A Dangerous Leap

by Sharon Calvin

  Lord, Kel, don’t lose it now. Not only did she have a little girl to rescue, she had a future husband and their half-dozen or so unborn babies to return to as well. She needed to focus on her breathe-stroke-kick routine.

  She refused to think about the fact one of the helos had left already, taking Ian away from her. Sooner or later the one currently flying a search grid would hit bingo and have to follow. It didn’t matter, her job was to breathe, stroke, kick. And look—

  Dear God, it was the child, only a few yards in front of her. Relief flooded through her veins like a drug. She hadn’t been following an illusion after all.

  A wave rose up and separated them, but Kelly filled her lungs and slipped below the surface, her kicks stronger, her mind clearer. Kick, stroke, kick, yes, the girl’s legs were moving!

  Kelly surfaced in front of the child but couldn’t make out her expression in the dark. She spit out the mouthpiece of her snorkel so she could speak. “Are you okay?” she shouted against the noise of the wind and rain. The little girl jerked then launched herself at Kelly, wrapping her short arms around Kelly’s neck, her legs around Kelly’s waist.

  Water swamped them both before Kelly surged up, breaking the terrified girl’s hold. “You’re safe now, and not alone,” she crooned into her ear. “I’m Kelly. What’s your name, sweetie?”

  “S-Stephanie,” the girl said in a hoarse voice.

  Chills racked her small body and Kelly realized the child was hypothermic. Now that she’d found the girl, she was determined to get her out of the water.

  Her new priority was to make sure they both were found—the sooner the better.

  * * *

  When the Jayhawk crew landed at Boca Chica Key West, flight ops confirmed they’d be flying north to Naples to deliver the three survivors to a local hospital. Key West, along with all the Keys, was in the midst of a mandatory evacuation in anticipation of Gina’s landfall.

  Ian stood in the doorway of the hangar watching the Navy lineman fueling the helicopter. It shuddered and swayed in the fifty-mile-an-hour wind. How the hell could Kelly last in the open water in these kinds of conditions?

  Caitlyn joined him in the opening. “Phillips picked up the remaining family members, they’re all okay, but he’s still searching for Kelly and the child. He’ll stay on site until they hit bingo,” Caitlyn said. “Come on, let’s get these people to Naples.”

  The crew and survivors were all subdued on the flight north. Ian saw to the comfort of his patients but they were as fearful for their lost grandchild as Ian was for Kelly. The only good thing about the flight was the weather improved the farther north they went.

  The landing in Naples was smooth. But Caitlyn had to cut the engines and Ian had to wait impatiently for the rotors to stop before he could unload his patients. An orderly and nurse along with a gurney and wheelchair were waiting for them inside the glassed-in wing near the landing pad at the Naples regional hospital.

  “Don’t give up hope, son. I’ve learned over the years to never give up hope,” the girl’s grandfather said. Ian helped transfer him to the gurney. His wife patted his cheek, even as tears flowed down her own.

  “Yes sir, I agree. We’ll find your granddaughter,” Ian said with more conviction than he felt. Finding Kelly would be a miracle in itself, finding the little girl…that would take more divine intervention than he could contemplate on a night like this.

  Caitlyn opted to fuel up again. Winds aloft were shifting radically as the hurricane drew closer. Ian fumed, his hands stuffed in his flight suit as the Jayhawk was topped off at the local base. The deteriorating weather was hampering everyone, including getting the go-ahead to launch again. He squinted up at the black night. Hell, he’d beg, borrow, or steal a boat if he had to, but there was no way he wasn’t going back out for Kelly.

  “Ian!” Caitlyn shouted, wrenching him from his desperate rescue plans.

  He turned and she motioned him over to the ready-room where the rest of their crew waited.

  He jogged through the hangar, the night mechanics busy servicing their flying machines. Their faces all looked grim as he went by, adding to his fears. Did they know something he didn’t?

  When he joined his crew in the ready-room they looked just as defeated. “Is flight ops telling us we can’t launch?” He fisted his hands in his pockets. No way he’d abandon his search.

  Cait frowned at him. “No, but it’s volunteer only at this point. Winds are approaching the maximum my bird’s capable of flying into, but I’m good to go,” she said.

  Ian scanned the faces of his fellow Coasties. Ryan and Joe nodded their agreement.

  “We’re in. No way would we abandon her out there,” Joe said.

  Ian’s throat closed. Joe’s support, in particular, spoke volumes about the impact Kelly had on her team members.

  Caitlyn stood at parade rest, her arms behind her back, her feet spread apart. “Phillips is headed to Boca Chica for fuel right now. His crew’s willing to go back out as soon as they drop off the remaining survivors here in Naples. Based on current weather predictions, we won’t be able to return to Boca Chica on our way back. So this will become our closest fuel base.”

  What she didn’t say was that meant their fuel window had shrunk by a good hour.

  She rapped her knuckles in a quick one-two on the gunmetal conference table. “Let’s saddle up and go get our Kelly-girl back,” Cait said. She grabbed her flight bag and headed to the hangar with long strides.

  As Ian followed, Kelly’s words came back to haunt him. “I came into the world in the water, and if I’m lucky, that’s the way I’ll leave”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Like a gift from heaven, a flashing light appeared out of the black slashing rain, beckoning Kelly forward. Was it an illusion brought on by exhaustion? She continued swimming toward the beacon, Stephanie tucked safely under her arm. She was ten feet away when her brain kicked in and she recognized what she’d been swimming to. And laughed out loud at the new miracle.

  The warning marker, while overrun by waves, stood solid under the water’s onslaught. It wouldn’t keep them dry and it afforded minimal protection, but it would give Kelly a chance to radio for help. Best of all, she could give rescuers a known location that wouldn’t be a moving target.

  A wave carried Kelly to the base of the wooden structure and she grabbed hold of it before she was pulled away. “Look, Steph, we have a place to hole up,” she shouted to the child. She looped her arm through the wooden cross bar and boosted Stephanie up the ladder. Her muscles screamed their protest and she ignored them, just as she’d been doing the last hour or so.

  “Grab that step with both hands and hang on. I’ll be right behind you,” she shouted.

  Another wave hit the marker, and Kelly braced herself against Stephanie, sandwiching the child between the ladder and herself. Maybe it was her imagination, but it seemed like the waves were getting smaller. As soon as the water receded, she urged the child up, one careful step at a time. They climbed as high as they could, and Kelly wedged herself onto the small wooden platform under the flashing beacon and settled Stephanie between her legs.

  “I’m radioing for help. Relax, I’ve got hold of you now,” she said. Her mouth and tongue felt thick and unresponsive from the dual effects of hypothermia and fatigue, while her arms and legs jerked with uncontrollable muscle spasms.

  Okay, Lord, one more little favor, Kelly prayed. She’d like a nice warm Jayhawk with an Irish-Italian hunk to heat her up from the inside out.

  She fumbled, her fingers stiff as she pulled her waterproof VHF radio from a pouch on her harness. It took several tries before she got it powered up and could send out her call for help. She knew chances were good there was a C-130 circling somewhere in the sky above them. That would be the last support asset pulled from a search. Thank God the Coast Gu
ard frowned on losing personnel—

  “Roger, Bishop, we copy. Say location and nature of emergency, over.”

  Kelly crowed with delight and hugged Stephanie. Had any man’s voice ever sounded sweeter?

  “Rebecca Shoal’s warning marker 6. I have a ten-year-old survivor with me. Notify Lieutenant Stone you’ve located her missing swimmer. Over,” Kelly shouted.

  The hum of static continued so long, Kelly thought she’d lost contact.

  “You’re an RS, in the water? Over.”

  Yeah, and cold and hungry and not in a mood for dense radio operators. “Affirmative. This is United States Coast Guard Petty Officer Bishop, rescue swimmer, the best of the best.”

  She smiled, despite her cold, wet and precarious position. Yes sir, she was feeling pretty damn good. She hugged Stephanie tighter and yelled into the radio over the storm’s roar, “I am what I am, the best of the best, over.”

  * * *

  The weather out of Naples wasn’t good, but the flight over Key West was the roughest Ian had ever experienced. Numb with worry and fear, he stared out at the slashing rain and prayed like he hadn’t prayed in years.

  Whatever Kelly wanted was hers for the asking. If she wanted him to follow her to Alaska, then he’d pack tomorrow and be on the first flight out. If she didn’t want kids, he’d deal with that too, just please let her be all right. He squeezed his eyes closed against the sudden sting of tears. Shit, he needed—

  Joe tapped him on the shoulder, ripping Ian from his bargaining prayer. Joe was grinning like an idiot. “Didn’t you hear?”

  Ian shook his head, afraid to hope, more afraid not to hope.

  “Cait, repeat that transmission from the C-130, Ian was in La La Land.”

  “Roger that,” she said with a chuckle. “The radio operator wanted to know if we were missing a swimmer—one who considers herself ‘the best of the best.’”

  Ian frowned at Joe and shook his head. Someone had found Kelly? What the hell were they talking about?

  “That’s our Kelly. And she damn well is ‘the best of the best,’” Joe said.

  He grabbed Joe by the shoulders. “They found her? They’ve got Kelly?”

  Joe shook his head but his grin stayed put. “No, they’re circling overhead. We get to do the pickup. Kelly and the little girl she rescued are on the marker light at Rebecca Shoal. The pilot said she sounded drunk, meaning she’s damned exhausted and freezing her butt off. You’d better get to work, you’re going to have two cold, wet survivors to take care of.”

  Relief flooded Ian and if he’d been standing he would have fallen down. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, he owed them all a prayer of thanks. He grinned and gave Joe a high five. She was safe, or damn close to being there.

  Caitlyn announced their ETA of thirty minutes, sobering Ian. He had work to do. Like Joe said, he’d have two wet, hypothermic patients to deal with very shortly.

  * * *

  Kelly jerked awake again, her nerves firing like a machine gun. Despite the waves, wind, and their precarious position, she’d drifted off several times already. Idiot. You’d think the threat of hypothermia and subsequent drowning would keep her wide awake. But nooo, she kept nodding—

  The repetitive thump clicked in to her still-functioning brain cells, all ten or twelve of them, and Kelly leaned her head out so she could look up. A light danced into view kicking more brain cells into gear. Her eyes widened. It was a helicopter.

  “Son of a b—” She choked on her words in time to stop them from flying out. “Stephanie, honey, wake up. The good guys are here.” She gently shook the girl. “Steph, honey, wake up.”

  By the time Stephanie was semi-awake the helo was flashing a hello with its searchlight.

  Kelly had never seen a sweeter vision in all her life. Dare she hope for Ian and her crew in the welcoming committee?

  * * *

  Ian waited impatiently as Joe winched Kelly and the girl up from their tiny perch on Rebecca Shoal. Fatigue lined her face as she more or less fell into the Jayhawk, her legs wrapped around the child, her arms holding on to the cable. While Joe unhooked Kelly and helped the child out of the strop, her gaze sought Ian’s and stayed locked on. He couldn’t hear her over the roar of wind and engine, but her mouth formed the words, “I love you.”

  That was all it took. Ian grabbed her and kissed her cold, salty mouth and face, then just held her tight. “I love you too. You scared the hell out of me.” A tremor ran through her body and sanity returned. “You need to get out of that damn wetsuit and get dried off.”

  Ian took both their temperatures. Kelly registered ninety-four while Stephanie’s showed ninety-six. His mind supplied a textbook answer. Mild hypothermia requiring dry, warm clothes and a source of external heat to hasten recovery.

  Kelly, of course, insisted on helping Stephanie undress. Her stiff fingers didn’t work very well, but Ian didn’t have the heart to stop her. After drying Stephanie off, Kelly bundled her into a blanket and Ian activated a chemical heat pack. The child then curled up on Joe’s lap and promptly fell asleep. Shocked, Joe looked down at her with a half smile kicking up the corner of his mouth.

  Kelly stripped with her typical abandon, but it took more than a little fumbling for her to get her wetsuit off. Ian shook his head, obviously more concerned about what Joe might see than she was. He positioned himself in front of her, trying to block Joe’s view.

  “Jeez, he’s seen naked women before,” Kelly grumbled and rolled her eyes when she caught his blatant maneuver.

  “Hey, I’m not looking.”

  The snort that followed sounded even less convincing to Ian. “Humor me,” Ian said and held a towel up.

  He wrapped it around Kelly, vigorously toweling her off while wishing they were alone. He would have used a much more primitive method to raise her body temperature. Kelly gave him a crooked grin and cold-lipped kiss.

  And he’d swear she knew exactly where his thoughts were headed.

  Ian shook his head and helped her into sweatpants and a top before wrapping her in a blanket, then pulling her onto his lap. He intended to keep her there for the remainder of the flight.

  “This feels nice too,” Kelly said, her words slurring as she snuggled her head under his chin.

  Yeah, it did. Ian eyed the sleeping girl in Joe’s lap. Without Kelly’s selfless courage, Stephanie would have died. Much as he hated the thought of living with dread like he had that night, he’d never ask Kelly to give up her job. Dear God, he’d pretty much do anything to keep her in his life, he’d just have to learn how to live with that kind of fear. They’d been given a second chance, he wasn’t about to quibble over the details.

  They landed in Naples and Stephanie’s family rushed out to greet them before the rotors had stopped whirling. Tears and back-slapping accompanied them into the hospital along with a news crew. Thankfully a Public Affairs Officer arrived and Ian forced Kelly to see the ER doctor on duty. She grumbled the entire time, claiming she was more than qualified to assess her own air-worthiness.

  Yeah, right.

  Kelly submitted to the exam but stood toe-to-toe with the doctor, refusing to let him admit her. She crossed her arms over her chest. “No, I’m returning to the air station with my crew.”

  The doctor turned to Ian. “Take her home, check her temperature every few hours and put her to bed,” he said with a shake of his head. He winked at Ian on his way out of the cubicle.

  “I need another flight suit,” Kelly said, frowning down at the blue sweats Ian had dressed her in on the helicopter.

  Ian threw his hands up and turned to follow the doctor out. Caitlyn brushed past him with Kelly’s canvas flight bag on her shoulder. Of course, he should have known the women would stick together.

  Ian called Brendan from the hospital waiting room while Kelly change
d clothes.

  “Thank God. Penny was up all night worrying about you guys,” Brendan said over a yawn. Ian knew his brother well enough to know what he hadn’t said—he’d been just as worried as Penny. “We’re all okay. Let Mom know in case somebody reports it on the news.”

  After a promise to stop by after things got back to normal, Ian hung up. A wolf-whistle made him spin around. Caitlyn and Kelly were walking down the hall, arm in arm, both grinning like kids that had been in the cookie jar.

  “Hey sailor, wanna ride in my helicopter?” Caitlyn asked with a suggestive lift of her eyebrows.

  Ian shook his head. Those two were dangerous together. Kelly’s face looked radiant but she had to be running on fumes after all the hours she’d spent in the water.

  He saluted Caitlyn but his gaze tracked to Kelly. “I would be honored to accompany you two ladies wherever you want to go.”

  They were back in the air and headed home a short time later. The sun broke through the morning clouds over their air station when Caitlyn flew the Jayhawk into the landing pattern. Ian looked out the window over Kelly’s head. Coming home had never felt so good.

  “Uh-oh, something must be going on, look at all those people near the hangar,” Joe said, looking out his side window at the ground below.

  Kelly barely stirred. She’d been asleep for the entire fifty-minute flight. It was as if handing Stephanie off to her family had pulled her plug of responsibility and she’d finally given in to exhaustion.

  Cait settled the Jayhawk onto the tarmac with a lighter than usual touch. Ian saw Joe’s raised brows and grinned. Having an audience did wonders for her fair-weather flying. He looked back outside at the milling people. Maybe the storm had brought additional crews in from the evacuated stations in the Keys.

  “Hey, we’ve landed, not that you could tell from that little love tap,” Ian said, giving Kelly’s shoulder a gentle shake. She murmured something and leaned into his arm. He grinned with a new thought.