Page 139 of One Last Chance

C’mon.

Again.

She closed her eyes.“Trust me.”

Not her voice. Oh, she wanted to—and really, what else did she have?

Please, God, save him. Because you can, and you’re good, and I know this with everything inside me. Even when it doesn’t feel that way.

“He has too much water in his lungs,” Boo said between breaths.

Flynn knelt next to him. “Listen here, Phoenix. You have at least one more life left. So use it!”

Another breath, then his body spasmed and he began to cough. Boo rolled him, and his entire body turned into a knot as he retched and spewed water from his lungs.

Then he lay back, spent, breathing hard, his eyes closed.

Flynn took his hand.

He squeezed it.

And then she bent her head to his and started to weep.

Everyone went quiet, just her sobs wracking through her.

Oh, it wasn’t worth it, for him, for her. And for a moment, his words hours ago on the river came to her again.

“I can’t.”

He was right. Because she couldn’t either.

Finally, softly, she felt a hand on her head. “It’s okay, Sparrow.”

No, not even a little.

But she couldn’t tell him that now. She leaned up, wiped her face. “Do not do that to me again.”

He looked wrung out, his eyes reddened, his face grimy, but he managed a stupid, beautiful, heartbreaking smile. “Drown with a serial killer? Okay, deal.”

She sank into the grass, not sure.Wait. “What do you mean ‘drown with a serial killer’? Where’s Dillon?”

Behind her, Wilson was speaking, or at least making sounds, gasps, and tiny hiccups of horror. “Is that . . . Oh my—no, what—” His knees buckled and he landed in the dirt. “No . . . Dillon. Not like this.”

She looked over, and Shep and Wilson stood on the side of the pit.

“He floated to the surface, didn’t he?” Axel said, his voice raspy.

She looked away, not sure how to reckon her feelings.

Kennedy came running up, breathing hard. “I went to the village, and then I saw the guys show up with the dog—they found you—I don’t know how.”

“That would be Orlando,” Jericho said. “I don’t know how he found your scent. We met Moose and London at the cache cabin, where they put down to give Parker to her dad—she’s on her way to the hospital. But Orlando took one whiff of Parker, and the minute we landed, took off this way.”

She looked at him, back to Axel. “Parker had his shirt.”

Jericho dropped a hand on Orlando’s head. “Good dog.”

Kennedy dropped next to her sister and put her arm around her. “You okay?”

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