by Lynn Story
My heart raced. It was the closest thing I had to a lead and we were working against the clock. It had already been twenty-four hours since Kay went missing and we were no closer to finding her than when we started.
“Boss, you want me to drive?” Logan asked.
“No.” I needed the distraction and to concentrate on something else for a little while.
We drove in silence to the Brookline Industrial Park, which was home to several seafood processing plants, boat works, and other businesses. It was a tough place with the fishermen and dockhands. They weren’t very trusting of police much less the FBI. Jumping out of the SUV and flashing our badges wasn’t going to get us very far.
“Keep it low key, guys.” I advised as we got out of the vehicle.
We were getting a lot of looks as dockhands crossed our paths and I looked for anyone that was more interested in us the anyone else. Halfway down the dock, I found him. He was a short man with a pencil mustache, wearing jeans and a black t-shirt. He wasn’t dressed like the fisherman with the typical white rubber boots. He was cleaner, with no fish scales, blood or stains on his clothes. He watched us intently and I had the sense that he wanted to talk to us, but he didn’t want anyone to know. He made eye contact with me and held it before slipping in between two warehouses.
“Stay here.” I said over my shoulder to Mac and Logan.
I walked casually in the direction I had seen the man disappear and then slipped between the buildings. The two buildings cast dark shadows and it took my eyes a minute to adjust. I put my hand on the butt of my gun just in case this was an ambush. I found the man leaning against the wall behind a stack of wooden pallets.
“You want to talk to me?”
“You’re here about that woman, aren’t you?” the man asked nervously.
“Yeah, I am, what can you tell me?”
“I don’t want to go to jail.”
“Is there some reason why you should?”
The man began to sweat, and he looked around nervously. I didn’t want to lose him. Right now, he was the closest thing I possibly had to Kay.
“Just tell me what you know and if you’re implicated, I’ll do what I can to help you.”
“Can you do that?”
“Yeah I can.”
“You with the FBI or something?”
“Yes, I am. You want to see my badge?”
“No, not here.”
He looked around nervously again. “This man came here late yesterday. He paid a lot of money to tow a barge offshore and leave it.”
“You a tugboat captain?”
He nodded.
Now I understood why he was so nervous. Tugboat captains are a very tight knit group and you don’t want a reputation of being a snitch or worse. If found out, he would be drummed out of his job and blackballed.
“And you saw a woman?” I pressed, trying to re from a ship sitting on the barge and I saw these two other guys drag her onto the barge and lock her in there.”
“You say drag, was she hurt?”
“I didn’t see any blood or nothing, but she couldn’t walk on her own.” He shook his head.
“Okay, can you tell me where you released the barge?”
“Yeah, I can give the coordinates.”
“Would you be willing to come to my office and help us find it on a map?”
“I can’t be seen talking to you.” His eyes shifted left and right while we talked.
“I understand. I typed the coordinates he recited into my phone.”
“Here’s my card. It has the address of my office so when you leave here come straight there.”
He shoved the card quickly in his pocket and left. I sent the coordinates to Jared and Stephanie back at the office and asked them to start mapping them. Then I walked back out to the SUV. Mac and Logan were waiting.
We all got in the SUV without a word and I drove out of the park and pulled over.
“You get anything?” Logan asked.
“Tugboat captain was paid to drop a barge offshore with a storage container aboard. He says there was a woman inside.”
Mac took out his phone “I’ll ask the Coast Guard to start searching. Do you have the coordinates?”
“Yeah, thirty-six degrees north by seventy-four degrees west.”
Mac repeated the coordinates. He listened and acknowledged whatever information was shared. “Those coordinates are nearly one hundred miles offshore.”
My heart sank. “We need to map the currents and see where she could have drifted to in the past twenty-four hours.”
“Well, the currents would be pushing her north and further out to sea.” Mac said matter-of-factly.
“If she is in a container, she’ll be protected from the sun though.” Logan offered.
“Hopefully, there is a way for air to get into that container.” Mac answered Logan’s optimism with a dose of reality.
I glanced over at him.
“Sorry.” Mac looked back down at his phone.
“We need to know what we are dealing with and how we can best help her.” I said.
“Well the temperatures shouldn’t be too bad, and she will have shelter from the wind, and she should be dry.” Mac offered. “Her biggest problem is drinking water.”
He was right; it was doubtful that Bannister had been thoughtful enough to give her any especially if he wanted to get rid of her. I was confused by the method he was using.
“What I don’t understand is, why this? Of all of the other instances where his opponents have come to a bad end, they all looked like accidents.” I glanced over at Mac and in the rearview mirror at Logan. “How do you explain this as an accident?”
“Maybe he is hoping she isn’t found, and no explanation will be needed.” Logan offered.
I nodded. That was probably true.
Mac’s phone rang. He listened more than he spoke. Then he clicked off. “They are sending the helicopter up to search.”
His face looks grim. “What’s the catch?” I demanded.
“There’s a storm brewing off the coast so they have to send the chopper up now because they may not be able to later. “
My grip on the steering wheel tightened. A storm might capsize the barge and the container would sink like a rock to the bottom of the ocean.
“Where are they sending the chopper from?”
“North River.” Mac named the large Coast Guard station in the southern portion of Gates Point. The name was a misnomer as it was in the southernmost part of the city. I made a U-turn sending other cars swerving out of the way.
“What are you doing, Ethan?” Logan demanded.
“We are going to North River.”
No one said a word as I turned on the lights and sped in the opposite direction. We pulled into the parking lot of the operations building and I barely had the SUV in park before I bailed out and ran for the door.
“Ethan, wait!” Mac called behind me.
I rushed through the door and was stopped. “I’m Agent Ethan Craddock.” I showed my ID. “I need to be on that chopper!”
“What chopper?”
“The one that is headed out to see to look for a missing barge.”
“Sir, that Chopper left five minutes ago.”
“Damn!”
Logan and Mac joined me.
Mac showed his ID. “May we join your staff in the communications room to see if they find our kidnap victim on that barge?”
“Yes, sir. This way.”
The room was dim with the glow of monitors and communication panels that provided most of the light.
“Hey Mac, I’m surprised you got here so fast.”
“Damon, it’s good to see you again.”
I watched the monitors and tried to determine which one was for the chopper that had just left. “Lt. Commander Damon Pincus, this is Agent Ethan Craddock and Agent Logan Watson of the FBI.” We shook hands. “What can you tell us about the chopper, has it found the barge yet?” I asked not wasting
time with small talk.
“No, yet. Come over here and I’ll show you the situation.”
I followed the Lt. Commander to a map that was lit up to show the ocean and wind currents.
“Using the coordinates Mac gave me, we believe our starting point is here. Now given the weight of the barge and the fact that it has no power of its own, we believe it should be about here.” He placed his finger on the map.
I concentrated on that one spot and prayed that he was right, and we had found Kay. “What do we do now?” I asked.
“We wait.” Lt. Commander said.
“That isn’t going to be easy.” Logan muttered.
I stood never taking my eyes off the screen.
A voice crackled over the speaker. “Command, we have a visual.”
I held my breath.
“Rescue One, are you able to repel down to the barge?”
A blurry image of the barge appeared on the monitor. The wind and the wake from the helicopter made it hard to see. I could make out a tan colored box sitting in the middle of the barge.
“We will attempt to rescue.” The voice announces through the static.
I watched as a man repelled down to the barge and approach the box. His body camera showed there was a lock. He called for tools to be lowered down to him. It seemed to take an eternity for the tools to be lowered. I watched as the weather was deteriorating and willed them to hurry up. I hated the fact that I wasn’t the one cutting my way into that box and pulling her out. I felt helpless and trapped and I started to pace. Logan came up next to me.
“They’re going to get her out.” He said quietly.
I wanted to tell him it should be me. I knew he understood how I felt. Mac was standing off the side with his arms crossed over his chest. I could see his jaw muscles working.
The pilot and the rescuer were talking to each other. The pilot was getting antsy about the weather.
“I’m almost in!” The rescuer was shouting.
I turned to Lt. Commander Pincus. “You can’t allow them to leave without her!”
“They will do their best, but I can’t risk the safety of my crew and equipment in this storm.”
“Rescue is what you do, right? Doesn’t that apply to people stuck in a storm or do you just rescue people on sunny days?”
“Ethan, come on man.” Logan grabbed my shoulders and steered me out into the hallway.
I could hear Mac as I left the room. “Damon, he’s just upset.”
“I get it. He’s got a temper.” I heard the Lt. Commander say.
“Yeah, he does seem to be a little worked up, but his man will deal with him.”
Out in the hallway I shrugged away from Logan. He remained silent waiting for me to calm down. I paced up and down the hallway a few times trying to bring my anger under control. “I’m good, man.” I said attempting to go back in the communications room.
Logan shook his head. “I don’t think so, Ethan.”
I stopped short and looked at him. “Are you really not going to let me back in there?”
“I will let you back in there when you have calmed down a little more, I don’t think you’re there yet.”
“Logan, we’ve been friends a long time.”
“Yes, we have.” He didn’t disagree. “And so, you really think you can stop me if I want to get in there?”
“Yes, I do.” He shifted his weight. “I’m not going to get physical. You need to hear me out.” He looked me dead in the eyes.
I narrowed my focus to him. “Let’s have it and make it quick.” I said.
“Think about what you are doing. You’re too close to his and no one can blame you for that. Shouldn’t we notify GPPD? It’s their case? You’re not thinking clearly, and you need to take a step back.”
“I should be on that chopper and I should be on that barge getting her out of that box.” My anger was rising, and I turned away from Logan so he wouldn’t see the emotion.
“Dude, I get it. I really do.” He said quietly. “Do you think she isn’t going to love you because you aren’t the one pulling her out that box?”
“I should have protected her and if I couldn’t do that, then I at least should save her.” I felt myself starting to come apart.
“I think you need to dial down the macho stuff and just concentrate on being there for her.” Logan’s words slapped me in the face. I stared at him for a moment. He was right of course. I apparently was acting like a complete ass.
“You’re right.” I whispered and walked past him to go apologize to the Lt. Commander. I heard voices shouting as I came back into the communication center. “There is no time to send the basket, we go now!”
I watched in horror as the rescuer on the barge grabbed Kay’s limp body and wrapped his arms and legs around her without benefit of a harness as the helicopter pulled up and started the wench to reel him in.
The room was completely silent as a wave swamped the barge and is listed to one side and the container slid off into the ocean. I prayed that he held onto her as they were both hoisted into the air above the raging sea. I prayed the chopper made it back to land safely. I didn’t even care where they landed just so long as they did.
The whole room let out a collective sigh of relieve when the pilot announced they were safely back aboard the chopper and they were starting medical treatment. They would be headed for trauma hospital.
Lt. Commander Pincus turned to me and held out his hand. “Thank you,” I said shaking the proffered hand “And I apologize.”
“It was a tense moment. We were all feeling the pressure.” He reassured me and slapped my shoulder.
I left Mac to talk with the Lt. Commander a moment and I walked outside to say a prayer of thanks. Logan walked past me to the SUV and stood next to the driver’s door making it clear he would be driving us to the hospital. I tossed him the keys and waited for Mac.
“Thanks for all your help.” I said as Mac exited the building.
“Anytime.” He smiled. “Hospital?”
“Hospital.” I smiled.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Kay
I felt whatever boat I was on start to rock a little more than it had been, and I heard the wind whistling through the holes in the container. This was not going to be good if a big storm was brewing. I had no idea what type of vessel I was on or if it and this container would survive a storm, although I suspected the idea was not to survive it.
Panic began to set in again and this time I let it. I was desperate and I could barely see anything. I began pushing on the walls and the door looking for any weak spots. I threw my body up against them all in a desperate attempt to knock something loose. I screamed until I was hoarse. I was pretty certain I was alone on this vessel. I hadn’t heard any sounds of an engine or people working. I was certain I had been set adrift. My mind was racing. I thought of Ethan and I was overcome with emotion again at the thought of never seeing him again. Then I thought of Mac, he meant so much to me as well. And I was truly sorry that things weren’t working out the way I really thought they would. I was conflicted I loved them both in their own right. But it didn’t matter now. I was probably going to die out here. I had a little room in the container so I ran and charged the door hoping once again my efforts would be rewarded.
I was wrong.
I fell to the floor in pain. My shoulder was on fire. I laid there crying and screaming silently. I kicked at the door as hard as I could and then the world went black.
***
I opened my eyes. And my shoulder didn’t hurt as bad, but everything was a sickly green and too bright. I closed them again.
I woke sometime later; the light wasn’t as bright, and I could tell someone was in the room with me. I tried to move my head.
“Ssshhh, take it easy. Don’t move around too fast.” I heard Ethan say.
Despite my lips being dry and cracked, I smiled at him. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he said drawing circles on the back of my han
d with his thumb. “You had me a worried there for a while.”
“Me too.” I said my voice cracking.
He nodded. “You’re going to be okay now. I let you down before, but it won’t happen again.”
I watched his jaw tighten.
“Let me down, how?”
“I wasn’t there to prevent this from happening.”
“You couldn’t have known.” I squeezed his hand. “You’re here now.”
He nodded. He looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t. “Listen to me, Kay. Nothing and no-one is going to hurt you now. Logan is standing outside the door and he isn’t letting anyone in without a pat down.”
I laughed a little.
“I have to go take care of some things, and there are some people here to see you.” He kissed the back of my hand. “I wouldn’t leave if it wasn’t absolutely necessary.”
I nodded. “It’s okay but take Logan with you. I would feel better knowing he has your back.”
“No need to worry about me. I’m covered.”
He smiled and stood up still holding my hand like he didn’t want to let go.
“Sir?”
I lifted my head a little to see Jared standing in the doorway and Mac at the foot of the bed.
“Mac?”
He smiled. “I’m glad you’re going to be okay.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked getting my bearings.
“Checking on you.”
“Did my grandfather send you?” It seemed like a logical question.
He was silent for a moment. “No.”
Again, I felt guilty for asking him. “Mac, can you stay a while?”
“I can’t right now, but I’ll come back later, okay?”
“Okay.” I nodded. That was comfort enough for now.
Ethan squeezed my hand again. “I’ll be back a little later,” he said.
“Okay.” I nodded to Ethan as well.
I was surprised when Mac turned and followed Ethan out. I didn’t have time to think about it long because as soon as they had left the room, Sherry came bursting in.
“Oh Kay! Are you alright? How do you feel?” she asked. The questions running together.
“I’m okay,” I assured her.
