Chapter Thirty-Three
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T J sucked in a gulp of air an instant before another wave crashed over him. It took him under, tumbled him around like he was in a spin cycle. Just when he was sure he was dead, it shot him upward, almost spat him out on the surface.
He heaved in another breath, his heart slamming out of control, blinded by the stinging rain and wind raging across the top of the water. He couldn’t feel his hands or feet. His limbs were numb, heavy as lead as he dragged them through the water.
He spotted something on the crest of a wave nearby. Realized there was a body floating in it.
Nico.
He turned around, forced his exhausted muscles to propel him through the raging water. A wave picked him up, carried him closer and dumped him down the far side.
He flung out a hand just as the body came back into view. His fist managed to catch fabric but his grip was weak, his muscles sapped by the cold. Kicking hard, he managed to move closer and hook an arm around Nico’s chest. He flipped around, hauling Nico over onto his back and put him in a rescue hold. “Nico!”
Nico’s head lolled on his shoulder, eyes closed, mouth partly open.
TJ didn’t know if he was dead. But he wouldn’t let go. His legs churned, desperately fighting to keep their heads above water. He caught sight of the Sea Siren . It was moving farther away from them, a plume of smoke rising from her stern.
Bristol! No! She was tied up and helpless, alone, and the boat was on fire.
His insides turned to ice, anguish slicing him like a blade. He was too fucking far away. She would never hear him yelling over the storm. And he would never be able to swim back to the boat to help her.
He sucked in a breath to scream her name. A wave hit him from the side, catching him mid-inhalation. It dragged him under.
His throat clamped shut. Lungs burning from lack of air.
He lost his grip on Nico. Kicked violently, fighting his way to the surface.
His head broke through. He coughed. Thrashed in the water, his body desperately trying to clear the water from his lungs.
Some air finally got through. He sucked it in greedily. Something bumped his shoulder.
He grabbed hold of it. A leg.
Managed to snag Nico before they were separated again. Cast a desperate look toward shore.
It was getting farther away by the minute.
He flung his head around, stared at the column of smoke rising from Sea Siren .
Bristol! The scream burned in his aching throat.
More waves battered him. Tossing him and Nico around, pounding them with relentless fury.
He couldn’t keep this up much longer. His legs were already slowing, refusing to obey him.
In desperation he flattened out on his back, clinging to Nico as they drifted with the waves. He shook all over, gasping in shallow breaths. He squinted up at the ominous gray sky, the raindrops pelting his face.
Bristol...
His mind raced but his body was beginning to fail him. His numb limbs were uncoordinated, weak.
He blinked at a red flash in the sky above him. Before he could focus on it, a wave slammed over his head and enveloped him in darkness.
****
“G oddammit, come on ,” Bristol snarled.
She loaded another flare, was just getting ready to fire it when another helicopter suddenly appeared out of the clouds to her right.
She caught her breath. Held it. Oh, God, please...
She loaded another cartridge, aimed the gun away from the helicopter, and fired. This one didn’t seem to go as high.
But the helicopter had to have seen her, because it dipped low and headed straight for her. Staying huddled in place, she raised an arm to wave up at it while it circled above her. Eventually it dropped down to hover directly over her.
She squeezed her eyes shut and curled into herself as the powerful wind from the rotors pounded down on her, coating her in freezing sea spray. When she cracked her eyes open to risk a peek, the side door was open and someone in a uniform and helmet was coming down toward her on a cable.
Bristol scrambled to her knees, keeping hold of the railing. Whoever it was swung back and forth with the combined force of the rotors and the gusting wind. Slowly, slowly, he descended toward the shifting deck.
His feet touched down. He signaled the crew in the helicopter, unclipped from the cable and signaled again. The cable began to retract, and he turned toward her.
She barely resisted the urge to launch herself at him, stayed where she was as he came to her and crouched down. He pushed up the visor on his helmet.
A pair of familiar hazel eyes stared at her. “Hey, Bristol. You okay?”
“Travis,” she cried, flinging her arms around him. “Oh, my God.” The tears she’d been fighting broke free.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” he asked, easing her away from him to check her over.
“N-no. But TJ and the guy w-who took me... They w-went overb-board. One was shot.”
“The other helo’s looking for them right now.” He shifted his grip on her. “Can you stand up?”
“Y-yeah.” She wasn’t sure if she was crying or if it was just the salt water all over her face.
Travis helped her stand, signaled for the cable. “I’m going to put this safety harness on you,” he told her as the crew lowered it. He held her steady around the waist with one arm as he caught the end of the cable with his free hand, his feet braced wide apart on the rolling deck. “I’m going to hook us together, and then Whit’ll winch us up.”
She looked up, clinging to his shoulders. She wanted TJ. Her heart was cracking into pieces that he might be dead. “Brandon’s there?”
“Yeah. And Groz and Grady are on the other bird.” He quickly helped her into the harness, got them clipped together on the line and signaled Brandon.
Bristol clung to him as the cable pulled them off the deck. The pulse of the rotors was almost deafening. When she looked up, she saw Brandon leaning partway out of the open door, feeding the cable through his gloved fists.
The instant she neared the doorway, he reached out to grab her. Within seconds, he and Travis had her aboard with the door shut. Travis unhooked them, started relaying information to Brandon. “She’s alert and responsive. No obvious injuries, other than shock and cold.”
“Hi, Bristol,” Brandon said, giving her a smile as he took her life vest off. “How you feeling?”
“C-cold,” she answered. Scared. Grieving the probable loss of the man she’d fallen for. “W-worried about T-TJ.”
“If he’s still in the water, Groz and Grady will get him out,” Travis said with absolute confidence that she desperately wanted to believe. She couldn’t accept the alternative. “Now let’s get you out of those wet clothes so we can make sure you’re okay and get you warmed up.”
She swallowed and didn’t answer because she was afraid she would break down completely and embarrass herself in front of these brave men. Her limbs and hands were too cold and numb to help much as Travis quickly helped get her top and soaked jeans off. She squelched the wave of shyness. They were her friends, professionals, and she wasn’t even naked.
Brandon wrapped a mylar blanket around her before laying her out on a stretcher on the floor. “Just gonna check your vitals to make sure you’re okay,” he said, sticking a temperature probe in her ear while his fingers found her radial pulse. After thirty seconds he stopped. “Your pulse is high, and your core temp’s a bit low.”
“Let’s sit you up,” Travis said, reaching beneath her with one arm and pulling her upright. He handed her a thermos top of something with steam coming from it. “Hot, sweet tea. It’ll help until we can get you aboard the ship.”
“Sh-ship?” she said, wrapping her hands around his to bring the cup to her lips. It was hot and sweet just like he’d said, but without him steadying it she would have sloshed it all over her.
“Coast Guard cutter about nine miles out. What happened?”
She swallowed her mouthful of tea. Felt the blessed warmth as it spread down into her stomach. “He t-took me as bait to get T-TJ.”
“Who’s TJ?” Brandon asked, tucking the blanket around her more securely.
“He’s...” Tears rushed to her eyes. “A DEA agent,” she managed to get out. “It’s...it’s c-complicated.”
“Yeah, sounds like it.” Brandon was rubbing her back and arms to get the circulation going. She almost started crying again. Couldn’t believe that both of them had been the ones to rescue her. Without them, she’d probably be fighting for her life in the water right now.
Just like TJ was.
He had to still be fighting.