Free Sail by James Patterson Page B

now. “Now let’s get below!”
    “What about the anchor?” Katherine asked.
    “Forget it—it won’t be any help to us in this weather. We have to ride it out.”
    Chapter 34
    JAKE SETTLED THE LAST PIECE of important business on deck—reefing the mainsail. With it trimmed more than halfway, the winds wouldn’t be able to capsize the boat. At least he hoped not.
    The waves, however, were a whole other story. Beyond crossing his fingers, there wasn’t much he could do about the power of the sea.
    “Okay, let’s go!” he shouted. “Get behind me and grab the waist in front of you!”
    Katherine and Mark nodded agreement, no questions asked, no more arguments.
    The three of them navigated their way back to the main cabin looking like a slow-motion conga line—a drunk one, at that. But at least it got the job done. When they reached the safety of the steps, they finally unhooked their harness lines.
    “What took you so long?” asked Ernie the second they descended into the galley. He was pale as a ghost, obviously scared out of his mind. But at least he’d had the good sense to stay down here. “We thought we heard somebody screaming,” he continued.
    Jake couldn’t help his gallows sense of humor. “Your brother decided to go for a swim.”
    “Funny,” replied Mark, removing his life jacket, but even he could smile a little now.
    “Whoa,” said Jake. “You’ve got to keep that thing on, even down here.” He looked at Carrie and Ernie. “You too, guys.”
    “Are we going to sink, Uncle Jake?” asked Ernie, his voice trembling with little-boy fear.
    “No way, sport. We’re all going to be fine. This is the end of the Indiana Jones adventure part of our trip.”
    Deep down, though, Jake wasn’t sure.
The Family Dunne
was a big, strong boat, but she’d never really been tested.
    And this storm was proving to be the mother of all tests. All the more reason why his next step was toward the radio. He wanted to establish contact with the Coast Guard, give them the boat’s coordinates. It wasn’t a Mayday call, at least not yet. Not that the Coast Guard, or for that matter the Navy, could actually do anything for them at the moment. The Dunnes were on their own.
    “Pan-pan, Pan-pan, Pan-pan,” began Jake into the radio. “This is the sailing vessel
The Family Dunne.
”
    As he waited for a response, Mark asked him where some extra blankets were. He was still shivering, and he looked a little blue. A blue Popsicle!
    Jake pointed to the bin above the galley seating, and the radio crackled with static. The Coast Guard was responding.
    “Yes,
Family Dunne
, we copy,” came a voice.
    Except Jake didn’t hear it. Instead all his attention had turned to Katherine, who had just finished bandaging her hands and was now helping Mark find a blanket. She was opening the wrong bin, the one with the scuba tanks.
Had Ernie and Carrie checked to see that they were secure?
    Just then another wave pummeled the boat, tipping it deep onto its side. Suddenly Jake had visions of heavy metal canisters flying through the air.
    “No, Katherine, don’t!” he yelled.
    It was too late. The bin door swung open and the two tanks went flying. The first projectile missed Ernie’s head by a couple of inches.
    The second, however, found a target, smashing it to bits.
    Mayday! Mayday!
    The radio was dead.
    Chapter 35
    PETER CARLYLE approached the jury box as humbly as a man wearing a $6,000 custom-made Brioni suit and a hand-folded silk Hermès necktie could.
    “What do you call a bus full of lawyers that drives off a cliff?” he asked the prospective jurors right off the bat. As they all stared at him blankly, he broke into a huge, contagious smile. “A good start, that’s what!”
    Everyone laughed—even the old, curmudgeonly guy seated at the end of the first row, who looked as if he’d rather be having a double root canal than serving on a jury.
    Peter continued: “You hear the one about the lawyer who broke his