by Dana Mentink
Monk’s face was stark with terror. “I don’t see them. Where are they?”
Both men turned their faces to the dark, heaving water. After a split second, Monk stripped off his shoes and Jack followed suit. The freezing water swirled around their knees. Then the sound of a motor cut through the night.
Roxie aimed a light at them from her motorboat. “Get in. I can take you close. I know these rocks.”
Monk didn’t hesitate. He splashed out to the boat and Roxie helped him in before they both gave Jack a hand up.
She steered the vessel out into the choppy surf. “I heard your call on my police radio. Where do you think they were?”
Jack pointed to the rocky crag. “Soloski said they were walking along the cliffs. He must have disabled them somehow.”
Roxie shook her head as they boat chugged through the choppy waters. “I knew there was something wrong about him.”
Jack wished with all his power that he had realized the truth earlier.
As the salt spray stung his eyes, he wondered if his error would cost four lives.
The ice cold water swallowed Bobby in a moment. Ruth waited for one second more, sucking in as much precious air as she could before she let go of the jagged rocks and swam after her.
Her belly interfered with her downward progress, forcing her to grab onto rocks to pull herself farther into the abyss. Though her eyes burned, she didn’t dare take them off Bobby for an instant. She knew it must be excruciating for the woman to make any progress with a broken collarbone.
Ruth’s lungs ached as the darkness increased along with her panic. If they didn’t reach the vent soon—
Something tugged at her pants, arresting her progress. She yanked the fabric loose from where it had snagged on a sharp rock. When she looked up again, Bobby was gone.
She frantically scanned in all directions, but there was nothing but black.
The facts settled around her like iron weights. She was going to die in darkness along with her babies. The only thing she could feel was the cold, settling into her very core. She couldn’t move. Even the tiny kicks from inside had stilled.
“God deliver us,” she prayed as Indigo had so many years before in the grip of a violent ocean.
A glimmer of white caught her eye in the gloom. The abalone, clustered in a great wide band, lay like a pearl necklace against the rock. Knowing she had only seconds of air left, Ruth scooted along the trail of domed creatures, ignoring the cut of their barnacle-encrusted shells on her fingers.
Lungs screaming, eyes half closed, she saw it: an irregular circle cut into the rock.
The vent that led out to the sea.
“There,” Monk shouted. He pointed to a bit of yellow on the swirling surf. He dove in. Roxie and Jack waited, bent over the side, until Monk dragged the bundle to the side.
Monk cradled Ruth in his arms on the bottom of the boat. Her eyes were closed, but she breathed. “She’s alive.” Monk’s face was torn with emotion. “She’s alive, praise the holy Father and His loving Son. She’s alive.”
Jack returned to the side and continued to scan.
Roxie played the light across the surface of the water.
Nothing.
Teeth clenched, every nerve on fire, he scanned left and right, left and right.
The tiniest flash of white caught his eye. He didn’t think twice before he was in the water. The cold hit him like a slap, but he swam against the strong pull of the surf until he reached her.
Bobby floated facedown in the water, hair fanned out in the surf.
He flipped her over and started swimming with all his might toward the boat.
Waves pushed against him, crashing over his head.
He fought against the relentless power of the sea until he reached the pitching vessel.
Roxie and Monk lifted them back in.
Jack laid Bobby on the deck. Her face was deathly pale, tinged with blue. He held his cheek to her mouth.
“She’s not breathing.” He unzipped her jacket and tilted her chin back.
Roxie’s face was grim. She took her fingers from the girl’s neck. “No pulse. I know CPR. I’ll do the compressions.” She began to push on Bobby’s chest in a steady rhythm that defied the rocking of the deck beneath them.
Vaguely Jack felt the boat move as Monk steered it back toward land.
He put his mouth onto Bobby’s cold lips and blew, willing his life to mingle with hers and bring her back to him.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ruth pulled the blankets around her, even though the hospital room was a toasty temperature. She felt as if she’d never be fully warm again. Monk opened the blinds to let in the morning sunshine. He kissed her on each cheek and her forehead.
“How are you feeling today?”
“Okay. How are you? Sleeping in a chair can’t be too comfortable.”
He rolled his big shoulders. “I didn’t sleep much anyway. Mostly I just watched you.”
Her cheeks warmed. “That must have made for a long night.”
His eyes gleamed with moisture. “I could watch you every minute of every day and be a perfectly happy man.”
She steadied her breath, luxuriating again at the simple blessing of being able to inhale and exhale. “How is Bryce?”
“The doctor says he’s showing encouraging signs of coming around. We’ll have to be patient and pray.”
She laughed. “God has had an earful from me already.”
“Me, too, but He’s a great listener.”
Jack knocked gently. “Mind if we come in?”
“Not at all.” Monk moved to the other side of the bed to accommodate Bobby’s wheelchair.
Ruth noted the pallor of Bobby’s face and the sling holding her shoulder steady, but there was something else about her that made Ruth take notice: a calm and a contentment that she had not seen in the young woman before.
Jack kept his hand on Bobby’s good shoulder as he talked. “How are you doing, Ruth? We were worried there for a while.”
“So was I, but the doctor was able to stop the contractions. I’m on bed rest until further notice. What happened to the awful dentist?”
“He’s been arrested for the murder of Reggie and the attempted murder of you two lovely ladies and your son. There will be more charges relating to poaching and such, but that will get us started.”
Ruth watched the way Bobby reached up to cover Jack’s hand with hers. She smiled. “Will you be postponing taking that job in Utah?”
“Yes. I think I’m going to stay here and hang out with this big lug. Almost drowning kinda put a new spin on things for me.”
Ruth shivered. “I’ll never swim in the ocean again.”
Bobby laughed. “I don’t have any choice. Jack needs to learn how to dive so he can keep the eyes of law enforcement on those abalone, or what’s left of them.”
They chatted for a while until Bobby showed signs of tiring and Jack wheeled her back to her room. Monk went off to fetch a cup of tea for his wife.
Ruth settled into the beam of sunlight that played across the bed. How very blessed she felt to be alive, and warm and surrounded by people she loved. The babies kicked and rolled inside her. She knew they would be okay, growing and thriving with parents who loved them desperately.
From her window she could just make out the silvery rise and fall of the ocean. She marveled at all the treasures it contained.
God saved me with His white treasure, Indigo said of the small bit of flour that ensured her survival.
Had He done the same with Ruth? Provided a path of silvery white abalone to guide her home?
She smiled, feeling the babies rollicking inside her, and turned her face to the sun.
About the Author
Dana Mentink lives in California with her husband and two children. Her first love is the classroom; she has taught children from preschool through fifth grade for over a decade.
Dana is perpetually in search of a great story, either t
hrough painfully expensive trips to the bookstore or via her own labors in front of the computer. She enjoys writing cozies as well as suspense stories.
In addition to her novels, Dana writes short articles, both fiction and nonfiction, for a wide variety of magazines. Dana enjoys mentoring other writers and finding new vehicles to provide her readers with a hefty dose of mystery, merriment, and make-believe. Contact Dana on her Web site: www.danamentink.com.
About Spyglass Lane
Spyglass Lane Mysteries is a collection of Christian cozy mysteries—modern-day whodunnits with colorful characters and plenty of wholesome romance.
Discover other Spyglass Lane titles at Smashwords.com.
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
About the Author
About Spyglass Lane
