Abby shot up for air, grabbed another breath, and saw Mateo working frantically to set up a line to pull them both out. She drew in a deep breath and ducked down again, adrenaline pumping through her, giving her extra strength.
No way was she letting Gage drown! She pulled and shoved, trying to get him free of the heavy beam, but it wouldn’t budge. A silent scream filled her throat. Tears burned behind her eyes, and her heart squeezed hard.
Dear God, please don’t let him die!
More rain washed in, a dense stream that pooled and flooded into the hole, and suddenly the timber shifted. Abby shoved with all her strength, kicked and pushed until her lungs burned from lack of air. She couldn’t hold out much longer. With the last of her strength, she pushed, and suddenly the beam slid away.
Grabbing Gage under the arms, she hauled him slowly to the surface. Her head shot out of the water, and she gasped in a huge breath of air.
The rope hit the water in front of her, and she managed to slip it over Gage’s head, around his shoulders, and under his arms. Working together, Mateo, Paulo, and Tomás pulled Gage out of the hole. Paulo tossed the rope back down to her while Mateo worked over Gage.
By the time she was out of the water and scrambling frantically to where Gage lay on the ground, he was spitting up muddy water and gasping for air.
Fresh tears burned her eyes. “Gage . . .” He rolled onto his back, and she threw her arms around him. “Gage . . .”
Gage drew her closer. “I’m . . . okay,” he said, coughing. “I’m all right.”
Abby started crying. She was losing King. She had almost lost Gage. She tried to stop the tears, but they just kept rolling down her cheeks.
“It’s all right, baby.” Gage stroked a hand over the wet hair plastered to her head. “Everything’s okay.” His forehead was bleeding, his shirt torn open and hanging off his muscled shoulders. A tropical storm raged around them, the rain so thick it was impossible to see. Men with guns and rifles surrounded them.
But Gage was alive, and so was she.
Abby wiped away her tears and kissed him full on the mouth. “You’re right, honey. Everything is just fine.”
* * *
Edge shook off Trace’s restraining arms, turned and stalked deeper into the forest. He was breathing hard, his hands balled into shaking fists.
His brother had almost died. If it hadn’t been for Abby, he’d have drowned in that muddy hole. What good would security be if his brother was dead?
But Trace was right. They needed to wait until the last possible moment, let the situation come to the razor’s edge between life and death, before he gave up their position and rushed in to help.
Gage was surrounded by hostile forces. These men wanted the gold.
And the woman.
The situation could erupt into gunfire at any moment. They needed to hold their positions, be ready to go in. They were trained for situations like this. Ten men against the three of them?
A hard smile touched his lips. The odds were definitely in their favor.
He heard the faint movement of a shrub, then Skye appeared beside him. They stood hidden inside the edge of the forest, all of them in camo, including their slickers.
“You okay?” she asked, her voice soft and throaty, a sexy tone that always sent a jolt of heat straight to his groin. She’d kill him if she knew.
“I’m okay,” he said. “It was rough there at the end.”
She looked up at him with the prettiest green eyes he had ever seen. “I’m glad your brother is okay.” With the rain thundering against the leaves and shrubs in a deluge, there was no way anyone could hear them.
The cartel men huddled in the trees around the ruins. They’d been drinking for the last hour.
The odds were getting even better.
“Abby’s tough,” Skye said. “I didn’t see it at first.”
Neither had he, not until today. She had saved his brother’s life.
“She fits him,” Skye said.
