Free A Dangerous Leap by Sharon Calvin Page B

shoulder up and concentrated on finishing her coffee.
Okay Kel, reality check time.
The man will walk away. With his strong family roots, Ian would never settle for less than a hundred percent commitment from a woman in his life. Kelly, on the other hand, had to give her career a hundred percent commitment or risk her life and those survivors who counted on her for rescue.
    That didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the heck out of him while he was around. She leaned forward and set her mug on the deck with a solid click.
    “Kelly? I’d like to ask you a personal question.”
    Startled, she looked up. Dammit, even wearing a serious expression, the man could induce tachycardia. “Ask away, no guarantee I’ll answer, though.”
    He shifted so he sat sideways to her and took her hand. “What was going on that first night I met you at the bar?”
    * * *
    He knew the minute the words escaped his mouth, she wouldn’t answer. Oh, she might say something flip, or even tell him to mind his own business, but the way her expression shut down, he knew he’d navigated into shark-infested waters.
    Kelly pulled her hand free and gave him a cool, assessing look. “Maybe if you’re still around this time next year I’ll let you in on my darkest secrets. Otherwise, you’ll just have to—”
    “Mayday! Mayday! Please, somebody help me!” a girl’s voice broke through the mundane background chatter of the VHF radio playing over the cockpit speakers.
    Kelly vaulted from the bench seat and across the back of the captain’s chair to grab the radio’s handset. Before she keyed the mic, an authoritative voice came back on the radio requesting the caller’s location and the nature of the emergency.
    Ian joined Kelly and waited for what felt like minutes, but probably amounted to no more than twenty or thirty seconds.
    “M-my dad. I, I think maybe he’s having a heart attack or, or s-something.”
    Not waiting to hear the location, Kelly flipped an instrument switch, the engine room blower on, and the windlass breaker. “I’m going forward to pull anchor. If she gives her location and we’re close, tell—”
    “I’ll offer assistance.” He took the mic from her hand. “Go, I’ll start the engines when it’s safe.”
    A Coast Guard dispatcher with a calm, controlled voice cajoled the girl’s location between sobs. Jesus H., she had to be in the bay just southeast of Kelly’s boat.
    Ian keyed his mic. “This is Coast Guard Petty Officer Razzamenti. I’m on the
Sea Dawg
, a civilian boat. Our ETA is approximately five minutes. We have a paramedic and health tech on board and are heading in that direction.” As he spoke, he started the starboard engine. He heard the windlass whir to life indicating Kelly was pulling anchor and he fired up the port engine. In less than a minute Kelly called the all clear and Ian pushed the starboard transmission forward and pulled the port back, smoothly spinning the cruiser 180 degrees.
    Before he had the boat up to speed, Kelly hopped back into the cockpit. She concentrated on reading the instruments she’d activated earlier. As the girl talked, an LED light glowed.
    “She’s off our port bow thirty degrees,” Kelly told Ian. She looked up and squinted toward the shore. “If they were fishing, they could be along the shallows by the bridge,” she added, pointing to the far side of the bay.
    Ian nodded. Of course Kelly would have a VHF auto direction finder, she had every other kind of gizmo on board. “I’ll swing east after I pass the shoals.”
    “If you’re okay with the helm, I’ll go below and get oxygen and my first-aid kit.”
    “Go for it,” he said. He jockeyed his way between several smaller fishing boats and listened to the dispatcher trying to calm the now hysterical girl. It sounded like her father had passed out and she thought he was dead. At least, Ian prayed the man had only passed out.
    He kept an eye on the depth finder and the ADF. The
Sea Dawg
was on plane