Page 14 of Let It Snow

She pointed in the general direction, accounting for the slight turn the boat had made since. It had come around and seemed to have lost forward momentum. Andy and his crew wasted no time prepping the lifeboat to be dropped in the water. He boarded the oversized raft and she followed right behind.

“Not you—you’re soaked—we have no time to waste. He doesn’t have much—”

“Then you shouldn’t waste it arguing with me.” She got in and one of the crew followed. The second crewmember operated the lift and lowered them over the side into the rough water.

Andy reached inside a chest and pulled out a life vest and a blanket. “Take this—you’re already wet and cold and we haven’t even started.” She shed her soaked jacket, put on the vest and wrapped the blanket around her, clenching her jaw against the bone-chattering chill that had settled in.

Once the boat hit the water, Andy started the small engine as they bounced in the restless waves. His assistant lit up an oversized flashlight and aimed it in calculated arcs over the starboard side then the aft. They were off in the direction where she’d last seen Father Pedro, traveling at a surprisingly swift speed. Shana looked back over her shoulder once at the now anchored ferry. It rolled in the waves more steeply without the forward momentum. Every single light on the boat had been lit up against the darkening sky and the increasing blizzard of snow.

She said the words out loud that she couldn’t keep inside. “He has no more than fifteen minutes in this water.” She checked her Breitling Chronomat watch. “He has eleven minutes left.”

Dane contemplated his sanity and forced his fists open, stretching his fingers as Vendi fixed himself a coffee.

The radio buzzed. The headset sat abandoned on the control board and Vendi was out of position. Dane took one step and grabbed up the radiophone headset and put it on. He pressed the button and spoke.

“Go.”

“Captain Strong on Governor. We have a man overboard. Emergency procedure underway—”

“What the hell is the procedure and who exactly went over?”

“Who is this?”

Vendi crowded him and stared him down. But he didn’t rip the headphones off, so Dane spoke.

“This is Dane Blaise at USCG Station Vineyard Haven.”

“We lowered a manned life raft and they’re on the way to last known whereabouts. The ferry is standing by with lights—not much time.”

“We’ll call in a helo to light it up and we’re on the way with a 47,” Dane said. Then he ripped the headset off, handed it to Vendi and grabbed his jacket. Cap was already shrugging into his while Vendi finished the call.

Dane was at the door when Vendi caught up with him and spun him around by the shoulder. Cap was halfway out the door on the deck.

“Are you crazy?” Vendi asked.

“They put a life raft out in this storm? Are they crazy?” Dane said. He knew without a doubt that Shana would be aboard that life raft. Because he knew without a doubt it had been the padre that had gone overboard. He didn’t think past his knowledge for the reasons how and why he knew. Not now.

Right now, he was going to make sure he was aboard the 47 to get to that life raft. To get to Shana.

Vendi shook his head. “You’re a real bastard sometimes, Blaise.” He shoved Dane out the door ahead of him and Dane kept going. There was no time to shove back. He headed for the hulk of the 47 obscured by heavy driving snow now and hopped over the locked gate to board it.

Dane boarded the 47 with Cap and Vendi. There was no time to call the standby crew in. Vendi had said he’d allow Dane and Cap to help him, but he’d had little choice. He called in the Jayhawk out of Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod. They would meet the helo at the coordinates they got from Governor for the life raft. The helo could help pinpoint the raft with its Nightsun searchlight. Then they could get the people needing help back to the hospital.

Dane tried calling Shana one more time as they got to the bridge of the 47.

“No answer. Not even a ring. Phone’s off.”

Cap said nothing. Tony Vendi took up position in the Captain’s chair and fired up the engines. Then he placed a call to the captain of Governor.

“What’s the status on the man overboard?”

“We have an ID. Father Pedro of South America according to Shana George. She accompanied the crew on the life raft—”

“Shit,” Cap said.

Dane froze another ten degrees inside and felt the tension ratchet up across his shoulders. But he said nothing.

“What the hell?” Vendi said to the ferry captain.