One of her kicking feet caught him high in the chest.
He spewed a blast of bubbles, losing some of his air, then shoved out behind her but the damn bag got caught and held him up. He yanked but it would not come free with the car dragging it down. He ducked his head out from the strap, then shoved off hard to drive upward.
He hadn’t told her to head toward the light, but she knew what she was doing.
Her silhouette blurred in the murky water.
Where was she?
He paddled his legs and dug in with deep strokes to pull himself up, thanking Angie for the summers at her place when she’d only had a three-bedroom house in Clerc’s Cove.
He’d swam constantly.
Reaching the surface was taking more effort with the current. His lungs screamed for oxygen. Hold on.
He broke through the surface, gasping for air. On his first breath, he croaked, “Hallene!”
Spinning as he treaded water, he searched the dark smothering where any remnant of light touched. The rain-bloated river moved fast. “Hallene!”
The wind ripped his voice away.
He fought panic. He had to find her.
Lightning flashed. She bobbed upstream behind him.
He took deep breaths and kept yelling her name until he heard her.
“Stop yelling. People are hunting us.”
Crazy man that he was, he found that funny.
He must have been pulled farther downstream as he’d paddled for the surface. He swam against the current. Stupid to do that when it drained a person’s energy, but he had to remain in place and wait on her.
In another bright flash, he saw her floating wide of him and moving downstream quickly.
He lunged over and caught her arm before she could pass, pulling her to him. She’d have a bruise from his grip, but he was not losing her out here.
Her arms came around his shoulders while he moved his legs holding them in place so they could catch their breaths.
The storm began to let up.
That would help, but they still had to swim across a ferocious current to reach the other bank where the ground rose gradually from the river. The terrain on this side shot up a sharp hill, meaning the water over here was deeper with no place to get a foothold.
Bringing his gaze back to her, he asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yes. What about you?”
He soaked in the sound of caring in her voice. “I’m good. We have to reach the far shore. Ready to swim?”
She twisted, sized up the task of getting across the rapidly moving river, and said, “I may not get there as fast as you, but Iwillget there.”
“You’ll be there at thesametime. We’re going together.”
She pulled her face back to him, her soaked hair hanging to her shoulders. “Let’s do this.”
He smiled and said, “I know you can swim, but I’m probably stronger against this current and it’s testing me. Grab my shirt and hang on.”
“I can take the bag.”
