“Deploying.” Garrett slid the basket out the door, and it hung just outside the helicopter for a moment before he pushed a button, sending it down. Then my stomach lurched as the man leaned out again. Any farther and we’d be rescuing him, too. “Eyes on the basket.”

We lost a little elevation, but that had to be on purpose, because no one panicked. Well, no one but me. This seat would probably need to be reupholstered after I dug my fingernails out of it. My heart raced, but still no throat issues.

“Hold, sir.” Garrett’s head swiveled back and forth at whatever was beneath us for a minute. Maybe two. “Prepare to take the load.” Another pause. “Taking the load.”

I sucked in a breath as the hoist lifted the basket. We’d saved at least one of them.

“Roger,” Sawyer replied.

Garrett dropped to his belly as his head hung out of the aircraft. “Load is halfway up.” He rose to his knees and reached for the wire. “Basket is about ten feet below the cabin.”

“Roger.”

“Five feet below cabin. Bringing the basket inside the cabin.”

“Roger.”

Garrett scrambled to his feet and hauled the rescue basket back inside the helicopter with a terrified boy and his father as its occupants.

My breath released in an audible rush at the realization that we’d saved them both. We’d made it in time.

“Basket is inside the cabin.”

“Roger.”

He disengaged the wire and closed the door, then got the boy out first.

Mercy. He was soaking wet, shaking like a leaf, and his skin was pale against the bright orange of his life vest.

I grabbed one of the blankets and reached for the boy’s hand. When he turned, I offered him a reassuring smile, tugged him closer, then shook the blanket once and wrapped it around him like a cape. “Is that better?” I asked, raising my voice so he could hear me over the beat of the rotors.

He nodded, his eyes wide and pupils dilated. He clutched the blanket close, and Garrett led him to the seat he’d previously occupied.

I handed the second blanket to the father, who took it with a grateful nod. The relief in his eyes was second only to shock as Garrett got them both situated in their seats.

“We’re good to go,” Garrett said over the coms.

“Roger,” Sawyer replied again.

The helicopter pitched forward slightly, then banked left, taking us back to the coastline as Garrett took the seat next to me.

“It’s a good thing we were close. That boat had another ten minutes, tops,” he said through our coms.

“What sank it?” I asked.

“Not my business.” He shrugged. “They’re alive. That’s my business. You did great, Morgan.”

I scoffed. “I sat here and handed out blankets.”

He grinned. “Like I said, you did great.”