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Alerts pinged in the background. “Ryder. This is Bishop. Get your brother to hurry and get the hell up here or you’re going to be swimming home.”
Ryder shouted after him. “Caleb?”
“Just making sure we don’t leave anyone behind.” The helm door was jammed. Caleb stepped back, then shoved hard. The latch burst and he was inside. He ignored the gleam of expensive equipment and headed for the hatch that would take him to the lower deck.
“Caleb!” Ryder shouted from outside. The comms buzzed. “Bishop. He’s below deck.”
Caleb hurried down the companionway, hand over foot. The wood was slippery. Lethal. He breathed a sigh of relief when he hit the lower cabin.
“Sandra’s struggling. Get a move on.” Bishop sounded pissed now, as the intensity of the Mohawk’s complaint intensified.
A flash of lightning illuminated the saloon. Surety settled on Caleb. He was here now and had a job to do. One he was damn good at.
Dark wood lined the saloon, gleaming in the stormy light. Magazines were scattered on the floor and a bottle of wine had smashed, dousing the table in scarlet liquid. A relentless barrage of rain lashed the portholes as Caleb navigated the chaotic space, fighting the pitch and roll of the floor under his feet. The carpet squelched with sea water. Skin pinched on the back of his neck. How much longer did the ship have?
“Susan!” He yanked open the door to reveal a narrow corridor. A door banged open and shut, straight ahead, revealing a bedroom. Bathroom was on his right.
“Susan?” He pushed open the bathroom door. Lightning flashed through the circular porthole, bouncing off floor to ceiling white tiles. “Sus?—”
The woman was wedged in the small shower stall, arms clutching her sides, the skin on her face stretched like fragile parchment.
Caleb kneeled and reached in, taking hold of her hand. “Susan. I’m Caleb. I’m here to get you out of here.”
A whimper. He lifted the visor on his helmet. If she’d shut down on him completely, it was going to be a whole other shitstorm to evacuate her.
But then her gaze locked on him. “Please.”
“Come on.” He grabbed her shoulders and half lifted, half guided her to her feet. “Okay. I need you to look after this for me.” He pressed his flashlight into her hands to give her something to focus on other than the rising water now sucking at her shins.
“Meyer.” Bishop’s voice buzzed like an angry bee in his ear. “Ship is taking on water. Get your ass out of there now.”
“On our way, birdman.” He turned to Susan. “I’ve got you. Let’s get out of here.”
She nodded, the flashlight beam bouncing around erratically.Caleb hustled her back into the main saloon and toward the exit hatch. He took the flashlight from her and placed her hands on the ladder rungs where water now gushed over the wood. “Climb.”
She nodded and scrambled up, water splashing off her.
Caleb tracked her, holding his body close, in case the torrent knocked her off balance.
At the top, Ryder caught her forearms and pulled her up the last few rungs, already maneuvering her into a harness by the time Caleb stepped onto the reeling deck awash with water.
“Medic lifting,” Henley observed as Ryder lifted off the deck with Susan.
Caleb gritted his teeth, and clung to the helm rail, braced against the relentless hammer of surging waves. He was soaked through, the sub-arctic water numbing his bones. “Henley. This is Meyer. Now would be an excellent time for retrieval.” The ship pitched violently, and he almost lost his grip.
“Keep your panties on. Returning winch to the hot zone.” Henley’s voice crackled over the intercom, his nonchalance in stark contrast to the furious sea.
A gasp of relief escaped Caleb as he finally secured the winch hook, relying on muscle memory to guide him through the motions.
The last clip snapped into place. “This is Meyer. Ready for uplift.”
For a heart-stopping moment, the winch stalled, resisting the pull. The wind howled, spinning him like a leaf caught in a tempest. Then, with a shuddering certainty, the winch engaged, lifting him skyward.
Henley’s face appeared out of the side door with a mix of relief and reproach as he reached to pull Caleb in. “That was too close.”
Caleb swung out of the storm’s grip, catching his breath. He fired Henley a grin. “Just another day at the office, right?”
2
