From the bow, flares shot into the air as the huge vessel continued its slow turn, heading back to the area where the two men had jumped.
Islander decelerated until she was barely moving. I was now only one of several hundred people crowding the rails as we watched a speedboat being launched from several decks below. I could see the white uniforms of the crew that manned the tiny vessel as the engines revved and the boat sped off, following the trail of strobes which were bobbing like breadcrumbs on the dark, oily water.
‘Do you think they’ll find him?’ Pia sobbed.
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, unsure who she meant. ‘Who? Thomas Channing or David Warren?’
I felt her shrug. ‘Both, I suppose. I just can’t believe it, Hannah. I thought I was close to Tom – as close as anyone ever got to him, anyway. But I guess I really didn’t know him at all, did I?’ She swiped tears away with the back of her hand. ‘It’s partly my fault, too,’ she sniffed.
‘How can any of this be your fault, Pia?’
She turned a tear-stained face to me. ‘Remember the night I was injured? Before the show I told Tom about my conversation with David. I thought Tom was out of sorts that night but it never crossed my mind that that could be why…’ She paused. ‘And David… I really care about David, Hannah. He seems like such a lost soul. Everything he loved most in the world, taken from him, and now a cruel twist at the end. He deserves better than, than…’
I considered the dark surface of the sea and knew what she was thinking. ‘I think David died the day his wife died, Pia. His life had only one purpose after that. Find his daughter’s killer. And he succeeded. After that… well, what more did he have to live for?’
‘Suicide is never the answer, Hannah.’
‘I know. Back when I had, well, health issues, I learned that life is too precious to be given up willingly.’
The sky lit up like the Fourth of July as more flares were launched from the rescue vessel. Spotlights mounted on its pilot house switched on and began slow sweeps, combing the water.
‘I guess I’m out of a job,’ Pia said, leaning her forearms on the railing, peering off into the distance where rescue lights were dancing around on the waves.
‘There’s always the Oracle,’ I said.
‘Hah! My goal in life. Serving wine to knitters. You know what I want to do right now, Hannah? I want to go home and hug my parents.’
I wanted to do the same, but my mother had passed away more than a decade before and Dad had moved away. ‘Where do they live, Pia?’ I asked.
‘Boston. North End. They own a restaurant.’
‘Italian?’ I wondered aloud.
In the light from the flares, I saw Pia smile. ‘How did you guess?’
We stood in companionable silence for a while, until someone shouted, ‘Look! They’re coming back!’
Pia and I leaned forward, straining our eyes. Indeed, the launch was returning. As it neared the side of Islander, we noticed white-shirted crew members performing CPR on someone lying on the deck at the stern. ‘Is that David or Tom?’ I asked, straining forward, trying to get a better view. ‘Where are my binoculars when I need them?’
‘I can’t tell.’
Neither could I. David had been wearing a jacket over a blue oxford shirt, but the victim’s chest seemed to be bare. The rescue launch drew up to Islander, port side kissing our starboard, so close that we couldn’t see it anymore. But they must have offloaded the victim, because the launch zipped off almost immediately, heading back into the sea of strobes.
For more than an hour Islander idled. In the distance, lights swept the water continually, then suddenly they seemed to multiply, divide. I blinked, refocused, blinked again.
A man standing nearby who had been viewing the rescue effort through binoculars shouted, ‘It’s the Coast Guard!’
The cavalry had ridden to the rescue! Everyone on deck began to applaud and shout encouragement.
According to the gentleman with the binoculars, Islander’s launch would be handing over responsibility for the search to the Coasties, who were ‘much better equipped.’ I watched with a heavy heart as the launch returned, empty-handed, to the mother ship.
Gradually, Islander reversed course and picked up speed. I kept my eyes on the strobes as they grew farther and farther away, watching with deepening sadness as they winked out one by one over the dark horizon.
The spectators began to disperse, heading for their cabins, or the casino, or perhaps to one of the bars where they could argue with alcohol-fueled confidence about the events they had just witnessed. By the following day, I knew, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter would take the news viral.
‘When do you think we’ll find out?’ Pia wondered as we lingered at the rail.
‘Tomorrow morning, I imagine, at the captain’s daily briefing.’
‘Think you can pump Ben Martin for information?’
‘No,’ I said with certainty. ‘Officer By The Book will either be adhering to federal patient confidentiality laws or that good old standby, “pending notification of next of kin.” Maybe both.’
‘What the hell happened here tonight, Hannah?’
I didn’t speak for a few minutes. ‘Tom and David had a scuffle. Tragically, one of them fell overboard. Then the other one jumped in after him.’
Next to me, Pia stirred. ‘Of course,’ she said in a quiet voice. ‘That’s exactly what happened.’
A few minutes later, as we turned to go, Pia asked, ‘Where’s Julie? She said she wanted to see me after the show.’
My heart did a quick rat-a-tat-tat. ‘Oh my God, I’ve forgotten about Julie! Come on!’ As we raced back to the theater, I explained briefly about Julie’s clever hiding place. ‘She’s been hiding in there for over an hour! What is wrong with me?’
But I needn’t have worried. We found Julie sitting on the lip of the stage, feet dangling. On the stage next to her sat Connor Crawford.
‘Julie!’
My niece beamed. ‘I got tired of waiting, so I peeked out through the little…’ Her eyebrows shot under her bangs, and she looked straight at Pia. ‘What?’
Pia placed a finger to her lips, wagged her head from side to side and said, ‘Shhhh. Magicians’ code.’
After the drama of the evening, it felt good to laugh.
The atmosphere quickly grew serious again as I told Julie and Connor what had just happened. ‘We lost them both overboard,’ Pia said. ‘But one has been rescued.’
‘Oh my God!’ Then, ‘I’m praying that it’s David,’ Julie said quietly. ‘He always believed in me.’
Connor launched himself onto his feet. ‘I just came to say goodbye to Julie. I hope you don’t mind.’
‘Of course that’s OK, Connor. Julie owes you a great deal of thanks. We all do.’
He turned to Julie. ‘Well, bye.’ He patted his pocket. ‘I have your email.’
She looked upward at him through her lashes. ‘’Bye.’
Connor studied his shoes for a moment, then turned and walked out of the theater.
‘Well, Julie,’ I said. ‘Do you suppose he’s planning to wait four years until you turn eighteen?’
Julie flushed. ‘Something like that.’
‘He’ll be twenty-five.’
‘Aunt Hannah! You’re embarrassing me.’
‘I’m just teasing, sweetie. Come on, it’s time to find your mother. After all this excitement, do you think she’s still in the hot tub?’
‘Will I see you in the morning, Hannah?’ Pia asked as we prepared to go.
I looped my arm through hers. ‘I hope so. But if not, let’s keep in touch. Do you Facebook?’
‘I do.’
‘I’ll friend you, then.’
‘I’d like that.’
I was too strung out to sleep.