“Shu’ up, mate.I’m thinking.”
Good luck with that.Ash eyed his surroundings speculatively. Upriver, the canyon was so steep, they’d need rappelling gear to climb. As well as hours they didn’t have, thanks to Deegan’s stupid stunt.
“The big guy.” Deegan was out of breath, his pacing bringing him awfully close to the river’s edge. “That wasn’t Campbell Turner.”
You twat.
“What’s the plan now?”
“Youshot at them. You tell me.” Aside from the path they’d come in on—which was treacherous enough—there was no way out but the river. Ash lifted his chin toward the rapids. “Only one way forward as far as I can see. Shall we?”
“What? Fuck off.” Deegan looked more disgusted than anything else. “They won’t survive anyway.”
“Won’t they?” he asked lightly.Possibly not, he reasoned with himself. But then again, those two had led them on quite a merry chase. They were resilient. No, he couldn’t accept that this was the end of them. After a few silent breaths, he gave in to what his insides demanded—pursuit. An answer. And maybe somewhere at the end of this long and terrible road, retribution.
He set his rucksack down and unzipped it. Yes, the couple were likely dead. The job was no doubt over, the trail cold. But…what if they weren’t?
He hadn’t come this far to give up his mission now.
He pulled out what he sought and shot a glance at Deegan, who paced and cursed by the water’s edge, more savage than the dog who’d just taken off.
If there were any chance the other two had survived, Ash wanted to be there. He wanted toknow.
“I’m not jumping in there.” Deegan turned from the water and caught sight of the pack raft.
“I am,” Ash replied with a smirk. He held up his oar. “Coming?”
Deegan threw him a dirty look and muttered, “Crazy fucker,” before following him down the steep side to the roiling water’s edge.
Chapter 37
Elias knew how to handle rapids. He just couldn’t get into the right position.
For long minutes, he worked hard not to suck in water while he was thrown around like a rag doll. Once he got through the first phase of breathless shock, he struggled to get his legs out in front—took another frigid face full of water and went under, pulled by something heavy.
It took three forceful dips for him to realize his pack was dragging him down, but when he yanked at the straps, he couldn’t work it off his body and—shit—he just missed getting brained by a rock. The water was shooting him from one side to the other like a damn pinball, his feet hitting boulder after boulder until he couldn’t feel them anymore.
Water in his mouth, his head submerged.
He fought hard—too hard probably—and couldn’t move. Couldn’t push. He was caught on something.
Didn’t feel the cold, just the drag of the water, trying to wrestle him off whatever held him here. Fast as he could, he toed off his boots and undid his belt. Still, he was trapped, anchored in place. He pushed his pants down in hopes it would help. Still caught, he blinked, stared at the thing hanging in front of him, reached for it.
His rifle, the strap snagged on a branch. He managed to grab it and yanked, hard. It wouldn’t budge.
His lungs burned, his eyes were close to exploding.
***
Leo’d never truly prayed before. Oh, she’d wished and she’d begged, but she’d never asked for anything.
But something divine happened in that monster of a current. It turned her upside down and tried to shove her under, but instead of fighting, she let it take her.
What did she care if the damn thing killed her? It had Elias and that was all that mattered. It took the man she’djustgotten—the only person she’d ever wanted like this—and…andhellif it didn’t piss her off.
Do or die, she’d told him. Not die or die.
With explosive suddenness, the anger sparked, lit her up, gave her fire to fight the water and from one second to the next she turned from cold, clammy flotsam into something unbearably hot.
