I must have heard him wrong. Linneman? Mr. Robert Linneman? The crane-like, stoic, dour man who handled Ronan’s affairs, offering to help Sully with what already sounded like a horrible plan that was unlikely to work. I had no idea what a Zodiac was, but it sure as hell hadn’t impressed Michael.
Sully opened the back gate of his truck, working quickly, hauling a metal frame down out of the bed. “Best thing you can do to help, Mr. Linneman, is to help keep everybody calm and keep yourself safe on the beach.”
“With all due respect, Sully, you’re one man, and this doesn’t appear to be a job for just one man. My brother-in-law, Ray, was on the Sea King, and I mean to do my best to make sure he finds himself back on dry land as soon as physically possible.”
Sully stopped what he was doing and looked at Linneman finally, sizing him up. “All right. But if you go overboard, that’s on you. You copy?”
“I do indeed.”
“Then help me get this thing inflated and in the water.” He began unraveling a huge bundle of gray plastic, unrolling it onto the sand.
I finally understood what he was doing, the kind of craft he was preparing to take out onto the choppy ocean, and my stomach rolled. “Sully? Sully, you’re not thinking straight.” It wasn’t my place to tell him what to do. I shouldn’t care at all, really, but I couldn’t hold my tongue. I’d do the same for anyone. If I thought someone was about to risk their life on a suicide run, then I had to say something. Sully dragged what looked like a small generator out of the back of his truck and put it down in the sand.
“Sully, please, just stop for a second and think—”
He took hold of a twine cord attached to the generator and pulled on it, arm raised high over his head, and the thing roared into life, growling, drowning out my words. Sully looked up at me, defiance and madness in his eyes, daring me to do something. It wasn’t like I could tackle him and put an end to his crazy plan; the guy was much taller than me, and his broad frame was packed with muscle. Michael was ripped, and even his attempt to ground him had been rather ridiculous—Sully had looked like he was swatting at a fly.
“Mr. Linneman, please…” I turned to the other man, hoping he’d see sense, but Linneman shrugged helplessly.
“This is probably the most foolhardy thing I’ll ever do in my life, Ophelia, I know it, but sometimes you just have to risk all in the face of uncertain odds. People’s lives depend on us.”
I could barely hear him over the roar of the wind, and the choking, coughing, rattle of the generator, but I could see that he’d made up his mind, and there was no point in trying to dissuade him. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his wife sniffling into a handkerchief, leaning against the shoulder of another middle aged woman in a house coat, who was trying to comfort her.
“Look on the bright side, Lang. If this thing goes down and I die, Ronan’s kids will finally get the house. You can stay there and live in it with them forever. That’s something to be cheery about, right?” Sully said, grinning.
“You’re right. Why don’t you do us all a favor and toss yourself overboard then,” I snapped. “See if I care. Or anyone else on this island for that matter.”
Sully barked out laughter. “Atta girl.” He attached a hose from the gray rubber to a small black pump at his feet, and the rubber began to inflate rapidly, expanding and growing quicker and quicker until the items in front of him were no longer bizarre unfamiliar shapes in the darkness, but the counterparts of a small, inflatable boat that simply needed lashing together.
“That’ll never hold,” I heard someone say behind me. “First wave he tries to bank in that will swallow them whole.”
“Arrogant bastard. Why can’t he listen…?”
“Someone should call the police.”
“These Fletchers are all far too ready to die. It’s in their bones.”
There was no way Sully could have heard them, standing so close to the generator. He didn’t even seem to know they were there. He worked quickly, hands lashing and tying, grabbing extra lines of rope from his truck. He pulled a large metal stand from the vehicle and attached it to the front of the boat he’d just put together in less than five minutes, securing a large, high beam lamp to the prow.
“All right, Linneman. Let’s get her in the water.” The two men picked up the boat via the plastic strapping on the side of the vessel, and then hurried it down to the water. “Lift!” Sully yelled. “Walk her out past the break!”
That made sense. The waves were still high, still rough. If they tried to drive the boat out, they were going to be smashed back time and time again. With the boat hoisted above the water, resting on Sully and Linneman’s shoulders, they lifted it every time a wave crashed against the shore, threatening to push them back inland. Soon they were shoulder deep in water, out past the break, and they lowered the boat into the water. Sully vaulted into the boat, holding out his hand to help Linneman in after him.