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do for Carrie?
    “A little help here, guys,” comes Jake’s out-of-breath voice from behind us. We turn to see him treading water— waiting—next to the platform. He’s a lot harder to pull up than Carrie, but we finally get him onboard too.
    “Thank you, Jake,” I tell him.
“Thank you.”
    For a few very strange moments all we can do is exchange confused looks, saying nothing. Eventually Jake speaks up. “Boat rule number two,” he says between heavy breaths. “No trying to kill yourself.”
    The line doesn’t lighten anyone’s mood, but as I catch Jake’s eye I realize that that wasn’t his intention. He’s serious, and so is what just happened.
    First things first, though.
    Carrie’s freezing, shivering from head to toe.
    “Mark, go grab some towels,” I say.
    He nods, taking off belowdecks. Within seconds, however, he’s standing at the top step to the main cabin, a panicked look etched across his face. He doesn’t have the towels.
    “We’re in deep shit,” he says. “I’m not kidding either.”
    Chapter 12
    WHAT NOW?
That’s the exhausted look I give Jake, and he gives it right back to me. I have no idea what Mark has discovered, but I know from his tone, the quiver in his voice, that it’s definitely something.
    And it’s definitely very bad.
    “Ernie, stay right here with your sister,” I say, falling in line behind the still dripping Jake, who looks as if he’s answering the bell for about the fiftieth round in a prizefight. The two of us head belowdecks so Mark can fill us in on the latest crisis.
    But he doesn’t have to say a word to either of us. It’s obvious, it’s right there at our feet. Water! Everywhere I look. It’s covering the entire cabin, four to five inches deep and rising quickly.
    “Where’s it coming from?”
    “The only place it can,” answers Jake. “Down below. Has to be, Kat. I’m going.”
    He pushes past Mark, trudging over to the galley and the small, square hatch in the floor that leads to the engine room. The Atlantic Ocean is literally forcing its way up through the hinges as Jake reaches down and pops the handle. He’s about to open the hatch, and God only knows what he’ll find when he does. My heart is in my throat again.
    “Are you sure you want to do that?” asks Mark.
    “It’s either that or we sink, buddy,” says Jake matter-of-factly. “I choose taking a look.”
    Mark’s Adam’s apple literally disappears beneath the collar of his Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirt. “What can I do?” he asks quickly.
    “I’ll tell you in a minute.”
    It’s more like a split second. Pulling up the hatch door, he takes one look at the situation beneath our feet and starts giving emergency orders.
    Chapter 13
    “KATHERINE, I need a mask and a snorkel from the Hail Mary box!”
    “The
what?
” I ask.
    “It’s a red box under the boom with anything and everything for emergency situations,” he explains quickly. “Like now.”
    Oh, I get it—unfortunately. The Hail Mary box.
    Jake turns to Mark, pointing at him. “And Mark, you go grab anything and everything that looks like a bucket.”
    Mark nods hesitantly but doesn’t move. I haven’t moved either. What are we waiting for?
    “GO!” shouts Jake. “GO!”
    That does the trick pretty well. Mark and I bolt from the main cabin as if we’re on fire.
    “What’s going on down there?” asks Ernie.
    Mark beats me to the punch. “The boat’s gonna fuckin’ sink!” he blurts out.
    While it’s not exactly the way I would’ve phrased it, I’m not about to quibble. Not right now. “Ernie, help your brother find some buckets,” I say. “We’re not going to sink.”
Please, God, don’t let us go down.
    “What about Carrie?” Ernie asks.
    We all look at her at once. She’s curled up on the deck, her head buried in her hands.
    Again Mark beats me to the punch. “Don’t worry—we
all
may be jumping ship soon!”
    Ernie stares at me, his eyes wide as Frisbees with stress and fear.