Grace was surprised to hear that Tyler had been with the group of young men the sheriff’s office had picked up. Since the earthquake, she and Tyler had been spending more time together, and she had seen no signs of him being in trouble. Nothing to suggest he had strayed from his very determined path.
The night she’d left Robyn’s so angrily, she’d pulled up at her own place to every light on and Tyler nervously waiting for more aftershocks. Though she knew he’d never admit to wanting her home, the night had turned out to be one of their best. Too wired from the quake and the anticipation of more aftershocks, as well as her fury with Robyn, Grace had set about making a pan of brownies. She and Tyler had polished them off sitting on the back porch listening to the unexpected song of frogs coming from the gully that ran through the pastureland behind their house.
They hadn’t talked about anything in particular, which was what stood out so much for Grace. She wasn’t trying to guide his choices. She hadn’t needed to be in control. They simply riffed on childhood memories which seemed to foster a renewed bond.
Realizing how little attention she’d paid to him since she’d started seeing Robyn, she’d made a real effort to be home from work in time to have dinner together. Each night, he smelled like Robyn’s shop—sawdust and sweat—and he seemed pumped about his projects rather than idiotic illegal schemes.
If not for his past, she would have shut down Robyn’s goose chase, but she knew from watching her parents’ struggle with Tyler that he was capable of slipping up despite his most sincere promises. She just prayed he was smarter now than he had been years ago when he was just a rebellious kid.
At the sheriff’s station, she watched as Robyn took the lead, striding through the doors to the counter. “Robyn Landy. Lieutenant Matute is expecting me.”
“Have a seat. He said he’d be right with you.”
Robyn gestured to the chairs, inviting Grace to sit.
“You have me too worried,” she said.
“I’m sorry.” Robyn walked to the row of connected chairs and sat, rubbing her face.
“Landy!” Lieutenant Matute’s voice filled the foyer as he strode through a door off to the side of the room. He loomed large in a crisp uniform, forest green pants and tan shirt with a star badge above the left breast pocket decorated with an American flag pin. Robyn leapt to her feet and the two shared a back-smacking hug. The officer matched Robyn’s stature and coloring but sported a military close haircut and immaculately-trimmed dark beard. “It’s been too long,” he said, holding her at arm’s length.
“If you’ve got time for chitchat, that means Tyler’s not involved with these guys?”
“I’m sorry to say he is, but we’ve got our boat and the coast guard out on the bay looking for him.” He offered a confident smile, rocking to the balls of his feet.
“The coast guard? I don’t understand,” Grace said.
Lieutenant Matute looked to Grace and back to Robyn.
“Sorry. This is Tyler’s sister, Grace Warren.”
“Ah, well, apparently one of the boys invited his friends out on the water in his parents’ boat. They went down to King Salmon…”
Grace turned questioning eyes to Robyn.
She supplied, “It’s south of Eureka, waterfront properties.”
The lieutenant confirmed and continued. “We got a call around three. The witness said he’d seen four young men prowling around Stansbury Mansion.”
Robyn swore under her breath.
“That’s the place you were telling me and Tyler about?”
“Yes. The estate sale is this weekend.”
“Probably why they had security on the grounds. When the boys saw them, they fled from the private dock in their boat. The guards gave us a full description, and patrol picked them up at the Woodley Island Marina. They found a bunch of stolen items in their car there along with a few things lifted from Stansbury Mansion. But we only found three guys, one short of the complaint, and all of them high as a kite.”
“Tyler wasn’t with them?”
“No. We asked them where the fourth guy was. They confirmed that it was Tyler. He was concerned about being picked up, so apparently they dumped him in the water to swim to shore. He has a record?”
“Yes,” Grace answered honestly. “He recently moved to Arcata to make a fresh start.”
Lieutenant Matute pursed his lips. “I’m not sure how he’s involved, but we put our boat on search and rescue and called in the guard.”
“If the sheriff’s office was already on the scene, I don’t understand why you need the coast guard,” Grace said.
“We have better boats,” Robyn supplied. “Did they send out the BARRACUDA and air support?”
“Coast guard from Eureka Bay responded immediately and is closer to where they dropped him on their way to the marina. The helicopter is on its way from Sector.”
“The coast guard has a station near the commercial airport north of Arcata,” Robyn explained to Grace.
“They’ve got it covered, and I’m confident that we’ll be hearing from them any minute.” To Robyn, he said, “How’s retirement? Still can’t believe you didn’t take the promotion.”
“If I’d stayed any longer, the job would have claimed me,” Robyn replied.
“I always wondered why you pushed so hard. Most do because they want the next step. I thought that’s where you were headed.”
“Time to rescue myself,” Robyn said. Though Grace would have liked her to elaborate, Robyn characteristically directed the conversation away from herself, asking the lieutenant about his family.
Grace hugged herself as the two caught up, talking about Matute’s children, their college and career plans.
“Lieutenant!” The deputy at the desk extended the phone in his hand, a palm covering the receiver. “Coast guard is on the scene but has no visual. They’ve done a sweep from the station to the marina but haven’t spotted him.”
Concern clouded Matute’s face as he accepted the phone. Panic flashed through Grace’s body. Grace couldn’t follow anything the lieutenant said. She kept her eyes trained on Robyn, trusting her reaction to reveal what she needed to know about the situation.
“Excuse me. I need to see if we can get any more information about where our suspects dropped Tyler into the water.”
“Shouldn’t you go with him?” Grace asked Robyn.
“This is James’s station. I’m not stepping on his toes,” Robyn answered.
“It can’t be good that they’re calling, that they haven’t found him.” Robyn didn’t answer, giving Grace all the information she needed. She sat again, numb with worry. “What?”
“I’d feel a whole lot better if I knew whether he has a lifejacket.”
“He’s a strong swimmer,” Grace insisted. What she thought would ease the concern in Robyn’s eyes had no effect. “That doesn’t change anything?”
“This time of year, the water in the bay hovers around fifty degrees. If he has a life jacket, he can maintain his core temperature,” Robyn said. “If he’s having to tread water, that will take his core temperature down and raise the risk of hypothermia.”
“How long does he have without a life jacket?”
“He might have up to four hours with a life jacket.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Robyn looked at her watch, prompting Grace to look at her own. Ten after four. She looked at Robyn. “Without a life jacket, he probably has a half hour.”
Fear sliced through Grace. “A half hour? But your friend said they got a call at three. That was more than an hour ago!”
“You have to stay positive, Grace.” Robyn sat down next to her. “We don’t know when he entered the water, and my guys aren’t going to give up easily. They just want a smart search. The more information they have, the faster they can locate him. They want him out of the water as much as we do.”
It felt like forever before Lieutenant Matute returned, motioning to Robyn. “We’ve got something.”
Grace grabbed Robyn’s hand. She couldn’t be left behind.
“James?” Robyn asked.
He nodded a terse approval and ushered everyone back to the evidence room, explaining that the statement the young men had made on the scene gave them the impression that Tyler had gone overboard close to the marina. “When we informed them that they could face charges for leaving Tyler in the water, they insisted they threw him a life jacket. That’s when we learned they had a video clip.”
“Video?” Robyn said, doubtfully.
“Lucky for us, one of the idiots whipped out his cell phone. We have it on the monitor now.” He nodded to the deputy. Grace struggled to make sense of the grainy gray scene before her. Suddenly, Tyler emerged from the water with a shocked roar.
Grace gasped.
“Better start swimming!” a voice cackled.
“Throw him a life jacket!”
The camera panned as the person filming turned toward the command. The video ended.
Robyn spoke immediately. “What’s the time stamp?”
“Fifteen thirty-six.”
Grace calculated. “He’s been in the water forty minutes, Robyn.”
“He could have the jacket…Can you play the clip again?” The deputy complied, and while she watched the screen, everyone else watched her. Grace watched Robyn’s eyes as she searched the image. “Again…Stop!” The image froze just after the camera left Tyler. Gray-blue water filled all but the very top of the screen. “James, can you get air patrol on the line?”
“What do you see?” Matute asked, motioning to his sergeant to make the requested call.
Robyn pointed to the top of the screen. “A memorial.”
Matute leaned forward, squinting at the barren shoreline. “I see rocks.”
“Locals erected a memorial after they lost family when their fishing boat went down by the north spit.”
“Dammit,” Matute said.
“Is that bad…” Grace started to ask.
Matute held up his hand for silence when the deputy announced that air patrol was on the line. “Captain Eason, I’ve got Robyn Landy, retired…”
Robyn snatched the phone from him. “Fred. I’m so glad to hear you’re out there. I’m looking at some video of the scene and can place Tyler’s entry into the water much further south…”
“I don’t understand,” Grace tried again, overwhelmed by the bustle of activity that followed Robyn’s cryptic observation. As Robyn relayed physical landmarks and discussed tidal patterns, the deputy guided Grace to a chair. She watched as they stretched out a nautical chart, Robyn’s arms spread wide to hold it in place, the phone on speaker. Though Robyn kept a steady stream of information, Grace heard only a high ringing. Her breath came in short gasps, and she began to feel light-headed.
“Go ahead and lean forward,” the deputy advised. “Can you hear me?”
Grace nodded.
“Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Try to stay calm. Do you know how much your brother weighs?”
“Two something. I really have no idea,” Grace sobbed.
“It’s okay. Ballpark is okay. Do you know his height?”
“Six two. That I know.”
“Good. He’s my height. You think he’s lighter or heavier than I am?”
Grace assessed the young deputy, who had a lot more muscle than Tyler. “A lot lighter.”
“That helps a lot. Keep your head down. I need to get those details to the guard.”
She did as he said, breathing as the deputy had instructed, wondering why they wanted her brother’s height and weight. She closed her eyes, trying to push out the image of Robyn’s face when the camera had cut away from Tyler. She wanted to believe that it was going to be okay, but the energy in the room conveyed the seriousness of the situation.
Feeling warm hands on her thigh, she opened her eyes. Robyn crouched beside her and began to rub her back with one hand.
“What was important about the memorial?” Grace asked.
“It places Tyler right at the mouth of the entrance to Humboldt Bay, close enough to shore for me to see that memorial, but with the tide going out he’ll be working against the current to reach the coast.”
“And the current can pull him out into the ocean?” Robyn’s hand stilled, giving Grace her answer. “Why does his weight matter?”
“The mission coordinator has to calculate the survival odds. His height and weight, the temperature of the air and water—all of that go into a program that gives a search timeline.”
“What happens if they don’t find him?” Grace asked, sitting up. She could not read Robyn’s expression. She wore the poker face of an experienced officer.
“They’ll suspend the active search.”
“And if he is swept out into the ocean?”
“The odds of rescue…”
Grace didn’t need Robyn to finish the sentence, knowing that even if Tyler had the life jacket, the odds of finding him in the open ocean were miniscule. She felt a crushing weight, one she knew would compel a mourning family to create a memorial on the shore. “How did you know about the memorial?” she whispered.
“My papa used to take me and Jeff clamming down there. We were always getting bored and wandering off. One time we climbed up on the rocks. When Papa saw where we were, we got a stern talking to about not disrespecting the dead and their grieving families. Jeff shook it off, but it stuck with me. I’d disappointed him.”
“You were a child,” Grace observed.
Robyn looked away. “There’s nothing more we can do here. Let’s get over to the hospital and wait for them to bring him in.”
“What if they don’t find him?”
“This is what the coast guard does, Grace. We rescue people.” She wrapped her arm protectively around Grace’s shoulder and drew her close. “The important thing is that they are on their way right now. I’ve pointed them in the right direction. They’ll find him.”
“She’s right,” Lieutenant Matute said, joining them.
Grace looked up to see him reading Robyn’s arm around her. His countenance shifted as he put together that she was more than Tyler’s sister. She felt him weighing whether she was good enough for Robyn. His eyes returned to Robyn and softened.
“We were lucky you were here to help,” he said. “We’ve got it from here.”