19. Lochlan
CHAPTER 19
Lochlan
I’m still worried why Dario showed up at the house. Even though I told him a hundred times he’d be welcome whenever he felt like it—if we were out on a call, I know Nancy and Mrs. Bloom would take care of him—I thought it would be ages before he worked up the guts to actually do it.
So as much as I’m a little freaked out by what could have pushed him to come today, I’m also tickled pink that he made it at all. In fact, I’m damn proud of him. I know how his nerves like to get the better of him, so he must have been really brave to walk up to the station like that.
And Cap let him ride along! We do this every now and again, usually with someone’s niece or nephew who’s come for a visit. Gene is good at making sure they stay safe and out of our way, so I’m not worried about having Dario here. Actually, it’s kind of thrilling to share my world with him.
I want to share everything with him.
“So what was it you needed to talk about?” I ask, shouting over all the noise as we race toward the call. Dario glances around at Lili, Tommy, and Lieutenant Rico. Cap and Gene are up front, but they can usually hear us talking. “Oh, unless it’s private?” Damn it. I didn’t think of that.
“Uh, sort of,” Dario says. “It’s fine, though. We can discuss it later. I just wanted your advice on something.”
Well if that doesn’t make me puff out like a peacock. Super smart Dario wants my advice? I’m not sure what I can offer that he doesn’t already know, but you betcha bottom dollar I’ll do everything I can to help him out with whatever’s on his mind.
“Hopefully this call won’t take long,” I tell him, hoping he won’t get anxious waiting around.
Dario shakes his head, though. “Whoever needs help is the priority. We can talk later. Honestly, it’s nothing. I’m probably overreacting, and I just need you to tell me that.”
He laughs nervously, so I squeeze him to my side. I don’t want to agree that he’s overreacting without knowing what’s happened, but I still want to try and help. “It’ll be okay,” I promise him, willing that to be true. “I’m so happy you came to find me in any case.” Now that is true.
For a second, we just look into each other’s eyes, and it’s like I can’t even breathe. How is this amazing person my person?
Then Rocky jumps up and licks my face, breaking the spell. “Blurgh! Dude, not cool.”
Lili and Tommy howl with laughter, while Rico shakes his head and reaches over to pat Rocky, calming him down and attempting to stop the pup from shoving his tongue into my mouth. Again.
I much prefer it when Dario does that.
“Look alive, people!” Captain Valentine calls from up front, catching our attention. “We’re getting close.”
I peer out of the window, seeing that we’re speeding down the access road behind Critter Canyon. The sun is setting and it’s going to be dark soon. Hopefully that won’t jam us up too much.
This isn’t the first job we’ve done at the park. In fact, Del and Yara get called out here quite a bit with people suffering from sunstroke, food poisoning, bee stings and other minor medical maladies. One time the Ferris wheel got stuck and we had to assist with the evacuation. But dispatch said something about structural damage, making me wonder what today is going to bring us.
A woman in a pantsuit is standing by the big chain-link doors that lead into the back of the park. She’s holding a walkie-talkie and is waving us down. Cap lowers his window as we approach, but we all lean closer to listen as she calls out to us.
“Thank goodness you’re here! Apparently, it’s getting worse. Follow the security marshals, they’ll direct you in the right direction.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Cap tells her with a nod. “We’ll do everything we can.”
“Please hurry!”
I swallow then take a deep breath. Adrenaline is just skittering on the outskirts of my system, waiting to flood it. But not yet. I keep up my steady breathing, preparing myself for what’s to come. Dario squeezes my thigh as Rocky watches me, subdued as he’s no doubt picked up on the tension in the rig.
“You’ve got this,” Dario says quietly, and my heart explodes like the Fourth of July. I know I do, but hearing him say it makes it ten times better.
We’re coming to a stop, so I hastily bend down and kiss his cheek. “Thanks, baby,” I say, not caring if my friends want to tease the shit out of me for being soft later. Let them. I know it’ll only be because they’re jealous of me and my gorgeous guy.
When the doors of the engine burst open, every other thought flies from my brain as I focus on the job in hand. “Stay here!” I bark at Dario and Rocky, even though I know Dario knows that. He still smiles warmly at me as I unwrap my arm from around his back.
“We will,” he promises.
As my boots hit the ground, I immediately survey the area. There are already first aiders from Critter Canyon tending to people who look like they have minor injuries. From what, I’m not sure. But it looks like an evacuation of the park via the front entrance is already underway, judging from the fact that nobody else seems to be milling around.
Movement catches my eye, and I see a golf cart pulling up behind where the One-Thirteen has parked. The same lady with the walkie-talkie hops out and runs straight for us, which is impressive considering her three-inch pumps.
“Who’s in charge?” she wastes no time in asking.
“I’m Captain Valentine. What seems to be the problem here, ma’am?”
“Cynthia Buchanan. I’m the operations manager here at the park.” She shakes her head and looks disgusted. “I’m not entirely sure how it happened. But from what we can tell, a couple of youths were drunk off their asses and managed to somehow steal an ice cream truck, of all things, for a joyride.”
“An ice cream truck?” Sawyer repeats incredulously.
Cap waves him off. “And that’s what caused these injuries?” he says, indicating the people with cuts and bruises. One girl looks to have a broken arm, but if that’s the worst of it, then I’d call that a win.
There’s a special place in hell for drunk drivers, as far as I’m concerned.
“Yes, but that’s not why you’re here,” Buchanan says, already marching off.
We’re in a kinda intersection with popcorn stands and toy stores around us. I notice that they’ve put the Christmas decorations up, creating a winter wonderland in SoCal. If it wasn’t so deserted, the place would have a festive feel to it. The Ferris wheel is visible in the distance, as is the big runaway train coaster. But she doesn’t take us toward either of those.
No, we’re going in the direction of the Tunnel of Love.
“This thing is old, but I swear it’s never failed a safety inspection,” Buchanan is explaining as we hurry our way past the empty covered space where the park guests usually wait in line. The park’s lights have come on as night has fallen, as it’s open until late most days. I’m glad we aren’t fighting against a power outage on top of whatever else is going on.
Aw, man. I remember coming here one time with my high school girlfriend. The ride is cheesy as hell, but it’s actually a kinda cute place to bring a date to canoodle in the dark. The little boats that bob on the waterway only fit two people and look like flowers on lily pads. Inside, the tunnel has been updated with all sorts of crazy neon lights that make you feel like you’re in some sort of psychedelic bayou with frogs and birds and dragonflies all coupling up around you.
Right now, the water is flowing into the tunnel’s mouth, but I don’t see any boats.
Buchanan is leading us around the fake mountain that the ride disappears into. “It was designed so gravity moves the boats along as much as anything,” she’s still explaining to us. “So you can see we’re on a slope going downward right now. Honestly, I don’t know how this could have happened. It’s such a freak occurrence, but…well…look.”
From memory, I think the ‘river’ twists and turns through the underground space until eventually coming out the other end where the guests disembark. Then some kind of crank guides the empty boats back to the start. As we approach the end of the tunnel, I’m starting to get a picture of what the problem could be.
“Holy shit,” Lili mutters under her breath.
I’d almost forgotten about the ice cream truck that those stupid kids stole. But there it is now, smashed up and on its roof, sticking out of some shrubbery. That’s not the issue, though.
All I can guess is that it mounted the curb then shot into the air and at such a freak trajectory that it hit one of the supporting beams on the giant Maiden Voyage swing-boat ride. You know, the kind that holds like thirty or forty people and rocks back and forth? With one of the four legs taken out, the entire thing has buckled at a strange angle. And the giant boat that’s supposed to be attached at the top of that pyramid structure?
Yeah, that’s made a bid for freedom, and it’s currently lying twenty feet away, the exit of the Tunnel of Love crushed beneath it, water bubbling and leaking from whatever cracks in the rubble it can find.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,” I utter.
Staff from the park are helping people down from the boat swing. Extra flood lights are being set up around the area to help with the triage.
“Go,” Cap says to Del and Yara, but they’re already running.
“We’re still assessing the damage,” Buchanan says, her hand on her chest like that might slow her heart down. “By some miracle, we don’t think anyone was struck on the ground when it got lose, or at least no one seems to have been seriously hurt. But there are a shit ton of concussions, cuts and bruises from the people on The Maiden Voyage when the truck hit the beam. Some people were thrown from the ride. I think they’ve all been transported already. I don’t know their status.” She shakes her head. “We’re just not prepared for such a freak accident.”
“That’s why we’re here,” Cap assures her. “I assume more help is on the way, though?” He glances at Rico, who nods.
“At least three more stations are on the way, according to dispatch,” he says before turning back to Buchanan. “What about the kids in the truck?”
“They were banged up pretty bad,” Buchanan says grimly. “They’re already en route to San Clemente General. The paramedics that fished them out didn’t seem to think their injuries were life threatening.”
I grunt, knowing I need to be professional right now. I’m glad the little shits should hopefully be all right. Honestly, though, I care way more about the dozens if not hundreds of other people they’ve endangered with their pathetic little stunt.
Buchanan isn’t done, however.
“That thing smashed right into the exit of the tunnel,” she explains, already hurrying us back the way we came. To her credit, Buchanan sets the pace, despite her impressive shoes. “I figured you’d need to see the extent of the damage before heading inside. But it apparently missed the flower boat coming out by a couple of feet and knocked it and its passengers clean out of the water. Then staff reported that several guests abandoned the ride and used the walkway to come back out the entrance, saying there had been some sort of cave-in up ahead. There could be one or two boats trapped under that, behind where The Maiden Voyage landed. But that’s not the only issue.”
“The water is still flowing,” Cap comments with a frown. “Can’t you turn it off?”
“We tried,” Buchanan says. “But like I said, it was designed using gravity. The flow of the artificial river might have slowed, but I’m pretty sure it’s still rising. If anyone’s still in there…” She clenches her jaw. “I doubt the designers ever imagined anything like this could happen.”
By the sirens wailing in the air, those are our reinforcements coming from the San Clemente fire departments. They’ll be able to assist with the cleanup outside along with transporting injured guests back to the hospital.
It’s our job to get to the people who are possibly trapped.
Possibly minutes away from drowning.
“Has the electricity been cut?” I ask as we approach the tunnel’s entrance.
“The first thing we did,” she assures me. “My security guys tried to go in once the guests started pouring out. But without the proper equipment?—”
“No, you did the right thing,” Cap assures her. “We don’t need any more people in danger. Please keep the area clear and coordinate with the other units when they arrive. If the battalion chief shows up, he’ll inform you of his presence and work with you. But we don’t know how unstable it is in there and we need to ensure no one else accidentally stumbles into trouble.”
“You got it, Captain,” Buchanan says. “If you need anything at all, I’ll be right here.” She plants her feet and clicks on her walkie, firing off orders to her people to make sure we can do our jobs.
My heart is racing as we run as fast as we can in our bulky, heavy gear. If we’re going to be going under water, it’ll be better to ditch all the extras now so it won’t weigh us down. But we still don’t know exactly what we’re facing.
Cap obviously thinks the same thing as he presses the button on our own radio. “Delacroix, Ortiz—what’s your status? We might need you back up at the front.”
“Reinforcements are starting to arrive here, Cap,” Del says over the coms, his voice soothing even in a crisis. “We haven’t loaded anyone into our rig yet, just triaging on site. Do you want us to head to your position?”
Valentine purses his lips. “No. You’re most needed there for now. We’ll let you know if the situation changes.”
“Got it, Cap,” Del says.
“Good luck,” Yara adds.
Cap nods even though she can’t see him. “You, too.”
We turn on our headlamps as we plunge into the darkness. Without the colorful neon, this place might as well be as dark as a seaside cavern, especially as the sun has completely set now.
The fact that we’re not dealing with the ocean is a relief. Tides can turn at a terrifying rate. But the steady stream of treated water flowing into this ride ain’t no joke, either.
Like Buchanan told us, there are narrow black walkways either side of the rushing water we can use for access. Half of us take the left, the others are on the right. It’s downright eerie without any lights on and the current feels so much more aggressive than usual as the water rushes by our feet.
“Fire department, call out!” Rico bellows, his voice echoing in the darkness. But it’s not long before we start seeing the damage that’s been caused by the rogue swing boat outside.
A bow of The Maiden Voyage has broken through the flimsy fake cave walls, tearing down all the insulation and plaster of Paris and whatever crap was back there. It’s hard to tell from just the narrow illumination the flashlights are giving us, but it seems like several of the beams have caved in, creating a crisscross obstacle course.
Half a dozen empty boats have caused a jam up against the affected area, and they’re slamming into each other as well as the unstable debris in an alarming way. The water has already risen above the walkway here, leaving us sloshing through it as we push forward.
“Fire department, call out!” Rico tries again from his position opposite me.
“Is anyone there?” Cap adds. He’s leading the charge on my side, and when he gets to the first fallen beam, he leans carefully against it, shining his handheld flashlight as well as the one on his helmet to try and get a better look through the mess. “Call out! Anyone there!”
“Hello?” someone cries weakly from beyond the debris.
No matter how many years I’ve been on the job, my heart never fails to leap when we discover a victim is still alive in a disaster zone.
“Redwood Bay fire department!” Valentine yells back. “We’re coming to get you! Can you tell me where you are?”
I hear a whimper that damn near breaks my heart. “I don’t know,” the voice says. It sounds feminine, young…and scared. “I’m here with my kid sister. The roof collapsed and rocked our boats so bad. We tried to climb out, but my sister slipped, and her foot is stuck. She can’t even get it out of her sneaker. I think the water is getting higher. I tried looking around with my phone light, but there’s crap everywhere!”
“It’s okay. I’m Captain Valentine and I’m here with the One-Thirteen fire department,” he says. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”
“Carmen,” the girl calls back.
“I’m Isabella,” a younger sounding voice yells. “Please hurry. It’s so cold.”
“We’re going to get to you as soon as we can,” Cap promises. “Do you know if there’s anyone else trapped in there with you?”
“No, it’s just us, I’m sure,” Carmen replies. “The other boat was so far ahead we barely saw them the whole ride. We could see the tunnel mouth when everything fell…” she trails off, unsure.
“We deal with what we know,” Cap says determinedly to us. “Our priority is the girls, but be on the lookout just in case there’s anyone else.”
“Yes, Captain,” Rico says as the team gets to work.
Lili has already gotten the circular cutting saw out and Anton and Sawyer have the jaws to pry anything apart if necessary. Rico is working with Teddy to jam in the rescue air bags to make the area more secure, but they take time to inflate.
“We need to get in there,” Cap mutters.
I’m already pulling off my coat and boats. “If we can’t go through, I’ll see if there’s a way under.”
Cap opens his mouth, no doubt to tell me it’s too dangerous and to wait for the team to get more supports in place. But Carmen’s shaky voice echoes through the tunnel again, barely audible over the rushing water.
“Mr. Valentine? Isabella’s getting sleepy. She needs to stay awake, right?”
Cap’s eyes widen. “Yes, girls. Stay with me. Why don’t you tell me what you like to do for fun? Do you play sports or have a favorite band?” He looks at me and simply mouths ‘go.’ I don’t need telling twice.
It’s only when I hit the water and the current surges me toward the wall of piled up crap that I realize I have a new problem which never occurred to me until this moment.
Maybe the reason I always did this daredevil shit without a second thought was because I only ever had to worry about myself. Sure, I have my family, but I guess I never really considered how my parents or sister would feel if I never came home. No wonder my momma worries so much about me. I’ve been a real jackass.
But in this moment, I’m getting one hell of a wakeup call. If I die here today, who will take care of Rocky? What about all the things I never got to say to Dario? All the amazing things we never got to do together?
It’s not like I’ve suddenly become a coward. It’s more like a part of my brain has just this moment woken up and is screaming very loudly at me that this is a really dumb idea.
But then an actual scream pierces through the fog in my mind, focusing my attention once again.
“Something moved!” Carmen yells. “There’s a metal beam pushing the boat down now!”
“Help!” Isabella screeches in panic. “The water’s getting higher!”
“We’re coming for you, sweetheart!” Anton yells back.
He must be thinking about his own little girl. She could be about Isabella’s age. The idea of seeing her usually happy face pinched with fear wipes all other thoughts from my mind. I switch my handheld flashlight on, hoping it’s as waterproof as it’s supposed to be, take a deep breath, and go under.
It looks like a lot of the beams only fell as far as the walkways. But there are huge chunks of rubble littering the bottom of the artificial stream. It’s difficult to tell how often I’ll be able to come up for air. But I start by swimming under the first few girders to get me farther than the rest of my crew, then resurface as soon as I’m able. I breathe deeply and look around with my light. I still can’t see the girls and there’s so much junk in my way.
Between the noise of the rushing water and the power tools, it’s hard to think straight. “Carmen?” I call out. “My name’s Lochlan. I’m trying to get to you and Isabella through the water. Where are you?”
“We’re here,” she calls back weakly. It’s hard to tell, but I think they’re still several feet away. “Mr. Valentine said he was going to get more air bags.”
That means they’re not having much luck clearing a path. “Rico! You good?” I shout behind me.
“Still at it,” he replies, which is code for ‘It’s not going great.’ “How’s it looking your end?”
“I’m going to keep moving forward,” I inform him.
Despite my physical exertion, the water is still pretty cold against my skin. God knows how two young girls are faring when they’re trapped and unable to move. Forget drowning. If I don’t reach them soon, they could pass out from hypothermia.
Another deep breath, and I’m pushing my way through the underwater obstacle course. The current wants to push me forward faster, but I cling to what I can, making sure it doesn’t force me somewhere I can’t get back up again. It feels like it takes forever, but it’s probably only a couple of minutes until my flashlight catches a glimpse of pink.
Leggings.
I shoot up, resurfacing with a gasp. Two girls scream. Their nerves must be frayed right now.
“It’s okay, I’m here to help,” I say quickly. “FOUND THEM!” I yell back at my team before smiling at the girls again. “I’m Lochlan. You must be Carmen and Isabella.”
They nod, and I try not to look alarmed. I guess Carmen is taller anyway as she older. But Isabella’s head is only a few inches above the surface and with the way the water’s rushing through, the splashes around her face are already making it tough for her to breathe without inhaling droplets.
Before I start working on freeing the younger girl, I have to clear the scene. “Are you absolutely sure there wasn’t another boat ahead of you guys?” I ask as I maneuver my way farther along the tunnel and shine my flashlight between the rubble.
“Really sure,” Carmen says, and I believe her. The bow of the ship and the ride’s exit are only about ten feet away from what I can tell. Thank fuck. That gives us one less headache, at least.
“Right, I think it’s about time we got out of here, huh? Isabella, you’re a little stuck, right?”
“My left foot,” she sobs. “It hurts. I can’t get it out.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” I say, holding onto one of the wedged beams to get closer. “I’m going to take a look now and we’re going to have you free in no time. I want you to hold hands and focus on taking deep breaths in and out together. For five seconds each time. Isabella, if you feel anything, that will be me, okay? Try not to jerk or pull too much. We don’t want to get in any more trouble that we’re already in, all right?”
They nod. “Thank you, Mr. Lochlan,” Isabella says with a trembling lip.
I squeeze her shoulder. “This is my job, sweetheart, and I’m really good at it. Can you both be brave for me a little longer?” They nod again. “Good job. Now, start taking those big breath in and out for me.”
Wasting no more time, I inhale myself and use the beam to push myself under with my flashlight. It quickly becomes clear that it’s this beam that has wedged a couple of chunks from the wall, trapping Isabella between them and the boat. I bet the poor thing has just been trying to tug herself free, but now I’m here, I think I can offer a different solution to get her out fast.
I come back up for air and wipe the water from my eyes. “Okay, team. I think what I need to do is push the boat down, then Isabella should be able to get her foot out. Carmen, is that pipe you’re holding onto sturdy? Give it a good wiggle for me.”
She does, frowning as she pulls hard on it, but it doesn’t budge. I use that moment to also move into place, using the flashlight to help me find a good place to stand in my waterlogged socks.
“Awesome,” I tell Carmen. “Okay, wrap your arm around that pipe so it’s tucked against your elbow. Yep, like that. Now, can you both grab each other’s wrists for me and hold as tight as you can? So tight it hurts, all right? As soon as I push the boat down with my feet, Carmen, you start pulling Isabella up. Isabella, it might hurt. Scream if you need to. But I’m going to get your foot free as quickly as I can, and Carmen needs to pull you up and stop you floating away or being pulled down by the chunks of wall. Do you guys understand everything I’ve just said?”
Isabella sobs and Carmen looks like she’s going to puke, but they both grit their teeth and nod. The water is up to Isabella’s chin. It’s now or never.
“My heroes,” I say with a grin, really meaning it. “Okay, here we go…one…two…three!”
I brace against the beam, praying to god it doesn’t come down on our heads, and shove my feet down with as much force as I can. Poor Isabella lets out a bloodcurdling shriek, but within seconds she pops up out of the water like a Champagne cork.
“You did it!” Carmen yells, immediately wrapping her crying sister in her arms.
“ISABELLA IS FREE!” I holler back down the tunnel to my guys.
“NICE WORK, BELL,” Rico yells back.
Isabella sniffs and takes a shaky breath. “Your name is Bella, too?” she asks me.
“Yeah, kinda,” I say with a grin. “Guess that makes us twins, huh?”
I waggle my eyebrows at her and get a small laugh. Good. We’re not out of the woods yet, and I need to keep their spirits up.
“Okay,” I say, trying to sound like I’m in charge but also not to scare them with what’s still to come. “All we have to do is get back past all the stuff that fell down, and my team are going to be waiting on the other side. Then we can get you medical attention and back to your parents. Were they here in the park with you?”
Carmen’s lip trembles. “They went to get us all ice cream. I said this wasn’t a scary ride and we were big enough to do it alone. I promised them I’d look after Issy. They’re gonna be so mad.”
She starts crying as well, but I shake my head and squeeze her shoulder again. “Oh, honey. That’s exactly what you did! This was an accident, and you were a great big sister making sure you both got out okay. I promise they won’t be mad. I think after all this, you both deserve all the ice cream you can eat. So let’s go get it, huh?”
“Okay,” they say in unison, still sniffling and shaking, but they haven’t given up on me yet.
I detach the webbing from my belt and use it to wrap around our waists, creating a daisy chain. We have just enough slack between us that I’m satisfied we won’t drag each other down as we weave our way through all the crap.
Now I just have to swim against the current and pull them both to safety.
No big deal.
“All I want you girls to do is swim, okay? Try not to touch anything as I don’t know how stable it is. We’ll have to go under the water a few times, so I’ll need you to take big breaths, and I’ll help tug you through, all right?”
“My foot hurts a lot,” Isabella says shakily.
I’m not surprised. It’s very likely broken. The cold water is probably stopping her from feeling it even more than she should.
“I know, Issy, but I need you to be tough. Who do you know that’s tough?”
“Simone Biles?” Carmen suggests.
Isabella shakes her head, though. “Tough like Mom,” she says firmly. “Mom always says we can do whatever we set our minds to.”
“And she’s right,” I say proudly. “Okay. Here we go!”
Fighting against the current soon has my muscles burning, and more than once the beam or chunk of wall I chose to try and haul us along shifts alarmingly on me. But inch by inch, we crawl our way back to where the flashlight beams of my crew are bobbing about.
“You’re almost there!” Lili yells through the darkness over the rushing water. I realize she’s also got in the water and is coming toward us. The guys must have cleared some of the way, making our escape easier. “Come on, girls. Come on!”
Once she clears the next major obstacle, the current sends her rushing toward us. But she kicks off something underneath her and ricochets to grab Carmen’s hand as she’s the one bringing up the rear.
With two of us now dragging the girls, we’re able to move faster. Sawyer and Anton are reaching through the last web of crap, there to help all of us through with as little time under the water as possible.
And then it’s over. Suddenly, multiple hands are reaching for the girls, heaving them out of the water. Someone’s set up a floodlight to illuminate more of the tunnel, and the boats have been pulled back, tethered with ropes so they’re no longer buffering against the fallen debris and making it less stable. My guys were actually able to clear quite a bit of it away and prop it up with the extra air bags Cap went to get. He’s here now, pulling Lili from the water.
“No signs of any other guests,” I tell him. “All clear.”
“Good job, Bell,” he says sincerely.
I give him a weak salute. “No problem, Cap.”
The water has risen a couple of feet since I went after the girls. However, Sawyer and Anton have gotten them back onto the walkway where the paramedics are waiting on solid ground to wrap them in emergency blankets and get Isabella in particular off her injured foot. The medics aren’t Del and Yara, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were multiple units here by now and our guys are busy helping someone else.
All that matters is that the sisters are on their way to the hospital now, soon to be reunited with their parents.
I cling to the edge of the walkway and catch my breath. After all my years on the job, I can safely say that I’ve never had a call like this before.
Turns out, it’s not over yet.
The yap echoes through the tunnel, making me snap my head around. No…that couldn’t have been…could it?
But then in the gloom, I see the whiteness bobbing in the water, making its way around the temporarily moored water lily boats.
It’s Rocky, desperately swimming down the tunnel to get to me.
“What the hell!” I cry. I don’t know where I get the sudden burst of energy, but I’m immediately powering upstream to get him. “Rocky, what are you doing here? Where’s Dario?”
Ice shoots through my veins that has nothing to do with the frigid water. How can Rocky be here? I left him in the rig with Dario.
What’s happened to Dario?