AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Only they didn’t have a license to do that any longer.
He shoved that thought aside, forcing himself to stay in the moment, stay focused. What was important was saving Demmy. Everything else was secondary.
Cody cursed himself for storming out of the house earlier. Demmy had experienced a loss as well. Cody had been selfish and hotheaded, as usual, and now Demmy was in danger.
The twists and dips in the trail forced him to slow down, and he ground his teeth as he gripped the wheel tight, scanning each side of the trail for any sign of Demmy’s truck. Their usual spot came up on the left and he pulled off and got out, leaving his phone and keys in the truck.
Cupping his hands around his mouth, Cody called out, “Demmy!”
Something splashed in the water on the other side of the trail, and Cody was off and running immediately. He crossed the trail, darting in front of the sheriff’s department patrol car, and plunged into the smaller, younger trees that grew on the side of the road closer to the Pond.
As he ran through the trees, Cody kept shouting Demmy’s name, hoping the sound of his voice would help Demmy stay calm, help him see the Cody he had left the Hollow Leg with wasn’t the real one.
“Cody!” Lucia’s voice followed him through the trees.
“He’s in the pond!” Cody shouted over his shoulder, not daring to slow down. “The pond!”
Branches scratched across his face and arms, but Cody didn’t care one bit. He ducked under and around them as best he could and finally, what felt like years later, he stood on the grassy mound on the bank of the pond. There was a slight disturbance of water out near the middle, just a few bubbles, but that was all Cody needed. He kicked off his shoes, peeled off his shirt, and stomped into the water. He kept his eyes on the bubbles, too intent on keeping sight of them to react to the cold water as it splashed up his legs and across his shorts. When he was waist deep, he heard Lucia and Deputy Walsh reach the shore behind him.
“What are you doing?” Lucia called.
“Demmy’s under!” he called back, not taking his eyes off the bubbles. He waded a little farther out before taking a deep breath and diving under.
Murky sunshine came down from the surface in streams of golden light that were quickly consumed by the green water. Cody squinted as he swam toward the spot he’d seen the bubbles. Something pale flashed before his face, startling him, and he mentally cursed the fucking fish that darted away into the gloom. He swam faster, pulling himself through the cold water, his shorts adding drag that slowed him down. Why could he not make any progress?
A figure came into view to his left, the bloated, pale face and open eyes startling a scream out of him that emptied his lungs. He pulled himself to the surface and shouted at the sky before drawing in a breath.
“What is it? Did you find him?” Lucia was still on the shore, but Cody noticed she’d removed her gun belt and was kicking off her own shoes. Deputy Walsh stood nearby, one hand on the butt of her gun, the other holding Lucia’s hand to help her keep her balance.
“There’s a body here,” Cody pointed down. “Held down by something. I think it’s my trainer.”
“Trainer? From that fitness center?” Lucia said.
“Yeah, Jordie.”
Cody swam a few strokes toward the center of the pond. A burst of bubbles erupted about a foot in front of him, and Cody gulped in a breath before going under once again. Hands flailed in front of him, fingers straining for the surface, and Cody grabbed for one. The hand jerked away, startled, but then came back and grabbed tight, the other hand coming in to take hold as well. Cody looked down and saw Demmy staring up at him, his face a pale oval, eyes wide with terror, lips pressed tight. As Cody looked into his eyes, he saw Demmy’s mouth open, releasing another line of bubbles that hurried past Cody’s face and made him blink. Demmy’s grip loosened on Cody’s hand, and his left hand drifted away.
Opening his own mouth, Cody shouted, “No!” into the water, the word showing up as a string of bubbles that rushed to the surface. Demmy’s gaze softened into an unfocused stare and his lips—those lips Cody had neglected to kiss as he’d stormed out of the house earlier—remained parted.
In the shadows beneath Demmy, Cody saw a face looking up at him. An arm stretched up from the darkness, and a big hand was wrapped around Demmy’s ankle. Cody glared at the face, noticing it looked familiar, but not caring about that at the moment. All he wanted, needed to do was get Demmy above the surface, get him breathing again.
And away from the thing holding him under.
He realigned himself in the water, keeping tight hold of Demmy’s hand, refusing to let go even while his lungs ached for air and his body fought against him. He kicked and adjusted himself with his head up, just a foot or so beneath the surface, so close he could almost feel the heat of the sun. Using both hands, he held tight to Demmy and kicked as hard as he could.
Demmy didn’t budge.
Someone dove into the pond at the shoreline, the impact sending pressure waves through the water. Cody kept trying to pull Demmy free, feeling each stroke as the new arrival swam up. His lungs were right at their limit, but he knew if he released Demmy’s hand, whatever held him under would drag him off, and they’d never find him again.
Hands grabbed his own. Cody looked over into Lucia’s face, and she pointed up as she took Demmy’s hand from him. Cody kicked away and broke the surface, dragging in breaths of fresh air and coughing. On the shore, Deputy Walsh was shouting something, and Cody could see his brother Dave had arrived, probably summoned by Ollie who stood beside him with Clarabell on his other side. Jugs was there as well, hands around his mouth and shouting something Cody had no time or energy to try to decipher. He drew in as deep of a breath as he could manage and went under again.
Lucia was trying her best to pull Demmy free from the thing beneath, which was still mostly hidden in the darker depths. Cody grabbed Demmy’s wrist and nodded to Lucia and they kicked in time, both pulling as hard as they could. It worked, or the thing below simply gave up, because Demmy shot toward them. Cody didn’t care what the reason was, he just wanted to get Demmy up into the air. He had to get him breathing again.
They came up splashing, and Lucia shoved Cody away from Demmy.
“Let me take him,” she shouted, then she turned Demmy around and grabbed him from behind.
“He needs CPR!” Cody shouted back.
