Chapter 10: The Deckhand
Mateo Ruiz came to my hotel room on the third day.
He knocked so softly I almost didn't hear it.
When I opened the door, he was standing in the hallway in a faded T-shirt and jeans instead of his crew uniform, holding his phone in both hands. He was maybe twenty-two. His eyes were red.
"Mr. Callahan," he said. "I need to tell you something. And then I'm going to the police. But I wanted to tell you first. Because it's your kid."
I let him in.
Zuri was on the floor with her crayons. She looked up at Mateo and, to my surprise, smiled.
"You're the man who pulled me," she said.
Mateo's face crumpled.
"Yeah, mija. I pulled you."
"Thank you."
He had to turn away for a second.
Then he sat down on the edge of the chair across from me and held out his phone.
On the screen was a text conversation. The number was saved as MRS. C.
Monday, 9:14 PM: Mateo, I'm planning a surprise for Harold's birthday on Wednesday. I need the starboard cameras off for about half an hour around noon so he doesn't see it coming. Can you help?
Monday, 9:20 PM: I'm not supposed to touch the panel without the captain.
Monday, 9:22 PM: It's a birthday surprise, sweetie. Harold's the owner. It's fine. I'll make it worth your while.
Then a Venmo notification.
$500. From Celeste Callahan. Memo: đ
Wednesday, 12:17 PM: Now please.
Wednesday, 12:44 PM: You can turn them back on.
I stared at the screen.
"She told me it was a surprise," Mateo said. His voice was shaking. "A party. A cake. Something. I needed the money. My mom's rent was late. I thought it was nothing."
He pressed his knuckles against his mouth.
"I pulled the breaker. And then I went down to the crew mess to eat lunch. And then I heard you screaming, and I ran up, and that little girl wasâ"
He stopped.
"I almost killed her," he whispered. "I almost killed a baby for five hundred dollars."
I looked at this young man.
I wanted to be angry.
I had every right to be furious.
But all I could see was his hands on my shirt, dragging me over the rail. The way he'd been the first one to check my father's pulse. The way he'd run for the juice box without being told twice.
"Mateo," I said. "You didn't put her over the rail."
"But Iâ"
"You were lied to. And then you ran toward her. Not away. You helped pull her up. You helped save my father." I took a breath. "Go give this to Sergeant Webb. Tell him everything. Exactly the way you told me."
He nodded and wiped his eyes.
"I already deleted the Venmo app," he said. "But I screenshotted everything first. And I didn't delete the texts. I almost did. I almost did, Mr. Callahan. Last night. I had my thumb on the button."
"Why didn't you?"
He looked over at Zuri, who was carefully coloring a purple dolphin.
"Because she said thank you," he said.
He left for the sheriff's office twenty minutes later.
That afternoon, Sergeant Webb called me.
"Mr. Callahan," he said. "Between your father's statement, your daughter's statement, the camera timing, and those texts, we've got enough."
May you like
I closed my eyes.
"We're going to pick her up tonight."
