Page 151 of One Last Stand

The man tripped her up, and even as she rolled, landing on her back, he was on her.

Hands to her throat, pushing her into the snow.

Shep’s feet crashed through the broken snow, but Caspian reached them first. He caught the man’s jacket, growling.

The man punched the dog, who let go, whining.

And that turned Shep to fire.

He launched himself at the man, caught him, and they rolled through the snow.

The man hit him, but Shep was right there with years of bottled-up anger, the violence banked for this exact moment.

One punch and the man staggered back.

Shep hit his feet. Then charged. The hill caught them, and suddenly they were sliding toward the river.

The roiling, dark, lethal river. Shep pushed the man away, rolled onto his stomach, kicked hard into the embankment.

The man kept sliding, shouting?—

He splashed into the river.

Shep rolled over, breathing hard.

The current grabbed the man, and he shouted, panicking as the cold shocked him.

Shep got up, scrambled down to the edge. Icy chunks settled near the shore, but the man had fallen deeper, floating now some ten, then fifteen feet away.

“Help!” he shouted at Shep. “Help!”

Shep turned back to the house, to London and his team. They’d spilled out of the house, Flynn with London.

“Help!”

He glanced at the man in the water.Shoot?—

“Swim!” Shep plunged into the water, the temperature like knives to his skin, andoh, this was stupid, stupid?—

“Shep!”

He turned and spotted Axel, now wading out into the water, his arm outstretched.

The man was swimming now, fighting the current. He made it to a boulder, clinging hard. Shep grabbed Axel’s hand, and in a moment, Moose ran up.

He stood on the shore. “What the?—”

“He’s going to drown,” said Shep, and for a second, he saw that truth play in Moose’s eyes.

But Moose was built like Shep, and after a moment, his mouth tightened and he walked out into the water, grabbing Axel’s arm, making a human chain. Shep went deeper, up to his thighs now, Axel’s grip on him an anchor. The man was only feet away, clinging to the boulder, the water rushing over him, shaking him. He stared at Shep, not reaching for him.

“C’mon, dude. I’m not letting go of my teammate, so you’re going to have to decide whether you want to live or die.”

The man gasped, fighting for breath in the tumult of water.

Shep leaned out for him, his hand splashing down in the water.

“C’mon, Benton!” Moose shouted from shore. “Don’t let your pride kill you! Grab on!”

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