Chapter 7 - THE LIFE JACKET
Three days after the disappearance, a fisherman found a life jacket.
Cole family yacht logo.
Ten miles south.
Blood? No gore. Avoid.
No visible injury evidence.
But one thing was odd.
The jacket had been manually inflated.
Margaret knew how to use yacht safety gear.
Could she have survived?
Coast Guard currents suggested:
possible.
Then a second discovery.
A waterproof emergency beacon had transmitted briefly at 3:02 p.m.
Registered to Margaret.
Signal lasted eleven seconds.
Location:
near an abandoned service pier twelve miles from the yacht’s last route.
Then stopped.
Claire stared.
“Mom got out?”
Thomas said:
“Maybe.”
Daniel looked shocked.
Too shocked?
Or genuinely?
Then he said:
“Why didn’t she call us?”
Thomas looked at him.
“Good question.”
Claire’s hope returned violently.
Then another clue.
Marina camera from the service pier showed a woman in a cream coat?
No.
Too distant.
But someone climbed from a small utility boat at 3:19.
Face obscured.
Then entered a dark sedan.
No plate visible.
Claire whispered:
“She’s alive.”
Thomas answered:
“Possibly.”
May you like
Daniel said nothing.
His face had become very still.
