AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Vince?”
“Not hit.” He sucked in air. “You?”
“N-no. Just slightly terrified.”
“Same here.” He snagged her hand. A bullet pierced the deck. Another pinged off the motor. Hit it again. Smoke billowed. So much for driving out of there. Even if he could get to the key to crank it without catching a bullet, he was sure the motor was shot. Literally. “He’s changed positions. I didn’t hear the shots,” he murmured.
“Meaning?”
“He’s a long-range shooter and we need to get some help.” He pulled his phone from the clip on his belt.
A bullet whizzed past her head and she gasped and ducked. Vince left the phone on and tucked it into the zip-up pocketof his vest. Unfortunately, not the bulletproof kind. At least it was waterproof, though. “Come on.”
“Where are we going exactly?” But she scrambled after him, mimicking his army crawl.
“Can you swim?”
“You know I can. But usually in ninety-plus-degree weather. That water is cold. Cold’s not really my thing, remember?”
“We can do cold lake water or cold morgue. You pick.”
“Lake water it is.”
“Give me your phone.” She passed it to him and he added it to his pocket.
The gunfire stopped and he froze, listening, wondering if he dared to lift his head to try and spot the shooter.
Then three more bullets bit into the boat’s cover, and two sent shards of the boat’s decking spitting into the air.
“Over the side on three,” he said. “Aim for the little island. It’s the closest piece of land.”
“Vince, I can swim, but that’s a long...” She swallowed. “Never mind, let’s go.”
He hurried to the box he’d pulled the blanket from and snagged a life jacket before a round of bullets sent him scrambling backward. “He’s looking for us on this end and I think he’s shooting from the garage of that house.”
“Which means we go to the other side?”
“Yep. We’ll be exposed for a second or two, so don’t hesitate once you’re out from under the canopy. Just go over. Understand?”
“I got it.”
“Go. I’m right behind you.”
Raina went. Army crawling herself to the other end of the boat. As soon as she got to the end of the canopy, she pulled her feet underneath her. Vince did the same, staying right with her, doing his best to use his body as a shield. She launched herself to the bow, then over. Shots rang out. Vince felt a burning stingjust below his right shoulder, then he was in the frigid water, doing his best not to gasp as his body instantly turned to ice.
He opened his eyes and the life vest in his left hand pulled him toward the surface.
Raina!
A cold hand grabbed his and he jerked toward the right.
Oh, thank God.Raina.
Her eyes were wide with fear, but also filled with determination and fight. He let the life jacket go, looked up, and spied the pontoon float. He swam toward it, pulling her after him. Together, they surfaced underneath the boat, between the pontoons. Raina gasped, spit water, and swiped a hand down her face. Her teeth chattered. “You okay?” she asked.
A shudder racked him and his shoulder burned with a fire that not even the freezing temps of the water could put out. “Me? Yeah, just fine.” Their voices sounded weird, hollow, in the small space between the water and the bottom of the boat.
“L-liar,” she stuttered. “Y-you’re bleeding. You got shot!”
