Page 38 of One Last Chance

Behind his closed eyes, he watched the horror replay, over and over.“Moose, pull up. Pull up!”

He’d have to try harder. He dug out his phone, opened a sleep app, and set it to waves. No, not waves. An airplane. No, not that . . . A train.

A nice constant, loud locomotive.

Then he lay on his side, the sound pressed to his ear. Closed his eyes.

And all he saw was waves, thundering down over the boat.

He sighed, his gut churning again.

Please, God. Save Axel. Please, save Axel. Please . . .

He must have dozed off, because a hand on his shoulder jerked him awake. He stirred, turned over, and stared up.

“You were making sounds.” London stood over him, her blonde hair tied back, concern in her blue eyes.

“That was the locomotive.”

“Sounded more like—” She frowned. “You okay?”

He sighed. “No.” He sat up. “What time is it?”

“About three a.m.”

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“I wasn’t sleeping.” She sank down on the nearest empty cot. “I’m worried too.”

He scrubbed his hands down his face. “I should have never asked him to jump aboard this . . . team. I knew he was reckless?—”

“Moose. He’s the best rescue tech I’ve ever seen. No one dies on his watch—not if he can help it.”

Moose sighed. “That’s because he has history.”

“The Coast Guard rescue gone bad. I know about it—Shep told me.”

How Shep knew, he didn’t know, but Moose nodded. “But not just that. Years ago, when Axel was about fifteen, our cousin went missing. She got lost on a camping trip and was never found. A month or so later she showed up, dead—shot.”

London’s eyes widened. “That’s terrible.”

“What’s more terrible is that she was with Axel when she went missing. They were swimming in the Copper River. She got swept downstream and . . . he couldn’t get to her.”

“That explains a lot.”

“Yeah.” He shook his head. “I was trying to give him . . . I don’t know . . . purpose, maybe. A way to sort out all that grief inside. Maybe get free of it after he saved enough lives. But it’s always with him. Always telling him he’s not quite enough, that he needs to be better.”

She touched his arm. “If anyone can survive out there, if it’s even possible, it’s Axel.”

He nodded. And for a second wished he was back in Anchorage, waiting it out at the Skyport Diner, his favorite waitress—no, friend, at least for a while—Tillie sitting across from him, listening to him with that way she had, her face in her hands. Wow, he missed her. She seemed to know how to soothe the prowling frustration inside him. And it had less to do with the diner’s pie or chocolate shakes and more to do with the fact that she asked. Listened. Cared.

And she wasn’t a teammate that he had to protect, emotionally, physically, or financially.

London got up. “I’m going to check the weather—you try and sl?—”

The door banged open. “Moose. Get up.” Shep came into the room. “Axel is alive.”

Moose hit his feet. “What?”

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