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

If he couldn’t find the killer, the least he could do was keep Nora safe. But to do that would likely mean the death of her aunt’s company and keeping her off the river. Would the realization that his help was worth nothing be the final nail in the coffin of their relationship?

“What’s your plan for getting out of here?” he finally asked, eyeing the rotting log six feet away.

“Boarding that rotten log certainly won’t work. The only way out is floating down the river. Feet first, just like you’d do if you’d fallen out of the raft. We’ll just need to choose our currents wisely.”

“You were right. I didn’t want to know.” There had to be a better way. He racked his brain for other solutions and came up empty. He was failing her again. He couldn’t even come up with a way to keep her safe without the risk of killing them both.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Henry stared at the churning waters below. “You want me to do what?”

“It’s the only way, Henry.” She pointed to the opposite side of the boulder that had almost killed him. “Look. There’s no undertow here. If we hit the right current, we can get to the next stop relatively quickly. It’s not that far. If the rain hasn’t interfered, we only have to endure one very minor rapid. If you do what I say—without question—we should get to Bobby and Carl quick as a flash.” She ripped off her life jacket and removed her splash jacket. “You’ll need to take off your splash jacket, as well. I’m glad you dressed properly this time, or I’d be worried about hypothermia.”

“I don’t understand. Why do you need my jacket?”

She demonstrated instead of answering. With a series of knots, she fashioned her splash jacket into a miniature pillow of sorts and then put her life jacket back on over her wet suit. “You’ll want something to hang on to. Let your life jacket do the rest, but this will help you balance and keep you from flailing your arms and legs.”

The more she explained the plan, the faster his heart pumped. Flipping upside down in a kayak was sounding pretty good in comparison. “Even if we can make it there, they can’t fit us in their kayak.”

“Well, if we straddle—”

“You’ve got to be joking,” he said, handing over his splash jacket.

She grinned and began tying his jacket with the same tight knots. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist. We can hope for the unlikely event that Bobby caught our raft, but Carl has a satellite radio, right? He can at least call for another boat to get to us. That take-out should be easy for another raft to reach. Or other options will present themselves.”

Henry eyed her. “You would make me take the kayak with Carl while you and Bobby ride the top of the kayak?”

“It would be hard to paddle, and we’d probably sink, so no.” She pointed to the sky. “If we don’t get a move on, it’ll be nightfall before someone could reach us.”

That would mean spending the night outside. “That’s the only part that doesn’t sound so bad.” The temperature would drop a good thirty degrees in the middle of the night. “Except we’re both soaked, and it’s illegal, even for me, to build a fire on this land.”

She clicked her harness and flashed a dazzling smile his way that doused him with a feeling of courage. “I know you’ve struggled with a fear of water the past few years. After your belt got stuck, that probably hasn’t changed. But I think you’re doing amazing.” She reached over as if to pat him on his back, except her palm gave his back a good shove.

The slippery rock offered no friction and he launched off the rock as if on a waterslide. He dropped ten feet in the air before his feet slapped the water. The water rushed over his head, but he bobbed up as fast as he’d dropped. Nora popped up beside him, her teeth already chattering from the cold.

She reached for his hand even as the stream grabbed them and rushed them forward. “Just pretend you’ve fallen out of a raft.” She took shallow, rapid breaths, her lips already turning a darker shade.

Henry felt sure his must have seemed bluer as she cast a concerned glance at his face. “I don’t think pretending I’ve fallen out of a boat helps keep me calm.”

She grinned and he tried to keep his fingers from holding on to her hand too tightly. “Fair enough, but remember, feet forward, following the downstream. Don’t try to stand, even if the water is shallow or the river calms.”

A wave swept over their heads. Henry wiped his face with his free hand, refusing to let Nora go. He didn’t need to be told not to stand, especially after getting stuck in a crevice. She also didn’t need to remind him to keep his feet high. Boulders were hidden below the surface.

She raised her chin and continued her safety lecture. “Knees up. Try to keep your feet as close to the surface… I know you know these things, but in a stressful situation, it can help to voice them as reminders. For both of us.”

“I suppose I deserve that after diving in after the raft.”

She eyed him, her blue lips parted. “Why do you always assume I’m trying to tell you ‘I told you so’? That’s not what I was doing. I was trying to be helpful, Henry McKnight.”

He could feel her fingers pulling from his ever so slightly. “Okay, okay. That’s not what you were doing.” Her face relaxed ever so faintly, even though her teeth still chattered. He did have a tendency to assume people were trying to control him or to criticize him, but in his defense, that was often true in his life. He’d forgotten that, for all of Nora’s supposed easy-going nature, the moment she thought someone was