right into the warm water. When she was chest deep, she turned around to look back toward the beach. Thankfully, she didn’t see anyone. Following Nick’s orders, she swam farther out. Her waterlogged shoes kept trying to pull her down. She toed them off under the water and let them drop. She debated pulling off the vest, too, but she quickly discarded the idea. Nick had risked his life to give her the vest. She wasn’t going to ignore his sacrifice by throwing the vest away.
The thought of him being shot sent a flash of panic straight through her. She stared back at the dark line of trees at the edge of the sand. What if he was hurt? What if he was lying in the bushes bleeding right now? Suddenly the fact that she’d been imprisoned in that filthy jail cell all weekend faded to insignificance. Nick had done what he’d done because it was his job. It wasn’t fair for her to hate him for that, especially since his honor and protectiveness toward women were some of the very traits that had drawn her to him in the first place.
When they’d first met, it was on a beach very different from this one, back home. Nick had noticed a guy bothering her who didn’t understand what “no” meant. He’d sent the other guy on his way. Then he’d grinned at her and called her darlin’. If any other guy had called her that she’d have thought he was being condescending. But there was nothing condescending about Nick. He was just pure Southern charm rolled up in a hot package, impossible to resist.
Every muscle inside her tightened at the thought of leaving him in those woods. She desperately wanted to go back and find him. But if she went back she could be a liability again, slowing him down, making him vulnerable.
No, she had to trust him and go along with his stupid conditions. He’d earned that trust a hundred times tonight, and she had to keep the faith that he knew what he was doing.
She drew a deep breath, then another, and submerged beneath the water, swimming farther out. When she thought she might be far enough from the shore, she rose, sticking her head out of the water just enough so she could breathe.
The tiny strip of sand that couldn’t legitimately call itself a beach was still clear. No sign of her pursuers. But no sign of Nick, either.
Another shot rang out, startling her at how close it sounded. She drew a deep breath and submerged, swimming underwater again. She rose several more times for breaths and to make sure she was swimming in the right direction, parallel to shore. Each time she didn’t see anyone. And each time she went right back under.
She hated condition number two, hated following Nick’s orders unquestioningly. If they both survived this night, she was going to renegotiate his stupid conditions.
The next time she surfaced for air, she let out a small yelp before recognizing the figure swimming toward her. Nick. He quickly reached her with his powerful strokes. She would have thrown her arms around his neck with sheer joy that he was okay, but his grim expression held her back.
“Good job,” he said. “You did great. You swam farther than I thought. We can cut back to shore now.”
“What about the gunmen?”
“They’re a good clip north of us, but the trail I laid won’t fool them for long. They’ll loop back to try to find us. We don’t have much time. We need to get back to the house and take either the patrol car or my car, whatever works, and get out of here.”
They struck out swimming side by side toward shore.
“How many were there? Were those cops after us, too?” Heather kicked her feet to try to keep up with him.
“I didn’t see the supposed cops. But there were five men in the woods.”
“Five?” Heather squeaked.
“Don’t worry. I shot three of them. The odds are in our favor now.”
“Oh, goodie,” Heather grumbled.
Nick grinned. They were in the shallows now. He took her hand and pulled her with him back to shore and into the trees.
He
Susan Aldous, Nicola Pierce