It was also an opportunity to show what Harbor could do. While he’d felt respected from day one, the uniqueness of his job and the work they did wasn’t as well understood by outsiders. Joining a team with federal as well as local government resources would give him an opportunity to raise the profile of their diving work, too.
While there was a lot of overlap between the Coast Guard’s responsibilities and the Harbor team’s, there were significant differences, as well. The Coast Guard’s remit was far broader, including search and rescue, marine safety and fisheries law enforcement. Gavin and his team supported search and rescue in extreme circumstances, but their work was far more narrowly defined in the realm of public safety and police work, and specific to the waters surrounding the city.
As such, there was clear sharing of jurisdiction in a way that provided minimal friction and maximum benefit to the city of New York.
Especially because once a problem hit Atlantic waters, the Coast Guard took over.
He understood it, Gavin thought as he looked out over the harbor, the Statue of Liberty growing larger as they narrowed the distance. The work. The jurisdictions. Even the politics.
And when you understood something, you could influence the good and help support change of the not-so-good.
“Gav!”
He turned to find their dive lead for the day, Detective Wyatt Trumball. Wyatt had been a force for change on the Harbor team, leading several cases over the past few years that had been both high-profile and well-executed to ultimately help reduce crime in the city.
It had also led him to his new wife, Marlowe McCoy. Granddaughter of one of the 86th Precinct’s most respected detectives, Anderson McCoy, Marlowe was practically a legend in her own right in their Sunset Bay neighborhood. She was the precinct’s favorite lock-and-vault technician and was frequently pulled in on jobs to help open recovered items in the course of casework.
A series of safes, strapped to bodies, that Gavin and Wyatt had pulled up early last fall had been a huge case for the Harbor team.
One that had also created the unexpected proximity for Marlowe and Wyatt to fall in love. Sadly, the case also brought the disturbing news that her grandfather had used his well-respected position of authority in the precinct to hide Marlowe’s father’s misdeeds decades ago.
They’d all reeled from that unsettling revelation, and the lingering fallout hadn’t fully subsided, but Wyatt had held up well under it and so had his new wife. Anderson had come clean and, while not fully exonerated, had been able to avoid jail time due to his overarchingly positive contribution to the NYPD. Now working off his remaining debt in volunteer service, the man was doing some great things with an at-risk youth program several days a week.
Was it justice?
Gavin knew there were several around the 86th who didn’t think so. But others who had already seen some improvements in those at-risk youth thought the tradeoffs were more than fair.
“Hey.” They shook hands in greeting.
Wyatt had already been in the wheelhouse when Gavin boarded, so they’d missed initial hellos as they’d started their shift. Wyatt settled in against the rail as the boat steadily navigated through the harbor.
“Heard the good news about the task force.”
“Word travels fast.”
Wyatt smiled before shrugging. “When the captain asked for recommendations, there was no one else who came to my mind. I couldn’t put you forward fast enough.”
Although they’d always had a good relationship, the endorsement went a long way.
“Thank you.”
“You’re going to knock this one out of the park.”
“It’ll reduce my time on Harbor for the next few months.”
It was the only fly in the ointment of the opportunity, and Gavin had weighed that aspect when Captain Reed first approached him.
“Which will be a loss for us,” Wyatt acknowledged, “—but you have to do this. The opportunity’s too big, and frankly, it’s time to spread your wings a bit. Good things happen here, but the only way we keep getting better is to expand perspective and grow our talent.”
This mindset was a key element of Wyatt’s management. Even bigger than that, it was the ethos of the entire 86th Precinct they were part of in Brooklyn. Under Captain Dwayne Reed’s leadership, those who showed promise were given opportunity.
And, in a virtuous cycle, because people knew there was opportunity, they worked harder and smarter and more collaboratively for it.
“I do think I can make a difference.” Gavin said it because he believed it. Way down deep.
“I know you can.”
“Speaking of different, how’s married life treating you?”
Wyatt had only returned from his honeymoon a few weeks before. “Married life is amazing. Marlowe is incredible. And she proved just how awesome she is by indulging me in a honeymoon full of diving in Grand Cayman.”
It was good to see his friend so happy. More, Gavin admitted, it was encouraging to see him come out the other side. The case that had pulled him and Marlowe together had been difficult, for the work itself, the impact on the precinct and the fact that Marlowe’s father was murdered in the process.
He was well aware that sort of grief didn’t just vanish, but it was good to see people he cared about showing signs of moving past it with the right partner to make it through.
Sometimes the right people did find each other.
It was a sobering thought, especially when all it did was bring to his own mind images of deep blue eyes and lush auburn hair.
Shaking it off, Gavin gave Wyatt a hearty slap on the back. “So you spent two weeks with an amazing woman and crystal-blue water, and now you’re back here.”
He and Wyatt turned to look over the other side of the railing. Although the Hudson had improved considerably over the past decade, the river still surrounded a major city, in a shade of blue that bordered on gray. Along with the less-than-appealing color, they regularly dived through all manner of undesirable things.
Wyatt nodded, his grin broad and most definitely sincere. “A dream all its own.”
Gavin recognized those words for truth just as a shout went out from the wheelhouse. They were heading up toward the George Washington Bridge for evidence recovery after an accident.
And as he slipped into the cold, late March water under the bridge ten minutes later, clad head-to-toe in his gear, Gavin couldn’t help but grin. He really was living the dream. Wide awake, full of the sweetest adrenaline, every damn day.
