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The water was just that fucking cold.
The lump moved on the log, and it was only then that I saw the reason it was moving.
There was a fucking current or something where I was swimming. Not swift or anything, but just enough that it was making the leaves and the pond move at a glacier’s pace.
And the girl that I could now very clearly make out was hooked onto the tree trunk by her hoodie. The back of it had caught on a broken branch, and the only thing that was keeping her up and afloat was a piece of fabric.
Son of a bitch.
I swam harder, even though my body wanted to do the exact opposite.
Finally arriving at the girl’s side, I did indeed see that the teen matched the missing girl’s description.
I hoped it was her. And even more, I hoped that she stayed alive.
Her lips were blue, and her face was the palest of white.
Her eyes were closed, and I knew that she’d been in here too long.
Hell, I’d almost been in there too long.
Forcing myself backward, I kicked and paddled, struggling valiantly as I kept myself and the girl afloat.
“Almost here!” Ashe called.
I chanced a look behind me to see her in the pond up to her knees, shoes and all.
I could also see a couple of flashes of safety yellow and orange headed our way just behind her.
The moment that I got to where Ashe was, I relinquished the girl’s body to Ashe.
Ashe dragged the girl out of the water until she was fully on dry ground, then placed her fingers on the girl’s neck.
“She has a heartbeat,” she exclaimed, excitement in her voice.
I swallowed hard, exhausted, and pulled myself right up beside her.
Just as I dragged myself out and collapsed beside them, about ten officers arrived.
“That’s her!”
I knew it was her.
I shivered violently and forced myself to get up.
“One of y’all are going to have to carry her out to the road,” Ashe said as she relinquished the girl to the other officers.
When she knew they had it in hand, she came over to me.
“Let’s get these clothes off,” she ordered.
I sat up with the utmost reluctance, pulling the wet shirt over my head.
“Yummo!”
I flipped Sammy off.
“Fuck off,” I told him.
Sammy snickered and watched as I got naked, not caring in the least.
When I looked like I was going to keel right the fuck over, he caught me around the bicep and steadied me while Ashe helped me get a dry pair of pants on that she got out of Sammy’s cruiser.
“I got it,” I said when she started to zip the fly.
She snorted and let me do it.
“I’m fairly sure I can zip your pants without getting your dick stuck in the zipper,” she teased.
I shrugged my shoulder.
“Maybe,” I admitted. “Maybe not. But I don’t really want to find out, to be honest. It would be just like you to do it. And unfortunately, I can’t feel it so great right now, so I may not be able to tell until you’ve completely maimed the favorite part of me.”
Ashe scoffed and walked over to where my boots were.
“Here.” She tossed one at my head.
I caught it and slipped it on, thankful that I’d worn my cowboy boots that were so easy to take off and on.
Bonus, they were comfortable and warm.
I nearly groaned when I slipped my feet into them.
“Here,” Sammy said. “This is all I have.”
I gratefully took the raincoat he was holding out to me. Even though it didn’t do much to block the cold, it did block the wind.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Sammy ordered.
We did, walking the last half mile back to the road.
“I’m parked over there. I’ll give y’all a ride,” he said.
The instant I got into the warm police cruiser, I thought that I might very well die.
Pins and needles started to tingle all over my body, and it literally took everything I had not to profess my undying love for his vehicle.
“Goddamn,” I said as I stuck my face up against the vent. “I’ve never been this cold before in my life.”
“You wouldn’t have made it as a SEAL,” Sammy teased. “That little ol’ dip would’ve been nothing to me.”
We all laughed at that.
Though Sammy had been a SEAL, he hadn’t been one for long because he’d almost died of hypothermia on his first mission. Granted, the other men on his SEAL team had, too. But Sammy had been the closest to actually giving up the ghost.
The moment that he got out, he’d moved back to Texas and had declared that he was buying a summer house in Florida on the off chance that it started to get too cold here.
“Well, it’s not like we could’ve really waited for you, loser.” Ashe laughed.
Grinning, I sat back in the seat.
