“Yes,” Grace answered honestly. “He recently moved to Arcata to make a fresh start.”
Lieutenant Matute pursed his lips. “I’m not sure how he’s involved, but we put our boat on search and rescue and called in the guard.”
“If the sheriff’s office was already on the scene, I don’t understand why you need the coast guard,” Grace said.
“We have better boats,” Robyn supplied. “Did they send out the BARRACUDA and air support?”
“Coast guard from Eureka Bay responded immediately and is closer to where they dropped him on their way to the marina. The helicopter is on its way from Sector.”
“The coast guard has a station near the commercial airport north of Arcata,” Robyn explained to Grace.
“They’ve got it covered, and I’m confident that we’ll be hearing from them any minute.” To Robyn, he said, “How’s retirement? Still can’t believe you didn’t take the promotion.”
“If I’d stayed any longer, the job would have claimed me,” Robyn replied.
“I always wondered why you pushed so hard. Most do because they want the next step. I thought that’s where you were headed.”
“Time to rescue myself,” Robyn said. Though Grace would have liked her to elaborate, Robyn characteristically directed the conversation away from herself, asking the lieutenant about his family.
Grace hugged herself as the two caught up, talking about Matute’s children, their college and career plans.
“Lieutenant!” The deputy at the desk extended the phone in his hand, a palm covering the receiver. “Coast guard is on the scene but has no visual. They’ve done a sweep from the station to the marina but haven’t spotted him.”
Concern clouded Matute’s face as he accepted the phone. Panic flashed through Grace’s body. Grace couldn’t follow anything the lieutenant said. She kept her eyes trained on Robyn, trusting her reaction to reveal what she needed to know about the situation.
“Excuse me. I need to see if we can get any more information about where our suspects dropped Tyler into the water.”
“Shouldn’t you go with him?” Grace asked Robyn.
“This is James’s station. I’m not stepping on his toes,” Robyn answered.
“It can’t be good that they’re calling, that they haven’t found him.” Robyn didn’t answer, giving Grace all the information she needed. She sat again, numb with worry. “What?”
“I’d feel a whole lot better if I knew whether he has a lifejacket.”
“He’s a strong swimmer,” Grace insisted. What she thought would ease the concern in Robyn’s eyes had no effect. “That doesn’t change anything?”
“This time of year, the water in the bay hovers around fifty degrees. If he has a life jacket, he can maintain his core temperature,” Robyn said. “If he’s having to tread water, that will take his core temperature down and raise the risk of hypothermia.”
“How long does he have without a life jacket?”
“He might have up to four hours with a life jacket.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Robyn looked at her watch, prompting Grace to look at her own. Ten after four. She looked at Robyn. “Without a life jacket, he probably has a half hour.”
Fear sliced through Grace. “A half hour? But your friend said they got a call at three. That was more than an hour ago!”
“You have to stay positive, Grace.” Robyn sat down next to her. “We don’t know when he entered the water, and my guys aren’t going to give up easily. They just want a smart search. The more information they have, the faster they can locate him. They want him out of the water as much as we do.”
It felt like forever before Lieutenant Matute returned, motioning to Robyn. “We’ve got something.”
Grace grabbed Robyn’s hand. She couldn’t be left behind.
“James?” Robyn asked.
He nodded a terse approval and ushered everyone back to the evidence room, explaining that the statement the young men had made on the scene gave them the impression that Tyler had gone overboard close to the marina. “When we informed them that they could face charges for leaving Tyler in the water, they insisted they threw him a life jacket. That’s when we learned they had a video clip.”
“Video?” Robyn said, doubtfully.
“Lucky for us, one of the idiots whipped out his cell phone. We have it on the monitor now.” He nodded to the deputy. Grace struggled to make sense of the grainy gray scene before her. Suddenly, Tyler emerged from the water with a shocked roar.
Grace gasped.
“Better start swimming!” a voice cackled.
“Throw him a life jacket!”
The camera panned as the person filming turned toward the command. The video ended.
Robyn spoke immediately. “What’s the time stamp?”
“Fifteen thirty-six.”
Grace calculated. “He’s been in the water forty minutes, Robyn.”
“He could have the jacket…Can you play the clip again?” The deputy complied, and while she watched the screen, everyone else watched her. Grace watched Robyn’s eyes as she searched the image. “Again…Stop!” The image froze just after the camera left Tyler. Gray-blue water filled all but the very top of the screen. “James, can you get air patrol on the line?”
“What do you see?” Matute asked, motioning to his sergeant to make the requested call.
Robyn pointed to the top of the screen. “A memorial.”
Matute leaned forward, squinting at the barren shoreline. “I see rocks.”
“Locals erected a memorial after they lost family when their fishing boat went down by the north spit.”
“Dammit,” Matute said.
“Is that bad…” Grace started to ask.
Matute held up his hand for silence when the deputy announced that air patrol was on the line. “Captain Eason, I’ve got Robyn Landy, retired…”
Robyn snatched the phone from him. “Fred. I’m so glad to hear you’re out there. I’m looking at some video of the scene and can place Tyler’s entry into the water much further south…”
“I don’t understand,” Grace tried again, overwhelmed by the bustle of activity that followed Robyn’s cryptic observation. As Robyn relayed physical landmarks and discussed tidal patterns, the deputy guided Grace to a chair. She watched as they stretched out a nautical chart, Robyn’s arms spread wide to hold it in place, the phone on speaker. Though Robyn kept a steady stream of information, Grace heard only a high ringing. Her breath came in short gasps, and she began to feel light-headed.
“Go ahead and lean forward,” the deputy advised. “Can you hear me?”
Grace nodded.
“Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try to stay calm. Do you know how much your brother weighs?”
“Two something. I really have no idea,” Grace sobbed.
“It’s okay. Ballpark is okay. Do you know his height?”
“Six two. That I know.”
“Good. He’s my height. You think he’s lighter or heavier than I am?”
Grace assessed the young deputy, who had a lot more muscle than Tyler. “A lot lighter.”
“That helps a lot. Keep your head down. I need to get those details to the guard.”
She did as he said, breathing as the deputy had instructed, wondering why they wanted her brother’s height and weight. She closed her eyes, trying to push out the image of Robyn’s face when the camera had cut away from Tyler. She wanted to believe that it was going to be okay, but the energy in the room conveyed the seriousness of the situation.
Feeling warm hands on her thigh, she opened her eyes. Robyn crouched beside her and began to rub her back with one hand.
“What was important about the memorial?” Grace asked.
“It places Tyler right at the mouth of the entrance to Humboldt Bay, close enough to shore for me to see that memorial, but with the tide going out he’ll be working against the current to reach the coast.”
“And the current can pull him out into the ocean?” Robyn’s hand stilled, giving Grace her answer. “Why does his weight matter?”
“The mission coordinator has to calculate the survival odds. His height and weight, the temperature of the air and water—all of that go into a program that gives a search timeline.”
“What happens if they don’t find him?” Grace asked, sitting up. She could not read Robyn’s expression. She wore the poker face of an experienced officer.
“They’ll suspend the active search.”
“And if he is swept out into the ocean?”
“The odds of rescue…”
Grace didn’t need Robyn to finish the sentence, knowing that even if Tyler had the life jacket, the odds of finding him in the open ocean were miniscule. She felt a crushing weight, one she knew would compel a mourning family to create a memorial on the shore. “How did you know about the memorial?” she whispered.
“My papa used to take me and Jeff clamming down there. We were always getting bored and wandering off. One time we climbed up on the rocks. When Papa saw where we were, we got a stern talking to about not disrespecting the dead and their grieving families. Jeff shook it off, but it stuck with me. I’d disappointed him.”
“You were a child,” Grace observed.
Robyn looked away. “There’s nothing more we can do here. Let’s get over to the hospital and wait for them to bring him in.”
“What if they don’t find him?”
“This is what the coast guard does, Grace. We rescue people.” She wrapped her arm protectively around Grace’s shoulder and drew her close. “The important thing is that they are on their way right now. I’ve pointed them in the right direction. They’ll find him.”
“She’s right,” Lieutenant Matute said, joining them.
Grace looked up to see him reading Robyn’s arm around her. His countenance shifted as he put together that she was more than Tyler’s sister. She felt him weighing whether she was good enough for Robyn. His eyes returned to Robyn and softened.
“We were lucky you were here to help,” he said. “We’ve got it from here.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
Grace refused to look at Robyn as they drove. “I should call Leah.”
“They might have news for us by the time we reach the hospital. Why don’t you wait until you have more information?”
“I appreciate the confidence you have in your colleagues…” Grace rested her head on the window. “But I can’t seem to muster up your optimism.”
Robyn didn’t push and they completed the ride in silence.
Grace felt like she should apologize for her pessimism. She knew it seeped from the memory of that life-altering phone call she had received from Leah. She tried to remember how she had known from the minute she’d picked up the phone that something was wrong. What had she read in the silence between her answering and Leah speaking? Not that her sister had been crying. That came later. Grace wondered if she were to call now if her voice would sound the same to Leah. Robyn was right in advising her to wait until they had more information.
Later, she would realize how fortunate she was to have Robyn shuttle her from the station to the hospital and guide her right to the emergency room entrance. She didn’t have to think, just follow.
At the counter, she tested her voice. “Do you…” She couldn’t even form the question and looked to Robyn for help.
“Has the coast guard called in a rescue from Humboldt Bay? This is Grace Warren. They’re searching for her brother, Tyler.”
“I can’t confirm incoming traumas.” The nurse paused, looking sympathetically at both of them. “But we do have an air delivery on its way. If you’d like to go to the front desk and give them your details, I will keep you posted.”
“But,” Grace interjected.
“HIPAA regulations,” the woman insisted.
“We’ll get the paperwork started, thanks,” Robyn said, steering Grace away. “When my guys called in, they most likely used a radio. They wouldn’t be able to say more than race, gender and age. Even if she did have a name, the law is really strict about protecting privacy. Frustrating, I know, but necessary. We’ll do the paperwork, and once they match his information to you, they’ll be able to release more.”
Again, Grace found herself following Robyn, sitting where she suggested and providing the information that Robyn needed to complete the paperwork from the front desk. “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Grace said as they walked back to the emergency waiting room. “If I’d gotten here at all, I would have been running into walls and screaming my head off trying to make someone do something. Anything. You’re so levelheaded.” She remembered the calm she had felt radiating from Robyn when she met her at the barn.
“Panic is a natural response, and it’s productive if you can channel the energy. You can be faster. Stronger. But you have to stay in control, harness it effectively.”
“You seem so in your element here. I’m surprised you retired.”
“All those adrenaline rushes take their toll,” Robyn answered.
“You told your friend that the job would have taken you. What did you mean by that?”
Robyn took a deep breath before answering. “There were days that I dreaded going home so much that I let that influence my decisions in the field.”
Grace waited for Robyn to explain. When she didn’t, she stopped walking. “Influence your decisions how?”
“I didn’t care whether I came home or not.”
Grace didn’t know how to respond. Before she could, the nurse in ER flagged them.
“The coast guard just delivered your brother. They’re working to stabilize him, and I’ll call you in just as soon as I can.”
Grace scanned the room. They’d had a view of the emergency area as they walked from the front desk, but she had seen no gurney, no medical team rushing to his aid. Her body wanted to sag with relief hearing that they had, indeed, brought in her brother, but she couldn’t bring herself to believe it without having seen him.
“I don’t understand,” she said to Robyn. “Is he okay?”
“They most likely brought him in from the helipad. They’re going to want to get him stripped down and warmed up with blankets. It’s important that they get some fluids into him and bring up his temperature. That’s what they’re going to be doing right now.” Suddenly her face lit up. “Eason!” she called.
The coast guard officer turned toward Robyn’s voice. “Landy!” His wide smile flashed straight white teeth.
“Come on,” Robyn said, pulling Grace. “He’ll be able to give us more information.” When they reached the towering man, still decked out in his orange rescue suit and harness, Grace could still see the impression from his goggles on his red face. If the man in front of her had protective gear and still showed the effects of the cold, what did her brother look like?
Robyn spoke first. “This is Tyler’s sister. Was he conscious in the water?”
“Just starting to slip. It’s a good thing we got there when we did. He had the jacket on, and his face was out of the water. His vitals stayed stable on the way in, and they’re setting him up on the IV now.” He looked directly at Grace. “It’s a tiny space in there, and they’re working like crazy. They couldn’t wait to get me out of there. It’ll probably be fifteen, twenty minutes before they let family in.”
Grace gulped back tears. She wanted to see him for herself but understood the need to stay out of their way.
“Fred, I can’t thank you enough,” Robyn said.
He laughed. “Remember how much you hated the families thanking you? You always came back grumping about how you were just doing your job and how awkward the thank-yous made you feel?”
Robyn punched him. “Point taken. It sucks being on this side.”
“I bet. But it’s a good thing you were. This guy owes you his life. He a friend of yours?”
Robyn looked at Grace as if she answered
the question. Grace could see her doing the math in her head. She cared about Grace, so she cared about Tyler. “He’s family,” Grace answered, seeing in Robyn’s eyes that her words explained their relationship perfectly.
“Family, huh?” Fred said with weight, looking from one woman to the other.
“I’ll let her fill you in,” Grace said. “I need to find some coffee.”
“I’ll come with you,” Robyn said.
“No. Stay.” Grace appreciated Robyn’s support but needed to be alone. She had information for her sister now. She should make the call. After she took the chill off, she thought. Following Robyn’s directions to the cafeteria, she bought herself a cup of coffee and doctored it at the counter.
Outside, she saw a fountain and lush garden and wove through the tables and chairs to find a door, spotting it around the U-shaped patio. She headed toward it. An elaborate plaque hung in the hallway, announcing the donor who had made the outdoor meditation garden possible.
She remembered the petty officer’s words about how her brother was alive because of Robyn. Framed clippings detailed the work the hospital had done to save, repair and rehabilitate a patient who was rescued from a particularly horrific boating accident. Curious about the conditions of the patient’s rescue, she passed over the details of what the trauma center had done, looking for more information about the accident itself, strolling slowly toward the doors to the garden. Directly across from the doors were photographs of the young man and the medical staff attached to the copy of the thank-you letter the family had written to the hospital.
The next photograph stopped Grace short.
An official pinned a medal onto a woman in uniform. The text next to the photo read “For Outstanding Acts of Bravery.” Though she had already recognized the recipient, her eyes skipped to the name for confirmation.
Chief Petty Officer Robyn Landy.
Grace took a step closer. Though she’d immediately known the woman in the photo was Robyn, she hardly recognized her decked out in her dress uniform. The light blue shirt beneath the dark jacket brought out the startling blue of her eyes. Robyn’s eyes in a younger face. A formal and surprisingly guarded face. This Robyn was all professionalism, aloof in polished perfection. Grace recalled how she had told Kristine and Gloria that Robyn had potential. Rough around the edges, she’d said. The Robyn in the photograph was all polish, a version Grace should have found even more attractive.
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