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Drew looked at the debris field and couldn't imagine how anyone could have survived, but he wasn't going to give up without a fight. This is what he did—he saved people. And he was going to save Ria.
He kicked off his shoes and dove into the water. It was a strange feeling to be the one in the water when he was usually the one flying the helicopter that launched rescue swimmers into the sea. For the first time in a long time, he wasn't hovering above the scene, he was right in the thick of it.
For almost two hours, he searched for Ria, but he couldn't find her. He couldn't find anyone.
When a shiny piece of gold floated by him, Drew could no longer deny reality. It was Ria's necklace, the one he'd tugged at with his teeth as it lay in the valley of her breasts. He grabbed it and swam back to the boat. He felt completely exhausted and overwhelmed by unexpected emotion and a terrible certainty.
He stared at the gold heart with the emerald stone and knew that Ria was gone. Beautiful, sexy Ria was dead. He was never going to see her again. One night was all they would ever have.
Chapter Two
Fifteen months later
The distress call came in just before seven o'clock in the morning, a few minutes before his shift was supposed to end. A fire in a fishing boat threatened the lives of two people just off the coast of San Francisco. Drew Callaway and a Coast Guard crew that included fellow pilot, Tim Roberts, flight mechanic Connor Holmes and rescue swimmer, Michael Packer, took off five minutes later, with Drew at the controls of the MH65C Dolphin Helicopter.
As they lifted off, the usual burst of adrenaline ran through his veins. Today's mission would be challenging. The wind was gusting at twenty knots with a steady stream of rain. Even worse there was a layer of low fog blanketing the Pacific Ocean, which would make visibility more difficult. But there were two people aboard the stranded fishing boat, who were counting on Drew and his crew to come through, and he was going to make damn sure that happened.
His crew was a well-oiled machine, each person at the top of their game, and Drew was honored to be working alongside each of the men. His friend, Tim, could party as hard as he worked, but on the job, Tim was an excellent pilot, and they both trusted each other with their lives.
Only one time had Tim led him astray and that was their trip to the island, not that Tim had anticipated Drew would fall for a woman who would end up dead the next day. But if they'd never made that trip, then Drew wouldn't be haunted each and every night by the vision of a beautiful blonde with sweet lips and reckless eyes.
His focus faltered as he thought about Ria. She'd come into his life like a burst of sunlight and had made him feel like he was looking at a future that was much brighter and warmer than his past. But that warmth and light had only lasted a night. In the morning reality had returned, and even now he could feel the thunderous boom that had taken her from his life.
As the months went by, he'd started to get over her, and then five months ago he'd seen a woman on Fisherman's Wharf, and something about her had caught his attention. Her hair had been brown, not blonde, and longer than he remembered, but her body, her walk had reminded him of Ria. She'd seemed so real and alive he'd actually jumped out of his chair at the outdoor café where he was having lunch with friends and bolted down the street after her.
Unfortunately, he'd lost that woman in the crowd, and he'd been shaken by the glimpse of her ever since. But Ria was dead—wasn't she?
Drew's gut tightened as he looked down at the ocean below him. They were thousands of miles away from the spot where Ria had lost her life. But the waves still reminded him of the hours he'd spent searching for her in the water.
The memory also reminded him that in minutes he'd be sending a rescue swimmer down into a turbulent sea to do exactly what he had tried to do—save a life. Hopefully, this mission would be successful.
No hopefully about it, he told himself firmly. Failure was not an option.
Within minutes they reached the distressed vessel. It was taking on water fast, and two people were clinging to the side, as the boat was tossed up and down on the stormy waves. Flames lit up the interior cabin and thick smoke mixed with the rain.
Drew sucked in a deep breath. Was this the same scene Ria had faced in her final minutes? It was more likely she hadn't realized she was in trouble until it was too late. There had been no radio call for help, just one powerful explosion that had blown her boat to pieces.
