Page 103 of Finding Elodie
He banged on the plexiglass protecting Midas as he stood at the helm and pointed to the left. He’d seen something on the other side of where the dolphins had been jumping in and out of the waves.
The boat immediately turned in that direction. The waves now crashed against the boat sideways, which was dangerous as it could swamp the fishing vessel, but Mustang didn’t care. Obviously, Midas didn’t either as he headed in the direction Mustang had indicated.
At first he thought he’d been seeing things that weren’t there. All around them were nothing but white caps. And they were headed away from Oahu now, not toward it, the direction they assumed Elodie would try to go if she was conscious.
But then, as another wave crashed against the boat, Mustang saw what he was looking for. What they were all looking for.
A person was floating face up in the storm. Lying still as if taking a nap.
Mustang held up his fist, the universal sign for “stop,” but Midas had already seen what he had and cut the engine.
Mustang’s teammates crowded around him, and he shoved his light at Aleck. He ripped off his boots and shoved his pants down his legs. Not bothering to strip off his T-shirt, Mustang dove off the front of the boat without hesitation.
Not one of his teammates tried to stop him. They were well aware he could hold his own in the angry ocean. They’d trained for this shit, and no one would get between him and his woman.
Mustang knew his team would be steering the boat as close as they could get, and readying the first-aid kit and whatever else was needed to take care of Elodie until they could get her to shore, but his attention was on the woman floating just in front of him. His arms moved through the water faster than he’d ever moved before—and suddenly he was next to her.
For a fraction of a second, he wasn’t sure how to proceed. If he should just grab her or if he should let her know he was there, to avoid scaring her.
And of course, the thought that she was dead wouldn’t leave his mind. If he touched her, and she was stiff and cold, he’d never recover.
But in typical Elodie fashion, she took the decision out of his hands. As if she sensed him next to her, her eyes popped open and she stared up at him.
“Took you long enough,” she said, almost too softly for him to hear.
Mustang wanted to laugh and cry. God, he fucking loved this woman.
He slipped an arm around her chest and pulled her against him, resting her body partially on top of his as they floated in the waves. She felt cold, too fucking cold. She was also very lethargic and didn’t move at all. Mustang felt her body completely relax against his.
“Sorry it took so long, babe. But I’m here now.”
“Hate the ocean,” she mumbled.
“I know you do, but I’m so fucking proud of you,” he told her.
“Kai…” Her voice trailed off.
Mustang eyed the boat with his teammates, coming closer. “He’s okay. He’s alive.”
“He is? Thank God! I jumped,” she informed him.
“I know, Kai told us.”
“Did you find Steven?”
Luckily, Slate was reaching for them at that moment, so he didn’t have to break the news that the man who’d done his best to kill her and her friend had escaped…still lived to try to kill her again.
Slate held on to Mustang’s shoulders as Pid reached for Elodie.
“Don’t fight them, El, we’ll have you out of the water in two seconds.”
“Don’t like the ocean…” she repeated.
And just as he’d promised, thirty seconds later, both he and Elodie were out of the waves and she was lying on the deck of the fishing vessel they’d borrowed. As Midas floored it and headed back toward shore, Aleck wrapped a mylar warming blanket around her. Mustang curled up against her side as Jag kneeled on her other side to start an IV.
It wasn’t the ideal conditions for attempting to stick a needle into her vein, but the SEALs had operated under much worse conditions, and within seconds, Jag had a saline line hooked up in her arm.
Mustang kept his eyes on Elodie’s. She looked horrible. Even in the meager light from the cabin of the boat he could tell her face was sunburnt beyond anything he’d seen before. Her lips were dry and cracked as well.
