Brave boy.
In seconds he had the tank strapped to the boy’s back. But now Marcus needed air. Moving to the front of the car, he wedged his body between the driver and passenger seat, then secured the secondary mask from Rebecca’s tank over his face. Gulping in a few breaths of air, he examined Rebecca. She was still unconscious, her hair drifting like strands of seaweed around her face. He felt her chest. Her breathing was spasmodic. Not a good sign.
He looked over his shoulder at her children. They were sitting in the back seat. Colton had strapped them in, to keep them from floating up against the ceiling of the car. The boy didn’t realize how dangerous his actions were. The seat belt could jam.
Marcus felt for the ResQMe tool in his pocket. He still had it. Worst-case scenario, he’d cut the belt from the kids.
Evaluating the situation, he realized there was only one thing he could do. He had to get the kids to safety and come back for Rebecca afterward. What alarmed him was the possibility that Rebecca would regain consciousness and discover her kids were gone. If she panicked, she could do serious damage to herself, especially if a broken rib had pierced her lung, as he suspected.
He took a deep breath, held it, then removed the mask and moved to the kids. The seat belt released easily, and he pulled Colton and Ella toward him. He pointed out the door and started outside, but Colton tugged on his hand and pointed to his mother.
Marcus shook his head and pointed up. Then he dragged both kids out the door and started swimming to the surface. With Ella tucked under his arm, he held on to Colton and used the opposite hand to pull them upward.
It took a few strokes and they broke the surface.
Colton ripped off his mask. Panting, he cried out, “You have to go back for my mom.”
Marcus removed his mask. “I will. As soon as I get you to shore.”
“I can take Ella back.”
Marcus shook his head. “Sorry, son, but I’m taking you to shore first. Your mom would never forgive me. Now swim!”
It seemed to take forever before they reached the shallows. Colton removed the tank, handed it to Marcus and raced for the shore. Marcus followed closely behind, swinging Ella into his arms. When they reached the car, he set her down in the back seat and removed her mask. He felt for her pulse. It was faint but regular.
“Get in,” he said to Colton.
The boy climbed in beside his sister. He was shivering violently, and Marcus turned on the engine and cranked up the heat. Retrieving two emergency blankets from the kit, he draped them around both children.
“Colton, stay here with your sister. Do not move! Got it?”
“Got it.” The boy’s teeth were chattering.
Marcus reached for his cell phone on the dash. “Here’s my phone. Call 911 and ask for Leo. Tell him you and Ella are safe, but we need an ambulance.”
Colton nodded.
Marcus ruffled the boy’s wet hair. “I’m going back for your mom now.”
Tears flowed down the boy’s cheeks. “She said you would save us.”
As he ran toward the river, Marcus hoped to God he wasn’t too late.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Rebecca felt an unusual pressure on her face. Fighting waves of dizziness, she opened her eyes and blinked twice. Her surroundings were hazy.
Where am I?
She reached up to wipe her eyes, but her hand floated in slow motion, then connected with something hard. Her fingers grazed the object, tracing its outline.
A mask.
That’s when her memories came rushing back. I’m in the car. We’re in the river, underwater. Oh God… Ella and Colton.
She blew out a breath and twisted in her seat. The back of the car was empty. Fear slithered up her throat, and her heart thudded in her chest. She tamped down her horror when she noticed the back car door was open.
And you have an oxygen mask on. Marcus! He has the kids.
The interior light dimmed and was extinguished. Blackness swallowed her.
She felt the cold tank beside her. Marcus had jammed it between the seats. She ran her fingers over the straps and discovered something long and sleek attached to it. A flashlight.
Carefully, she pulled it toward her and turned it on. She groaned with relief. That transitory gloom of darkness had made her feel she’d been buried alive.
Stay calm. He’s coming back for you.
All she could do was listen to the sound of her breathing, as erratic as it was.
She’d never been so cold in all her life—not even the time Wesley had taken her skiing in Whistler, BC, and she’d landed in a snow bank at the bottom of the bunny hill. She’d told him she couldn’t ski, but he’d made it sound so damned easy. She recalled how they’d gone back to the resort afterward and she’d soaked in the hot tub for over an hour to get the chill out of her bones.
I’ll need more than an hour in a hot tub now.
She coughed and cried out in misery. Where was Marcus?
She aimed the flashlight out the broken window. Nothing moved.
It was getting harder to breathe. Is the tank out of oxygen?
She shone the light on the tank. The meter showed a nearly full tank. So then why was it so hard to breathe? Was she having a panic attack?
Something caught her eye. A sparkle in the water.
Marcus was coming for her.
She let out a wheezy cough and tried to catch her breath. A viselike undulation wove around her chest and ribs, squeezing her as though she’d been gripped by a monstrous boa constrictor. It wrung each breath from her body and left her gasping for air and shuddering with nausea.
She dropped the flashlight.
Whipping her head around, she searched for Marcus. His light beamed closer. He was almost there. Another minute maybe. She could hold on that long. She had to.
Seconds ticked by with a merciless slowness.
Then she saw him.
Marcus swam to the window and motioned with his flashlight and a small tool toward her seat belt. She nodded and pointed to her mask, hoping he’d decipher that she was having trouble breathing. The look he gave her made her realize he knew exactly the danger she was in.
He tugged on the car door. Once it was open, he sliced through the belt and eased it from her body. He jiggled the side lever for the seat, but nothing moved. Then he reached under her legs for the lever that would push her seat back.
She closed her eyes and tried not to think about the pain. She focused on Colton and Ella instead. They were safe. Maybe in the ambulance. They’d be warmed up and cared for, and that’s all that mattered.
She felt a small pop near her ribs. When she opened her eyes and glanced down, she realized Marcus had slid her seat back. She was free.
He wrestled the tank from between the seats. Sliding his arm through the strap, he anchored her tank next to his. Then he reached for her. She put her arms around his neck, clinging to him and crying as he pulled her from the car. With one arm around her waist, he dragged her through the murky water.
When they reached the surface, her eyes were drawn to multiple beams of bright light coming from the shore. Headlights. An ambulance and two police cars, lights flashing on all three, were parked next to a car. And all headlights pointed toward the river.
Treading water, Marcus removed his mask, then hers.