Page 66 of Colton's Second Chance
Hearing a loud cry, Noelle shifted her attention to Grace Galloway. The woman had fallen, and Scott was struggling to haul her back to her feet.
“Get up!” Scott shouted cruelly to Grace, yanking her arm.
But the woman, whose hands were bound behind her, wobbled, her legs not supporting her.
Raising his gaze, Scott clearly spotted Eli’s rapid approach and made a decision. In the next instant, Scott planted a foot in his struggling hostage’s backside and shoved her into the icy water.
Hands tied, Grace sank under the surface, and Noelle gasped her horror. Without her hands free, how did Grace swim or tread water? How did the woman get out before her body shut down from the dangerous cold?
Where earlier Noelle had hesitated to go into the icy water to save herself, now her choice was clear. She charged to the edge of the dock, pausing only long enough to take her shoes off and pull the flare gun from her pocket. She fired one flare in the air, and seeing Scott glance her way, she fired the second in his general direction. While he dodged the sizzling rocket, she leaped into the water.
When Grace fell, Eli gained ground on Scott. He was nearly on his prey when Scott dumped Grace into the lake. Eli sucked in a sharp breath, as if he were the one dunked in the icy drink.
He veered toward the side of the dock where Grace had sunk beneath the surface, mentally bracing to go in after the woman, when he heard the crack and sizzle of a flare firing. He jumped out of the way as one of the flares zipped close to him. Montgomery, too, had to scuttle out of the way, but he quickly recovered and, jerking free the straps securing his aircraft, he dashed toward the cockpit of his plane.
When Noelle jumped in the water near Grace, Eli’s heart stopped for a moment. A strong tug pulled him toward the lake, demanding he go in after both women. But Scott was getting away.
Noelle’s head broke the surface, and she swam closer to the drowning woman.
“Noelle!” Eli shouted, toeing off his boot, readying to dive in.
“Go! S-stop him!” Noelle shouted back, sputtering from the icy lake water.
With one boot on, Eli raced toward the seaplane. He fired at the cockpit, then dropped to his stomach when Scott returned fire through the open cockpit door. From his prone position, Eli squeezed off two more shots as the propeller of the small plane started turning. The engine revved, and the plane moved slowly away from the dock.
Gritting his teeth, Eli sprang to his feet. He aimed for the gas tank and fired again. A small stream of fuel started leaking from the bullet hole. But that wasn’t enough to stop Scott or the floatplane’s departure.
Without stopping to debate his choice, Eli ran to the edge of the dock and leaped onto the closest pontoon, grabbing a stabilizing bar connected to the wing.
Montgomery, obviously having felt the jolt as Eli landed on the plane, aimed another shot in Eli’s direction.
Eli ducked, dropping to a crouch and losing his grip on his gun as he fought for his grip on the slippery bar. The floatplanebobbed and waggled as Montgomery accelerated across the lake, preparing to take off.
Eli’s unbooted foot slipped, and again, he struggled to cling to the plane and stay on the float. How fast would the fuel tank empty? How far could Scott get before he ran out of gas?
And how the hell did he get inside the passenger door without Montgomery shooting him? Eli grimaced as icy cold spray, kicked up by the pontoon, hit his face. The changing sounds of the engine told Eli Scott was nearly ready to lift off.
Eli tightened his grip. But as the aircraft lifted from the lake, Scott dipped his passenger-side wing once, then again, clearly trying to shake Eli off. The third time he dipped the wing, Eli’s foot slipped again, and he came perilously close to sliding off the pontoon.
Eli had a choice to make. Cling on and risk his life in one reckless attempt to get in the plane with Scott and stop him…or jump off before their elevation made such a feat a fatal drop.
With a sinking sensation in his gut, Eli knew his only real choice was to let Montgomery get away and save his own life in order to fight another day. Shouting a blistering word of frustration, Eli leaped from the float.
His arms windmilled, and he arched his back, trying not to pitch forward. He lifted his arms over his head as he reached the lake, making his body as pencillike as possible as he pierced the surface.
The icy cold hit him like a sledgehammer, and he mentally shifted into survival mode. He had to swim to shore, get out of this frigid water before hypothermia claimed him.
Chapter 23
Noelle gasped for air as the icy lake stole her breath. A thousand needles pricked her as she kicked her legs, struggling with the weight of her saturated coat and clothes. She forced herself not to think about how painful the cold water was or what was happening with Eli and Scott. She had to focus instead on reaching Grace. The sooner she got Grace out of the lake, the sooner they could both get warm and dry.
Forcibly shutting out the drone of the seaplane’s engine, she goggled at how hard it was to move in the freezing water. Her limbs were leaden. She seemed to be swimming through sludge. With numb fingers, she tugged at her zipper and peeled off her coat. Once free of the encumbering weight, she kicked her feet and stroked her arms as best she could to reach Grace. The panicked woman’s eyes found Noelle’s as Grace sank under the surface again.
Noelle slid her arm under Grace’s and kicked harder, struggling under the burden of Grace’s weight dragging them both down.
Noelle was finding it harder and harder to breathe, the icy chill sapping her energy.Just get her to shore…
Turning her head toward land, Noelle estimated the distance to be no more than fifty feet. As she swam, increasingly more of a flail than a productive stroke, she began to realize the distance might as well have been a mile. She wasn’t making fast enough progress, and both she and Grace were becoming still and stiff as the cold lake chilled their cores.
