Page 85 of Mountain Target

No.

No.

He swam with everything he had—knowing that these were the only seconds that mattered, that there would never be another chance.

Keep.

Fucking.

Swimming.

He slammed into her before he saw her. Instinct and training had him turning her over so her face was out of the water. She was so pale—so fucking pale—her lips almost purple. But he couldn’t let himself think she might be gone.

He couldn’t let himself think.

He had to get her out of the water.

Get her out.

He looked at the edge of the water, saw Alex on his knees beside Ren, and the distance wasn’t far, but might as well be a million miles.

He positioned himself behind her, careful to keep her face out of the water, hating the fact that even though his body was freezing, hers felt even colder.

He kicked with his legs, as hard as he could with muscles that felt leaden, got almost half-way there when his knee began to cramp.

Of all the fucking times.

Not now.

He grit his molars and pushed through, until the pain, like the cold, became meaningless. Because the only thing that mattered was the next stroke and the next kick, and he would take any amount of pain, for as long as he had to, to get her to safety.

Ages later, but it couldn’t have been more than a few minutes, his boot touched something hard.

Solid ground.

He stood up, shivering, dragging Valentina up with him, her back against his front, because his arms weren’t working well enough to pick her up.

He sucked in a breath, but it wasn't enough, or it was too much, his frozen lungs not working properly.

And then Alex was there, and he was ripping her away from Beau, and Beau forced himself to let go, because even through the fog in his brain a part of him still understood it was the right thing to do.

He crawled out of the river after them, stumbling to his knees as Alex lay Valentina flat on the ground and put his ear to her mouth, and through his pain and fear Beau felt harsh relief, because Alex would do everything that was humanly possible to save Valentina’s life.

Beau turned to see Ren struggling to get up from within a bundle of blankets.

She’s okay.

He forced himself upright and walked towards the girl, helping her stand but stopping her from getting any closer.

“Let me go!” Ren shouted, punching at him weakly. “Aunt Val!”

“Let Alex work, Ren. He’s … I trust him with my life,” he said, wrapping his arms around her.

“I need her …” the girl sobbed, no longer trying to get away from him. Her arms tightened around him, until she was holding on to him with all her strength. For warmth, for comfort, for support. He didn’t care. He wanted to offer all those things to her.

Beau felt himself start to shake.

“She knows, Ren, she knows.”