She stopped suddenly. Raised the pistol, shaking. She steadied it with the other hand, sighted, and pulled the trigger.
Four times.
Bullets and blood spurted in the thrashing water, which turned pink, then wine red.
She dropped the gun, standing frozen and panting, not knowing if it was Hank’s blood or the blood of the shark.
Then she was moving, running into the tide. She stopped suddenly, staring down at the blood that rolled in with the lapping waves.
She looked up. Shaking. Panicked.
Hank’s dark head bobbed near the inert carcass of the shark.
“Hank!” she screamed, cupping her hands around her mouth. “Hank!”
He raised one hand, a signal that he was alive. Her breath left her in a half cry, and her knees almost buckled under a strong wave.
She locked her gaze on him. Was there blood on his hand? On his arm?
Oh, God, there was.
He moved slowly as if one side of him wasn’t functioning.
Had she shot him?
A ribbon of bright red trailed behind him in the clear water. Her mind flashed with the obscure thought of red ribbons and Christmas.
She closed her eyes.You’re hysterical.
She looked again. The red trail was still there. She had shot him.
Oh my God...
She ran farther into the water.
He yelled something at her.
She froze, her hands to her mouth, her breath static. “Get back, dammit!” And he worked his way toward the shore.
She dove under a wave and swam, swam like she ran, fast and right toward him.
He swore at her. Cursed loudly when she was only a few feet away.
“Let me help you, please, Hank.”
“Dammit, Smitty, move!”
He was standing on the sandbar, his body twisted as if he were hiding his wounds from her.
“Don’t be so blasted hardheaded,” she screamed. “For once in your life, let someone else help you!” She swam closer, and a swell rippled past them.
She realized her feet could touch bottom, too, and she reached for him. “You’re hurt. Did I shoot you? You’re bleeding, Hank. Oh, God, you’re bleeding.”
He swore again, then jerked hard on something.
She stood there, stunned. He wasn’t hiding a wound. He was dragging a trunk through the tide.
She gripped the other side and saw that one of his upper arms was bleeding and open. She grabbed the trunk handle and pulled with him until they got the trunk to shore, where they fell to their knees in the sand.
