Page 61 of One Night Years Ago

His vision clouded from lack of oxygen. With his remaining strength, he pushed up, his fingers still threading the woman’s hair.

Finally, his head broke the surface of the water. Gasping like a fish, he cradled the woman to him, doing his best to keep her face out of the water. The waves assaulted them, but Hunter rolled with them.

He moved her hair out of her face with clumsy fingers. It didn’t look like Emma. The woman he’d met at the party had been animated, her expression alive, always in motion. Now her face was slack, as if her soul were leaving her body.

You can’t die! It’s not fair!

Hunter remembered the way she’d threatened him if he hurt Natalie. He thought of how much it would hurt Natalie if her friend died.

He worried about Natalie. He hoped she hadn’t tried to chase after that madman herself. But he couldn’t worry about that now.

Relax. You know what to do. It was a long time ago, but it’s like riding a bicycle.

He positioned himself slightly to Emma’s side, holding her up with an arm and a shoulder while he kicked with his legs to keep them both afloat. With his other arm he cleared her airway and positioned her head backwards. A huge wave dunked them, for a moment, and he sputtered up, getting back into position. He cleared her airway and blocked her nose with his left hand then gave two rescue breaths.

He counted to five in his mind then gave her another breath. Five more seconds and again. Every so often, the waves tried to bring him under, but he fought back. He looked at Emma’s face, looking for a sign.

Keep going, keep going.

All he could do was keep the rescue breathing going. He couldn’t begin chest compressions in the water. He gave her another breath. Suddenly, she sputtered, coughing.

Yes!

Her hands scratched at his arm. She pushed back against him, shoving him under.

Shit. I need to get her under control or she’s going to drown us both.

He got his mouth close to her ear. “Emma, it’s Hunter. You’re going to be okay. Stay still, I’m going to try to get us to the beach. Natalie will be waiting for us.”

It was the mention of Natalie’s name that did it. Emma suddenly stopped struggling, lying limp in his arms.

“Natalie’s here?” He could barely hear her over the roaring wind.

“That’s right. She’s going to meet us at the— Fuck!”

Hunter realized, too late, the waves were pushing them straight onto the rocks. He tried to fight back against the current, but it was too strong and he was making no headway.

He had the weirdest sense of déjà vu. This exact scenario had been used in his training classes, fifteen years earlier. He’d thought it was a far-fetched example then, but he remembered the moral of the story well. The lifeguard always had to put the victim between himself and the rocks because if the rocks hit him and he went unconscious, they’d both be dead, whereas if the victim was injured, they both still stood a chance.

They were almost at the cliff wall. The next wave would slam them against the rocks.

Fuck that.

Hunter stopped struggling and turned so that his back would take the brunt of the impact. He shifted sideways so his shoulder would strike the rocks first rather than his head. Instants later, he felt the first impact.

“Agh!” he grunted.

Even more worrying than the jarring pain was the fact that his arm simply stopped responding.

Emma was murmuring something, but he couldn’t hear her over the roaring waves. He held on to her with his remaining arm, knowing that any moment they were going to be slammed into the rock face a second time. He didn’t think he could take another blow and still keep them both afloat.

Her words finally penetrated his hazy mind. She wasn’t praying, as he’d thought, but shouting something about a den.

“What are you talking about?” he shouted.

Her hand came up, showing him the hole in the wall. “The Buccaneer Den.”

He almost laughed. He’d forgotten it was here.