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The boat cut its speed and started making a wide turn. The people on the upper deck and those inside who didn’t know what had happened mumbled in unison, creating a howl that rolled across the bay.
More crew members fanned out on the deck and began herding people to the other side of the boat.
An announcement boomed on the loudspeaker. “Anyone who witnessed the man going over or who has any information about him or the incident, gather inside at the bar.”
So, someone had gone into the water. Hailey secured the scarf tighter around her neck. Did she have any information? Was that Marten’s hat?
She pulled out her phone and texted him again.
A coast guard boat joined them within minutes, and the ferry began to head back to the pier, but they weren’t going to let anyone off the boat just yet. A deadly calm and order fell over the ferry as people began to form knots, discussing the incident and complaining about their interrupted trip.
Hailey decided to join the group by the bar. Marten hadn’t texted her back yet. Listening to snatches of conversations, it seemed as if nobody had actually witnessed the man falling overboard. A few claimed to have seen a man in the water, but no groups were missing anyone from their party—nobody but her.
She shuffled up to a crew member behind the bar, who raised his eyebrows. “Did you see something?”
“No, but...” Hailey bit her lip. How stupid did her story sound?
The crew member tapped his pen on the pad of paper beneath his arm. “Yes?”
“I—I was supposed to meet someone on board, and I thought I saw him wearing that black hat. He did wear a hat like that.”
“What hat?”
“There was a black hat on the deck where the man went over.”
He drew his brows together. “I don’t know anything about a hat. Go on. You were meeting him on the ferry?”
Hailey flipped one end of her scarf over her shoulder. “He indicated that he was going to be running late and might miss the ferry, so he told me to go ahead and board without him.”
“The man’s name?”
“Marten de Becker.”
He scribbled Marten’s name beneath several other notes he’d already taken. “I’m going to radio his name back to the office on the pier so we can check out his ticket and if he boarded the ferry.”
Hailey nodded and stepped to the side, folding her hands around the cup of coffee that the crew members had handed out earlier. It couldn’t be Marten. Why would Marten jump off a ferry when they had a meeting planned?
Several minutes later, the man turned back toward her. “There was no Marten de Becker who bought a ticket or boarded the ferry. Sounds like you and your friend got your dates or times mixed up.”
Hailey’s shoulders slumped, warm relief flooding her body. “Nobody is missing yet?”
“The office is narrowing down the names, but we won’t release anything until the next of kin is notified.”
“It’s horrible. Do you have cameras on that area of the ferry?”
“No cameras on the boat, but we do have them back at the loading area.”
After several more minutes, people began disembarking, and the captain announced that another ferry would be there to meet them if any passengers wanted to return to Alcatraz and continue their trip.
Hailey didn’t have any reason to return to Alcatraz. She’d been there a hundred times. How could people carry on with their plans with the lights from the coast guard boats still illuminating the bay searching for someone?
As her boots clattered over the gangplank, Hailey checked her phone for a text response from Marten, but he hadn’t replied. He’d be sorry he missed all the excitement. Marten loved excitement. Her gaze tracked back to the bay and the coast guard boats now in the distance. A chill touched her spine, as if she were out there struggling in the cold water.
Hailey wandered away from the ferry terminal, her head bent over her phone, pulling up a car app. As her finger hovered over the display to accept a ride, a text came through.
She caught her breath when she saw Marten’s name. She tapped the message and read aloud, “‘Changed my mind.’”
“What?” She clenched her teeth from screaming. After all that trouble and...worry, and he changed his mind about the meeting?
