“Be careful,” she said quietly before Rocco turned away.
He smiled at her. “Always. I’ve got a wife waiting for me back home. Nothing will keep me from her.”
“On the count of three,” Cole said. “One. Two. Three.”
On the last word, the four men took off running. As they’d planned, Rocco and Gumby headed east, and Phantom and Cole went west.
Avery ducked her head and held on for dear life as Cole ran. She couldn’t believe how agile and fast he could move with her on his back. Phantom was right behind them, she supposed covering her since she was exposed, being on Cole’s back like she was.
They swerved left and right, using every available boulder as cover as they ran. Avery did her best to be as little a burden as possible. She made a conscious effort not to choke Cole and her thighs shook from squeezing his sides as she held on.
They heard shouts above and behind them, but neither Cole nor Phantom slowed down. Avery began to feel sick from the jostling as Cole ran, so she closed her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was puke on him. Not that she had anything in her stomach to throw up, except for the few swallows of the protein gel she’d managed to get down.
She could feel them swerving more and more, and when she opened her eyes, Avery saw that the harsh desert climate had given way to a greener terrain.
The closer they got to the river, the more trees there were, but they didn’t slow their pace. Avery was impressed by the fact that both men were running so fast. She barely heard Cole breathing hard. She shouldn’t have been surprised; she’d seen firsthand how much conditioning they endured. Running in the sand and long half marathons were the norm for their training. But it couldn’t have been easy to run with a person on his back, or for Phantom with two packs.
“Can you swim?” Cole asked as he ran.
Shit. “Yeah,” Avery told him. She didn’t like to, but she could. When she’d decided to join the navy, she’d forced herself to learn to do more than dog paddle, just in case. It had seemed like the smart thing to do. “Are they following us?”
“Yeah. Bubba and Ace were able to monitor them until the insurgents split up, just like we thought they would. They’re being very determined for some reason and haven’t given up the chase. We’ve got about a dozen insurgents on our tail, the last Ace saw. With the kind of firepower they have, it’s imperative that we lose them. We’re going to have to get a little wet.”
“A little?” Avery asked, trying to block out the part about twelve men trying to find and kill them.
Cole chuckled. “Yeah. Just a little.”
They ran for another couple of minutes before coming to a stop alongside a fairly wide river. She knew it was the same one the villagers used for water, for bathing, and for washing their clothes. She didn’t want to get near it, but of course had no choice.
Cole knelt and tapped on her legs. She dropped her feet to the ground and would’ve gone down in a heap if Phantom hadn’t grabbed her arm, holding her upright.
“Thanks,” she muttered, locking her knees to try to stay standing.
Cole took her other arm, and she listened as he and Phantom had a quick conversation about whether or not to get into the fast-moving water or try to evade the insurgents on foot.
The sound of a gun firing made the decision for them. Cole grabbed his pack from Phantom, shrugged it on, then headed for the river.
Avery didn’t want to get into the water, but it wasn’t as if she had a choice. She didn’t want to be back in the clutches of the men who’d beaten her and left her for dead either. She figured she’d used up her one free pass with them, and if they got their hands on her again, her previous time with the insurgents would seem like a walk in the park.
“Keep your feet in front of you and let the current do the work,” Cole coached as they stepped into the water. “I’ll be near you the entire time. If I tell you to duck, take a deep breath and go under the water. Got it?”
“Got it,” Avery confirmed. She was shaking with fear and adrenaline, but didn’t hesitate to lower herself into the water next to Cole. She looked behind her and saw Phantom standing on the bank with his rifle aimed at the trees the way they’d come.
“Isn’t he coming?” she asked in a semi-panic.
“Yes. Once we’re away from the bank.”
The water was lukewarm and wasn’t as refreshing as she hoped it would be, but in seconds, the temperature was the least of her concerns. One second she was floating lazily near the bank, and the next, Cole had taken her arm and steered her closer to the faster-moving current.
Immediately, her body flew forward, and she held her breath as the water momentarily went over her head.
She spluttered for a second, then righted herself, pointing her feet downstream and kind of sitting in the water. Luckily, she was naturally buoyant and didn’t have to work too hard to keep herself from sinking. She felt Cole’s hand on her arm and looked to her left. He’d put himself between her and the insurgents, and held on to her so she didn’t get swept out into the middle of the river.
He had a look of intensity on his face that reassured her. His long dark hair was dripping into his eyes and she wondered how he could see anything. Avery figured she didn’t look much better than he did. She’d lost the sunglasses she’d been wearing the first time her head went under the water and felt bad, but she didn’t have time to mourn the loss of the eye wear before Cole turned to her and shouted, “Hang on!”
Turning to face forward again, Avery gasped. Ahead of them was a long stretch of white water, which was scary as hell from her current vantage point. She’d been white-water rafting before, and it had been fun and exhilarating, but without a boat, and a knowledgeable guide to steer them through the rapids, it would’ve been terrifying.
Kinda how she felt right now.
“I’ve got you,” Cole told her, right before they hit the churning water.
Feeling like a cork bobbing repeatedly, Avery did her best to keep her head above the surface and her feet in front of her. Her ass hit quite a few rocks as she flew downstream, but she barely felt it with all her other aches and pains and the adrenaline coursing through her veins.
Just when she thought they were through the worst of the rapids, she heard Cole swear from next to her. She glanced over at him just as he pushed her away from him as hard as he could and yelled, “Get around that tree!”
Avery looked back up just in time to see a thick tree trunk blocking their path. It had gotten caught up in some rocks or debris and was stuck lengthwise across the side of the river they were currently rushing down.
She did her best to paddle around it, and probably would’ve made it—except once Cole let go of her, he powered through the water a lot faster. He’d tried to clear the left side of the tree, but didn’t quite make it. The rushing water closer to the middle of the river smacked his legs against the large trunk, which made his upper body jackknife around the end. He grabbed hold of the tree, trying to right himself, but the water pressure was too strong and it sucked him under.
Instinctively, Avery reached out and grabbed hold of the right end of the trunk right before she passed. The water whooshed over her head in a torrent so strong, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to hold on. She managed to right herself and look down the trunk—and her eyes widened in horror.