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They waited until the man had started up the stairs. Griffin gestured for her to head back to the gangplank opening. A second later he was beside her, sitting on the edge.
“Hold my hand. Try not to make a splash,” he said.
Marin’s stomach churned as rapidly as the dark water beneath them. She didn’t want to leave the safety of the boat. Griffin must have sensed her trepidation.
“Marin.” He took her hand in his and squeezed gently. “Trust me. Please.”
She nodded. He softly counted to three. Then they were both sliding off the side of the big boat.
The water was colder than she expected. Her muscles tensed immediately and she became a little frantic. She gulped in a lungful of diesel fuel and started to gag. Griffin threw an arm around her torso and dragged her several yards away from the riverboat’s wake.
“Relax,” he urged. Thankfully, he didn’t relinquish his hold on her. Instead, he treaded water while keeping them afloat. “You didn’t lie about the swimming part, did you?”
“No.” She tried not to swallow a mouthful of water. “My swimming lessons just didn’t include any practice at sneaking off boats.”
Griffin chuckled. “That’s my girl. We’re going to hang out here for a few minutes. It will be easier to cross if we don’t have to swim through a wake.”
Marin wasn’t too keen on “hanging out” in the cold, dirty Potomac River any longer than she had too. Wisely, she kept her thoughts to herself. She kind of liked the words “that’s my girl” coming from Griffin’s mouth. They buoyed her spirit. A hush settled over the water as the big paddle boat continued on its way up the river.
“Where exactly are we swimming to?” she asked quietly.
He shifted their bodies in the water to the left slightly. “See those lights about a mile down the opposite bank?”
She nodded.
“That’s a private marina. We’ll be able to climb out of the water unseen there. First we need to swim the mile to the other side of the river.”
Her teeth began to chatter. “I’ll swim to Timbuktu as long as someone is waiting for us with a towel.”
“How about if I sweeten the deal with a hot shower to go along with that towel?”
Marin couldn’t quite make out Griffin’s eyes in the darkness. She wasn’t sure if he was flirting with her or not.
“In that case, what are we waiting for?” she said.
“Stay close to me,” he instructed as they began to swim into the middle of the river. “This doesn’t have to be an Olympic swim. We can go as slowly as you need to.”
She was so busy trying not to ingest a mouthful of dirty river water, that she didn’t bother responding. Griffin had exaggerated about the current being light. Once they’d reached the center of the river, Marin struggled to maintain the course he’d indicated. Twice, Griffin had to reach around her waist and redirect her. She was beginning to worry she didn’t have the strength to complete a two-mile swim when the sound of an outboard motor roared in her ears. It was dark on the river. The driver likely didn’t see either of them in the water. Marin began to panic and her stroke faltered.
Griffin wrapped his arms around her again and dragged her on her back out of the path of the rapidly advancing boat.
“Hold your breath,” he ordered before pulling them both down beneath the surface of the water.
Marin thrashed her arms and legs wildly. Several long seconds later they popped out into the night air. She gulped in a lungful of air only to swallow half the river with it. They bobbed along in the boat’s rough wake as Marin choked and sputtered. Griffin held her against him trying to smother her noise. Voices from the boat filtered back in the wind. Marin froze. They were the two men who had been chasing them in the car.
“Lean in to me,” Griffin said quickly. Clearly, he had recognized their voices as well. “We’re almost there.”
Once they reached the far side of the river, the current carried them toward the marina. Marin was able to swim on her own; not as quickly as either of them would like, but still they made it to their destination half an hour later. The marina was quiet. It was after eight on a weeknight, which meant they could climb out of the water unnoticed. Still, when Griffin put his finger to his lips, Marin complied, silently praying that Adam or Ben was on the dock waiting with a warm towel.
Griffin steered them along a row of boats, eventually coming up beside a sailboat. The words “Seas the Day” were painted across the back. He signaled for her to grab one of the rope lines holding the boat in the slip.
“Wait,” he mouthed.
The next thing she knew, Griffin was hoisting himself over the swim platform onto the boat. A moment later, he lowered a metal step ladder and attached it to the hull. He reached his hand down to help her climb up. Marin heaved her waterlogged body over the side, nearly crying out when the chilly night air hit her. Her T-shirt and shorts were stuck to her like a second skin and not much protection. She wanted to ask Griffin where his friends were, but her teeth were chattering too much. Besides, he was too busy digging around for something under one of the seat cushions.
“We are n-not br-breaking into this b-boat,” she managed to get out through her trembling lips.
Griffin stood up, shoving his damp hair out of his eyes. “It’s not breaking in if you have the key.” He dangled a key in front of her. “And the towels and hot shower I mentioned before are on the other side of this door.”
