Midnight Abduction, page 21
part #1 of Finnegan First Responders Series
Grabbing a towel from the stack stored on every Cutter, he swiped it over his head and face, then draped it over his shoulders. Ignoring the gash on his arm, he knelt on the other side of the woman as Cal removed her life jacket and buoy.
Alarm raised the hair on the back of his neck. “Does she still have a pulse?”
“Yes, but she’s not breathing.”
“I’ll give her rescue breaths; you grab the medical supplies. There’s an Ambu Bag and mask in there.” Without waiting for Cal’s response, Quinn bent and gave the woman two rescue breaths.
Nothing.
He tried again, giving two more breaths. She abruptly threw up, gagging as her lungs expelled the water she’d inhaled. He quickly turned her onto her side, using the edge of the towel to wipe her face.
Now that he could see the victim more clearly, he realized she looked familiar.
“I’ve got it,” Cal said breathlessly, setting the large red box beside him.
“Thanks, but we don’t need it. She’s okay.” Coughing like crazy but otherwise okay. “Take the wheel, Cal. Take the Cutter around the boat to see if you see other survivors just in case their reflector signals were damaged too. If not, get us back to shore, pronto.”
“You sure?” Cal’s eyes brightened at the opportunity to drive the boat.
“Go, hurry.” Quinn searched for another towel and used it to pat the woman’s damp hair. Then he grabbed a foil blanket to combat hypothermia. “You okay, ma’am? What’s your name?”
She was still coughing, her face turned away from him. It took her several minutes to regain her composure. Pushing herself into a sitting position, she took the towel from him and buried her face in the cotton fabric. He draped the foil blanket around her, making her look like a skinny baked potato.
Then she raised her head to look at him. In that moment, he realized she was his former fiancée, Sami Lopez.
His mouth dropped open in shock. This couldn’t be right. Sami was dead! Two years ago, he and Sami had been planning their wedding. Then she’d abruptly told him she couldn’t marry him. She’d returned his ring and told him she had to go to California. Just weeks later, he’d heard she’d died in the line of duty while in LA. Her obituary was still in his home office.
Yet here he was looking right at her.
“Sami? What in the world happened? I thought you were dead! Were you on the boat by yourself? Or are there other victims we should be searching for?” He knew he was peppering her with questions, but he needed answers.
“I—don’t know.” A look of confusion crossed her features. She looked away from him, her gaze taking in her surroundings. “You’re with the Coast Guard?”
“Yes.” He frowned. Sami knew full well he was with the Coast Guard. They’d struggled at times to make their schedules work, but he’d thought they were okay.
But they weren’t. Sami had made that perfectly clear.
It was even more shocking, though, to realize she wasn’t dead.
The Cutter buffeted with the wind. In the distance he saw another Cutter heading toward the burning boat. “I need to know who else I need to be out there searching for!” He didn’t bother to hide his exasperation. “You know as well as I do that it’s dangerous to take a boat out all by yourself, especially this far from shore.”
“I—uh, don’t think there’s anyone else.” She did not sound the least bit convincing. The dazed confusion was still in her dark eyes, and she lifted a hand to gingerly touch the wound on her forehead. “My head hurts.”
“I’m sure it does.” He stared at her for a long moment. Sami didn’t usually avoid direct questions. She’d been a cop and had never hesitated to put herself in danger. The way she was looking around, as if she had no idea who he was, rankled.
Two years wasn’t that long. He didn’t think he’d changed that much.
Was it possible this woman wasn’t Sami? He’d heard everyone had a twin somewhere in the world.
Yet he knew this was Sami. “Come on, Sami. Talk to me. Tell me what happened.” He gentled his tone, hoping to reassure her. “You’re safe now.”
“Am I?” She frowned. “I would like to tell you what happened, but I don’t know.”
He stared at her. “You must know. You were there. On the boat. What happened? Do you have any idea why the engine exploded?”
“Boat engines don’t just explode,” she said.
Swallowing another surge of frustration, he said, “Yeah, I know. Which is why I need to understand what happened?”
Wincing, she dropped her hand to her lap. “Honestly, I’d like to help you. But I don’t remember.”
A chill that had nothing to do with the weather snaked over him. “You don’t remember being on the boat?”
“No.” She stared at him for a moment. “I get the sense you know me, you called me Sami. Is that my name?”
The chill coalesced into ice. He held her gaze. “Yes, your full name is Samarita Lopez, you go by Sami. And I’m Quinn Finnegan. You don’t remember me either?”
“I’m afraid not.” She looked upset. “I’m sorry if we were friends. I don’t understand what’s happening. Other than my head hurts. I—maybe I’ll remember more after I get some rest.”
The woman he’d dated for over a year, had been engaged to for another three months, didn’t remember her own name. Or him?
And she wasn’t dead, the way it had been reported?
Quinn had a bad feeling about this. What had Sami been doing out in the middle of Lake Michigan in a boat that had exploded resulting in her nearly drowning to death?
Laura Scott, Midnight Abduction
