Chapter 5

Karen Wallace sat in her doctor's office waiting to be summoned for her annual physical. It seemed somehow fitting that exactly a year after Tom's disappearance she was going to be poked and prodded in a clinic.

Disappearance? Why couldn't she say "death"? There had been no sign of him since he sailed away that Friday in October a year ago. She stared at the copy of the Winslow Homer painting on the wall of the waiting room. It showed a sailboat tossed in a storm. A tear dropped on the glossy travel magazine she had picked up from the low table in front of her. She thought about that terrible day.

"Mrs. Wallace, its Petty Officer Barnes from Galveston Coast Guard..."

"Have you found my husband?" She practically shouted into the phone. She tried to calm herself.

It was Tuesday afternoon and she had not eaten or slept since the call from the Coast Guard the day before. The news that Tom had most likely been caught in the storm that had now passed over Florida, coupled with the packet of papers that rested on the dining room table, still unopened, had sent her into an emotional downward slide.

After the man from out of the rain had delivered the divorce papers, because that's what they were she was certain, she had sat on that cold floor stunned and overwhelmed. Her brain refused to process all that had happened. She didn't know how long she sat there but eventually she wandered sobbing into the living room and then through the house. She wanted to scream and tear at her hair. She had never felt so helpless and lost in her life.

She finally went to the liquor cabinet and poured herself a generous amount of Tom's Jack Daniels. She was filled with regret and despair. Her stupidity and vanity and insecurities had put her man in mortal danger and for what? There was no love with Alex Smith. How could she have done this to the only man she ever loved, and would ever love?

She called Lisa and Kim. After tear-filled conversations they promised to get the next plane home.

So on Tuesday afternoon she waited to hear the news from the petty officer on the phone, her stomach in knots.

"Ma'am a helicopter with a crew returning to their oil platform spotted your husband's boat..."

Her heart leapt.

"There was no sign of anyone on board..."

Her legs collapsed and she sat back onto the sofa.

"Are they sure?"

"Well no ma'am but they did a couple of low passes and there was no response. They said the boat was pretty beat up and drifting."

She couldn't hold back a sob.

"Ma'am he could be in the cabin ... maybe asleep and didn't hear ... we've got a Cutter that should reach him in about an hour."

"Please ... please call me back as soon as they get to him." She sobbed.

"Yes ma'am just as soon as they report in."

The next two hours were the longest of her life. She paced and she sat; she curled up in a ball on the couch as she cried, and then she paced some more. Why wouldn't the phone ring?

Her daughters called her on her cell and she asked them to take taxis home. She couldn't leave the phone.

They were both there when the call came and she put his voice on the speakerphone.

"Mrs. Wallace, this is Lieutenant Johnson from Coast Guard Station Galveston. Cutter Thompson reported that upon boarding your husband's boat, the Lady Ester, they found no sign of him."

Somehow she found herself on the floor being held by Kim.

"Mrs. Wallace?"

Lisa answered.

"Lieutenant Johnson, I'm sorry, my mother can't talk right now ... Was there any sign of his Zodiac?"

"Let me check. Please hang on."

After what seemed a very long time he came back on the phone.

"I checked with the Thompson. They confirmed there was no sign of a Zodiac."

"Thank you for checking."

"Ms Wallace, was your father an experienced sailor?"

"Yes."

"Well we've got three planes up now and we'll put out an alert with search and rescue and the oil rigs to be on the lookout for his Zodiac."

"Thank you."

"We'll keep in touch."

Of course there was no more word. Tom had disappeared.

Karen has little recollection of the next month. There were vague memories of a memorial service. Lisa told her later that hundreds of people had packed the church. She just remembered being in a fog.

One thing she did remember was a shouting match over the phone with Tom's attorney at Bateman and Thomas. Actually it was she who did the shouting. Tom's attorney was very blunt and unmovable. She had never met him but knew him by reputation as one ruthless bastard. He insisted that absent a certificate of death, or in Florida, a presumption of death certificate that the divorce action would continue.

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! He's missing somewhere out in the Gulf and you want to keep pressing the divorce?" She yelled into the phone.

"Mr. Wallace has not instructed us to desist ... so we will go forward."

"I'll fight you on this!"

"Your choice Mrs. Wallace ... as long as there's no presumption of death, or certificate of death, we will continue with this action."

She had filed a response to the petition and at the preliminary hearing had convinced the judge to grant a six month stay in the proceedings, despite the arguments of Tom's attorney. She just couldn't bring herself to have him declared dead. In her gut she still felt a connection to Tom and after twenty-three years of marriage she just knew that she wasn't deluding herself that he was still alive.

Karen threw herself into her job. She couldn't stand to be in their large empty home. It still had all the trappings of their life together but without Tom it was as empty as her soul. Both Lisa and Kim had offered to move home but she declined even though she ached for company. At their urging she began to see a therapist.

With her help she managed to start her life again one day at a time.

Early in December, she'd received a phone call from Joe Turner their insurance agent.

"Karen, sorry it's taken so long to get back to you." Karen didn't remember an initial conversation.

"But, I'm getting ready to put a check in the mail for the Lady Ester ... It took some time to locate her and then to have one of our agents in Mobile go look at her to see how much damage there was ... and then our home office had to decide if there was salvage value ... well its all a bit complicated ... But like I said your check will be coming soon."

Karen was stunned.

"Joe?"

"Yes."

"I'm confused ... Tell me again what you said..."

"Oh sorry if I wasn't clear ... But I'll have a check to you for Ester's insured value soon."

"No ... No ... Something about someone in Mobile going to look at her?"

"Yes ... She's in Mobile and we had to send..."

"Wait! Ester's in Alabama?"

"Yes."

"How? I thought ... Well I don't know. I guess I didn't realize she was still afloat."

"Oh yes. Seems like it took forever to locate her too..."

"How did she get there?"

"Not sure. Let me check."

She heard clicking on a keyboard.

"I have the report here."

He paused.

"According to our representative in Mobile, when Lady Ester was boarded by Coast Guard Cutter Thompson they put a large pump on board and got her seaworthy again and a tug from one of the platforms in the Gulf took her in tow. It was going back to Galveston but got diverted to Mobile so that's how she ended up there."

"But how did you know she was even still afloat to start looking?"

"Well after you and I spoke in late October ... You mentioned something about a Coast Guard Cutter boarding her looking for Tom. Well then it was a matter of following up, although the Coast Guard was convinced as I, she was in Galveston. Finally I tracked down the tug and after a long search of Mobile Bay by our agent, well there she was."

"But what's going to happen to her?"

"Well, after you accept payment and relinquish title we'll try to sell her. Although these days I doubt we'll get much more than pennies on the dollar. She's in pretty rough shape. We'd probably just settle for payment of the moorage fees in Mobile."

"Joe ... Could I buy her?"

"Don't see why not ... but Karen, from the description it's going to take tens of thousands of dollars to put her in any kind of shape to sail again."

"Joe, I can't just leave her to rot in Mobile or have her bought by someone who'll strip her or leave her as just another abandoned hulk somewhere. Tom loved the Ester and I'd like to have her."

So Karen bought Lady Ester.

She vividly remembered seeing Ester the day she arrived on a flat bed from Mobile. Tears rolled down Karen's cheeks as she looked at her. Ester was a mess. Her masts were stripped and there was a gash in her starboard side just above the waterline. Her pristine white hull was filthy and her wood decks were fouled with salt and grime. The interior was the worst. The autumn heat and humidity in Mobile and the water that had collected from the voyage and from sitting outside in the rain caused everything inside to be covered in mold. The smell of rot permeated her. There was lots of work to do and the task was daunting. Karen moved Ester to a rented warehouse near the water.

As she stood in the warehouse feeling hopeless and missing Tom terribly, she heard a car approach. Soon she saw a tall distinguished looking Hispanic man in a dark suit get out of the back of a large black Buick. He was maybe fifty, although he had some gray at his temples. A younger man with sun glasses got out of the passenger side. He wore an open collar shirt with a light colored sport jacket. He looked around.

The older man approached.

"Mrs. Wallace ... I apologize for not contacting you sooner. I am a friend of your husbands and we did business together. I wish to offer my condolences. I'm sorry I was unable to attend his memorial service. Pressing business kept me away, but I understand he had many friends. He is greatly missed."

Karen looked at him, puzzled. She thought she knew most of Tom's friends. Although this man said they did business together so maybe they'd never met.

"Thank you ... Mister?"

"Oh forgive me. Everyone just calls me Tio."

He smiled but his dark eyes were hard. The younger man never stopped scanning the area.

"Well, Mr. Tio..."

"Please, just Tio."

She nodded.

"What can I do for you?"

"I think you misunderstand. I owe Tomas a great debt and so I am here to offer my services to you."

"I don't understand."

"Mrs. Wallace. If there is anything you need ... or if you have any problems ... Please come to me."

He reached inside his suit jack and pulled out a very expensive looking reptile wallet. From it he took a thick white business card. She noticed the printing was embossed. The card simply had a telephone number on it.

She had to admit she was shocked. How did Tom know this man? He looked like he was from the Florida underworld, body guard and all. And what had Tom done to have this man "owe him a great debt?"

Tio looked at the boat.

"A great shame. She was very beautiful. What will you do?"

She turned and looked at Lady Ester.

"I had some notion I would restore her ... But that was before ... well before I saw her and all this." She waived her arm in the direction of Ester.

He nodded.

"Now I'm overwhelmed."

"Mrs. Wallace. If you will permit me, I know a very reputable man who restores boats."

Suddenly she felt a small ray of hope.

"Yes?"

"I would be happy to have him contact you. And I know his prices are very reasonable, plus his work is impeccable."

"Thank you Mister ... err ... Tio. I would like that."

"May he call you today?"

"Yes. That would be fine. Thank you."

"Then it is settled."

For the first time she allowed herself to smile.

"Please remember. If there is anything I can do for you or your daughters ... Please do not hesitate to contact me."

"Thank you. I'll remember."

He nodded and then he was gone. She looked at his card again and then realized she had not given him her number to pass along to the man who might restore the Lady Ester.

Five minutes later her cell phone rang and an hour later she had a contract for the restoration work. It wasn't going to be cheap but it wasn't near what she expected.

Jorge Hernandez had climbed all over Ester and had drawn up a detailed estimate in a little over an hour. He was a tall thin man with a graying mustache, now dressed in filthy overalls from his tour around and through the boat.

"We can start tomorrow if you wish."

The next day Jorge arrived with a crew of five and set to work and Karen tried to drop by every day to see how things were going. It wasn't that she worried about Jorge and crew doing a good job, but she was suddenly impatient to have the job complete and Ester back in the water where she belonged. Tom would approve.

Work caused her to miss visiting Ester for a few days so it was two days before Christmas when she next looked in. She could already see a vast improvement. Just outside the warehouse was a pile of waterlogged and moldy carpet. She thought she recognized it from the main cabin. When she went inside the building, she noticed the gash in the hull had been repaired. There was a fresh fiberglass patch which contrasted greatly with the dingy white hull.

Jorge greeted her warmly.

"Senora Wallace, how are you today?"

"Mister Hernandez, I am well. How are you?"

He gave her a tour of the exterior and as they walked around the boat which sat high in its cradle, she was amazed at the progress. There was the loud sound of a power tool somewhere up above. He told her they had begun work on the interior and the decks were being refinished. Of course the hull would be repainted. He asked if she wanted any color besides white.

"No, I want it just the way it is in the photo."

When they finished their tour he pulled something from inside of a front pocket of his overalls. He opened his large hand and Karen was astonished to see Tom's wedding ring. It gleamed in the light from the windows set high up in the walls of the warehouse.