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“There’s a missing kayak and Sarah isn’t at her cabin. No one has seen her all day. He sent out some of his men to find her, but they haven’t had any luck and are on their way back to the island. She has to be there somewhere.”
She called up Mason’s number. “Mason, have you heard from Sarah?” She bit her lip. “Okay, I’ll call out the Coast Guard.”
When she ended the call, Jon grabbed their windbreakers from the front hall tree. “Where should we search if she’s not on the island?”
“She’s not a good kayaker. If she’s flipped it, she’s probably not still alive.” Her voice quavered. “I want to check that little island between the mainland and Tremolo Island. Maybe she washed ashore there. Rather than get my boat, I’ll grab one from headquarters. It’s bigger and will handle the waves from the storm better.”
In minutes they were on the boat and heading out in the choppy waves. The bow cut through the water as Annie, face set and strained, stared at the horizon. Jon used binoculars to study their surroundings, but he saw nothing but white foam and flotsam as they headed out to the little scrap of land on the horizon.
Nothing moved on the little wisp of land, and he didn’t think anyone could hide there without him spotting her. Annie cut the engine, and the boat chugged slowly the last few feet. Jon tossed the anchor overboard, and Annie hopped out before he had asecond to react. He followed her, and this time she didn’t tell him to stay aboard. She’d want all hands on deck to try to find her sister.
Angry or not, she still loved Sarah. It was something that would never change, and one of the many things that drew him. Her devotion and commitment wasn’t something easily set aside.
He wasn’t on the rocky shore more than two minutes when he caught a glimpse of green and spotted the kayak. “She’s here!”
Annie saw it, too, and ran to yank it from the underbrush. She cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted for her sister. “Sarah!”
Only the gulls answered her, and Jon joined her in calling out Sarah’s name. “You go that way, and I’ll go this way.”
They circled the island and ran into each other in fifteen minutes with no sign of her sister. An interesting arrangement of tree branches caught his eye, and he jogged farther inland to have a look. It appeared to be deliberate, and he found a tarp tucked under the leaves. There were scuffle marks and dog prints in the sand too.
“She’s been here!” he shouted to Annie.
Annie joined him and they both yelled for Sarah again, but the place felt deserted. The dog didn’t bark either.
“She’s not here, love.”
“I don’t think so either. But she’s been here, so how did she get off without the kayak?”
Jon studied the landscape and wandered over to search for any prints in the sand. Sarah’s small footprints were scuffed with larger prints. “See here. I think someone picked her up. Maybe the men Max sent after her?”
“Let me call him.”
While she talked to Max on the sat phone, Jon made another sweep of the area. It made no sense that whoever found her didn’t take the kayak back.
Annie’s blue eyes were full of confusion. “They didn’t find her. Max just talked to the guys.”
“What about the Coast Guard? Could they have gotten here first?”
“They would have called me. They knew I was heading here.”
“Where do you want to head next? Are there any other islands out here?”
“There’s another one on past Tremolo, but it’s deserted too. And there would be no reason she landed there. Whoever took her had to have taken her to the mainland. Let’s head back and see if a stray fisherman found her. She might be at the marina or the fishing dock in Rock Harbor. If she didn’t know we were looking, she might not call me.”
Jon heard the regret in her voice and suspected she was ready to make amends with her sister.
***
No one had found Sarah, dead or alive.
Evening had fallen over Lake Superior, and Annie’s hope of finding Sarah alive had fallen with it. Hugging herself against the chill of the air, she stood on the porch of the Blue Bonnet Bed-and-Breakfast and stared out at the water reflecting the stars overhead. The Coast Guard reported no trace of her. Annie had spoken to every fisherman and boater she could find at the fishing dock and her marina. Michelle hadn’t seen her. Few people even floated past the little spot of land in the big lake, let alone stopped.
Sarah had just . . . vanished.
The door banged behind her, but she didn’t turn. She’d known Jon would follow her out here. His palpable concern all afternoon had been her bulwark.
He dropped both arms around her from behind and rested his chin on her head. “I’m sorry, love. I’m praying someone picked her up that we haven’t talked to.”
