Page 16 of Cold Light of Day

One day, then. He doubted that day would ever come. Still...“You never said if you had the required certification...in our conversation yesterday.”

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

“That’s what I thought.” The certification to dive at certain depths was one thing, but it was about much more than deep diving. Experience meant being more relaxed, and that meant needing less air. Maybe they should have had a practice dive first, but he was here and this was happening now. All his second-guessing was only increasing his heart rate.

Way to go, Grier.

They got into their dry suits, geared up, and assisted each other with tanks—nothing he hadn’t done too many times to count, but never had his breathing hitched so much before diving. Chief Autumn Long had a deleterious effect on him, which wasn’t good when he needed to be at the top of his game.

He handed over a communication device. “Here, we can use this to communicate.”

She glanced up at him and smiled. “I’ve never used one of these before.”

“Since you have a full face mask, that’s a little surprising.”

“I’m used to the customary hand signals.”

“Good to know. Well, this is a mic and earpiece. It’s basically just an underwater walkie-talkie. You attach it to your head via the straps. If you want to talk, you have to press the button. After you hear the activation beep, then you can speak. Just remember, talking uses up oxygen too.”

He was adjusting his mask when the chief made an entirely girly noise. A squeal? She pointed across to the port side where a pod of orcas, or killer whales, swam through the water.

“There must be more than thirty of them!” She stood taller and waddled over to the port side in her fins, not an easy task.

He chose to keep his position and secured his Olympus Tough waterproof camera. “We should wait until they pass if they don’t stay around too long. I hope they don’t mess with my line.”

“Oh, I think it would be amazing to see them in the water.”

It is.“Amazing anddangerous. So we need to be careful. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a SeaWorld certification. Sorry.”

A few minutes later, she maneuvered back to sit next to him on the edge of the boat. “They’ve gone up the inlet. You ready?”

He nodded, positioning his mask with the incorporated regulator while she did the same. Together they rolled back into the dark, cold water. He led them down, pacing them as they followed the dive line, descending deeper into the cloudy water, counting on it to clear up any minute now. Grier slowed at fifteen feet to wait a few minutes.

“Good thing this isn’t the Lynn Canal.” His voice sounded strange, and the comms crackled. “At over two thousand feet deep, only Greenland has a deeper fjord in North America.”

“Thanks for the intel. You’re a regular walking—or I should say, diving—encyclopedia.”

“Funny. My point is that you and I wouldn’t be confirming Sarah’s story at those depths.”

They continued descending the line another fifteen feet, waited for the nitrogen to clear their blood, then continued on.

Grier was relieved when visibility finally opened up at thirty feet. “I see the SSTate.”

He left the line and headed toward the old shipwreck.

“What are you doing? We have to stay on mission.” The chief moved next to him. “Grier, please. This isn’t a pleasure dive for me.”

“I can’t say that doesn’t hurt a little. You don’t enjoy diving with me?” He injected teasing into his tone. “Relax. We’re still on mission. Sarah’s boat, if it exists, would be around this area. The current tends to push things near the shipwreck. In 1892, the ship sank exactly three quarters of a nautical mile west, and the current pushed it here. This is our starting point, and we’ll work our way out.”

“I knew I got the right person.”

“What was that you mumbled?” Her comment was telling that she had been sizing him up. “So far, I don’t see evidence of another boat, and visibility is good for almost fifty yards down here.”

In the near distance—maybe fifteen yards away—he spotted something of interest and kicked harder, assuming she would stick close. He didn’t have to say anything to draw her attention. The chief easily spotted the Alaskan king crab holding a smaller crab. There could be more along the wreck, so Grier swam around, taking in the two-hundred-foot broken hull of the steamer covered in anemones as rockfish swam in and out. The chief gazed upward, backlit by the bright green water, and behind her, a school of fish circled. A stunning sight. He lifted his camera and captured the image.

Frowning, she glanced around and saw him, then offered a smile that made his heart jackhammer. Not good when diving. He turned his focus on the shipwreck and the area surrounding them—he could see the sandy inlet bottom. Still no sunken boat besides the old shipwreck.

“Let’s start looking in earnest for Sarah’s boat.” Worst case, they could use sonar to find it. Grier headed west, and she followed.

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