Rules in Rescue

by Nichole Severn

  “At least take me to dinner first.” His words slurred, his eyes heavy. Was he even coherent?

  “It’s a date.” A smile pulled at one edge of her mouth as her fingers closed around the key fob. Even in life-or-death situations, he could make her laugh. That’d been one of the reasons she’d fallen in love with him all those years ago. His unyielding determination to put her first. No matter how hard the situation. The smile vanished. Had she ever really fallen out of love? She liked to think she hadn’t been holding on to him all this time, but after what he’d done back in that garage for her, after he’d saved her life... No. Now wasn’t the time.

  Glennon pressed the button to start the SUV. “But let’s make sure you don’t bleed out on the sidewalk first.”

  She hauled the passenger-side door open.

  The door’s side mirror exploded. She flinched away, gripping Anthony’s shoulder and shoving him inside the vehicle. “Get down!”

  Return fire from at least three police officers reached her ears, but didn’t stop another bullet from whizzing past her head. Heart trying to pump out of her chest, she reached for one of the many guns Anthony had installed inside the SUV and took position at the back quarter panel.

  The second shooter, the one she’d zip-tied after Anthony had knocked him unconscious, fired back at police. One officer went down. Then another. The shooter fell as a bullet hit his Kevlar dead center from the third, but was already straightening. What the hell were these guys made of? Steel? He raised his gun, and Glennon pulled back. A third shot ricocheted off the SUV’s bumper. One glance in the shattered side mirror revealed Anthony had passed out. Too much blood loss. “Damn it.”

  Should she try to take down the shooter with orders to capture her, or get Anthony to the hospital?

  Her thumb released the gun’s safety mechanism. No question. She had to get him out of here. And a quick check over her shoulder said she didn’t have much time. The shooter was closing in on them. Fast.

  She dove into the back seat, climbing behind the steering wheel as fast as she could. Reaching for Anthony’s seat belt, she strapped him in but didn’t bother with her own as the back window shattered. Apparently this Blackhawk vehicle’s windows weren’t bulletproof.

  She started the engine, ducked down in the driver’s seat, hauled the vehicle into Drive and slammed on the accelerator. The SUV launched away from the scene. In the rearview mirror, she saw the shooter climb into a waiting car.

  “I thought you said this thing was bulletproof.” Her breathing hitched as the SUV fishtailed at the end of the block. She couldn’t go straight to the hospital. Not with a psychopath who was willing to take down civilians right behind them. Couldn’t lead him to Blackhawk Security. Although a welcoming party wasn’t a bad idea... No. She couldn’t risk anyone else taking a bullet for her or becoming Nicholas Mascaro’s next target. The uneven thump of her heart beat hard behind her ears. Glennon tapped her palm against the steering wheel. “Anthony, come on. Stay with me.”

  He’d know what to do. But one look at his colorless, slackened features said he wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon. They had nowhere to go. And they’d run out of time.

  Daytime headlights blazed directly behind the SUV as she accelerated onto Seward Highway. Snow-crusted mountains and dried pine trees hugged one side of the road. Turnagain Arm waterway was on the other as they sped out of the city. Hints of pink and orange, reflected on the icy water, were already turning the sky to fire. She could lose the shooter once the sun went down, but her instincts said they didn’t have that long.

  “We’re going to get you help.” She didn’t have any other choice. She’d have to try to escape them now. At least long enough to get Anthony stable. Wrapping her fingers around his lifeless hand in his lap, she squeezed. Her lower eyelids stung. “Hang on for a little bit longer. Please.”

  She couldn’t lose him. Not now. There hadn’t been a chance to tell him everything. About why she’d left, how often she regretted her decision, how many times she’d thought about picking up that phone. But it was more than that. He was Anthony. Her first love, her biggest supporter, the first glimpse of her future, the man who, in the past forty-eight hours, had dedicated himself to her survival. The man she’d missed. The man who altered her breathing every time he touched her...

  Glennon took a deep, calming breath. She’d get him out of this one way or another. She owed him that much.

  Slush and chunks of ice kicked up around the vehicle, the SUV’s tires spinning out as she turned around one smooth corner of highway. She’d learned to drive in Anchorage winters as a teenager. She could handle it.

  Glancing in the rearview mirror, she kept tabs on the shooter’s vehicle as it closed the distance between them. Freezing Alaskan air worked its way inside through the webbed back window as the sound of a growling engine reached her ears from behind. Through the shooter’s windshield, she spotted the gun in his hand as he rolled down his window. She forced her attention back to the road ahead. Just a bit farther.

  Two shots echoed off the cliffs.

  She ducked lower in her seat, knuckles white on the steering wheel. They were going to make it. No matter what. She’d get Anthony the help he needed. Another glance in the rearview mirror—

  A forty-ton Mack truck pulled onto the highway directly in front of her.

  The breath rushed out of her. Glennon hit the brakes, tires locking as she pressed her spine into the seat. She gripped the steering wheel with both hands and swerved to avoid the truck, throwing herself into Anthony’s shoulder.

  The front end of the SUV missed the truck by mere inches as she cut across the highway and through a wooden guardrail. Weeds and mud covered the windshield as she slammed on the brakes again. The tires slipped on the thick ice clinging to Turnagain Arm’s shoreline. They were going too fast. The lip of the shore catapulted the SUV into the air and they dove headfirst. Gravity crushed her into her seat as she reached for Anthony. “I’ve got you. Just hang—”

  Chapter Eight

  The collision of metal meeting ice thrust Anthony forward in his seat. The seat belt cut into his chest as crystal-clear water rushed across the windshield. His head slammed back into the passenger seat. Vision blurred, he blinked to clear his head as pain rushed through his system. The front of the SUV pitched engine-first into deep water, a steady horizon of water climbing up the length of the windshield. His heels automatically dug against the floor. They were going under.

  Deadly calm slid over him. He’d survived worse. And under fire. But Glennon...damn it. Where was Glennon?

  He caught sight of her slumped against the steering wheel, her face angled away from him. She hadn’t buckled her seat belt.

  “Glennon.” His throat threatened to close with his next breath. Releasing his seat belt, Anthony dove for her as freezing Alaskan water rushed across his boots. They had two minutes, maybe three, before the interior of the SUV would be submerged completely. He pulled her from the steering wheel. Her head snapped back, but no response. A thin line of blood highlighted the angles of her features as it ran under her shirt. He brushed a strand of hair from her wound as water climbed up his shins. “Open your eyes, sweetheart.”

  Nothing. Color had drained from her normally flawless skin but a thready pulse beat against his fingers. He had to get her out. At these temperatures, and with the water soaking through their clothing, hypothermia would set in a lot faster than normal.

  “Okay.” He ducked to see through the now-broken rear windshield. The SUV had landed approximately twenty feet from shore. They didn’t have any other choice. “We’re going to have to swim for it.”

  After that? He’d have to go for the survival supplies Blackhawk Security operatives were required to carry in their vehicles. And hope the lake didn’t swallow them first. Water rose up his thighs, gushing into the bullet wound in the thickest part of his muscle. Pain zinged t
hrough him.

  Anthony hauled her to him. His instincts screamed for him to get Glennon out of the vehicle—now—but they couldn’t swim for the shore yet. Not until the lake had engulfed them completely.

  “Stay with me, sweetheart.” Seconds stretched into minutes. The last bit of daylight through the front windshield vanished. Ten more seconds. The water kept rising along the side windows. Five. He secured her against his side with one arm and reached for the door handle with his free hand. Ice pumped through his veins from the waist down. Setting his lips against her ear, he closed his eyes for a split second. “Stay with me, sweetheart. I’ll get you out of here.”

  And he always kept his promises.

  The SUV had sunk low enough that the driver’s-side door was completely submerged. He used every ounce of his remaining strength against the door as his side of the SUV tipped toward the lake floor. A scream ripped up his throat as pain and thousands of pounds of water fought against him. Water no longer seeped through the floor into the vehicle’s interior but rushed to fill the unoccupied space. No time to think. He filled his lungs with her rosy scent. And dove into the ice-cold depths.

  Chunks of ice and thick weeds clouded his vision as he pulled Glennon from the SUV. Pressure built through his system. He’d get her to the shore. No matter what.

  Twenty feet. That was all they had. Twenty feet until she was safe.

  His muscles burned. Below-freezing temperatures slowed his movements. Every cell in his body screamed for release. Sunlight broke through the blackness and he kicked with everything he had toward it. Thin strands of blood floated ahead of him, almost racing him to the surface. Whether from his wounds or Glennon’s, he didn’t know. Did it matter?

  His pulse pounded loud in his ears but slowed the more he struggled to the surface. Air pressurized in his lungs. His system was using oxygen reserves faster than he’d expected. He’d lost too much blood. He couldn’t keep up this pace. He estimated five more feet until they broke through the surface. He blinked against the exhaustion weighing him down. With every push forward, both Glennon and his wounds pulled him down. At his current rate, they wouldn’t have to worry about hypothermia. They’d both drown before it had a chance to take over.

  No.

  He wouldn’t give up that easily. He’d failed his teammates once. He wouldn’t fail her.

  Bubbles rushed from his mouth and nose as he kicked harder. Two feet. One. Anthony broke through the surface first, shattered pieces of ice scratching against his neck as he hauled Glennon above water. His lungs seized. He fought for air but couldn’t seem to get enough. His body’s defenses were already succumbing to the low temperatures. Soon his heart rate would drop so low, he wouldn’t be able to function. Then his organs would start shutting down.

  And Glennon...she shook in his hold. Good. Her body was still trying to warm itself, but the dark tint of blue to her lips said she wasn’t getting enough oxygen. He hugged her into his side but his body heat had dropped too low to do her any good.

  Damn it. Focus. Get her to the shore. Get the water out of her lungs. “I’ve...got you...sweetheart. Almost...there.”

  Reaching for the closest grouping of weeds, he pulled them closer to the shoreline. Numbness worked through his fingers and up his arms. He had mere minutes. Three. Maybe four. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Gurgling sounds reached his ears. The lake had consumed the SUV. And their supplies had gone down with it.

  His boots hit land. Anthony dragged Glennon through the remaining wall of weeds and onto the snow-covered rocks. Setting her head against the ground, he lowered his ear to her mouth. She wasn’t breathing. Her pulse beat unevenly against his fingers. Panic flooded through him. Covering her mouth with his, he plugged her nose and pushed air into her lungs. He found the spot over her breastbone and put all his strength into forcing the water from her lungs. The fuzziness surrounding his thoughts cleared but the numbness in his extremities would take a hell of a lot longer to shake. “Come on, baby.”

  Darkness circled the edges of his vision, but he wouldn’t stop. Not until she opened her eyes.

  She jerked beneath him with each compression, her skin pale. But still no response.

  “Open your eyes, damn it.” His control shattered. Precious air his organs needed rushed from his lungs. He bit the inside of his mouth to keep from screaming. He’d already lost too many people in his life. His parents when he was nineteen. His Ranger team in Afghanistan. Her.

  He hadn’t thought about the future since Glennon had walked out on him all those years ago, but now...that future included Glennon. His Glennon. She wasn’t walking away from him. Not again. And not like this. “Glennon, breathe!”

  Water sputtered from between her lips as she coughed. Her chest contracted beneath his hands as he turned her onto her side. She scratched at the rocks beside her.

  “That’s it, sweetheart. Just breathe.” The pressure that had built in his chest released. Anthony rubbed small circles into her back, struggling to stay conscious. He blinked against the wave of dizziness gripping him from head to toe. Spots of red stained the snow on his left side. His stab wound... His fingers closed around her Kevlar vest in a last attempt to stay upright. “I’ve...got you.”

  Anthony collapsed. His head hit the rocks, the lake’s horizon at the wrong angle. Glennon didn’t move, her expression peaceful but full of color. She’d survived. That was all that mattered. He’d done his job. She was safe. Ringing filled his ears. “Glennon...”

  The growl of an engine echoed off the nearby mountain. A car door slammed. Footsteps crunched through the thin crust of snow from behind, but he couldn’t move. They’d been run off the road, he remembered now. He’d passed out from blood loss, but the shooter, the one who’d shot at them as they fled down the highway, must’ve survived. His hand ignored his brain’s commands to reach for the gun strapped to his thigh. Chances the weapon would fire after taking a swim in below-freezing water were low. But if the bastard had come to finish the job, Anthony would fight until the end.

  “You know, we were ordered to bring Sergeant Chase back alive, but it looks like the problem has taken care of itself.” The shooter he’d knocked unconscious stood above him. He pulled his mask over his head, green eyes and facial scars twisting with a thin smile. Dog tags swung from around the man’s neck. Planting a steel-toed tactical boot across Anthony’s chest, he pointed the barrel of a Smith & Wesson handgun center-mass. “As for you, you’re just the icing on the cake.”

  The onset of hypothermia had already started shutting down Anthony’s system. He fought against the weight pressing him into the ground. He’d lost too much blood. He focused on the slow rise and fall of Glennon’s chest. He’d lost everything. “Stay away from her—”

  Three gunshots exploded across the shore.

  The shooter hit the ground, unmoving. Another set of footsteps broke through the thin layer of ice clinging to the rocks around them. Stepping into the stream of sunlight, gun in hand, the figure crouched beside Anthony but didn’t move to take another shot. Recognition flared.

  “I warned her to back off.” Sharp, angled features blurred in Anthony’s vision as darkness closed in. Gravel coated the soldier’s voice, exactly as Anthony remembered from the morning the intruder had broken into the cabin. The soldier holstered his weapon then reached for Anthony. “She should’ve listened.”

  * * *

  “YOU’RE BOTH LUCKY to be alive,” an unfamiliar female voice said.

  Glennon cracked her eyelids. Fluorescent lighting blinded her for a split second as she blinked to adjust. The machines a few feet away registered her stats. The last memories before they’d gone into the lake flashed across her mind. She homed in on the woman seated near the door and licked the dryness from her lips. Elizabeth Dawson. Blackhawk’s network security expert. Her throat burned. Exhaustion pulled at her, but she forced herself to focus.

>   “How did I get here?” Five simple words. So much energy to get them out. She rubbed at her throat and blinked against the onslaught of fluorescent lighting. What the hell had happened on that highway? How had she gotten to the hospital? The last thing she remembered was screaming Anthony’s name before they’d gone into the lake.

  Didn’t matter. She’d survived. And if the army had discovered she had a son as the marshal had said, then Mascaro’s operatives undoubtedly knew about him, too. She had to get out of here. She had to see Hunter.

  “An anonymous Good Samaritan saw the whole thing,” Elizabeth said. “He drove you both to the hospital himself. Said Anthony pulled you out of the SUV and onto the shore.”

  Glennon pushed back against the bed to sit up. Pain shot through her shoulder and she locked her jaw to keep a moan at bay. How long did it take for a bullet wound to heal anyway?

  “Where is Anthony?” Her words were thick, heavy.

  “Resting. He’ll live. Sullivan’s with him now.” Amusement played across Elizabeth’s mouth as she studied Glennon from her position. The butt of a Glock peeked out from beneath her leather jacket. Apparently network security was more dangerous than sitting in front of a computer screen. Or had Elizabeth been assigned guard duty?

  The former NSA consultant tapped her black-painted fingernails against the chair railing. “He’s the most guarded man I’ve ever met, but if there’s one thing I know about Anthony Harris, it’s that a knife wound to the ribs and a bullet to the leg won’t stop him from doing his job.”