Cody’s hands inadvertently fisted around the arms of the chair. “Yeah, you said that. But what am I supposed to do?”

“We need to fix the way the community sees us. I need you to fix it.”

Cody stifled a groan. “This is not my area.”

“Well, it is now,” Duncan said. “There’s a company here we can hire to help with the logistics, but we need to get out in front of this thing.”

“Isn’t it a little late for that? The kid has been in a coma for months.”

Duncan leaned forward in his chair. “I think we’ve got an opportunity here.”

“Meaning?”

“The community loves a good story, and yesterday you gave them a good story.”

“I did my job.”

“Shall we split hairs on whose job you actually did?” He stared at Cody with an arched brow.

Point taken. Cody should’ve been written up for his actions on the boat yesterday. A Coastie does what he can to save a swimmer in distress without entering the water. Had they exhausted all possibilities before he went in after Louisa? Probably not.

“To the rest of the world, you’re a hero. They don’t know that as the XPO, you really shouldn’t have been the one in the water. To them, you went above and beyond, and that’s what people need to know about us. We’ll do whatever it takes to save a life. Even risk our own.”

“That’s the job.”

“Right, but the general public doesn’t always think that. Thanks to Seaman Jessup, they have a totally different opinion of us.”

Cody frowned. “I have to believe most people are smarter than that. They’re not all sheep—they can make up their own minds.”

“Regardless, we need to get out in the community. We need to become more of a presence, maybe even hold an event or two where we mingle with the islanders. If they get to know us, they’ll respect us. If they respect us, they’ll listen to us. They’ll die less.”

“Sounds like you should’ve hired a community events coordinator,” Cody said. “You know I wouldn’t have applied for that job.”

“I got a better idea,” Duncan said. “We marry the Coast Guard with the community. We work together on a few events to get our name out there, but we work with people in the community. I thought about putting someone else on this, but after yesterday, after the way people are responding to you saving that girl, I knew it had to be you.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Cody said, though he was absolutely sure this was a terrible idea. What he needed was to be transferred off the island. Not to cozy up with the locals and weasel his way into their community. He preferred to keep people at a distance.