Chapter 20 #2
“Ask him about the GPS,” Pid said.
Mustang put the phone on speaker and held it out as the team gathered around. “Go ahead,” he told Pid.
“Does the Fish Tales have a GPS system onboard?” Pid asked.
“Of course. There’s one system that tracks the boat itself, that’s how I knew where it was, and another that’s used when we’re on the water to keep us oriented. We mark the points where we find fish and where other boats have said they’ve had success.”
“Does it run nonstop? Will there be a record of where the boat’s been?”
“Definitely,” Perry said. “I can look it up and send you the track.”
“Perfect. The sooner the better,” Mustang told him.
“I’m also gonna make some calls to other boat owners and see if they’ll go out and help look for Melody. You need anything, and I mean anything, you call me or Kahoni. We know a lot of people on this island. She may not have been here long, but she’s like family to us.”
“Thanks,” Mustang said. He was trying to keep his composure, but it was getting more and more difficult.
He hung up and turned to his team. He was at a loss as to what they should do next.
“I’m gonna call the commander and see if we can get a chopper up. He’ll also contact the Coast Guard and get them on this too. We’re gonna find her, Mustang. I swear to fucking God, we’ll find her,” Jag swore.
Mustang nodded and turned to stare out at the ocean. Before, he’d always been calmed by looking at the waves, but now they seemed to mock him. Elodie was out there. Somewhere. He knew it. He had no idea if she was alive or dead, but she was out there—and he needed to find her.
Elodie was used to being by herself. It had been hard to make friends with her intense schedule as a chef, and after she’d fled New York, she hadn’t dared reach out to many people. She didn’t mind her own company and had no problem entertaining herself with a book or mindless TV.
But the feeling of being alone while bobbing in the waves in the middle of the ocean was something completely different. It was as if she was the only person left in the world, and it was terrifying.
She’d been in the water all day and the sun had finally begun to fall from the sky, giving her a bit of reprieve from its scorching rays, but she didn’t like the look of the storm clouds gathering behind her.
She’d been able to keep Diamond Head in view all day, which was somewhat comforting, although it didn’t seem to be getting any nearer, no matter how hard or long she swam toward it.
For the first time in hours, negative thoughts crept into her brain. No one was going to find her out here. She was literally a needle in a haystack. Even if Scott figured out what happened and came to look for her, Kai had headed off their planned route to deeper waters.
She didn’t like the ocean, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t a good swimmer. It was what had kept her alive all day. She swam toward shore when she could, but mostly she conserved her energy and floated on her back. She was hungry, exhausted, and terrified, but she refused to give up.
Elodie had never been as thirsty as she was right this moment.
She’d thrown up a bit from swallowing the salty seawater, but now there was nothing left in her belly to come up.
The salt was sucking the life from her body as fast as the sun had.
She knew better than to drink the water all around her, but with each passing minute, she was afraid she’d give in to the temptation.
Earlier, she’d could’ve sworn she saw a boat in the distance, and she had raised her arm, waving it around hysterically while screaming for help, only to realize she was hallucinating. There was no boat. No one was there to rescue her.
At this point, if Steven returned, she’d gladly get back on the boat. Even when she knew he’d shoot her the second she climbed onboard. Anything would be better than dying out here in the middle of the ocean.
She felt something brush against her leg—and screamed in terror, lurching backward as best she could. Heart beating frantically, Elodie tried to see under the water, to get a glimpse at what was about to eat her.
When she saw a fin break the surface five meters from where she was treading, she whimpered.
Then another fin appeared. And another.
She was surrounded and was about to be shark food. Scott wouldn’t ever know what had happened to her. There would be nothing left for him to find.
Suddenly, she heard a weird sound. A high-pitched whining, almost, and she whipped her head around.
A dolphin was staring at her from less than ten feet away.
As if it saw her gaping at it, the mammal bobbed its head up and down, then dove beneath the surface.
Elodie licked her dry and cracked lips uneasily. Another dolphin lifted its head from the water and made some clicking noises before disappearing. The dolphins began to play all around her, gliding through the water with ease, coming close but never touching her.
As scary as this situation was, and as terrified as she was that she was going to die, Elodie couldn’t help but be awed by the somewhat magical display going on all around her. She had no idea why the dolphins were there or what they were doing, but somehow, she suddenly didn’t feel so alone.
Until she saw it.
A bigger fin about fifty yards away.
She blinked, and for a moment wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating again.
But then it resurfaced—and she knew without a doubt that it wasn’t a dolphin.
She panicked again, and began to swim as fast as she could in the other direction.
The dolphins kept pace with her, swimming next to and around her as she flailed and tried to get away from the shark.
It was ridiculous, that shark could reach her in seconds.
She was no match for it. She was in its world now.
She was the prey and it was definitely the predator.
In her head, she imagined it wanting revenge for all the fish the Fish Tales had stolen from the ocean.
It was ridiculous, but she wasn’t exactly thinking straight.
Eventually, she got so tired she had to stop and rest. Her head was on a swivel, trying to find where the shark went, but she couldn’t see any sign of it. It had either gone below her, ready to swallow her up from underneath, or had deemed her not worthy of a proper meal.
But all through her panicked retreat from the shark, the dolphins had stayed nearby. When she finally got her bearings and realized she’d been swimming in the wrong direction, away from Oahu instead of toward it, she wanted to cry once more.
With the waning light and approaching storm, it was getting harder and harder to see Diamond Head.
In the dark, she’d have no idea which way to go, she’d be completely lost. Not only that, but she’d begun to shiver.
The water off the coast of Hawaii was warm, but it was far below her normal body temperature.
Swimming had helped keep her warm, but the chill was seeping into her bones more and more.
One of the dolphins swam close enough that Elodie could reach out and barely touch its rubbery-smooth skin.
Her earlier thought that maybe a dolphin would let her latch onto it and take her into shore sprang to mind once more.
She envisioned herself making friends with the things, like the boy in the movie Free Willy did with the killer whale.
“Find Scott,” she found herself telling the mammal. “Go tell him where I am. But you’re gonna have to be fast. I’m not sure how much longer I can hold out. I’m trying, but I hate the ocean. No offense.”
The dolphin didn’t reply, but it did nudge her hand before sinking below the surface once more.
Elodie turned over onto her back and stared up at the sky. She couldn’t see any stars, partly because it wasn’t quite dark enough yet but also because clouds were quickly moving in.
Closing her eyes, Elodie bobbed up and down in the waves and let her mind wander. She tried to remember every moment she’d spent with Scott. The good times and the bad. If she was going to die, she was going to do it with the man she loved on her mind.