For what reason he had no idea, it certainly wasn't going to save them. If anything, it was only going to make their situation worse. Now instead of simply being arrested and forced to face the consequences of their actions, there was every chance they were going to wind up dead.
Maybe that was the point. Suicide by cop. Well, by SEAL.
“Try not to get hit again,” he told Rex, before he dived under the water, heading for the spot where he thought Teresa and her attacker would have landed.
As he went under, he heard Rex laugh, and his fear receded a little. The water wasn't rough enough to drag Teresa too far from the boat, and he’d all but followed her in, so she’d been in the water less than thirty seconds longer than he had. Unless her attacker was wielding a weapon—and he suspected she wasn't because if she was, they would have had a hostage situation more like when Isabella had been rescued—killing Teresa with her bare hands while trying to remain afloat would be next to impossible.
His girl was not dying today.
With strong, firm strokes, he swam through the water, scanning it for signs of movement that would indicate two people swimming to the surface. The fact that Teresa hadn't immediately come up for air upon landing told him that whoever had knocked her down was trying to keep her under. His girl was a good swimmer, but she was hurt and had been knockedover unexpectedly. He wasn't sure how big a breath she’d been able to take or how long she’d be able to hold it under these circumstances.
When he caught sight of something moving slowly in the water, his heart stuttered in his chest.
It was a body, he’d seen enough of them to know that. And it wasn't moving on its own, tossed about by the gentle waves.
Was it …?
No. Couldn’t be.
Quickly closing the distance between it and himself, Micah didn't stop to examine whether it was Teresa or her attacker, nor did he waste time checking to see if the person was still breathing. Their only chance was to get to the surface, and if there was no pulse, start CPR, awkward to do in the water but not impossible. If it was the woman who had taken Teresa overboard, he didn't care about saving their life, but if it was his girl …
Water streamed down his face as he broke the surface, pulling the body up with him.
A couple of yards away, Rex’s head also popped up, and he wasn't alone.
“I'm three for three,” Rex called out, his tone amused and slightly tinged with pain.
“Three for three?”
Rex shifted slightly so that Micah could see that his friend was trying to keep hold of Teresa, who was struggling against him even if her movements were clumsy and uncoordinated.
Relief slammed into him, and he let out a choked laugh. Teresa was alive. Well, enough to be trying to fight off who she obviously thought was the woman who had knocked her off the boat.
Glancing down at the dead woman he still held onto, because there was no way she was alive when she hadn't made anyattempts to get away from him, or to get herself up to the surface, nor had she taken in any breath now that there was air again, he saw it was Teresa’s attacker. Not his girl. She wasn't hanging dead in his arms.
Touching his fingers to the woman’s neck, he confirmed that she was deceased, then quickly dragged her along with him as he swam toward where his friend was trying to soothe Teresa, who was still fighting against him.
“Here, take her,” he said, shoving the dead body at Rex as he reached for Teresa. As much as Micah would love to just leave the body out there and let the ocean dispose of the woman, he wanted this to be a clean op. He also didn't want to waste time later having to retrieve the body. He wanted to calm his girl down, get her out of the water, then get her back home.
“Avery is going to have a field day with this one,” Rex said, clearly amused even as he rubbed at his jaw with one hand while holding onto the dead body with the other.
“She’s going to think it’s hilarious,” he agreed as he smoothed a hand down Teresa’s wet hair. Immediately, she stilled, as though sensing it was him beside her, and she no longer had to fight for her life. “Shh, pretty girl, it’s me, you're safe now.”
“Micah?” As he smoothed her soaked locks out of the way, her big brown eyes blinked at him then immediately looked around. He knew the second her gaze landed on Rex, and she realized he must have been the one to pull her up, because she suddenly looked sheepish. “Did I hurt you?”
“Yeah, you did, and it was awesome,” Rex gushed. “Nothing I love more than seeing a victim kicking butt.”
His words surprised a giggle out of Teresa. “I'm sorry.”
“I'm not,” Rex assured her. “You did the right thing. You didn't know who I was, and you acted accordingly.”
“Thought you were her,” Teresa murmured, glancing at the body.
“She can't hurt you anymore,” he assured his girl. “Come on, let’s get you back to the boat.”
“Is William okay?” Teresa asked as he carefully shifted his hold on her so he could swim them both more easily.
“William?”
