Chapter 21
STONE
“Frankie!” Stone’s scream tore through the smoke as she vanished over the edge.
His blood turned to ice.
No, no, no. No!
He scrambled to his feet, ready to dive after her.
A fist slammed into his lower back. Pain detonated in his kidneys, and he dropped to his knees, gasping.
Nick grabbed a fistful of Stone’s hair and slammed his skull into the deck.
Stars exploded behind his eyes as Stone twisted and swung his legs out, aiming for Nick’s knees. The bastard jumped back just in time.
Nick reared up and pulled his boot back, aiming for Stone’s head.
Stone caught the foot mid-swing and wrenched it sideways. Nick lost his balance and hit the deck hard.
Stone was on him in a heartbeat, hitting him with everything he had. Fists, elbows, knees.
Nick fought back like a man with nothing to lose. They traded blows, wild and punishing. No technique. No mercy.
Nick’s fist split Stone’s eyebrow. Blood flooded his eye.
He didn’t care. All he could think about was Frankie.
Please be alive. Please.
Nick lunged again, but Stone caught him mid-swing and drove a brutal punch into his ribs. Then another. Then another.
The rig groaned around them. The deck shook beneath their feet.
Stone growled, slamming his fist into Nick’s nose. “That’s for killing Dane!”
Fueled by rage, Stone pounded Nick’s face, over and over.
Nick spat blood and grinned through broken teeth.
“Dane was collateral,” he hissed. “Wrong place, wrong time. Not my fucking fault.”
“You fucking bastard.” Stone dropped his shoulder and slammed into Nick, driving him backward into a steel beam with a sickening crack. He grabbed Nick’s head and smashed his skull again. “And that’s for ruining Frankie’s life.”
Nick swung, wild and desperate. Stone drove a knee into the bastard’s gut, then cracked an elbow across his jaw.
Nick dropped, coughing blood.
Above them, a helicopter roared through the smoke, its blades thundering over the collapsing rig.
Stone looked up. McGuire leaned out from the open door of the helicopter, eyes locked on him.
Thank Christ they’re okay.
But Frankie was still out there.
Nick let out a feral growl and lunged, swinging blindly. Stone sidestepped and used Nick’s momentum against him to shove him down. Nick slammed into the deck face-first.
A rope dropped from the chopper, swaying in the smoky wind.
Stone waved them off. He wasn’t leaving without Frankie.
Nick pushed up onto his hands and knees. Her was bloody and dazed, yet refusing to stay down.
Stone drove his boot into Nick’s gut. “That’s for every person who worked on this rig.”
Nick flopped onto his back, coughing. Then he flashed a defiant grin, teeth covered in blood.
“You dumb fuck,” he rasped. “This is way bigger than you and me.”
Stone kicked him again. Hard.
Nick jerked and stayed down.
“Stone!” someone shouted from the chopper. “Grab the rope!”
He waved them off again and gave one more boot to Nick’s ribs, just to be sure. The bastard flopped onto the deck, groaning.
Dodging twisted metal and spot fires, Stone ran toward the edge with the chopper’s rotors hammering him with smoke and ash.
He peered into the dark water below, and his breath yanked out of him. The ocean was a frothing hell covered in fire and wreckage. Waves churned up the water, adding to the chaos.
Fuck. Fuck. Where is she?
“Frankie!” he bellowed, scanning the chaos below.
Where do I jump? Where?
He felt movement behind him.
He spun around.
Both of Nick’s boots crashed into his back in a savage double-kick.
Stone fell off the side of the rig.
His arms flailed.
The sky spun. The sharp crack of a rifle echoed overhead as the rig vanished above him.
He tried to turn to face the water, but he was positioned all wrong.
The ocean slammed into him like concrete. His back folded, air ripping from his lungs.
Pain exploded up his spine.
Everything went dark.