Chapter 13 - SMOKE ON THE HORIZON
The morning of their fortieth day on the island brought a sudden, violent disruption to their secluded paradise. While scanning the horizon from the rocky cliffs above their cove, Elena spotted a thin, dark plume of smoke rising far out across the open sea. Minutes later, the steady, rhythmic thrum of a helicopter engine echoed across the water. Romano Maritime rescue teams, scouring the Atlantic sector based on emergency transponder drift projections, had finally located their coordinates. A black rescue chopper swept down over the beach, kicking up a hurricane of white sand as it hovered above the surf.
