Page 86 of The Summer Inn on Plum Island
“I’m going!” Liam stated, his words brooking no argument.
“I’ll come with you,” Scott said and turned toward his wife and brother. “Tracy and Wade,” he addressed them, “I need the two of you to stay here and go through whatever’s on that thumb drive.”
“I want to come with,” Tracy objected, tears falling down her stricken face. “It’s my little girl out there too.”
“Sweetheart, I need you here,” Scott told her. “We’d know if anything had happened to Harper. We’d know.” His voice faltered, and Liam could see he was struggling to keep a level head. “Liam and I are going to find allthreeof them alive.”
Tracy nodded, desperately trying to keep herself together.
“You have an eagle eye for reading, and that’s why you’re my proxy as CEO at the company. Please. You need to look for anything that will give us a clue as to what’s going on in that manual.” He looked at his younger brother. “And before you object, I need you here too, in case you have to get into a system. You’re the best at that, and you can’t go anywhere with your head injury. I’ve already spoken to Doctor Westmorland.”
“No!” Tracy’s voice was half please, half sob. “How can I concentrate when…” She drew in a shaky breath. “How?”
“Because, if they managed to escape the yacht, we need to know if there’s anything in that book that can help us save them,” Scott pointed out.
Wade stepped up beside Tracy, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “We’ll stay here, but keep us updated.” His voice was soft, and his eyes sparkling with unshed tears.
Liam and Scott nodded a promise to let them know the progress of their search as the three men boarded the Coast Guard boat. A feeling of deja vu engulfed him as they sped off, heading to the mouth of the inlet that made up Cobble Cove. Liam glanced at Scott, who, like him, stood staring out at the horizon, searching for any tiny speck that may be their missing loved ones.
The engine sputtered and died, leaving Dawn, Harper, and Lila helplessly adrift in the vastness of the Atlantic.
“Oh, great!” Dawn hissed in angry frustration, trying not to let the feeling of dread overtake her. “Now what?” She tried to restart the engine, but it was not working.
“I guess now we paddle,” Lila said, pulling oars from the side of the boat. “There’s only two, but we can take turns.”
“I’ll start,” Dawn said, grabbing one of the oars.
“I’ll take the first paddle as well,” Harper offered and took the other one.
But despite their efforts to paddle, the single oar slipped from Dawn’s grasp, disappearing into the swells, mirroring the sinking feeling in her stomach.
“No, no, no,” Dawn whimpered, swirling her hand around in the ocean, but the oar slipped away into the sea. “That’s just great, just great.”
Now, without a way to steer, they were at the mercy of the tides. They drifted in silence for a while, bobbing along with the afternoon sun beaming down on them.
It could be worse, Dawn,she told herself.At least it’s not dark.Panic started gnawing its way up her throat.It’s going to get dark in a couple of hours and then what?
Dawn ruthlessly swallowed down the panic and forced herself to breathe. As she did, Dawn reminded herself she had to stay strong for Harper and Lila. She was the adult here. The girls were looking to Dawn to guide, reassure them, and protect them. None of which she could do if she fell to pieces or succumbed to the sea sickness that was making her stomach roil with the motion of the sea.
Her attention was caught by Lila and Harper whispering.
“Tell me what?” Dawn asked, her eyes narrowing curiously.
“Uh…” Harper swallowed, her eyes shrouded with guilt.
“Lila?” Dawn looked at the other teen when Harper clammed up.
Harper and Lila exchanged nervous glances.
“Go on,” Lila whispered encouragingly to Harper.
Dawn’s eyes narrowed some more as she looked from Lila to Harper. “What’s going on, girls?”
Harper’s voice trembled as she confessed, “I think this is all my fault.” She turned to Lila, giving her a tight smile. “I dragged Lila into this.”
Bewildered, Dawn urged them to explain. “Do you mean this situation we’re in?” Her brow furrowed.
Harper hesitated, then revealed a startling piece of their current puzzle. “Last Christmas, when I was using your laptop, I found your book. It wasn’t just the story that captivated me, Aunt Dawn; it was how much it mirrored your own life—except for the fictional bits about the FBI.”
