FIFTY-SEVEN
In the hold of the Bougainville, Eva situated Taffy and Finn back into their inflatable pools. Jose fed them, and Axel stowed the equipment Jose had neatly organized. In one corner, Ruben reworked his design for a trap. Eva didn’t try to stop him. She knew Ruben liked to tinker with equipment by himself—it was almost therapeutic. And she hoped another rescue mission might be on the horizon. There had to be.
Despite Jake’s sacrifice, they’d failed to get Marie and the dolphins back. Commander Hurley and a small security detail were still out there in one of the Zodiacs, hoping that Jake might surface, but Eva knew he wouldn’t. Jake was gone, and they’d likely never see him again.
The weight of it suffocated her.
She patted Taffy on the head. The dolphin was particularly somb
