Chapter 19
Escape
Hoke skidded
his truck to a stop near the top of the pier where the Marc Eagle II was
berthed. Nicki, still sobbing, cried. “I want to go home. I want to go home.”
“I said
to shut that kid up.” He shook Nicki’s jacket hard before he scrambled out and stormed
nervously to the other side and jerked open the door. “Get out.”
He
didn’t wait for them to slide out, he grabbed Sharon’s arm and involuntarily
forced her out. She struggled to keep from falling as she grasp Nicki in her
arms. The wind and rain cut through her thin jacket. “Come on…let’s go.” Hoke
shoved them both forward and roughed her toward the ramp. Impatient with her
too slow pace, he pushed her several more times down the pier until they
reached Nathan’s boat.
“Get
inside and shut up.”
Sharon
stumbled into the wheelhouse, the piercing dampness plunging into her core. A
terrified shiver trembled her soul. Nicki shook uncontrollably as both were
drenched from the torrential downpour that spilled from the storm. The ME II,
even though tied to the dock, pitched and rolled from the force of the wind
like a toy boat.
Sharon
tried to calm herself, but her chest heaved and her voice quivered but she
forced out some words, “She’s just a child Hoke. What are you trying to do?
She’s scared.”
“Shut
up and keep her quiet or I’ll throw you both overboard.”
Sharon
pulled back clinging even harder to Nicki who continued to sob. “It will be
okay…It will be okay.” She tried to calm not only Nicki, but herself. Her mind
clogged with fear, searching, scanning around her, grasping hold of the
simplest of things she could think of to comfort both of them but her mind felt
fogged over with fear.
Nicki
began to whimper and shiver because of the wet clothes, but Hoke grew more
agitated and threw his hand around in a powerful backhand slap that caught
Sharon across the shoulder knocking her and Nicki to the deck. “I said shut
up.” She crawled then hunkered low into a corner of the wheelhouse turning
Nicki away from any potential harm Hoke might try to inflict on her.
Matt arrived back at the station. He walked
into the now crowded outer office sensing that something was up. “What’s have we got?”
“Ah
Matt, I’m glad you are here. Chief Adams is out with the 331. A Sailing vessel,
Marooned, is taking on water about 12 miles north.”
“Where are they now?”
“They
just crossed the bar. And the 1369 is in route from North Bend. They should
arrive on site at about the same time.”
“What’s
the bar like?”
“Bad.
Real bad.”
Matt
moved toward the rain drenched window. An
echo from his nightmare reverberated within his mind to fill him with dread. Visions
of massive breakers crashed in on him and engulfed his thoughts. He began to
breath more heavily. He fought against the anxiety that was starting to well up
inside of him, but his struggle failed to slow down its effects. He closed his
eyes hoping to shake loose of those visions. The radio cracked.
“Mayday…mayday…this
is sailing vessel Marooned…mayday…please hurry we haven’t got much longer to stay
afloat.”
Sheriff Joe’s cruiser pulled into
the station and within a few seconds Nathan and Joe entered the building. Nathan’s
face filled with agitation, blurted. “What are we doing here? We need to be
looking for Sharon and Nicki.”
“Hey, we’re doing everything we
can. We’ll find them.” Sherriff Joe tried to calm him down.
Matt,
shook himself free from his nightmare and looked at Nathans bruised face. “What
happened to you?”
Joe
spoke first. “Hoke happened again…Matt he’s taken Sharon and Nicki.”
“What
do you mean taken.”
Nathan
spoke up, “I took them home from the hospital and Hoke was waiting and jumped
us. He’s out of mind, he’s gone crazy like he’s on drugs. We fought…Matt, I
tried, but I just couldn’t stop him, he was too strong. He must have taken them
both. He’s crazy Matt. There is no telling what he might do.”
Matt
said nothing, the two of them just locked onto each other’s expression. Nathan
lowered his head, “I understand now what it must have been like for you when you
could…”
Matt said
nothing, he only projected an acknowledging nod and placed his hand on Nathan’s
shoulder. “We’ll find them. Joe, you have any idea where he might be headed?”
Joe
shook his head, “Every available cruiser is out looking. They are in the
process of setting up roadblocks, and have already surrounded Hokes living
quarters. Hostage situations can be tricky, but if he’s still in town, we’ll
corner him.”
Nathan, frustrated walked to the
back window that offered a good view of the harbor and the entrance channel. He
stared intently through the storm looking for anything that might provide a
clue. At first, he didn’t notice the obvious, then he took a second look.
“I know
where they are.”
Joe
turned around. “What do mean.”
“They’re
here. Hoke may big and strong but he’s also stupid. There’s his truck sitting
at the top of the pier and my boat is lit up. I never leave lights on inside.”
Joe and
Matt joined Nathan at the rain-soaked window. “See, there’s someone inside. It
has to be them. Let’s go.”
Joe
stopped him from rushing out the door, “We can’t just go running over there.
Let me call in backup. If we barge in there’s no telling what he might do.”
Nathan
shot a worried look at Matt. Joe removed the transceiver from its holder on his
belt and contacted the dispatcher requesting backup.
“Matt
shifted his view to the water’s edge and saw exhaust bubbling from the ME II’s engine
room. Hoke then stepped out and disconnected the mooring lines and stepped back
inside and motored the ME II away from the dock.
“They’re
getting underway.”
“Where does
he think he’s going. There’s no way he can cross that bar. It would be
suicide.”
Nathan
jumped in, “I said he was out of his mind. He said he’d get even. He killed
Ruth and now he’s probably bent on killing himself along with Sharon and
Nicki.”
Matt ran
to the comm room, “We need to light off the 303. Get Johnson and a duty seaman
in here. Maybe we can intercept him before he gets to the bar.”
Nathan
blurted, “I’m going with you.”
“Oh,
no. no way.”
“Matt,
you can’t do this by yourself, I’m going and that’s final. No time to argue.
Now let’s go.”
Hoke
motored the Marc Eagle II at almost full throttle down the entrance channel and
turned into the main channel in the river. With the high winds even the river
channel was rolling with heavy swells and the boat undulated through all four
axes of rotation. He could barely see forward because of the windblown and
torrential rains, but he knew the channel well cutting a course down the middle
toward the bar.
Nicki continued to whimper as
Sharon tried to comfort her. “I’m cold.” Sharon took a deep breath and with a
broken voice shouted at Hoke, “You don’t want to do this Hoke. Turn back now
before it’s too late. She’s just a child.Take her back and I’ll stay with you,
understand, I’ll stay, but let her go, please.”
Hoke said
nothing for several seconds. “Aint nobody ever cared about me. What about me.
Aint I worth something. That no good worthless brother of yours dared to fire
me, humiliated me in front of everyone.”
“No
Hoke, he was just angry. He didn’t mean to.”
“Yes,
he did! I know better.”
“Nicki
had nothing to do with any of it…please let her go. I promise, I ‘ll stay. Just
let her go.”
She bit
her lip, and strained to find something that would get through to Hoke. “I care.
We can talk if you want to, I’ll talk with you, just stop, it’s too dangerous
to cross the bar in this storm. Please stop so we can talk.”
“Aint
nobody cares if I live or die, not even you. You’re just trying to trick me.
Well, it aint gonna work so shut up. I
just want respect and nobody understands that. I aint never had noth’n. I’ve
had to scratch and claw my way through life alone with no help from no one, and
all I got was ridicule and being put down. Told all my life how I wasn’t
nobody, would never amount to anything.”
“Nathan
hired you because he thought you were a good worker. That means something.”
“I did
work hard. But I still wasn’t good enough for him or nobody else. He fired me
because I got a little drunk.”
Sharon
ran her hand across the back of Nicki’s shoulder, still clinging to her as she
sobbed. “All that can change if you try.”
“Shut
up. I’ve heard enough from you.”
“I’m just
trying to understand.”
Hoke
spun around and grabbed Sharon with his massive hands, pulling her to her feet,
then slapped her across the face again. “I said shut up.”
She
sank against the rear bulkhead holding her free hand against her face trying to
soften the sting she felt. Nicki sobbed but tried to keep it quiet. “I’m scared
Mommy,” she said in a whisper.
“Me
too, hun…Me too.” She closed her eyes, swallowed hard and quietly offered a
prayer. “Dear Lord, deliver us from this moment, protect us from this danger,
and bring us home safe.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Johnson
fired off the 303 as Matt and Nathan let go of the lines. Matt climbed into the
Coxswains chair and Nathan placed himself to his right.
“Better put these on.” Johnson climbed out of the
forward compartment carrying the survival suits.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chief Adams labored with the wheel as the massive
swells tried to alter the course of the 331. Keeping his course was accomplished
more from dead reckoning and luck than skill as the compass bobbed and swirled
with a chaotic movement in time with the lunging of the 331.
The
radar was all but useless in the slop as they sat too low in the water and the
hull of the 331 was thrown around like so much driftwood. He simply prayed he
guessed right by purposely steering a few degrees farther west than north. Better
to pass in front of, than to pass behind their target. He knew Marooned would
drift some distance in this tempest even dragging their mast over the side. If
they could park themselves down wind of their direction, they just might be
positioned to intercept them.
“Chief,
I figure we should be right on them by now. If they are still afloat that is.”
“Should be. We’re still picking up their distress
beacon, but I think we’re a bit south of their position. We’ll turn north more
and hopefully will intercept them shortly.”
Overhead, they heard the whirling chop of helicopter props
pass by with its doppler droning that grew higher in pitch upon approach, then
faded as it moved away. Chief Adams lifted the microphone, “CG1369, 331…how you
read.”
“331, we just passed over you. We can see Marooned
just ahead about a half mile. She’s still afloat but probably not for long. Can
you pull alongside her and pull them off or do you want us to drop a line to
them.”
“We’ll pull alongside. Dropping a line is too
dangerous in this storm and might take too long. They’re probably in a state of
panic by now anyway and might not handle an extraction by air. Standby, to one
side and keep a light on them. We’re going to be pretty busy over there.”
John Ackers stood half submerged on the deck, waving
at the 1369. “Sailing vessel Marooned, this is Coast Guard Air Rescue 1369.”
“1369…I have you. Can you pull us off?” Came the
frantic reply.
“The CG44331 from Umpqua River will be on site in a
couple minutes. They will have a better chance to get you off.” We’ll stand by
in case we are needed. Over.”
John changed his position for a better view forward, “I
see them…thank God…I see them…thank you…thank you…please hurry, we’re sinking.”
His wife and children struggled forward and huddled together fighting the wind,
the rain, their fear. John pulled them together. “Sweetie, you and Mark will go
first. Be brave…they will help you.” They nodded with a terrified stare pasted
across their faces.
Chief Adams peered through the windshield searching
for Marooned. The 1369 had them bathed in light. He quickly surveyed the
situation.
“Looks like the mast fell over the port side. We’ll
have to stay clear of that area and come in on the starboard side. From the
looks of it, they may stay afloat for a few more minutes so let’s put this down
asap.”
He jammed the throttles forward and swung around to
their starboard side to a spot beyond their stern. He checked for debris in the
water. It looked clear. “Okay here we go.”
Motoring
forward he timed his approach to coincide with the swells. When Marooned
dropped into a trough, he swung the 331 around, spinning the stern so it jammed
against their side. Suzy and Luke, who held on to his sister, stumbled as they
tried to reach the side. Their mother screamed, but Luke found his feet and
lifted his sister. Andrews, standing on the narrow deck wrapping his arm around
the rear compartment handrail, grabbed Suzy under the arm lifting her across and
pinned her against the side. Luke, more athletic, jumped on his own and grabbed
the handrail.
John and
their mother, clinging to each other, shouted approval. “Your turn…you can do
this,” John encouraged his wife and helped her to stand, supporting her as she
approached the side. Andrews stood at the ready and when they dropped to the
lowest part of the swell he shouted, “Now.”
She clumsily
stepped over the edge, slipped and screamed, but was caught by Andrews, who
pulled her across and pinned her to the side until she gained her footing. Her
panicked eyes locking onto his. “Get my husband…I’m okay.”
The 1369
hovered overhead about forty yards off at about 100 feet altitude. “Good show
331. Standby…crap…We’re losing her.” Marooned rolled under the surface stern
first, the bow hanging with one final bubble of air holding it in place. John
was swept from the boat as a powerful swell engulfed him. His wife screamed,
“John!”
“Chief
man overboard.” Andrews grabbed one of the ring buoys. Holding the attached
line, he tossed it toward John, but the wind caused it to fall short. Caught In
the surge he struggled to keep his equilibrium, choking, splashing against the
waves. Chief Adams pulled forward slightly to avoid swallowing him with the
props.
“Give it
all you got…now.” Andrew yelled.
His wife
cried out, “John…swim…swim John.”
He
engulfed one large clear breath of air and lunged forward, kicking, clawing his
way against the onslaught until when he had no more strength, his hand found
the ring buoy. Andrews pulled him close, dropped into the lower well and pulled
him over the edge. The four of them rolled into one single heap, John’s wife
cradling him in her arms crying.
Andrews,
breathless from his effort, extended his arm and patted John on the shoulder.
“Good job.” John gabbed his forearm and with a weakened voice, “Thank- you- for
coming.”
Chief Adams half turned in his chair, watched as the
bow of Marooned slipped below the surface. “Don’t know about the rest of you,
but I’m ready to go home.”
“Yeah right…let’s go home.”
The 331 headed south toward the safe confines of the
Winchester Bay harbor. The 1369 began their return to North Bend which with a
trailing wind would reduce their travel time.
“Station Umpqua River, this the CG44331. You read.
Over.”
“331, station what is your status.”
“We’ve four extra souls onboard and returning to
station. ETA at the bar in thirty minutes.”
“Roger that Chief. Be advised we have another issue
going on right now.”
“What now?” Chief Adams expression changed again from
one of victory to one of frustration.
“Seems we have a hostage situation on Marc Eagle II.
Hoke kidnapped Sharon Adair and her daughter. He’s lost his mind and he’s
heading out toward the bar. Matt and Nathan are on their way to intercept.”
Chief Adams murmured half aloud, “Good grief…What
else can happen?”
