Jude knew that meant it was going to make finding the barrel that much harder if it was trapped under the falls.
“Where the hell is he?” Heidi asked, doubling over.
“Breathe, Mrs. Cannonball,” Everly said. “Everything is okay. Just breathe with me.”
“She’s something, huh?” Ronan asked, with his eyes on his daughter. “We’re all freaking the fuck out and she’s as cool as a cucumber.”
“Everly constantly amazes me.” It was true. Jude was his niece’s biggest fan, but even so, he had no idea how she was managing to calm Heidi.
“That’s the five minute mark,” Fitzgibbon said, turning his phone to show Ronan and Jude the stopwatch ticking the seconds away. “They don’t have a lot of time left to find him.”
“Capsule’s only got about ten minutes of oxygen,” Heidi said. “Cannonball told me that last night, as if it would help make me feel better. She eyed Fitzgibbon’s phone screen. The timer had just passed six minutes.
The rim of the falls was strangely silent. All of the people crowded around to watch the stunt had stopped talking and shouting. Only sound of the water roaring over the edge was left.
Jude held his breath when Fitzgibbon’s timer showed Cannonball had been in the water for seven minutes. Heidi saidthere were ten minutes of oxygen available in the barrel, but he had to wonder if that was with Cannonball breathing normally or with his heart rate racing and panic setting in. The thought made him sick to his stomach. He hoped Heidi wasn’t wondering the same thing.
CJ, who’d stood stoically by his mother’s side, turned to her with tears streaming down his cheeks. “Daddy’s not gonna make it, is he?”
The question brought Heidi to her knees in front of her son. “Let’s keep sending your father good thoughts, okay?” She looked up at Jude, who saw she’d begun to cry as well.
Everly walked toward Ronan, who picked her up. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Jude could see her whispering to him.
“You sure?” Ronan asked, with Everly nodding. “She says they’re having trouble getting the hatch open.”
Jude turned to Cope and whispered the news to him. Cope, in turn passed the news to Tennyson.
The crowed watched in growing horror as the first Coast Guard boat came out of the mist. The vessel’s lights were no longer flashing. Jude didn’t know if that meant good news or bad.
Seconds stretched into minutes. Fitzgibbon shoved his phone back in his pocket when the stopwatch hit the twelve minute mark. Looking around, Jude could see nearly everyone, including the members of the media, crying.
“He’s gonna be okay, right, Daddy?” Wolf asked.
Jude scooped the little boy into his arms. He debated how to answer his son and figured telling the truth was for the best. “I’m not sure, buddy. Let’s keep watching.” Every instinct in Jude’s body told him to take his son and move away from the edge ofthe falls. He didn’t want to see the second boat emerge from the falls, with Cannonball’s sheet-covered corpse on the deck.
“The lights are moving,” Fitzgibbon pointed to the heavy mist. Seconds later, the boat emerged from the fog. A man in a red suit, stood on the bow, looking like Jack Dawson inTitanic. He raised his arms high above his head and waved to the crowd. Hooked up to the winch on the back of the boat was Cannonball’s barrel, looking none the worse for wear.
“He made it!” Everly shouted, as a loud cheer engulfed them.
Cannonball blew kissed from side of the boat facing the crowd, as it moved toward the Hornblower Tours boat dock. They watched as the boat was moored.
Jude could see Cannonball hug all the members of the Coast Guard boat, before jumping onto the dock and racing toward the funicular, which would bring him up to street level.
Several members of the Niagara Falls Police Department surrounded Heidi and CJ, rushing them toward a waiting car that would take them to reunite with Cannonball.
“Thank God he’s okay,” Ronan said, sounding shaken up. He hugged Everly tighter.
“I’m glad Cannonball’s okay, Daddy,” Wolf whispered into Jude’s ear, “but I don’t want to be a daredevil anymore.”
A rush of relief flooded Jude’s body. “No? What do you want to be instead?”
“I’m gonna join the Coast Guard and rescue dumbasses like Cannonball!” Wolf smiled brightly and started to laugh. Jude joined in.
“I’m hungry, Dad,” Everly said to Ronan. “Let’s celebrate with some bubblegum ice cream.”
“You got it, little miss.” Ronan set Everly on the ground and knelt in front of her. “You were very brave today helping Mrs. Cannonball the way you did.”
“She’s gonna name her babies Everly and Erin, so she’ll never forget me. Isn’t that cool, Dad?”
