Page 161 of Rescuing You

She sucked in blessed air.

“I got you,” a man said. “Stop fighting me. I got you.”

Was she fighting? She was fighting—fighting death and terror. She forced her limbs to be still.

“That’s better.” The man kicked, taking her along with him. “I’m Stone. A friend of Michael’s.”

“Where’s Yasamin?”

“We got her. So that makes you Leila? Michael’s girlfriend?”

“Yes.”

“Nice to meet you.”

The words were friendly, spoken as if they were meeting over coffee. How could the man be so calm?

“Where is Michael?” She looked around. Surely, he’d jumped right behind her. “Is he drowning? He wasn’t wearing a life jacket.” She strained to see another body in the water.

“Don’t worry,” Stone said. “He’s all right.”

But how could he know?

Before she could ask, hands pulled her up and out of the water. Onto another boat.

Michael had come for her. And this time, he’d brought his whole team.

Once she was on the deck, the man let her go and reached over again. He dragged Jasmine up.

The two rescuers swam away, back toward Waleed’s boat.

Shouts rose above the fear rushing in her brain.

Shouts and gunshots.

She and her sister were safe, but this was far from over.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Michael shot two men while Leila and her sister jumped overboard.

He wanted to check on them, to be sure they were safe.

Instead, he hurried out of the engine room and closed the hatch.

No way to lock it from up here. And no time.

His team swarmed over the side of the boat. Engaging the hostiles in the cabin and on the deck.

Michael was closest to the stairs leading to the cockpit. He crouched low and climbed. When he reached the door, he looked inside.

The room was large enough for a couple of captain’s chairs and all the equipment needed to maneuver the boat.

He didn’t see anybody.

But a bullet whizzed by his head.

That was a little too close. “Missed me again, Waleed.”