“No!” Braden rushed at Trent, but the man jumped overboard where a small boat waited for him below.
A concussive explosion rocked the vessel, and it tilted at a violent angle. Braden was on his back sliding down but caught the rail. He reached for Cressida, but she was too far away and screamed as she slid through the railing.
43
She caught part of the brass railing, but her wet fingers were slipping. “Braden!”
Cressida held on as fire lit up the night. Beneath her, she assumed Trent was getting away with Malloy and Dax and more of their crew.
Braden’s face appeared above her, and he reached for her hand, gripped it. She thrust the other one toward him and he grabbed them both, pulling her up and back onboard, even though the vessel’s integrity had been breached.
Braden held on to her as they clung to the railing. There was no gaining their footing with the angle of the slippery deck.
He pressed his finger to his ear.
“Status? Anyone?”
Braden held her gaze, then said, “Cole’s alive but took shrapnel to his leg. Hawk has a broken arm.”
And Braden’s arm continued to bleed. He needed to put a tourniquet on it and fast.
“And Diggins?” he asked, grimacing. Another wince, thenhe said, “He’s in the RIB. They want us to get in the water, and Diggins will pick us up.”
He sat closer to her, both of them clinging to the railing. Cressida shivered with cold and fear, for her life and for Braden’s. He could bleed out.
Braden spoke again but to his small team. “We’re trapped. I’m not sure we can safely enter the water from here. The Coast Guard is coming. Let them know we need help.”
The deck leveled, offering relief.
He grabbed her hand. “Let’s go while we can.”
Together they raced toward the bow on the top level, near the superstructure. Behind them, the crane clanked and metal twisted, and then it crashed into the ocean.
He turned to her and gripped her shoulders. The look he gave her terrified her more than she had thought possible.
“I had one job. Just one,” he said. “And that’s to get you out alive. So here’s what we’re going to—”
Another explosion pulled them apart. Cressida reached for the railing again—the only thing to hold on to—as a fissure opened up in the deck. But Braden hadn’t been able to grab on because he’d pushed her forward to safety. He slid toward the fissure.
“Braden!”
“Jump. Just get into the ocean. Swim to the Coast Guard cutter. Just do not fall back into Trent or Malloy’s hands. You can do this.”
“No, I’m not leaving you.”
“Cressida, you can’t help me. Don’t let my effort be for nothing. Get off before it’s too late.”
“You’re injured. I’m not leaving you.” But what could she do? All her bravado to take down this operation and Trent had done it himself. She’d been prepared to give her life, but she hadn’t been prepared for anyone else to die.
No, Lord,not Braden.
She blinked against the sting of tears and rain. “Don’t leave me...”
A swell rocked the vessel, and it shifted, then Braden disappeared into the opening as flames burst around them. Cressida blinked, unable to believe her eyes.
“No, Braden, no!”God, please ... please don’t let him die.
This big salvage vessel was taking on water, and some floors were up in flames. With the deck tilted at such a steep angle and slick with sea spray and rain, she couldn’t make her way even if she tried. She couldn’t help Braden. She couldn’t even help herself. Only God could help him. She regretted every moment she’d been angry with him for what she considered his betrayal. He’d only ever been protecting her.
