Bree didn’t allow herself to process what had just happened. This nightmare wasn’t over yet. Matt, Cady, and Brody were still in danger. Bree clamped down on her emotions.
Later.
The blue and red lights of a cruiser approached. Todd got out of his vehicle, and Bree called him over. “Lock her in the back of your vehicle and bring a rope down to the riverbank.”
Bree ran around the side of the bridge and scrambled down the bank toward the river. She headed toward the place where Shannon’s body had washed up and hoped that was where the current would deposit Matt, Cady, and Brody.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Matt broke the surface of the water and gasped for air. “Cady!”
Treading water in the shifting current, he scanned the surface but didn’t see his sister. He looked up at the bridge overhead and estimated where she had hit the water. A few bubbles broke the surface. Matt dived, his hands sweeping out in the darkness. Nothing.
He shot for the surface again, tossing water off his eyes and yelling over the river. “Cady!”
As a rower, Cady was very strong. She had to be here. Unless she hadn’t survived the fall. But he would not give up until he found her.
“Matt!” a weak cry sounded.
For the second time that night, he thought, She’s alive!
He followed the sound and saw her—and Brody—next to a cluster of rocks. The dog had the back of Cady’s hoodie in his mouth, and his front paws were on a boulder. Cady was neck deep in water. The upper half of her face was barely above the surface. She had to tip her face backward to breathe. Without Brody holding her afloat, she would have been swept under the surface. The current lapped and a small wave broke over her face. She sputtered as Matt swam over.
“I’m—stuck,” she said between mouthfuls of water.
Matt went under and followed her leg to the end. Her foot was jammed between two rocks.
He came back up. “I need room. You have to go under so I can free you.”
Cady nodded.
He gave Brody the release command, and the dog opened his mouth.
“One, two, deep breath in, three.” Matt inhaled and dived under, pulling Cady with him.
He tugged her foot down and pulled it from between the rocks. They surfaced together in the middle of the current. It swept them into the center of the river, right toward a cluster of boulders. A splash sounded behind Matt. A few seconds later, Brody’s head appeared next to him. Weak, Cady floundered and almost went under again. She was barely conscious as Matt pulled her closer.
White foam churned around them. Matt turned her in his arms and put her back to his chest. Then he wrapped one arm around her and turned his back to the rocks. Brody grabbed Matt’s sleeve in his mouth and stroked toward the bank, pulling Matt off a direct collision course with the rocks. Matt’s shoulder glanced off the boulder instead of hitting it head-on. He took the impact across his back, shielding his sister in his arms. The blow knocked the air from his lungs. He wheezed as the current swept them through an eddy. It tugged them under. Water closed over their heads and sucked them toward the bottom. His chest burned with the need for oxygen. Matt pushed off the bottom with both feet, holding tight to Cady and propelling them back up. His head broke the surface. He coughed and gasped.
Brody was right there at his side, pulling them both toward the shore.
“Cady?” Matt yelled.
She didn’t answer. Her body was limp in his arms. He turned on his back, hauled her against his chest, and stroked with his free arm.
They’d popped out of the eddy at the foot of the rapids. Just ahead, the river forked. To one side, the rapids continued. The other branch led to a quiet, flat inlet. With Brody’s help, Matt headed for the calm water. He spotted Bree and Todd on the shore near the place where they’d found Shannon’s body.
“Almost there, Cady,” he shouted.
His sister didn’t answer. He turned her face to him. Panic pushed him to swim faster. Her lips were blue, and she wasn’t breathing.
CHAPTER FORTY
As Bree and Todd waded out toward the trio, Todd made a lasso and flung the coil into the water. Matt grabbed it, and they pulled him and Cady in. As soon as she was within reach, Todd pulled Cady closer. He bent