong, then.”
“I appreciate you bringing this to my attention. We’ll do everything we can.”
That sounds like something doctors say before,There was nothing we could have done.
“What about the National Guard?” I ask urgently. “Or the Coast Guard? His mom is in the Coast Guard. Maybe she knows someone? There must be someone you can call. Something that someone can do!”
I’m near hysteria, in this stranger’s office, and there’s no thought that reins my spiraling emotions under control. This isn’t a problem that canbe solved with money. I feel completely helpless, and I hate it.
“We will do everything we can,” Dusty repeats calmly. “I need to make some more phone calls, so if you don’t mind waiting outside …”
Numbly, I leave his office. Outside the building, it takes me several sodden steps to realize it’s started pouring.
I walk over to the edge of the lot, staring at the harbor. I can’t see much, between the lashing rain and the waning light, but I can see the boats, safely in their slips, are rocking. How much worse it must be out in the open water.
I glance left, at the picnic table Sawyer always chooses to sit at. It’s the only table with a clear shot of the lighthouse, which is why he likes it, I’m assuming. I figured out which spot in the lot has an unobstructed view. It’s where I park every morning so I can watch him sip his coffee and stare at the boats. It feels like a metal band is contracting around my chest when I realize I might never see that again.
“Wren!”
I turn to watch Gus jog toward me. He has a raincoat on with the hood pulled up, but it’s not doing much. His bangs are dripping.
“Have you heard from Sawyer?” I ask immediately.
Gus shakes his head. “Not since the end of our shift. He and Wade were taking theOdysseyout for a quick trip. Wade let me drive his sedan home. Cap was supposed to drop him off at my place to grab the keys. He still hasn’t shown up, and I thought they might need help coming in with this wind. And rain.” He glances toward where I was just looking, scanning the horizon. “They’re not back yet?”
“No. I told Dusty. He seems concerned, but he’s doing nothing. He said it was too dangerous to go after them.”
Gus nods. “It is.”
“Why aren’t they back yet?”
“It can be safer to stay offshore and head for open water. Nothing to crash into out there.”
