Find her. Save her.
With Baines managing the tender line, Gage trusted he wouldn’t be lost at sea, and kicked harder, fighting against this monster ocean railing in the storm. How much more difficult this would be if they weren’t on the waning side of it.
Sadie was definitely the PIW—he saw her clearly now—and she waved at him, then dropped out of sight beneath the surface. In that glimpse of her, he realized she wore no life jacket. Treading water, she fought the sea on her own strength, which must be weakening. With his effort to reach her, his heart banged against his rib cage. Coast Guard protocol would dictate his objective was to establish communication with her, encourage and instruct her. Right. No time for that.
Please, God, let me save her!
Gage swam to where he last saw her. She hadn’t resurfaced. She could be anywhere beneath the water. A current could have swept her far away from him.
“No!” He dove beneath the surface but the too-violent, dark water offered zero visibility.
The crew members of the Kraken shouted at him. Blew their whistles. He glanced back and saw them pointing. They must have spotted Sadie. They’d released the smaller boat into the water, as well. Good. Gage started swimming in the direction they pointed. He couldn’t see her, but hoped he would connect.
Then she bobbed above the water, riding high on a rising swell. Gage had to get to her—he could see in her eyes that if he didn’t reach her this time, she was done. Her lips were blue already. She had to be a good swimmer to have survived this long, but even his limbs would begin to fail him soon. He was pushing the limits.
Gage forced himself to swim harder and faster against one of the strongest forces of nature, and likewise Sadie swam toward him, her strength fading, her desperation warring against her biology. The swell crested and buried her again, sucking her down and under.
Gage dove beneath it, a calculated risk on his part, and gave one last thrusting lunge for her. He felt the tug of his tender line—the Kraken crew members trying to tow him back to safety.
“No, no!” He yanked the line, hoping someone would get his message, give him the slack he needed.
He tried again...
And touched something. A hand? He grabbed it, lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her body as he held on to the rescue buoy. Rescuing a drowning person was a dangerous task—that person was reduced to their basest survival instincts and would often drown their rescuers in the process.
Sadie had already turned into that drowning person.
And she fought him. Dragged him under. Instinctually. Nothing she could control. Her survival instincts had taken over. The right thing to do, and what protocol demanded, was that he hit her hard enough to knock her out and save them both. But since when had he gone with protocol? He grabbed her arms and willed her to be still, to trust him, and she relaxed.
Now. It was now or they would both be lost.
He felt the tug of his tender line, and he held on to her. His pulse shot up even higher, if that were possible. They breached the surface. When he looked in her face he saw why she’d relaxed. She was unconscious. Unresponsive. Drowned already?
Oh, no! No, God, please, let her live.
Suddenly, she coughed up water, even as a wave crashed over them, but he held tight. The Kraken crew wouldn’t let him down.
“We’re going to make it. You’re going to be okay.” He stared into the familiar crystal-blue eyes, which widened with recognition, while the tender line tugged them back and the smaller Coast Guard inflatable made its way toward them in the dangerous waters. “I’ve got you and I won’t let go. You’re safe now.”
She shook her head. Her teeth chattered as she struggled to speak. “Not. Safe. Someone. Tried...to kill me.”
TWO
In the hospital room being treated for hypothermia, Sadie counted her blessings and watched Aunt Debby pace the small space. The woman had raised Sadie and her three siblings when their parents died over a decade ago.
“Jonna called to say she would come see you later today,” Aunt Debby said.
Sadie’s sister Jonna ran a lodge on the coast. It would take her an hour to get here if she could even get away.
“Why did you call her?” Sadie repositioned her pillow. “I don’t want anyone to worry about me. I’m okay. I didn’t die out there.”
Aunt Debby started wringing her hands. Sadie wished she would sit down and relax.
“No, but you came close.” Aunt Debby probably still grieved her sister and brother-in-law’s deaths, even after fifteen years. “I tried to contact Cora, but she works on that research vessel and all I could do was leave a message.”
A marine archaeologist, Sadie’s sister Cora explored shipwrecks. Admittedly, that made Sadie envious at times. And her DEA agent brother Quinn... Aunt Debby didn’t even mention him. Nobody had heard from him in far too long. He preferred it that way.
Regardless, Sadie definitely didn’t want her siblings involved because that could put them in danger, as well.
Though she hated causing her aunt more distress, the woman needed to know.
“Someone tried to kill me,” she said.
Concern rippled over Aunt Debby’s features and she slowly sat on the bed. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“Because I didn’t want you to worry.” Not yet. Not until she spoke again with Gage Sessions. She still struggled to grasp he’d been the one to rescue her. Save her life.
On the Coast Guard cutter that brought her to safety and the Coldwater Bay Hospital, Gage had been more than reassuring when he’d wrapped the blanket around her. Then at the hospital, he’d suggested she rest. She might remember more about what happened so she could answer the questions when someone came to investigate.
Sadie had last seen Gage in college over seven years ago. They’d been close friends then. He’d cared about her as more than a friend, she’d known, but she hadn’t felt the same because she had been in love with someone else. Would the outcome have been different today if it had been a stranger rather than Gage risking his life to save hers?
Aunt Debby pressed her hand on Sadie’s forehead as though checking her temperature, unease still evident in her eyes. “And you’ve told the sheriff?”
“I told the Coast Guard and someone is letting the sheriff’s department know for me.”
“Good. You’ve been through a lot. Just get some rest and once your core temperature is back up, they’ll release you. I’ll take you home and take care of you. Remember, you’re not in this alone, Sadie.”
“I know.” And Sadie thanked God for her family.
She closed her eyes and rested on the pillow. She wished she could remember everything that had happened. One minute she was at Karon’s house. The next she was on that boat fighting to survive. Who did the boat belong to, anyway? With it hidden in the depths of the Pacific, would she ever find out?
If only she could remember more. Was hypothermia messing with her memories? When she’d woken up on the boat, she’d been extremely groggy with the world’s worst headache. That hadn’t been hypothermia. No—she’d been drugged.
A flash of a memory zinged back to her.
Sadie glanced down at her hospital gown. “Aunt Debby?”
“Yes, sweetie?”
“Where are my clothes?”
Her aunt chuckled. “It’s customary to wear a hospital gown in the hospital. Don’t you remember changing?”
Vaguely. “No, I mean, what happened to them after I changed into this?”
“Oh, I took them home to wash and dry them.”
Oh, no. “Could you do me a favor? I need you to go through the pockets of my hoodie. I found something on the boat. It could be important.” The pendant was a link, the proof she needed that Karon had been on that same boat. Possibly evidence that Karon’s killer was now after Sadi
e.
A chill crawled over her that had nothing to do with her recovery from hypothermia.
Aunt Debby agreed to search her pockets back at the house and left Sadie alone with her thoughts, which turned out to be a bad idea. She couldn’t exactly rest like everyone insisted when someone had gone to such trouble to attempt to kill her.
She wished Jonna was here already. Her sister had been an ICE agent while living in Miami. Sadie didn’t know what had happened in Florida to send Jonna running back to Washington. She only knew it had been something bad, and Jonna hadn’t wanted to talk about it. So maybe she wouldn’t help Sadie feel all that safe.
Fortunately, she didn’t have long to fret. In walked Gage Sessions, his presence filling her with relief and the overwhelming impression that she was safe with him. And why shouldn’t it? He’d saved her today, after all, and she could still sense the protectiveness, the heroism, pouring off him. But she didn’t want him to notice just how relieved she was to see him. More to the point...
“Gage, I remember.” She sat up in bed. “It’s starting to come back to me now.”
“You mean why you were on the boat?”
“Well, sort of. That part is still fuzzy, but what happened before.”
He moved closer to the bed, his form trim and fit, his jaw strong and his bright hazel eyes sharp. With his sun-bleached hair, he was the same guy from a few years ago, yes, but there was something different about him. He seemed more self-assured. Experienced. A thrill ran through her. Really, Sadie. Focus.
“Well, I’m listening.” He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall closest to her bed.
“Okay, give me a second.” She squeezed her eyes shut and dragged in a few breaths. “I’d gone to Karon’s house with her mother’s approval. Her mother had thought Karon’s death suspicious and I agreed. It’s hard to believe that Karon, a marine science major working at an environmental company, a good swimmer and certified scuba diver, had drowned. If she’d intended to swim at all for some sort of research, she would have at least had on a dry suit to keep her warm. Karon had taken time off and was staying at their vacation rental house on the coast. Her mother—who lived on the other side of Coldwater Bay in Joshua—was planning to meet her there when she could get off work. Karon never returned to the house but instead her body was found...” Sadie couldn’t even choke out the rest. She closed her eyes and tried to shove aside the deep anguish in her heart at the loss of her very dearest friend.
When she opened her eyes again and looked at Gage, his gaze was penetrating. Almost accusing. “So you went to her house for your own investigation.”
She shrugged. “Yeah. There wasn’t any crime scene tape or anything. The authorities ruled her drowning death an accident.”
“What happened next?”
She tried to picture everything in her mind. Tried to remember it all. “Her vacation rental house is right along the beach above the rocks. I remember thinking how apropos that the storm clouds were brewing in the distance. I couldn’t understand why no one in law enforcement found her death suspicious.”
“They’ll listen now, Sadie, since someone tried to kill you.”
She was glad she could talk to him and he really listened and believed her. It was just like old times, only much more serious. “Not just someone, Gage. The same person.”
“Keep talking.”
“I came back for the funeral. I’d been in Indonesia researching for a grant I desperately need—I’m a marine biologist now—when I got the call. Nothing could have brought me back. Nothing except the death of someone I love. Do you understand?”
His expression turned somber yet compassionate. He moved closer, appearing absorbed in her story. “Yes, I think I do. What happened next at Karon’s house? I want to know how you ended up on the boat.”
He questioned her like an investigator, keeping her on track. “Well, I remember something crashed outside the house. I thought it was a garbage can. I glanced out the window but saw nothing but branches scratching the glass with the gust of wind. I booted up Karon’s laptop and what I found stunned me. I guess it shouldn’t have.”
Gage inched closer. “What did you find?”
“The thing had been wiped clean.”
“And did you call the authorities?”
“No. That’s where my memories grow fuzzy and unclear. I had this creepy sensation that someone was watching me. I can’t say for sure but I think someone was there with me. I remember...someone. Just not who or even what they looked like. If it was a man or a woman. And the next thing I remember is waking up on that sinking boat with no radio or flotation devices. My head was pounding, and I felt woozy, weird, like the effects of a drug wearing off. Someone wanted me dead. Talk about the perfect crime.”
When she lifted her gaze to meet Gage’s, he appeared visibly shaken. “It would only have been the perfect crime if you had died. Sounds like you were definitely drugged. But did the person responsible intend for the drugs to keep you asleep until you drowned? Or had they meant for you to wake up and know the situation was hopeless, which could mean a personal motive for murder? Either way...” Gage cleared his throat instead of finishing the sentence.
His deep concern surprised her.
She would finish the sentence for him. “Either way, it means I’m still in danger once they know I survived.”
* * *
Gage paced the hallway outside Sadie’s hospital room. He hadn’t revealed his role as an investigator for the Coast Guard because he didn’t want to give her false hope that he would help her. Or that his SAC—special agent in charge—would assign him. Another CGIS special agent, Thompkins, had already investigated Karon’s death along with the sheriff’s office and ruled it an accident.
Could they have been wrong? That’s why Gage had wanted to question Sadie himself. That, and, well...they’d been friends. In that sense he would always be there for her, and it seemed that life had a torturous way of bringing them back together every few years.
He had no other responsibility to her and could have gone straight back to work, but for two things.
Her words to him about someone trying to kill her.
And the fact that it was Sadie Strand that he’d pulled from the ocean. He couldn’t believe it when he finally realized who the woman in the water was. He couldn’t believe it when he’d swum to her, fighting against the ferocious Pacific, and finally gathered her into his arms. He wasn’t someone easily traumatized.
But that incident had shaken him.
They’d grown up in the same small town in Coldwater Bay. Had gone to school together. He’d had a crush on her back then, but she’d never noticed him. Then they’d met again at the University of Washington in Seattle and had become close friends. Frequently shared long walks on the beach. And yeah, he’d gotten that crush on her again.
She hadn’t noticed that time either because she’d been smitten with someone else. At least that’s what he told himself. Maybe it had been a lie. Regardless, there was always someone else to catch her attention. Of course, that had been years before and Gage had gotten over her a long time ago. They’d been friends and he would always care about her that way. None of those residual romantic feelings remained, for which he was grateful. Still, finding her and saving her from near death had unsettled him.
He waited in the hall now for someone from the sheriff’s department so he could share what she’d told him and watch his reaction. A deputy sheriff strode straight for Gage. He knew the investigative deputy, Bob Crowley, and tried to work with him when their investigations crossed, but that wasn’t always possible.
“Good to see you, Sessions,” Deputy Crowley said. “Sorry it took me so long to get here.”
“Not a problem.” It gave him an excuse to hang around and talk himself out of going back into Sadie’s room.
“Tell me what you know.
” Looking beat, Crowley rubbed his neck as if he’d already pulled an all-nighter.
Gage told him what Sadie had shared with him, including her belief that Karon was murdered and she’d become the target now. “I asked the doctor to run blood tests to find out what drug is in Sadie’s system.”
“Karon Casings’s death was already ruled an accident. That comes from me. The other CGIS agent looked into it since she was Coast Guard reserve and decided her death had nothing to do with her duties, so he didn’t have any jurisdiction. Maybe Sadie is distraught over her death and not thinking clearly. Her story sounds far-fetched,” Crowley added. “What do you think?”
Was Crowley serious? Or was Gage’s relationship with Sadie clouding his judgment about the facts? He didn’t think so. He believed someone had tried to kill her, but he based that solely on her word. Gage hesitated with a reply. He didn’t want to give too much away. He believed it was always best to wait and watch people. “I guess it all depends on why someone would want to kill Karon, and then Sadie? Any ideas on that?”
“None.” Crowley frowned and glanced up and down the hallway.
Gage would talk to Agent Thompkins about it too. Two investigators claimed Karon’s death was an accident. What had they missed? Was it possible that Karon’s death had, in fact, been an accident, but someone had tried to kill Sadie and they were two separate cases? Sadie had been in Karon’s home when she’d been abducted and placed on the boat to die. No. Definitely connected.
Gage pressed his fist against his lips and thought about Sadie. She’d been all about protecting marine life and conservation. All about justice for those who couldn’t protect themselves. Gage didn’t feel comfortable walking away from this, walking away from her. And if this was connected to Karon and her death hadn’t been an accident—what was going on? Could he let someone else investigate even if he had no jurisdiction?
No. No, he couldn’t. In the end, his SAC would have the last say, but Gage could be persuasive when he wanted. He just needed a valid motive.
Thread of Revenge Page 2
