putting the Coast Guard station in Virtue Falls Harbor; the elders predicted a day of disaster.
Now it had come.
But Kateri had planned. She knew what to do.
As the ground rocked under her and cabinets fells off the wall, she shouted, “Get out there and get the people out of the harbor. If they’re on their boats, send them straight out the breakwater and tell them to keep going as fast as they can over the top of the wave. Then get the cutters out of the harbor.”
Like great, stupid fools, the men stared at her.
“A tsunami’s on its way.” She gestured widely toward the shuddering window that looked out on the blue ocean.
They understood then. Cold professionalism swiftly overcame their shock, and all the men battled the violent rocking to leap toward their gear.
All the men … except Adams.
He stood still, his eyes cold and unresponsive. “How do you know that?”
“That a tsunami’s coming? I know.” She pulled on her life vest. “This wave will be huge, and it’ll lift everything in the harbor and carry it inland.” She staggered as the ground fell away from her feet, then lifted again. This earthquake was a killer. Literally. “A wave like this will lift the cutters and carry them inland.”
“A tsunami can’t be strong enough to lift a Coast Guard cutter,” Adams said.
“You dumbshit.” Sánchez staggered toward the door. “Did you never see the footage of the Japanese tsunami?”
Adams watched the crew as they raced, carrying the gear they hadn’t yet donned, up and down the harbor, yelling instructions to the boaters.
The fishermen were already on the move, taking their boats out through the breakwater; they knew this ocean.
The casual vacationers were running toward town; they were scared spitless.
And here Kateri was, stuck with the guy too stupid to be scared spitless.
“I need you in charge of the Ginia .” She plunged after her men. “Do your duty, lieutenant.”
Turning, she saw Adams fighting the earthquake to stand in one place.
“Stay here if you like,” she said. “The tsunami’s going to clear the waterfront, and after it does, I’ll have your corpse court-martialed.”
Finally he moved toward his gear. He didn’t believe her. He made that clear by his studied reluctance. But through the window he could see the other Coasties now headed to the dock. Maybe the other guys’ alarm had finally gotten through to him.
They had a skeleton crew and three cutters to steer through the narrow breakwater. They could battle through the swell if they got their boats headed straight out to sea before the first big wave started to break. If they didn’t … the force of the water would catch the cutters and they would capsize and submerge, or be carried inland and break apart.
Grimly she ran toward the Iron Sullivan , the last cutter in the line.
They didn’t have much time.
CHAPTER TEN
Elizabeth ran all the way from the Oceanview Café in downtown Virtue Falls to the rim of Virtue Falls Canyon. She looked, and looked again, and in a gasping prayer of thanksgiving, she sang, “Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.”
She’d arrived in time. The first wave hadn’t yet arrived.
As she put down her bag, she trembled with excitement.
Or was that an aftershock?
Beneath her feet, dirt tumbled down into the depths of the canyon.
She moved back from the rim—a little. She had a duty to geology, to her team, to her father’s legacy. Not the murder part; the geology part.
She stood sandwiched between the two greatest scientific moments of her life: a magnificent earthquake, and the resulting tsunami.
Yet as she pulled out her video camera, it was the cut in her hand that kept her attention focused not on the restless, ruthless earth, but on the pain, and a glance at the bandage Rainbow had fashioned proved the blood still seeped into the white towel, turning it red.
In the big scheme of things, the cut could never be considered anything but minor. But Elizabeth
Now it had come.
But Kateri had planned. She knew what to do.
As the ground rocked under her and cabinets fells off the wall, she shouted, “Get out there and get the people out of the harbor. If they’re on their boats, send them straight out the breakwater and tell them to keep going as fast as they can over the top of the wave. Then get the cutters out of the harbor.”
Like great, stupid fools, the men stared at her.
“A tsunami’s on its way.” She gestured widely toward the shuddering window that looked out on the blue ocean.
They understood then. Cold professionalism swiftly overcame their shock, and all the men battled the violent rocking to leap toward their gear.
All the men … except Adams.
He stood still, his eyes cold and unresponsive. “How do you know that?”
“That a tsunami’s coming? I know.” She pulled on her life vest. “This wave will be huge, and it’ll lift everything in the harbor and carry it inland.” She staggered as the ground fell away from her feet, then lifted again. This earthquake was a killer. Literally. “A wave like this will lift the cutters and carry them inland.”
“A tsunami can’t be strong enough to lift a Coast Guard cutter,” Adams said.
“You dumbshit.” Sánchez staggered toward the door. “Did you never see the footage of the Japanese tsunami?”
Adams watched the crew as they raced, carrying the gear they hadn’t yet donned, up and down the harbor, yelling instructions to the boaters.
The fishermen were already on the move, taking their boats out through the breakwater; they knew this ocean.
The casual vacationers were running toward town; they were scared spitless.
And here Kateri was, stuck with the guy too stupid to be scared spitless.
“I need you in charge of the Ginia .” She plunged after her men. “Do your duty, lieutenant.”
Turning, she saw Adams fighting the earthquake to stand in one place.
“Stay here if you like,” she said. “The tsunami’s going to clear the waterfront, and after it does, I’ll have your corpse court-martialed.”
Finally he moved toward his gear. He didn’t believe her. He made that clear by his studied reluctance. But through the window he could see the other Coasties now headed to the dock. Maybe the other guys’ alarm had finally gotten through to him.
They had a skeleton crew and three cutters to steer through the narrow breakwater. They could battle through the swell if they got their boats headed straight out to sea before the first big wave started to break. If they didn’t … the force of the water would catch the cutters and they would capsize and submerge, or be carried inland and break apart.
Grimly she ran toward the Iron Sullivan , the last cutter in the line.
They didn’t have much time.
CHAPTER TEN
Elizabeth ran all the way from the Oceanview Café in downtown Virtue Falls to the rim of Virtue Falls Canyon. She looked, and looked again, and in a gasping prayer of thanksgiving, she sang, “Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.”
She’d arrived in time. The first wave hadn’t yet arrived.
As she put down her bag, she trembled with excitement.
Or was that an aftershock?
Beneath her feet, dirt tumbled down into the depths of the canyon.
She moved back from the rim—a little. She had a duty to geology, to her team, to her father’s legacy. Not the murder part; the geology part.
She stood sandwiched between the two greatest scientific moments of her life: a magnificent earthquake, and the resulting tsunami.
Yet as she pulled out her video camera, it was the cut in her hand that kept her attention focused not on the restless, ruthless earth, but on the pain, and a glance at the bandage Rainbow had fashioned proved the blood still seeped into the white towel, turning it red.
In the big scheme of things, the cut could never be considered anything but minor. But Elizabeth
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