Page 101 of Captivating Anika

The next moment I hear Evans yell as he steps out of the tree line, several feet from where Monique is standing. She briefly turns her head to Evans, before focusing back on the river, renewing her aim.

But Evans doesn’t give her a chance and throws himself at her, taking her down to the ground.

Leaving him to take her out of commission, I scan the river with my flashlight for any sight of Anika. To my right I notice an old tree, one of its branches cracked and hanging low over the river. My eyes lock on a flash of red, right where the tip of the branch appears to touch the water.

“Help me…”

A mental image of her wearing her red hoodie as she’s putting on lip gloss pops in my head.

“I’m here! Hang on, Anika!” I yell out, even as I make my way over to the tree.

The water is not as wild this close in to shore, but there is still a strong current. I hope like hell that branch will hold if I hang on to it going into the river. Tucking my flashlight in my pocket, I grab on to the tree.

My entire focus is zoomed in on that splash of red as I walk into the cold water. I barely even notice when another beam of light suddenly hits my target in the water. I’m close enough to see her hanging on to the branch with both hands when, to my horror, I watch one of them let go.

“Do not let go. I’m right here!”

I’m supposed to be experienced with water rescues, but all my training went out the window when I stepped into the water without rescue gear. Not even a rope, but none of it matters, only Anika, and she’s in trouble.

I’m already reaching for her, and close enough to see her hand slipping. I surge forward, losing the ground under my feet as my fingers close in a vise grip on her wrist, the exact moment she lets go.

The only thing keeping both of us from being washed down the rapids is my one hand desperately trying to hold on to the branch. The combined weight of us pulling on my arm is magnified by the heavy drag of the rushing river.

“Anika!” I yell against the roar as I watch her head dip under water before popping back up. “Grab on to me!”

Groaning with the effort, I manage to pull her into my body.

“Arms around my neck.”

I can feel her body shaking against me and hear her teeth chatter. I can feel the shakes coming on myself.

She manages to loop her free arm around my neck.

“Hang on to me like a monkey, baby,” I tell her, and immediately feel her legs wrap around my hips.

Praying she has a good hold, I let go of her wrist and reach for the branch. Once I have a good grip with both hands, I pull us closer to shore where I’m able to find purchase with my feet again.

No sooner do I feel solid ground when the branch I’m hanging on to starts to give with a loud crack.

“Gimme your hand!”

I look over her head to find Tony Ramirez standing to his knees in the river. He’s hanging on to the trunk of the tree with one arm while reaching for me with the other.

I don’t hesitate and use my legs to launch myself at his outstretched hand while wrapping an arm tightly around Anika.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Hog

The clean scrubs and blanket they gave me don’t seem to be enough to keep the shivers at bay.

With the river temperatures in the mid-forties, it’s not a surprise I ended up with mild hypothermia. Anika not only ended up with a severe case, but came out of that freezing water with a hole in her shoulder.

Luckily, the wound is through and through, and she’ll recover with only a superficial scar as a visual reminder of the ordeal. But I’m afraid the emotional damage done is going to crater much deeper.

They have Anika under heated blankets and are flooding her with warm, intravenous fluids. She was asleep when I left the room a few minutes ago.

I wouldn’t have let the nurse shoo me out if I wasn’t expecting the Jones family to descend any moment. Both my phone and Anika’s are toast from being submerged, but Evans said he’d let the family know. I was almost surprised Bodhi hadn’t already found out and beaten the ambulance to the hospital.

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