If by some miracle Hayden had managed to survive, Adamneeded to remain in one piece to help her. He raced through the brush and dried grass to the ravine, but the incline was steep. Short of throwing himself down, descending the ravine would take far longer than he could afford. As it was, when he looked out over the rushing water, there was no sign of Hayden.
He’d have to risk diving.
Adam charged toward the bridge, where he spotted Sage staring at him in horror. “Call for help!” he shouted at her as his footsteps thundered over the wooden planks.
Once he reached the place Hayden had gone over, Adam kicked off his shoes. He climbed up onto the bottom rung, splinters piercing the soft flesh of his feet. He searched for a sign of life, and for a split second, saw Hayden’s hair bobble toward the surface. Stepping onto the top rail with one foot, still bent over and grasping the wood with one hand, Adam scanned the creek for rocks.
The water was dark and frothy. It was impossible to be certain, but he thought he saw a clear area below. Adam let go of the rail with his hand and, in one fell swoop, pushed up onto it with his remaining foot.
Then he leapt off.
Adam
The instant Adam struck the water, panic consumed him. It encased him the way the icy water did—filling his nostrils, his throat, his chest. He began to sink, and when he tried to fight the pull, his foot struck a rock.
But he was surfacing. His head breached the choppy water. At first he couldn’t take a breath, the cold was so fierce. But his body was intact, the pain caused by the frigid water.
Frantically, he began to search the creek. He ducked back down, but the lapping and bubbling tide kept visibility low. Instead, he swam, feeling around the whole time, thinking that Hayden must’ve continued to float downstream. There were many things that Adam couldn’t do while his hand was in rehab. But he could swim just fine.
He kept moving with forward strokes until an image of Hayden’s lifeless body flashed in his mind. Then the panic rose again, and his limbs flailed. “Sage!” he screamed without sparing a glance up at the bridge. He hoped and prayed that she was on the phone with neighbors and an ambulance. That help was on its way.
Out of breath, Adam waded into the shallows to get footing. He used his positioning to scan the water, but there was still no sign of Hayden.
A sudden sense of dread pummeled Adam, so fast and intense his vision blackened.
The waterfall.
If Hayden had drifted through this next section of deep water, she would either get snagged in the shallow rocks beyond it, or the current would carry her through to a fifty-foot drop.
Adam started to run, forcing his legs through the water like paddles, forcing his burning lungs to work. When the shallows gave way to deeper water, he took a leaping dive and swam with everything in him.
Adam’s strokes were long, his feet kicking to the point of numbness. As his arm cut through the water on the next stroke, his bad hand hit rock. Pain radiated through the already-paper-thin skin.
And the water was getting deeper. Just as Adam’s vision became fuzzy around the edges, he saw it: Hayden’s head rising to the surface.
Only she was face down.
Adam couldn’t stop, even though his hand throbbed and the burning in his lungs brought him back to the days after the car explosion. He swam until he reached her, turning her over and looking into her lifeless face.
Adam dragged her to the nearest bank, pulling her onto the thin stretch of sand at the base of the ravine. “Hayden,” Adam said, trying to shake her awake. There was blood in her hair, and her skin was scraped and cut from when she’d been thrashed against the rocks. He couldn’t tell if the gash in her scalp was serious.
He glanced up at the bridge, but the sunlight was blinding. “Did you call?” he yelled out to Sage.
There was no answer. Adam retrieved his own phone from his pocket, but of course it was waterlogged. He couldn’t even turn it on.
With his eyes better adjusted, Adam squinted up at the bridge again. He spotted Sage with her phone, only she wasn’t calling anyone. Instead, she appeared to be filming.
Adam’s frigid blood went warm. Sage was filming him and the unmoving body on the shore. Hayden’s body.
“What the hell are you doing?” Adam shouted up at her.
“I’ve got it all on film!” she called over the rushing creek. “You pushing Hayden face down in the water. Drowning her to keep her quiet about your brothers’ crimes.”
Adam couldn’t process Sage’s words. Hayden still hadn’t taken a breath in far too long. “Please, Hayden,” Adam begged. “Wake up.” He pictured Henry’s and Bram’s faces when they discovered that their closest friend was gone, and a piercing agony tore through his chest. Adam’s extremities shook with fatigue, but he racked his brain for what he’d learned about CPR in health class.
He pressed his palms to Hayden’s chest, leaning his full weight as he gave compressions to the beat of “Stayin’ Alive.” Only he couldn’t remember how many to give and the worries over whether he was pressing hard enough or too hard clogged his mind.
Having lost count, Adam pinched Hayden’s nose and tilted her head back. Forcing a breath into his raw lungs, he leaned down to put his mouth to hers. He tried giving air, but her chest failed to rise.
