Relief swam through Angelo’s veins. She was free.
The helicopter banked to the left and the light that had been on him disappeared—a split second before a large tree that had been washed into the river somewhere upstream slammed into Angelo’s legs, knocking him off his feet and sending him tumbling into the water after Reese.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Stone had called Spike when they were turning onto the desolate road leading to Big Bend, informing them that he and Owl were five minutes out from their location and wanting to know if Spike wanted to be picked up.
It was a no-brainer.
It was insane to be in a helicopter in this weather, but if he could get to Reese faster, Spike didn’t even have to think twice.
Tonka had jumped into the chopper as well, leaving Pipe to follow in his Challenger.
Spike had left his phone with Pipe, as his friend was still using his own cell to follow the red dot. Keeping Stone on the line, Pipe had notified them when the dot stopped moving. And it hadn’t started again—making Spike’s stomach roll with the implications.
The car was no longer moving, which could mean any number of things.
Tonka put together one of the rifles he had in his bag as Spike held a high-powered spotlight out the door, searching for Reese’s car and the assholes who’d taken her.
The chopper weaved and swayed in the wind, and Spike held onto the doorway with an iron grip. He hadn’t ever flown with Owl and Stone before, but he trusted them with his life. Hell, he trusted them with Reese’s life.
When the river came into view, and as he shone the light downward, Spike could only stare in awe. The river was…angry. That was the only word he could come up with at the moment. There were whitecaps where the rapids crashed against rocks and as a large tree was pushed downstream, he could see just how fast the water was moving.
Only an insane person would risk crossing it. But he had a feeling the men they were after—probably the same ones they’d escaped from down in Colombia, the ones who’d kidnapped Woody and Isabella—wouldn’t even think twice about risking it if it meant getting into Mexico. They likely assumed Spike wouldn’t follow them into the other country.
They were wrong. He’d break any law, incite an international incident, do whatever it took to get Reese back safely.
They flew down river, and when Spike finally spotted movement near the bank, he aimed the powerful spotlight—and nearly lost his goddamn mind. He could make out his Reese…down on the ground, surrounded by three men…one of them holding his dick as he looked down at her.
He’d wanted to shoot them all right then and there, but after freezing for a split second in the blinding light, the men scrambled like rats, quickly fleeing toward the river.
When he followed their progress, it looked like a man had grabbed some sort of cable or rope, assisting him to cross. The water was up to his thighs, which wasn’t as deep as Spike expected. Right behind him came another man.
Switching his attention back to the three people still on the riverbank, he watched one of the figures hit another. Twice.
It took a moment for his brain to comprehend what he was seeing. That the person being hit was much smaller than the other.
Reese.
His brain’s first instinct was to flood his body with a measure of relief. She was alive! But the fact that she was being punched made a red haze fall over his vision just as swiftly.
The man who’d hit her began to traverse the river, and the one left behind lifted Reese’s hand to the rope. Slowly, they began to cross.
“I’m going in closer!” Owl yelled. “Don’t let him get her across!”
“I’m on it!” Tonka shouted back, aiming the rifle toward the man right behind Reese.
Fear hit Spike, hard and fast. “Do not fire until you have a clear shot!” he warned his friend.
“Ten-four,” Tonka told him, not looking up from the scope of the rifle. The chance of Tonka hitting his mark was slim to none. With the way the chopper was being buffeted in the wind, there was no way anyone could get a firm bead on the man with Reese.
It was frustrating as hell that all Spike could do was point a light at the pair and watch as they inched their way across the raging river. Owl hovered just downstream from Reese and her captor, and even though all of Spike’s attention was on the woman he loved more than life itself, he was still aware of the skill it was taking to keep them airborne.
Suddenly, the man and Reese stopped almost in the middle of the river. The water was hitting them hard and doing everything in its power to knock them off their feet. The man looked up, and Spike realized for the first time that it was Angelo. For a tense moment, they stared at each other—then Angelo swung his arm up, bringing it back down and striking Reese.
Suddenly she was falling into the water, immediately disappearing under the surface.
Spike roared in frustration, anger, and fear. “No! Reese!”
“Hold on!” Owl yelled before banking hard to the left.
Spike lost sight of where Reese had fallen into the river for a moment before the river appeared below him once more.
“Go lower. I’m going in!” Spike yelled at Owl.
“No! It’s suicide!” Stone told him.
“Do it!” Spike roared.
To his relief, the chopper got even closer to the water. He could practically see it lapping at the skids. Not thinking twice about what he was doing, only thinking about getting to Reese, Spike jumped.
The cold water closed over his head, and Spike was immediately tossed head over heels as if he was in a washing machine. His head popped out of the rapids for a moment, and he took a deep breath before slamming into a boulder under the water and going under once more.
When he came up again, Spike looked around frantically. He didn’t see Reese anywhere. Panic almost got the better of him, but he clamped down on the feeling. If he lost it, Reese would die. He knew that down to the marrow of his bones. The water tried to suck him under once more, but using all his strength, Spike kept his head above the waves.
There!
Something caught his eye to the left. He swam toward it as hard as he could. It was Reese! She was still conscious, and fighting like hell to keep her head above water.
“Hold on!” he yelled, but there was no way she could hear him over the roar of the river.
Just as he was almost close enough to grab her, Spike’s foot got caught in debris under the water. He struggled to free himself as he watched Reese get farther and farther away. He grunted in frustration and tore his foot out of the obstruction, ignoring the bolt of pain that shot up his leg.
He swam faster than he ever had before when he heard something that made his blood run cold. It wasn’t the normal sound of the river and the wind. It was worse. Rapids. By the sound alone, he knew they were more dangerous than the ones they’d already gone through. He had to get to Reese before they reached them.
He saw her attempting to get to the shore on the left side of the river. She got close before being swept downstream once more.
Spike caught up to her just as they reached the rapids.
He grabbed hold of her hand—and she screamed in fear.
“It’s me! I’ve got you!” he yelled.
The look of disbelief and relief on her face would stick with him forever. Spike put one arm around her waist—immediately realizing she was topless in the cold river—and shouted, “Keep your feet forward, no matter what! Head up, ass down, feet forward, Reese!”