“Down here!” Jerry yelled.
She and Gideon dove, bullets striking the water around them. They kicked hard for the pilings, but her body felt slow and unwieldy. The distance was almost insurmountable, but Gideon grabbed the back of her jacket and propelled her in front of him until she made it through.
Once they cleared the pilings, she tried to stay underwater for as long as she dared until at last she surfaced, begging for breath. Gideon appeared a few yards away and immediately spun to double back to her.
Al shouted. “There! In the water.”
Bullets whistled through the air. They dove again, struggling to stay under as they were caught up in the strong current created by the swollen river. The rush carried them along so fast it was all she could do to avoid obstructions.
Gideon’s arm broke the water ahead of her, then his head, but the white sprays caused her to lose sight of him.
She called out, but her voice was swallowed by the roar.
A glint of metal caught her attention. A rusted car fender, lying prone across the water, all sharp metal edges. A vision of her body being skewered like meat on a shish kebab flashed in her mind.
Sliced and diced. Morbid humor, the kind she’d learned in cop school.
What a way to go.
She shouted to alert Gideon, but she couldn’t be sure he’d heard or seen. A series of hard kicks enabled her to avoid the obstacle.
Beyond it was a half-submerged tree, the thick trunk bristling with long, twisting branches. The water was racing. If they didn’t get out soon, they wouldn’t have the strength to escape.
She caught the edge of a waterlogged branch. It tore at her fingers as she fought for a grip. Flailing her arm wide, she snatched at another stick of the slippery wood. Enough to hold her in place. Barely.
She screamed again for him.
His dark head plowed the waves until he, too, snagged hold of the fallen tree. They held on, moved gingerly, hand over hand, until they made it to the far side where the water moved more slowly.
She pointed to a brushy section of the bank. “We can get out there.”
He nodded. “I’m done with swimming, and I picked the worst time to give up swearing.”
She would have chuckled if she had the breath. She labored to swim what felt like the longest quarter mile of her life. Gideon made slow progress as well. They were both nearing the edge of their physical reserves.
When they heaved themselves to shore, she could no longer feel her extremities. Her thoughts spiraled in slow motion as hypothermia began to take hold.
Hiding spot, her addled brain blared.
They needed to find one immediately in case Al and Jerry tracked them with their ATV. Her eyes struggled to focus. Trees, mud, rocks, a graveled pathway ...
Was that a cabin she saw just next to the hill with a trailer parked nearby? She wiped her eyes and lookedagain, praying it wasn’t a hallucination. “I th ... think I see a ...”
“Zee,” Gideon said.
She snapped a look, noting his odd tone.
His face was white, his whole body trembling like hers.
Her gaze dropped to his side where a pink blush stained his shirt.
A tear in the side of the fabric was the source ... caused by a bullet, she realized, just as Gideon collapsed.
Fourteen
Mackenzie bent closeand checked Gideon’s pulse again, still in disbelief about all that had happened in the last thirty minutes. He’d be very surprised when he woke up.
Please, please, let him wake up.
