by Sam Cheever
“If I know how the brat’s mind works,” Franco said, glaring at Elena, “I’m guessing she intends us to wait until the water’s almost to the top of the glass. Then the pressure equilibrium should keep it from exploding into the room.”
Elena grinned again. “See, you do understand me.”
“Not in a million years,” he told her with a grimace.
Nici watched as a terrifyingly large shape swam past the long window, seemingly oblivious to the death and trauma a mere sheet of glass away. “Some of those fish look big enough to eat us,” Nici said with a shudder. Her teeth clacked together from the cold of being submerged for so long and her stomach had twisted with terror when she’d heard Elena’s plan.
“We really don’t have a choice,” Elena told her. She looked at Franco. “Franc?”
He sighed. “She’s right, Nic. We’re gonna have to do this.” He glanced around the room. “But I really wish we had some life jackets. I’ve been in that river and it’s really rough.”
Elena reached into her pocket and pulled out a flat, circular object. “I could only find two, but maybe Nici and I can stick our arms through one together.” She handed one to Franco.
Nici grimaced as Elena started to blow one of them up. “Is that an inflatable butt cushion?”
Elena stabbed the air valve into the tube. “Yup. You can thank me later.”
Franco handed Nici the one he’d blown up. “Shove your arms through this and bend your elbows so it can’t come off.”
She frowned. “You need to take this one.”
He shook his head. “I’ll be fine. I’m much too mean to let some dumb river take me out.”
Nici reached up and touched his jaw with a finger. “If you don’t climb out of that river with us, I’m going to be really pissed.” She leaned close and, for a long moment, just let his breath fan her face, her eyes closed. “Be careful.”
His lips touched hers in a gentle brush and her eyes flew open. He rested his forehead against hers. “Stay close to Elena. Between the two of you, you should be able to make it to the surface.”
Tears burned in Nici’s eyes. His softly spoken words sounded too much like goodbye to her.
“I don’t want to rush you two but...”
Nici turned to her sister and realized she was tilting her chin to keep from swallowing water. Nici had risen to her toes without thinking, her thoughts roiling with concern for Franco.
Franco dived under the water and, a moment later came up with the ax. He swam toward the window and stood on a chair they’d placed there before the water got so high. He needed to be on a firm surface to swing the ax. He slid them one last glance, his eyes filled with worry. “You ready?”
Nici had her arms through the donut and Elena followed suit. They moved closer and looped one arm together. “Ready,” Elena said. Nici nodded, blinking back tears.
Franco lifted the ax. “Take a big breath. Once I break this you’ll have to hold it long enough for me to clear a spot we can fit through. Then you’ll need to swim to the surface of the river.”
Nici’s heart pounded with fear. She’d never had to hold her breath that long. She was terrified of drowning. But she gave him a smile, nodding. The last thing she wanted was for him to worry about her when he should be worrying about getting himself to the surface.
He swung the ax. It bounced off the reinforced glass. He swung again with the same result. The water in the room continued to rise and Elena and Nici had to tread water, the donuts working to keep them afloat.
Franco swung two more times, the ribbon of glass above the water a mere four inch target he managed to hit both times. The glass held. Finally, he reached beneath the water and came up with the Glock. “Here’s hoping the marketing hype on this weapon is true.” He gave them a grin and shot the glass. It dimpled, a series of fractures spidering out from the initial dimple with cracks that sounded like popping corn. He shoved the gun back into his jeans and took a deep breath. The girls did the same. Nici closed her eyes and said a prayer they’d make it.
Franco slammed the blade of the ax into the fracture the bullet had made and it gave way with a crunch. Water seeped through the fracture and the spider web of fissures quickly spread outward, giving way with a much louder crack. Franco quickly swung the ax a couple more times as water flooded past the opening he’d made and then suddenly they were under water. The donuts kept them buoyant but they fought them to keep from rising to the top of the room.
A hard hand wrapped around Nici’s arm and they were suddenly swimming toward the broken window.
Nici and Elena kicked hard and Franco shoved them through. Nici gave one more hard kick to clear the jagged edges of glass but didn’t quite make it. A searing pain sliced along her ribs as the glass caught her and she flinched, bumping into Elena as she instinctively tried to avoid the ragged glass.
They fought to rise in the roiling water. The higher they climbed through the icy murkiness, the harder it was to determine if they were climbing up or down. The water churned in small eddies that threatened to pull them back to the bottom and Elena’s body strained against Nici’s to fight free of them.
Finally, when Nici’s lungs felt like they would burst, she saw an amber glow that looked like sunlight. Gathering up her final reserves of energy, Nici kicked hard and headed for it. Elena jerked once and then suddenly slipped away from her.
Nici turned, her eyes stinging from the silty water, but couldn’t see her sister in the murk. The imperatives of her burning chest drove her upward. She determined to grab a quick breath and dive again to see if she could find Elena.
She burst free at last, her mouth opening to drag in a huge breath. Water slapped against her nose and mouth, making it hard to breathe and the pace of the water sent her skidding down river when she wanted to stay where she was and dive again. She panicked, knowing she might have already lost her sister.
Nici tugged the donut off her arms and tried to turn.
A nearby shout drew her attention. It was her brother, Erik. He’d scrambled out onto a fallen tree downstream and was holding out a hand to stop her before she shot past. Nici reached for the offered hand, kicking to try to redirect her path toward the shore.
She was moving too fast.
The water beat against her, turning her numb from its icy punch and shoving her toward the center of the brown water. That way led certain death. She’d barely escaped the eddies in the deeper water and she’d thrown her donut away.
Erik shouted again and Nici dug in, fighting to redirect herself shoreward. She shot toward the branch, at the last second flinging out a hand, and felt her fingernails scrape over loose bark. Her body shot past the branch but she heard a splash and felt a firm grip lock around her wrist.
She was slowly hauled toward the tree and shoved over it. Hanging there just long enough to catch her breath, Nici turned to Erik and gasped out. “Elena! I need to go back for her. She slipped out of my grip back there.”
Erik’s gaze lifted to a large form shooting toward them. It was Franco, with Elena gripped in one arm. She looked unconscious.
Another voice screamed from shore. “Drop her!”
As they approached the tree, Franco turned sideways and kicked out, shoving Elena toward shore as he shot past.
“No!” Nici tied to dive back into the water but Erik grabbed her. “Not a chance, sis. He’ll be okay. Mike’ll get him.”
Mike was running along the shore, calling out to Franco as he ran.
“You stay here. I need to get Elena.”
Nici’s head jerked around and she saw her sister, sideways in the water and one arm caught up in one of the tree’s branches. She was still unconscious. Nici pushed off her belly and scrambled along the tree behind her brother. He pulled his belt off as he ran and, when he came even with Elena, he looped it around a branch, buckling it, and slipped his arm through as he stepped into the water. His feet were immediately pulled out from under him but the belt held and he was able
to shimmy it downward until he reached Elena. He wrapped an arm around Elena’s waist and started working his way backward to the fallen trunk, dragging her through the water with him.
Nici grabbed the waistband of his jeans when he got close and pulled, trying to help him move the last couple of feet.
Finally he came to the spot where the branch met the trunk and he stopped, fitting himself into the vee and leaning into it to help him pull Elena’s dead weight from the water. Nici grabbed her sister’s shirt and helped. They draped Elena over the thick trunk and Erik pressed on her back, trying to get her to expel water. “Come on, beautiful.” He pressed again but she wouldn’t give it up.
Nici panicked. “Do something!”
He turned Elena over and pressed on her chest and then pinched her nose closed and breathed into her mouth.
Nici watched with dread as the seconds ticked by with no improvement. She wrung her fingers, her heart pounding above the roar of the river.
Then Elena coughed and Nici grabbed her shoulders, turning her on her side as she spewed muddy water.
Erik sat back on his heels, panting. He hung his head and wrapped a hand around Elena’s ankle as if he was afraid she’d disappear again. “That wasn’t frickin’ terrifying at all,” he murmured.
Nici wrapped her arms around his shoulders and gave him a hug. “You did good for a screw-up.”
He laughed, shaking his head. It was what she’d always told him when they were kids. They both knew it was her way of telling him thank you. “You’re welcome.”
“Is she okay?”
The familiar husky voice brought Nici’s head up and she shouted with glee, standing up and running down the thick tree trunk with a scream of laughter. She slipped and nearly went into the water, but a pair of hard, muscular arms caught her, pulling her into a broad chest that was much hotter than it should have been given the fact that he’d just been fished from an icy river.
“You’re safe.” Nici’s hands skimmed over his face, memorizing him with touch and gaze and locking the memory into her heart.
Franco gave her a crooked grin. “I promised I would be, didn’t I?”
She nodded, laughing with sheer happiness. “Thanks for saving me.”
Franco skimmed a finger over her cheek, pushing a ribbon of hair behind her ear. “It was my pleasure, gorgeous.” He tugged her close and lowered his head, his lips finding hers in a kiss that was hungry enough to pull all the air from her lungs. She wrapped herself around him, holding on as if he was a lifeline in a world turned upside down.
And she realized in that moment, that was exactly what he was. Because if she’d lost him in that river, it would have irreparably broken her, turning her world into something she no longer wanted to live in.
“What the hell are you doing?”
They broke apart and turned to the man striding angrily their way. Perry DeVitis looked like he was ready to spit bullets. He reached out and shoved Franco in the chest as he stopped in front of them.
“Hey!” Nici tried to step forward but Franco moved in front of her.
“Back off, DeVitis.”
Perry’s hands were at his sides, clenched into fists. “You were told to stand down, Martin.”
Franco nodded, putting his hands on his hips and looking Perry in the eye. “I disobeyed that order and I’ll talk to your father about it. Not you.”
Perry reached around Franco and grabbed Nici’s arm. “We’ll see about that.”
Nici yelped in surprise. She hadn’t been expecting the other man to grab her, and then immediately regretted it as Franco stepped into Perry’s space and gripped his shirt. “Take your hand off her. Now. Or you and I are gonna have a big problem.”
Perry dropped her arm and grasped Franco’s hands, wrenching them free of his shirt. “You and I already have a problem. You work for us, Martin. You have no right to be handling my sisters like they’re your own personal stable of female companions.”
Franco moved so quickly Perry didn’t have a chance to defend himself against the punch. It landed on his jaw and snapped his head back, sending him sprawling to the scrubby grass on the riverbank.
Franco moved to follow it up with another punch but Nici grabbed his arm, stopping him. “No! you’re going to lose your job, Franco.”
He sneered down at Perry. “I’m afraid that ship has already sailed, Nic.”
Mike got between Franco and Perry DeVitis. Lifting his hands, he tried to appeal to Franco’s rational side. Nici was afraid he didn’t have one. “Come on, man. You were right the first time. You need to take this up with Gordon. This isn’t helping.”
“You heard what he said about her.”
Mike frowned. “Yeah. I did. And I don’t blame you for punching him. But you still need to take a deep breath and let Gordon sort this out.”
“Perry you’re such an ass.” Elena came up beside Nici and Erik stood beside her, his jaw tight.
Perry shoved to his feet and glowered toward his sister. “The princess returns. Lucky us.”
Elena grinned and Nici figured it was just to annoy her brother. “Now there are two of us. Isn’t that awesome?”
Perry’s lips curled. “Just peachy. And I wouldn’t be too happy with yourself, Elena. This is all your fault.”
Elena’s smile slipped away. “Don’t you think I know that? That’s why I’m here. It’s why I came to save Nici. I’ll have to make it up to her...”
Nici shook her head. “Elena...”
“No, Nici stop. It’s true. I owe you and Franco an apology. But I did learn some things about The Foundation that we needed to know so...” She threw her brother a glare. “If we can all put the rulers away for a while, I’d like to recommend that we go home. Dad needs to hear what I’ve learned.”
Perry clearly didn’t like her suggestion but he seemed to know she was right. He spun on his heel and headed for the mill, his gate stiff and angry.
Elena looked at Franco. “Mind if I ride with you guys? I’d rather eat my own arm than get in a car with that asswipe.”
“It’ll be tight but I think we can all squeeze in,” Franco said, giving Nici a look filled with heat.
“You can sit on my lap,” Erik said, waggling his brows at Elena.
She snorted. “Perv.”
“I hate to interrupt the frivolity,” Mike said.
They all turned to him.
“Any idea who was responsible for that nightmare you three just escaped?”
Nici suddenly remembered. “Doctor Ainsley was there. She’s part of it.”
Elena nodded. “She’s been meeting with Osgood. I’m pretty sure he’s the force behind all of this. The dead street kids, Nici’s kidnapping...”
Nici’s eyes went wide. “They thought I was you.”
Everyone stilled.
Franco frowned. “Are you sure?”
She nodded. “Positive. They thought they’d grabbed Elena, not me.”
“Well that’s good news,” Mike said.
Elena smacked him.
He laughed. “I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant they might not know about Nici yet. If so, we can use that lack of knowledge to our advantage.” Mike dropped an arm around Franco’s shoulders. “Glad you made it back in one piece, brah.”
“No thanks to you guys,” Franco said, frowning. “Where the hell were you?”
Mike and Erik shared a look. Finally Erik spoke up. “Those guys didn’t go down easy, brah. They had guns and before we could stop them they jumped back into the boat and set off down the river.”
Franco sighed. “So you had no way across.”
“We were working on it, but then you three popped up and we were glad we were still here.”
Franco clapped his friend on the shoulder. “Yeah. I’m glad you were here too. Did you see the ants scrambling out?”
“No. Not a one,” Erik told him.
Franco and Nici shared a look. “They evacuated the bunker,” Franco said.
Nici nodded. “They were flooding it, which was why Elena had the brilliant idea of going out through an underground viewing window.”
Elena laughed. “Oh sure, now it’s a brilliant idea.”
Mike shrugged. “They must have gone out somewhere else. Nobody came out of that door you went into, man.”
Franco grabbed Nici’s hand. “Well, let’s go face the music with Gordon. If I’m going to be looking for a job I’d just as soon know it so I can get started.”
Nici linked her arm with his. “There is an upside to unemployment, you know.”
He smiled down at her. “And what’s that?”
She let him open the door of the sedan for her. “Isn’t it obvious, you can be my boy toy.”
Franco shook his head, his green gaze sparking with humor. “I just defended you when your brother all but called you a prostitute.” He tilted his head as she slipped into the passenger seat. “Now you want to make me your toy?”
Nici laughed. “Well, yeah. Of course!”
Elena giggled as she climbed into the backseat and reached through to give Nici five. “You go, girl.”
Franco slid behind the wheel, sighing expansively. “I feel so cheap.”
“Oh, I hope so,” Nici said on a nod. “I lost my job last week and don’t have much money. So if you’re expensive I might have to just rent you once in a while.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Franco stood with Mike and Erik by the windows, smiling at little Bridget flitting from one sister to the other, as excited as if it were Christmas morning.
Erik frowned. “I have to admit, if I have to lose my sister to someone, I’m glad little Bridget will get her.”
Franco dropped an arm around the other man’s shoulders. “You’re not losing her, brah. You’re just sharing her with a few more people.”
“Yeah,” Mike nodded, “and look how happy it makes her.”
Franco had to admit she did look happy. Despite the horror of the last twenty-four hours, she seemed comfortable and pleased to be wrapped in a blanket, sipping hot chocolate with her newly found sisters. He was also happy to see that she was being kind to Anshelle, who was perched on the arm of the couch, laughing at Bridget’s antics.
