Page 96 of Fire and Rain
Trey grinned. “Nice look.”
“You’re just jealous.” Sean filled in James and Trey as they jogged to the helo, telling him about the EPIRB from earlier. “That storm is bearing down on them. Santee is coming with us, and he’s armed.”
“Good.” James gave a nod. “Let’s bring Eden home.”
They took off, a stiff headwind giving them translational lift, getting them airborne quickly.
Once they were en route, James spoke again, his voice sounding in Sean’s headphones. “McKenna, you’ve been on the boat. What are we looking at?”
“It’s a cruiser cabin. We won’t be able to see inside the cockpit from above because it’s covered by a hardtop.” That part worried him. “There’s a lounge area in the stern that’s pretty open. The boat has radar and some antennas on the hardtop, but no outriggers or crane or anything to tangle up the hoist line.”
Santee’s rifle was pointed at the cabin floor. “Time for a tactical chat.” He waited while James muted the cabin mic so that no one back at base could overhear the conversation, then went on. “Walcott okayed this mission because of the personal locator beacon, but you heard him. We can’t exceed the parameters of a search and rescue mission. We are most likely heading into a hostage situation on rough seas. We all understand that, correct?”
“That’s why you’re here,” James said.
Sean had his view on this. “Eden’s safety should come first.”
James cut in. “The safety of the helicopter and this crew are our top priority. I need to bring this bird home with all of you still on board. But regulations be damned. We won’t return without Eden. Agreed?”
“Agreed.”
They talked through various scenarios—if Crane came peaceably, if he threatened Eden, if he refused to let Eden stop the boat, if he endangered the helo in some way, if Santee had no choice but to use lethal force.
Sean was against putting a bullet through theSea Nymph’s engine. The boat had been Justin’s wedding present to Eden. But if that was their only option…
“What if he fires at the helo? It’s not bullet proof. Or what if he shoots me when I’m being hoisted down to get Eden?” Trey was right to ask.
A rescue swimmer on a hoist line would make an easy target.
Santee answered without hesitation. “If he fires at us, I take him out.”
“And you can do that with these waves and the wind?”
“Absolutely.”
“You’re cocky.”
Santee grinned. “I’m confident.”
James brought them all back to earth. “We need to face the possibility that we’ll have to leave the rescue to the cutter. They have the boat’s coordinates and are following its progress. We’ll go until we hit bingo fuel levels, and then return to base. If we can’t stop Crane from the air, they’ll stop him on the water.”
But Sean wasn’t coming home without Eden.
“The ride is going to get bumpy,” James warned them.
Within minutes, turbulence began to bounce the helo around, a vicious headwind slowing their progress, every minute that passed putting Sean more on edge.
“Got any barf bags back there?” Zeke sounded like he was about to lose it.
Trey handed one forward. Zeke was the first to lose his lunch, followed by Trey. But Sean wasn’t bothered by the turbulence, and neither were Chase or James.
James checked in with Sector. “We’ll be arriving on scene in zero-five mikes.”
Sean closed his eyes and sent a prayer skyward.
Hold on, sweetheart. We’re almost there.
* * *
