Eternal Vows (33 page)

No response. She threw a terrified glance toward Jack, who was pulling at his wet shirt.

“
Do you have the right channel?” he asked, his gaze focused on the intercom.

Casey swallowed past the lump in her throat and nodded. Water streamed off her hair and down her cheeks. She steadied herself against the cockpit wall, using it to keep her balance as waves crashed violently over the bow.

“
Try again.” Jack stepped behind her and rubbed an encouraging hand over her back.

Surely someone will hear us
. She inhaled and kept trying, over and over, until the radio crackled, fuzzy with static.

“
Vessel in distress, this is
Silver Bullet.
What assistance do you need?”

Casey gasped.
Thank God somebody answered
. She grasped the microphone to quell some of her trembling. “Please help,” she croaked, her throat dry and sore from shouting. “My mom fell overboard, and my dad’s missing. We’re sinking. Please send the Coast Guard…the Navy…anybody!”

Barely able to discern the radio chatter from the static, she held her breath as she tried to make out their message.

“
I will notify…Fiji Navy…your location?” said the voice.

“
What?” she shouted. “You’re breaking up!” The boat pitched, and Casey grabbed the back of the captain’s swivel chair. As it spun around, she fought to keep her balance. She hung on as another wave slammed into the vessel like Poseidon’s giant fist.
What’s next? Is he going to
s
tomp the ocean floor with his foot and hit the water with his mythical trident?

Casey’s breath came fast and shallow, misting the rain-streaked windowpane. Her stomach twisted at the thought of what might be happening to her parents and Mike out in the storm. She shook her head, but the thoughts wouldn’t quite go away.

“
Stay as calm as you can,” said the deep, comforting voice. “Make sure your EPIRB is operating so a satellite can pick up the radio waves and we can find you. Hold on. Help’s coming.”

“
Jack, you know the orange walkie-talkie thing mounted outside the cabin?” When he nodded, Casey continued, “Take it out of the brackets and turn the switch on.”

“
I’m on it!” Jack threw the door open and sped out into the blanket of rain as lightning flashed across the sky.

“
You need to give me your latitude and longitude coordinates from your navigation chart or global positioning system,” said the voice on the radio.

She glanced down at the GPS nestled in the controls and gulped. A tiny crack ran down the wide digital screen.
Why now? It was fine earlier.
She glanced around; nothing had fallen. She pressed a red button. The small monitor blinked and turned black.

Casey screamed into the microphone, “GPS not working!”

“
How old are you?”

“
Seventeen.”

“
Okay, I’m going to get you through this step by step,” said the man. “For starters, look at your compass.”

The needle on the deck compass spun around counterclockwise. Casey tapped on it, and the needle jumped back and forth erratically.
What’s going on? This isn’t the freaking Bermuda Triangle, right?
“It’s not working either. It’s just…going crazy.”

“
Can you give me a specific landmark near you?” the voice asked.

“
I know we’re south of the Fiji islands.”

“
Which island?”

Jack appeared beside her and pushed his soaked hair out of his eyes. “There’re like 300 of them.”

Casey looked around the cabin. She needed to keep her cool and think. Her gaze fell on the far end of the wall. She darted over and ran her finger across the waterproof chart. The island was circled in red. In two steps, she reached the desk and grabbed the microphone. “Viti Levu.”

Silence.

A burst of static. More silence. Casey blinked water from her lashes, waiting, hoping. “Hello? Hello? Are you there?” No response. She tried once more, pressing the button in a frenzy as her heart jackhammered against her ribs.
No, this can’t be happening. Not now.

Still nothing.

Casey dropped the microphone and whipped around to stare into Jack’s eyes. “It went dead.” He didn’t say a word. He just hugged her, his palm rubbing the hard knots in her shoulders.

Biting her lip, she tore away from him. She’d never acted like a damsel in distress before, and she wasn’t going to start playing the role now. Did the S
ilver Bullet
hear what island they were near before the radio died? Rescue couldn’t waste valuable time searching around the wrong islands. Her mom’s life depended on that call; everyone’s life depended on that precious communication.

Jack steadied himself against the wall, holding up the orange emergency beacon. “Don’t worry. The transmitter’s on. They’ll pick up our signal and come get us.”

The boat creaked and groaned, making Casey flinch. She wiped a circle clean on the fogged window. “Where’s Mike?”

“
I don’t know, but he should’ve been back by now.”

The lights flickered and went out. Every muscle tensed as Casey blinked, blinded in the sudden darkness. “Crap! We lost the generator.” She ran a hand along the wall until her fingers wrapped around a metal handle.

She rummaged through the top drawer and fumbled for a flashlight, when a lightning bolt shot across the sky. A wave crashed over the bow and rolled down the deck with the momentum and force of a mighty tsunami. Casey ducked as the mass of water smashed through the large cockpit window, slamming into her like a semi-truck. She gasped, coughed, and then gasped again. The cold water reached her waist. Wind howled through the broken window, whipping her hair across her cheeks and eyes. She clutched Jack, burying her face into his chest. His arms encircled her in a strong grip. “I feel like I’m in a scene from
Titanic
. I don’t want to die like this, Jack,” she said, and found it somewhat fitting that his name was Jack in such a scenario.

Suddenly, out of the darkness, clad in an oversized yellow life jacket, Mike pushed through the door, with two more flotation devices draped over his arm. The waist-high water gushed past him onto the deck, leaving her in ankle-deep sea foam. He shined a flashlight beam toward the ground, his mouth set in a hard line. “I’m sorry. I can’t find your dad anywhere.”

Her breath froze
. Oh my gosh! Where is he?
She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to know the answer. Burrowing her face in her hands, she hoped against all odds her mom and dad would somehow survive. The back of her throat felt dry, and a rush of heat swept over her in spite of the cold water soaking her clothes. She dropped to her knees, and Jack dropped with her, holding her.

Mike threw both of them a life preserver. “Put these on…pronto!”

Casey struggled into her jacket. The bright yellow stood out in the dim light. “We got a mayday out.”

Inching nearer, Mike asked, “Help’s coming, then?”

“
Don’t know. Radio went dead,” said Jack. “Couldn’t finish the call. But I turned on the emergency radio beacon.”

Mike ran a hand through his wet hair. “Maybe we should head below deck until rescue comes. I was just down there, and the water’s not that high. If we stay up here, we’ll be swept overboard.”

“
If this boat sinks, that cabin will be your coffin.” Jack squinted as Mike shifted his flashlight beam toward him.

He made a valid point, grim as it was. Casey sucked in a sharp gulp of air. “Meeting a watery grave in Davy Jones’s locker isn’t happening.” She adjusted her vest, pulled the canvas straps, and snapped the buckle around her waist. “We’ve got to get out of here. C’mon! Let’s head for the dingy.”

“
It’s gone,” said Mike, letting out a long breath. “Waves got it.”

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. This was supposed to be a fun and relaxing boat ride.
So how did they jump into
The Perfect Storm
? Did they accidentally board the
Andrea Gail
?
Her stomach sank. She knew the waves were going to rip the boat apart board by board. She needed to come up with a plan, and fast. “Can you shine your light over here?”

He nodded. “What’re you looking for?”

She rummaged through more drawers, her voice growing frantic. “Our ticket out of here.” She pulled out a red plastic flare gun. The Fiji Navy was their only hope.

Is anyone ever going to come help us?
Casey smeared the fogged window and pressed her face against the cold glass. Her parents wouldn’t be able to survive much longer, wherever they were. She peered through the sheets of rain into the blackness beyond when a flash caught her eye. Multi-colored lights blinked in sequence, followed by a blue light that swept toward her in swinging arcs. Her heart pounded in her ears. She listened, but the roaring wind and pouring rain drowned out any sound from the thundering helicopter. “Look! See that?”

Jack wiped the window with his arm and peeked out. “I see it!”

Rescue. Warm blankets. Hot chocolate. Thank goodness.
Casey’s mom and dad had to be on the helicopter, and she was sure they’d be waiting for her with a big smile. She let out a sigh of relief. A beam of light cut through the rain and filled the room, momentarily blinding her. “Ready to get this rescue party started with some fireworks?” She dashed out the wheelhouse door into the furious storm.

Mike waved the flashlight beam frantically in the helicopter’s direction. “Over here!” he shouted, and Casey and Jack joined in the chorus.

As rain pelted down, Casey pointed the flare gun high into the air. She tightened her fingers around the trigger and pulled. A bright red flare illuminated the sky. She fired again and again, giving them a spectacular Fourth of July show.

The storm dumped another huge wave onto the deck, knocking Casey’s feet out from under her and sending the gun flying from her hands. Grunting from the sudden impact, she plunged into the sea. Water rushed down her throat and up her nose. She fought to keep her head above the surface. “Help!” Squinting into the darkness, she noticed the lights had disappeared.
No warm blankets, hot chocolate, or wire basket to ride up in? Where’s the helicopter? Did it turn around and go back? Did it crash?

Casey could hear Mike and Jack’s incoherent shouts over the booming thunder. She screamed, her arms flapping to fight against the current. She forced her mouth shut to avoid swallowing any more water.

Looking up, she could only see the top halves of Mike and Jack’s bodies ducking and rising out of view. They flung something over the side of the boat. Using all her strength, she propelled herself over to a rope. Panting, she swung out her arms.
Got it!
She gave it a hard tug, knowing it was securely fastened to an iron cleat.
How hard can it be to climb a rope?
It would have been a breeze if only she’d attended boot camp instead of spending a week at soccer camp.

A giant explosion of white water rushed over the vessel, followed by a loud
crack
and then a dull
thud
. The rigging and sails crashed to the deck, along with the eighty-foot mast.

Jack yelled above the roar of the wind. “Mike!”

Clinging to the rope, Casey screamed. She wondered if Mike or Jack had been hit by a piece of heavy equipment, and every muscle in her body tensed at the thought.
Are they
hurt?
She blinked but couldn’t see a thing in the darkness. Several bolts of lightning danced across the sky, and she finally saw the eerie outline of Jack near the rail, but her lips trembled when she couldn’t see Mike.
Did he fall in too?
She pictured Mike bleeding—or even worse, knocked out cold.
Oh, gosh! Please no.

Casey glanced around in frantic disbelief but saw nothing but rising mountains of water. Gasping for breath, she tried not to choke on the salty foam being thrust into her mouth by the wild, tumbling waves. She focused her attention back on Jack until he disappeared from view. Water rushed over her face. Her eyes burned, and her vision blurred.

“
Casey?” She heard a voice call out through the storm and threw her head back. “Jack!”

A dark figure leaned over the rail. “I’m going to pull you up.”

The rope in her hands went taut as it lifted her out of the water. She hung in the air, gripped the rope tighter, and spun around in circles. She was spinning faster than an ice-skater performing a two-foot spin for an Olympic gold medal.