Found at Sea - By Anne Marie Duquette Page 0,47

fingers moved to cast off the last Zodiac line just as the speck of an orange-and-white Coast Guard helicopter appeared in the distance.

Aurora fired a flare. Jordan breathed a sigh of relief as the helicopter approached to hover nearby. A male diver signaled from the chopper and then, at their assurances of no injuries, made a jump into the water. After giving a thumbs-up diving signal, he went underwater to examine the hull. As the diver prepared to locate any hole and temporarily patch it, the helicopter contacted Aurora via radio.

“We’re going to lower a line to you. Copy?”

Aurora waved her response. “Watch the line,” she told Jordan. “It’s on your side.”

Jordan was able to capture the free line easily enough. Aurora signaled his success to the helicopter, and the crew hefted the pump inside its metal basket, attached to a winch, outside into the open air. The pilot slowly lowered the basket, while Jordan guided the machinery to the deck, ready to catch and secure it when it touched down.

“Got it. Unhitch the winch line,” she yelled into the radio above the noise of the whirling blades.

Jordan secured the pump. “Help me get this thing started,” he called.

With help from Aurora and a few terse instructions over the radio, he soon had the pump operating. The diver eventually emerged above the water to let them know via hand motions that he’d found and temporarily plugged the hole. He left in the same basket and winch that had lowered the pump.

A mere ten minutes later, radio traffic between vessel and aircraft concluded. Thanks were given; the risk of capsizing was gone. The Coast Guard helicopter followed the Silver Dollar back to port, the gas-powered borrowed pump and the ship’s bilge pumps working hard to expel the water belowdecks. With Aurora at the controls and Jordan babysitting the high-powered pump, the ship slowly limped back to Oceanside Harbor.

* * *

THE MASSIVE CRANE carefully lifted the crippled vessel out of the harbor, seawater streaming down from the loaner’s damaged hull. Once on land, Aurora returned the pump to the Coast Guard, again expressing her gratitude. The Coast Guard had notified Harbor Patrol, but neither they nor Aurora needed to be told that the hole in her hull had been deliberately made.

“Looks like they pulled the seal away from the through-hull,” Jordan observed, “and that pulled away part of a wooden plank. I think...I think they wanted a slow leak, Aurora. We lucked out.”

Aurora nodded. “We would have been below water, diving, in an hour and a half,” she said.

Jordan’s jaw tightened. “Enough time for John Doe to find the San Rafael’s general location and to watch the Silver Dollar join her at the bottom. Along with us.”

Icy coldness swept her skin, causing her to shiver in the noonday sun. Jordan’s arm immediately swung around her shoulders as he hugged her tight and gently drew her back from the water that dripped steadily from the boat above her. It seemed a logical move to keep her dry. But Aurora felt much more than gratitude for simple chivalry. His arm did indeed warm her skin, even as his nearness dispelled much of the gloom caused by the near-sinking. She found herself moving even closer, stepping back at the approach of a man carrying a sheaf of documents. Jordan signed papers for the Coast Guard, more papers for the Harbor Patrol and still more, provided by the dry dock to authorize repairs.

Officer Elliot from the Harbor Patrol shook his head. “Someone’s definitely got it in for you, Ms. Collins. We’ll keep a close eye on this vessel and the dry dock while she’s here.”

“Can we get our dive equipment?” Jordan asked.

Elliot held up a restraining hand. “That’ll have to wait until our investigation’s complete. Give us a couple of days.”

Aurora nodded again, not trusting herself to speak.

“We should head back to your sister’s,” Jordan suggested. “And then we need to talk.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Dorian’s house, Oceanside

Same day, 2:00 p.m.

“HERE WE ARE,” Aurora said to Jordan, sounding as casual as she could manage. “I didn’t think we’d be back so soon.” She unlocked the door. “Do you want something to drink? I think I saw some sandwich fixings in the freezer the other day....”

Aurora started toward the kitchen. Jordan’s light grasp on her arm stopped her.

“Aurora, skip the hostess routine. We need to talk now.”

Aurora nodded weakly as she moved toward the living-room couch.

“We’ve got to call off the salvage operation,” Jordan said. “Or we’re going to end