“Then the boat flipped?”
Marcus’s mouth was trembling.
“Claire didn’t panic.”
“I can’t swim well. I never could. I went under twice. Claire got me a flotation cushion and pushed it under my arms. Then she saw Dave going down about 20 feet away, and she went back for him. She kept both of us up until a wave took her out past where we could reach.”
“Dave made it,” Marcus said. “He’s the other one they pulled out. The third guy on the boat, they found him the next morning.”
“That’s why they never found her,” I said, my teary-eyed anger gone.
“I went under twice.”
“Claire used everything she had on us. There was nothing left for her.”
I couldn’t breathe. Ben pressed his face into my chest.
“Then why,” I said, and my voice broke open, “why didn’t you come find me? Why didn’t you tell me any of this two years ago?”
