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“How far do you think it is to the coast?” asked Mike.

“Twenty knot cruising speed, fifteen minutes out. That gives us five nautical miles, convert to actual miles and we’re just under six.”

“That’s at least four hours in the water. Rick, Axe might survive that. But we won’t.”

“We have to try. I can’t leave Jenny to raise our kid by herself. That daughter needs a father. Otherwise, she might do something stupid, like join the Marines.”

Mike laughed. “You’re right, bud. We’ve gotten out of worse jams than this.”

They swam for another few minutes before Axe started barking. Mike felt something brush past him and yelled out in shock.

“What is it?” asked Rick. “You cramping?”

“Worse!”

“Shark?”

“Yeah. Went straight past me. I think Axe knows they’re out there.”

The two men huddled with the dog, trying to give the impression of being a larger animal.

“Sunrise is coming,” Mike said calmly. “You can see the glow on the horizon.”

“At least we know we’ve been heading in the right direction.”

A fin broke the surface in front of them, followed a split second later by a horizontal tail.

“Dolphin,” said both men at the same time, their voices jubilant.

“You think they’ll give us a tow?” asked Rick.

“I think that might be a movie thing. But they are known to keep swimmers safe from sharks, and they do seem to have an affinity for Axe. They’re probably Charlie’s mates.”

“Bro, what’s the time?” Rick asked, a moment later.

Mike checked his watch, an old school Casio G-Shock. “Zero three thirty-eight. I figure we’ve been in the water for twenty minutes.”

“So that glow can’t be sunrise. I mean, Canada is cold, but it isn’t that far north.”

Axe barked again, his wet ears angling forward.

A moment later, they heard the dull throb of a diesel engine at low revolutions as a light swept across the water.

“Over here,” bellowed Rick with one arm held high.

The craft made a beeline for them. As it got closer, they spotted figures on the foredeck.

“It’s them,” yelled a voice Mike recognized. It was Ali.

“Guys, swim to the midsection starboard side,” said an official-sounding voice over a loudspeaker.

The red-hulled boat came to a halt a short distance away. Mike, Rick, and Axe swam toward the net that had been dropped from the vessel’s side. They lifted the dog out of the water, and strong hands grabbed Axe, hauling him aboard before they climbed up and through a hatch into the survivors’ cabin.

Jenny and Ali were waiting with blankets. They wrapped their men and hugged them before Maria thrust cups of hot coffee laced with maple syrup into their hands. Axe shook, showering them all in water.

“What happened?” asked Charlie as Maria wrapped a towel around Axe.

“We found the pups. Kane sold them to North Koreans. We managed to get off their boat before they could kill us,” explained Rick.