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Raina aimed herself up, tilted her face toward the sky, and as soon as she broke through, gasped in a lungful of air.
And waited for another bullet to slam beside her.
Or into her. But she couldn’t go back under. Not yet.
Vince did the same next to her, sucking in air and treading water.
Raina was so tired, so cold, so sleepy. She stopped trying to stay above the surface and let herself sink so she could be still just for a brief moment.
A hand yanked her back up. “No, no, no, Raina,” Vince said,his warm breath fanning her ear. “We’ve come this far, we just have a little bit farther to go.”
She sputtered water, then dragged in another ragged breath. “He didn’t shoot us, right? We’re breathing and he’s not shooting. So, what’s he doing?”
“I don’t know. Let’s get to land. Hopefully, the 911 operator is still on the other end of the line.”
“I’m not sure I can—”
“You can. You don’t have a choice, so swim.”
“B-bossy, aren’t you?” But she knew what he was doing and she was grateful for it. She swam. And prayed. And swam some more. And envisioned a blazing fire with s’mores—
“Raina!”
She gasped, swallowed a mouthful of water, then choked and spit it out. She’d been sinking again.
“We’re almost there,” Vince said, his voice faint. “Don’t stop now.”
This was her fault. Her fault Vince was in danger. Her fault someone was shooting at them. Her fault. She should have told him no, pushed him away and refused to allow him to help.God, you were supposed to keep him safe!
Fueled by a growing anger, Raina pulled on every last shred of energy she had and finally found the bottom of the lake and walked, the murky mud trying to suck her boots from her feet.
Vince’s hand gripped hers. “Ten more steps.”
She took five and went to her knees.
Vince did the same. Swayed forward like he might face-plant. She managed to lean and push her body into his while water lapped around his upper thighs and her waist. “Vince?”
“I know. I’m good. Just had a moment there. We’re too cold.”
“Hypothermia is ... is ... a danger. And I’m sleepy. I just wanna sleep.”
“Can’t sleep. Gotta get warm.”
“Which means moving. Right.”
With a pained grunt, he rose and grasped her hand to pull her to her feet. On legs that didn’t feel strong enough to hold her, she forced one foot in front of the other until she reached the shore.
“Don’t stop,” he said. “We have to keep moving to warm up.”
“I know. I know. Where we going?”
“Doesn’t matter. Just move.”
He looked back over his shoulder and she followed his gaze.
“Think he’s gone?” she asked.
“I see flashing lights. Cops are there. They’ll send someone to come get us, but I’m going to build a f-fire. We need heat. But first...” With clumsy fingers, he finally managed to pull the phone from his pocket and press it to his ear. “You still there?” He listened and nodded, his body shaking and shivering. “Send someone to pick us up. Hot coffee would be a good thing to bring with them.” He hung up. “Someone should be here soon, but for now, grab some sticks, whatever you can find that looks like it might burn. The movement will be good for us.”
