Page 57 of Shielding Instinct

As Hawkeye sprinted into the frothing water, lifting his knees high to maintain his momentum, he pulled the board around, diving onto the surface. He looked over his shoulder to see Cooper extending his forelegs and leaping after him, landing between Hawkeye’s legs.

Cooper moved up until his front paws extended over Hawkeye’s shoulder.

Hawkeye didn’t realize how much that would help him balance the board and plow through the water until Cooper did that. “Good job, buddy. We’re going on a search. Cooper, search.”

Hawkeye was digging deep.

Halo, raised on Australian beaches where surfing was a way of life, slid up beside him. “Bloody hell, mate,” he called. “It’s a bleeding inferno out there. No one’s survived on that boat. I’m going west to the boat, then peeling north if you want to head south from here.”

“Wilco. Hey!” Hawkeye lifted his voice in warning.

Halo tipped his chin to see Hawkeye.

“The guy I had on the beach smelled of diesel. Keep an eye on the water. If the fuel gets on you or the board—”

“Poof,” Halo said. “Stay out of the fuel ring.”

Hawkeye should have said that before he hit the water. There were a lot of moving parts. A lot of details.

Details were survival.

“Diesel in the water!” Hawkeye called out.

“Diesel in the water,” Levi and Ash called from behind him.

With that out of the way, it would take some time for Hawkeye to paddle out. He’d use the time to his advantage. He went back in his memory and tried to recall the details of the first wave.

There was the man who fell from the jet ski onto the boat. Without a helmet, it was unlikely that he’d stayed conscious after hitting.

Next, the boat rolled, tossing the passengers into the swell.

Hawkeye didn’t see the impact of waves two and three. But, in one way or another, most of the people landed on the shore.

From the age of the two crew members who made it to the shore in the next cove, they were servers and probably out on the deck. Two crew members were still missing. Hawkeye thought one was probably a cook and was trapped in the galley.

Could be the fire started there? Hot grease, propane, and the severity of the tilt.

Could be the fire started with the impact of the jet ski?

Knowing the origin of the fire was useless to him. The whole damned boat was aflame.

Hawkeye figured the other crew member might be trapped in the wheelhouse. Not having seen the configuration of the boat, it was speculation at best.

That would account for three of the five missing. Then there were the two other passengers. With a high percentage making it to the shore, what could have happened to the others?

Could be in the latrine. “If anyone had been hitting the head, they were shit out of luck.” Hawkeye looked over his shoulder and said, “Gallows humor.”

Cooper didn’t care; he was hard-focused on the water.

There should have been at least two more people in the water.

Why?

Three possibilities—killed or injured, someone with a disability, someone who didn’t know how to swim, or didn’t trust their swimming skills to make it to shore.

If alive, Hawkeye thought he might find them clinging to the side of the boat below the fire line or maybe they found something buoyant.

Yes, that was his best guess.

---