Page 4 of One Last Chance

His breath burned in his lungs.

He got his feet down, his fingers into the granite, the water still violent around him, and tried to orient himself.

Get out.

The thought pulsed at him, and he tried to turn, to catch the outgoing current, but the roil fought him.

His breath started to leak.

And the rope at his life jacket tugged.

He put his arms up so as not to hit the ceiling, and kicked, fighting to escape.

Something grabbed his wrist. Yanked. And just like that, a weight slammed him to the bottom.

His breath burned, bursting against his ribs.

Then hands grabbed his jacket.

He put his hands up, kicked.

Found just a foot or less of water, but air. At least for a second. Then a wave crashed in, buried him, and he clung to the cave wall.

The water receded, and he blinked.

The girl with the orange helmet stared at him.

“You’re alive.”

“Yeah. Barely. I was pinned, but I got out, and then the current drove me in here. I thought I was going to die.” Her voice cracked on the last of her words.

Yeah, him too, but he didn’t say that. “They have me on a line. Hold on to me and we’ll get out together, okay?”

She nodded.

He tugged on the line and felt it start to grip.Attaboy, Sully. He probably had Jude helping.

“Deep breaths now?—”

She drank in a couple deep breaths, and he did the same. Then he grabbed her hand, put it on his life-jacket harness, and wrapped his hand around hers, making a fist.

She held on and he ducked under, pushing off the rocks, and swam hard.

With the tug of the rope and the current catching him, they shot out of the cave and surfaced. He rolled over, grabbed her by her life jacket, and backstroked to shore.

Her father fell to his knees, weeping as they crawled over the rocks. She dropped into his arms, and Adrienne crawled out of the tent to join them.

Axel sat on the shore, shivering as Sully unhooked him.

“Thought we lost you there.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time people thought that,” Axel said.

Sully grinned.

And overhead, the air thundered. A big red chopper came into view. Sully stood, waving his arms. “Looks like big brother came looking for you.”

“I can see the headlines now,” Jude said, packing up the rope. “‘Hometown Hero at It Again.’ Maybe you can get your own reality show.”

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