He could hold his breath a long time. Kicking relentlessly, he broke the surface.
She wasn’t moving, and her eyes were closed in her pale face. Bullets pierced the water to his right, barely missing Anna. A stinging sensation slashed his arm as he pulled out his nine, treaded water and sent several rounds toward the bridge where a man was standing. There was a muffled cry, and the night was silent except for the sound of the wind on the water.
He got her into a swimmer’s hold and started kicking toward shore as fast as he could move. He pulled her onto the bank, laying her flat. He began CPR.
Don’t you die, Anna. Don’t you bloody well die on me, he thought, breathing for her. His heart pounded like a sledgehammer. He’d never felt so helpless.
He counted, pressing on her chest. He breathed for her and kept it up when he wanted to shout, “Don’t leave me.” He put his ear to her chest, then pumped her chest and breathed for her again.
“Anna, luv, come on. Come on. Breathe!”
She coughed, her body convulsing hard, and he pushed her on her side as water dribbled out of her mouth. She started to shake, and he gathered her in his arms, rubbing her skin. It was several minutes before she did anything more than breathe, and Dodger closed his eyes, thanking the powers that be. He didn’t even try to excuse away his feelings. He didn’t need this threat to make him see the truth, damn it.
He looked down at her, pushed wet clumps of hair off her face. Her lids lifted, smoky gray eyes penetrating his soul and making him hurt. “Don’t scare me like that,” he said, nudging her.
“Where’s the iPad?” she asked hoarsely between coughs.
He laughed softly, hugging her to him, his shoulders sinking in relief. The wind whipped over them and they shivered. It was a chilly sixty-one degrees, and the water had to be at least in the fifties. He kissed her soft, wet mouth and she returned it just as passionately.
“You’ve got it around your wrist. You are something, woman. You’re like a SEAL. Never out of the fight.”
She peered at him through her wet hair. “You were scared for me.” Her laugh brought on a fit of coughing, and when it subsided, she cleared her throat. Her voice was a little raspy. “You like me. You really do.”
His smile was slow, lighting her gray eyes. “Yeah, okay. I like you. That’s a big revelation.” He pushed at his wet hair. “Can you forgive me for going the wrong way on the bridge and letting that guy get the drop on you?”
“I will. But I’m going to use it to get my way in the future.”
“Copy that, but stop bloody scaring me like that, luv.”
Dodger leaned down slowly, as if waiting for her to say they were even now. His mouth settled over hers, taking her with soft movements and a sweep of his tongue. She hummed against his mouth, touched his jaw.
“Thanks for saving my life. Makes us even,” she whispered, and he squeezed her close, the tightness in the back of his throat strangling him.
She pushed away from his arms, then said, “We better get going or we’re going to freeze to death. There’s one more clue and iPad out there.”
“You are a brave little toaster. But we need to get back to Mouse. It would be safer to drop these iPads to him and change out of these wet clothes. Besides, I killed that guy on the bridge, and if we show up in a shop soaking wet, they may remember us.”
Her eyes widened. “You killed him.”
“Yeah. He was shooting at us first. I made my shots count.” He helped her up and they started up the bank toward the car at a slow walk. He kept his arm around her.
She looked at him. “That comes easy to you?” She wheezed a bit as they climbed up the bank and hit the sidewalk, parting as they reached the concrete.
“What do you mean?”
She pushed her wet hair off her face. “I mean killing people.”
“No, Anna. I don’t particularly enjoy killing people, but when a sodding bastard is shooting at me, my teammates, or innocents, the playbook changes. They have to go down. Ammo is cheap, your life isn’t.” There was absolute silence from her as they walked. “That’s how you think of me? A killer?” The truth was, he’d made his peace with death,