24 Hours Below Freezing

Synopsis

As the only expert capable of carrying out a rescue dive to depths of roughly 3,000 feet, I was hired for a salvage operation worth several million dollars. More than ten years ago, I had dived in those very waters. Back then, my son's research submersible was damaged on the seafloor, and he suffocated in the darkness after his oxygen ran out. I was devastated. My husband, Edward Grant, held me through it all and stayed by my side through countless nights when grief felt unbearable. It was only later that I learned the truth. That day, he had diverted the only rescue submersible capable of reaching that depth because he wanted to save the daughter of his childhood sweetheart. That girl had only choked on some water in the shallows. After that day, I divorced him and threw myself into deep-sea salvage and rescue work, repeating the same missions until I knew the currents and hidden dangers of those waters better than I knew my own home. All I wanted was to make sure no other family would have to suffer the kind of tragedy that had taken my son. Now, more than a decade later, it was the same waters, the same kind of crushed submersible, and the same desperate situation with the oxygen supply exhausted and the risk of death extraordinarily high. The moment I saw the client's information, I froze. I could never forget that name or that face, not for the rest of my life. I smiled and handed the file back to my co-worker. "I can't make this dive."