Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense March 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 Dana Mentink (e books free to read TXT) 📖

forced his heavy legs to move and launched himself into the air, as well. He landed a mere six inches beside Nora. He stood and grabbed the rope with her and felt the massive tug-of-war the river wanted to play.

“Faster! Bobby will need the space to get in.”

Except the kayak was already past the opening, fighting once again to return upstream.

“They missed the current.” Nora’s voice warbled.

“Meet up at the next site,” Henry hollered, pulling the rope closer.

“Oh, no. Henry, look.”

The D-ring on the bow of the boat seemed to have frayed the rope, and then the rope went slack. Nora fell back. Their raft, now free of the rope, began to slide out of the bay with the current. Henry kicked off his back foot. That raft was their only hope for getting out.

His hands hit the bow of the boat, but the raft moved too quickly. His lower torso slammed against the water with enough force to shove most of the air from his lungs. The water grabbed his feet and tugged with the greatest force he’d ever felt, pulling him underneath the frigid waters. His fingers dug into the handles on the side of the raft, but the boat and life jacket were no match for the deadly undertow.

He lifted his chin and pulled in the deepest breath he could muster before the waters swirled over his head, pulling him farther under. Is this it, Lord? He spun around in the water, blinking rapidly, trying to see past the bubbles. His heart squeezed with fear. He may not have remembered much from the summer before he’d shattered his leg, but he knew that aerated water wouldn’t allow him to float back to the surface.

The river continued to draw him deeper under until a different current punched him in the chest and shot him forward, right toward two boulders. Instinct told him to put his feet out, but his legs refused, remembering the pain of impact at high speed all too well. There was a space between the boulders, maybe if he could—

The bubbling water spun him again, so he couldn’t see, but something snagged him and his body stilled. Except the water continued to pound him right in the chest. Over and over. He glanced down at the rocks that had him pinned right around his waist.

CHAPTER TEN

Nora dropped the guide bag from her back. She pulled out the throw bag and pitched it as far as her arm allowed, hoping it would hit where she’d seen Henry go under. “Rope!” Except the bag filled with unraveling rope disappeared under the water. It was supposed to float, which meant only one thing. The undertow went deeper than she’d thought, right where he’d disappeared.

She searched the waters, letting the rope pull her along the bank. Lord, help me understand the currents once again. There. The red bag popped back up. The end of the rope shook in her hand. If she was right, the current would eventually spit something heavier, like Henry, out, too, right into the boulders at the far edge of the bank.

No, anything but the boulders.

She pulled the rope, gathering it as best she could as she ran along the shore. The soles of her feet felt every bump of the rough pebbles through her water shoes as she hurdled tree logs blocking her path. She hesitated before she climbed the first steep boulder, violent splashes of water kicking up at her shins. One wrong move and she would slip under the water, as well.

She grabbed her edge of the rope and tied it around her waist. If she was going down, so be it. She would be Henry’s only hope. She used both hands, clawing and sliding against the edges and moss on the boulders. Once at the top, she took off her helmet and grabbed a nearby hefty rock to place inside. Her fingers shook as she clicked the strap to hold it within. The helmet wouldn’t go very far under water, but it was possible, if Henry was stuck underneath…

She leaned over as much as she could manage and let the weighted helmet hang, suspended in air. Using a swinging motion, she launched the helmet like a pendulum until it dropped right into the current she’d spotted. The rope slid through her fingers, pulling the helmet below the surface. Nora dropped down to a squat and pressed her feet against the second boulder to stay steady. If the rope started tugging her under the water, she’d need to act fast to untie it from her waist. If that were even possible.

“If you’re down there, keep your eyes open!”

The rope tugged with the weight of a sudden catch…or it was trapped in a current between the boulders and she was pulling against impossibilities. Nora leaned back, pressing her heels deeper into the second rock. Her legs shook from the effort. The rope slowly began to tighten around her waist. Should she give up? Should she untie the rope? She closed her eyes. Please don’t take him, too.

A cry escaped her lips from the effort. She pulled on the rope between her legs and looked down at the churning water. Hot pink! She could see the hot pink helmet, struggling to come up, and fingers wrapped around the rope.

“Henry!”

A hand on the line just above the splashing water appeared. The rope dug into her waist. Henry’s face surfaced, pulling in a hungry breath of air. Coughs burst out of his mouth before he gasped, dragging in another breath.

“Brace your feet between the rocks!” Her voice shook with fear. They weren’t out of danger yet. She still needed to get him out of the water, but he might not have much self-control if he’d inhaled water. The muscles flanked by her shoulder blades threatened to revolt, and her forearms burned like they might combust, but she forced her raw hands to keep pulling the rope upward.

The moment Henry’s shoe braced against the boulder, the