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“At least this way he has a chance,” Sandi said coldly. “We’re about to hit Waugh Bridge, and he sure as hell won’t survive that.”
“Waugh Bridge. You mean bat bridge?” She felt like she’d been kicked in the stomach. The bat. She’d forgotten about the bat. “Where’s Mace’s bat? We need to get hi
s bat. He won’t survive without it.”
“You know about Mace’s bat?” Ignacio gaped at her.
“We’ll deal with that later,” Sandi said to him. “You get under his left side. I’ll take the right. We’ll jump together.”
They lifted him to his feet, slid their shoulders under his arms, and wrapped one arm each around Mace’s waist. He just hung there between them like a rag doll.
“Hold the tube,” Ignacio said. “Try to stop it from jerking on impact.”
Sandi nodded and turned to her. “If you don’t jump, you die. Your choice.” And then she nodded at her teammate. “On three. One. Two. Three.”
They launched themselves from the shuttle, taking the man she loved with them. Keiko gasped and rushed forward to hold on to the open door. They hit the water with a splash, emerging seconds later, Mace between them.
“Jump,” Sandi shouted.
Keiko looked at the water. Would she survive? They were level with the bridge now, and people died jumping off bridges all the time. She looked at the bridge. It was coming up fast.
“Get out of there, now!”
There was no other choice. She took a deep breath and threw herself from the shuttle. Part of her brain told her to keep an eye out below for rocks or alligators. The rest of her brain told her to shut her eyes and hope for the best. So that’s what she did. She couldn’t stop herself from hitting a rock or getting eaten by a stray gator, anyway.
The water wasn’t cold. But hitting it was still a shock to her system, and she had to fight the reflex to gasp, because it covered her head in a second. She plunged down into the murky depths—straight into the middle of a tree that had fallen to the bottom of the river.
She was stuck.
Chapter Forty-Six
A fury like no other raced through Keiko’s veins. She was not going to drown in a river. Not after everything she’d already survived.
The water was too thick and brown to see through, but she couldn’t help opening her eyes and looking down at her foot. All she could make out was the shadowy shape of the tree her ankle was caught in. Using her other foot, she kicked at the branches digging into her ankle. Pain seared through her. All she’d done was force the jagged wood farther into her trapped foot.
Lungs burning, she bent over to get to her ankle. The water was thick. Dark. Cold. She felt like she was moving in slow motion. Each second an agony of knowing her time was running out fast. Frantically, she felt around her ankle. Her fingers scraped against bark and slime and sharp little twigs that dug into her ankle, holding her in place.
Bright white spots appeared in the corner of her vision as her lungs began to scream for air. There was a giant ticking clock in her mind. Counting down the seconds until it would no longer be possible to keep herself from sucking in water, hoping to find air. Clutching at the twigs and bark, she pulled. Feeling the biting pain as it dug in deeper on the other side of her foot.
She bent farther, sliding a hand down either side of her ankle. Her brain was throbbing now. Screaming at her to breathe. The urge to open her mouth became stronger every second. It was only a matter of time before she couldn’t fight it anymore.
With one last effort, using all the strength she had left, she pulled at the tree limbs on either side of her foot. They moved. Slightly. It had to be enough. She jerked her leg up, feeling the agony of jagged bark and branch digging into her skin, ripping her apart.
But with one last jerk, her shoe was yanked off, and her foot slipped free.
Keiko launched herself upward, aiming for the light above her head. But she was weak. Bruised and bleeding. Exhausted and desperate for air. Her head was thumping. Dizziness clawed at the edge of her consciousness.
A black shape appeared beside her, and she almost laughed deliriously. She wouldn’t drown, at least. She was to end her life as a meal for an alligator.
But instead of sharp teeth, she felt an arm slide around her waist and strong legs help propel her the few short feet to the surface.
Her head broke the surface of the water, and she gasped a deep, welcome breath. Her vision cleared, but her head still throbbed, and she knew her ankle was bleeding. But she was alive.
“I’ve got you,” a familiar voice said. “Can’t let you die, or my brother will never talk to me again. At least until he finds the next poor sucker to fall for his meager charms.”
When she managed to open her eyes, she found herself looking into Sandi’s amused face.
“I hope you don’t expect me to thank you,” Keiko said.
