Page 65 of Four Cards Exposed

He felt a pang of sadness—hoped one of their colleagues was bundling her into the helicopter.

James hefted the girl higher onto his hip. Everything hurt. He was going to need a bucket of Tylenol when this was over. He looked down at the shoulder of his dark T-shirt. It was impossible to see how badly he was bleeding.

It doesn’t matter.

You’re not bleeding out before you get them to safety.

“Are you really FBI?” Pia asked, looking at their clothes.

“He’s FBI,” Susan said quietly. “I’m a sheriff’s officer.”

“This whole time … you’ve been undercover.”

James detected surprise, but no malice in her voice. But this wasn’t the right place for the conversation. If the helicopter was gone, they needed to find another way out of here.

He handed the girl to her mother and put his ear to the door. Susan was right there behind him.

“I don’t hear any water,” she said.

“Hold on to something, just in case, while I open it.”

Though he knew his right arm would be near useless, James placed both hands on the wheel. He was prepared to put his full strength behind it, but the wheel spun easily. The door open revealing the dark night sky above.

Sky is good.

Sky means we haven’t sunk yet.

“Come on,” he said. He reached back and pulled the girl out of her mother’s arms again.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

The whisper was so soft he almost didn’t catch it, it was more a puff of air onto his neck than a word.

“Laura.”

“You’re doing great, Laura. You just keep holding on to me, okay?”

“My mom …”

“She’s right behind us,” he assured her, without bothering to check that he was telling the truth.

A throbbing, insect-like sound shook the air above them.

James looked up, already knowing what he was going to find.

“The helicopter’s gone,” Pia said in a defeated whisper.

“They couldn’t wait any longer. That’s what Lorraine was trying to tell us,” James said. He clenched his teeth together.

The boat lurched again—starboard, he remembered, since they were facing the front of the boat—and they all held on to the railing for dear life.

“The lifeboats,” Susan said calmly. She started running towards the small staircase, up to the higher deck where the lifeboats were hanging.

James plodded after her, still holding on to the girl. He didn’t need to check on Pia behind them. Where the girl went, she would follow.

This deck was completely empty. Somebody had launched most of the lifeboats already, but there were still two left, lying there like upside down turtle shells.

Two boats.