The pilot staggered slightly as he stood but quickly widened his stance and regained his balance.
In view of the increasingly tilting floor, Thad figured they’d be doing well to get themselves and Reed outside in time.
The businessman’s body wasn’t large but it was dead-weight. Frank looped his arms under his boss’s while Thad grabbed Reed’s ankles.
By this time, anything that had been knocked loose by the crash was bobbing or submerged in the aisle so the rescuers had to shuffle their feet to keep from tripping.
“Where’s the girl?” Frank shouted, sounding genuinely concerned.
“Already out and on her way to shore,” Thad answered.
“Good. Just for the record, I had no idea what this idiot had planned. I’d never have gone along with it if I had.”
“Why didn’t you refuse to take off from Serenity then?”
“Because I wasn’t keen on being shot. He could have flown himself if he’d had to. He has a pilot’s license. He made it clear he didn’t need me nearly as much as I wanted to come out of this alive.”
“Understood.”
Thad’s foot slipped on something flat and slightly raised as he reached the exit. It wasn’t until he’d helped the others out onto the wing that he realized it might have been Danny’s computer.
Did he care? Nope. Not enough to risk survival by going back. Money was highly overrated when judged against a man’s life.
The pilot dropped Reed’s shoulders onto the wing and straightened, leaning into the gusting wind for balance. “Look! There’s a boat on its way.”
Thad was about to cheer when he realized their erstwhile rescuers might inadvertently run right over Lindy!
Where was she? He couldn’t see anyone in the water from where he was standing.
Thad began to jump up and down, mindless of the shooting pain his ribs, waving and shouting. “Look out!”
The pitch of the small boat’s engine changed as the craft accelerated. Its wake rose, sending twin rooster tails high on both sides. Even if those boaters didn’t manage to catch Lindy in their propeller wash there was a chance that a rough wake would be enough to cause her to falter and drown.
Thad realized what he had to do.
He took as deep a breath as his injury would permit, dived into the frigid waves and struck out in the direction he’d told Lindy to swim.
Right then, he wasn’t sure whether to pray that she had actually followed his orders or hope that she hadn’t.
* * *
Lindy was so cold she could hardly draw enough breath to keep her going. Above the whistling wind she could hear the plane making ominous, bubbling sounds.
Treading water, she looked back. One intact wing was still afloat but the other, plus the plane’s nose and part of the passenger compartment, was slipping beneath the rough surface.
Her tears mixed with the lake water dripping from her face, her hair. There was no sign of Thad. And it looked as if the small Cessna was about to sink.
Suddenly, she heard a roar. At first she thought it was nothing more than the sound of the approaching storm. Then she realized she was hearing a motorboat. Was rescue on the way?
Lightning flashed in the distance. The already turbulent surface of the enormous lake began to show expanding circles as raindrops hit. In moments, the drops were pelting her hard enough to hurt and she realized there were tiny pellets of hail hidden in the precipitation.
Irony rose to temporarily strengthen her. Next thing there’ll be a meteorite streaking through the atmosphere to hit me right between the eyes! she thought cynically. At this moment, it was hard to imagine a scenario much worse than what had already taken place.
Especially since Thad is missing, she added, feeling so bereft she could hardly breathe, hardly think.
The darkness of the storm had turned day to night. Lindy’s arms ached. Her legs and feet were numb.
Drifting, she pictured her little boy, so innocent, so forlorn, particularly right after he’d lost his daddy. Poor baby. What would happen to him now? It was all well and good to have an organization like CASA looking after Danny’s welfare, but what would eventually become of him if both his parents were gone?
The sky lit as jagged streaks of electricity shot between the black clouds. Thunder rumbled. Noise increased. So did the roar of the approaching boat.
Where were they? Could they see her? How could she hope to signal to them to pick her up when she had barely enough strength left to lift an arm, let alone shout?
Closing her eyes in spite of willing herself to remain alert, Lindy laid her weary head back and tried to float. To rest for just a few moments.
She didn’t realize she had slipped gently beneath the waves until a strong arm closed around her and she felt herself being propelled upward.
Toward air. Toward life.
* * *
Thad’s head broke the surface an instant after Lindy’s. He gulped to fill his lungs and realized that the icy water had numbed his injury enough to actually help him cope.
“Breathe,” he shouted, kicking to stay afloat while he shook her shoulders. “Breathe, Lindy, breathe!”
Choking had never sounded better to him. Continuing to support her, he raised his free arm and hailed the passing boat.
Whoever had been piloting the craft was traveling too fast to stop so he steered the inboard in a tight circle and brought it to an idle beside the swimmers.
“Take the woman first,” Thad ordered the second man in the boat as he pushed her toward him. “She’s in shock.”
“No wonder,” the slicker-clad fisherman replied. “What on earth were you folks thinkin’ by flyin’ around in this kind of weather?”
“It’s a long story,” Thad managed to say.
Waiting until Lindy was safely aboard, he then accepted the man’s help and collapsed onto the floor of the small boat.
“Blankets. For the woman,” used up all the breath Thad had left.
The rescuer who wasn’t wrestling the helm removed his slicker and draped it around Lindy’s shoulders before tucking her into a niche next to the open-air wheelhouse. “Best I can do for now. We’ll get you folks back to shore in a jiffy. Ambulance is on its way. My missus called 9–1–1 when she saw you hit the water. Good thing me and Dad were close to the dock.”
Thad pushed himself onto one elbow and wrapped an arm around his torso to stifle the ache that was returning. “Two more. Still out there,” he gasped hoarsely.
“Don’t look good from here,” the older man said, stretching to peer into the distance. His adult son agreed with a nod.
Lightning flashed again, illuminating what was left of the plane.
“On the wing,” Thad said. “Look on the wing.”
“I see ’em.”
“Both of them?”
The younger man answered. “Yeah. They’re standin’ up. Looks to me like they’re fightin’.”
“Can you get to them?”
“I’d hate to try. It looks pretty dangerous.”
Ducking his head beneath the cowling for a little protection, the younger man pulled out a cell phone and used it before turning back to Thad.
“There’s another boat on its way to your friends.”
“Call them back and tell them to be careful,” Lindy said, barely speaking above a whisper. “Those other men are criminals.”
The sweet sound of her voice lifted Thad’s spirits so high he experie
nced an influx of energy. It was enough to enable him to crawl over, join her and wrap her in his embrace.
She lifted her face to gaze at him.
Leaning closer, he pressed a kiss to her trembling lips and sighed in thanksgiving.
That was all the prayer he could manage.
He knew it was enough for the loving God who had brought them through in spite of the evil that had tried so hard to destroy them.
* * *
Lindy rested her head on Thad’s shoulder and let the tears fall. They had survived. They were still alive, still together.
A guttural shout from the older rescuer jolted her from her reverie.
“Looks like she’s sinkin’. Other boat’s gonna be too late,” he yelled. “I’m goin’ in.”
The engine roared and the bow rose. Centrifugal force pushed her harder against Thad while contact with the waves and pouring rain battered the small craft and made it buck like a wild bronco.
Lindy heard Thad stifle a moan. “Are you hurt?”
“Just a couple of cracked ribs, I think,” he replied. “I’ll be fine.”
“Thank goodness. I was afraid he’d shot you.”
“No. If he’d been a better fighter, he might have had a chance but I disarmed him easily.” He managed a wry chuckle. “If I’d let a wimpy businessman get the better of me, I’d never live it down with my marine buddies.”
Thad gave her a quick kiss on the temple, then pivoted onto his knees and wiped water from his face so he could better observe what lay ahead.
Not to be outdone, Lindy mimicked his pose. What she saw was so alarming she gasped. The forward section of the plane was nearly submerged. One wing now rose in the air while the other, the one that had been damaged during landing, was no longer visible.
“The weight of the twin engines will probably tip it forward,” Thad shouted. “When it goes under, it’ll be like letting the water out of a bathtub. Anything too close will get sucked down, too.”
“I know,” the fisherman at the wheel yelled back. “I’ll hold off a safe distance. See if you can get those fellas to listen to you and swim toward us. It’s their best chance.”
“I’ll try.” Thad cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “Frank! Swim for it. You’re running out of time.”
The shadowy figures standing on the wing parted. One of them dived off the highest point and started to stroke through the water as powerfully as if he were training for the Olympics.
“Reed. You, too,” Thad hollered. “We’ll pick you up.”
At first, it looked to Lindy as though James Reed was going to accept their offer. Then he turned, jumped feetfirst into the lake next to the open doorway, and disappeared.
“What’s he doing?” the younger fisherman asked.
“I think he’s just crazy enough to go back after the key to the treasure he’s been chasing for so long,” Lindy said, shaking her head. She looked to Thad. “Do you think he’ll make it?”
“I don’t know.”
Watching the red-and-white fuselage shifting, she gasped. The top of the doorway was sliding underwater. Even if Reed did manage to reach Danny’s computer, was he going to be able to exit with it in time to save himself?
The tail section rose, hanging almost motionless for several seconds that seemed to stretch endlessly. Then, as if gliding along a perfectly smooth pathway, it disappeared beneath the wind-whipped surface.
Lightning flashed. Lindy peered through the rain, straining to see if there was a man bobbing in the water where the plane had been.
Only bubbles marked the spot. There was no sign of Reed. “He’s gone, isn’t he?”
“I think so.” Thad’s arm tightened around her shoulders.
The boat circled, engine idling, and Lindy watched Thad help the fishermen pull in the pilot over the side.
“He was...” Frank said between coughs and gasps, “a greedy fool. I told him he’d never make it.”
“He went back for the computer?” Thad asked.
“Yeah. Said he wasn’t going to let it go.” Frank paused for another coughing fit. “Guess he didn’t.”
“Maybe he figured we’d turn him in to the police,” Lindy said. “I wish we could.”
“So do I,” Thad agreed. “But at least we know what was going on.”
Lindy tugged on his hand and urged him to join her beneath the only shelter, the tiny niche in the bow next to the wheel.
Once they were settled, she slipped her arms around Thad’s waist, closed her eyes and held him gently.
She had never been colder.
She had never been wetter.
And she had never, ever, imagined that she could be this happy.
EPILOGUE
Once Harlan Allgood, Chief Kelso and supervisors from the DEA had compared notes, they concluded that Lindy had been the victim of greed on several fronts. James Reed had been the catalyst that had brought it all to a head.
She was having coffee in the sheriff’s office with the sheriff and Thad, while Harlan explained more fully. Danny cuddled close and sipped a cup of hot chocolate.
“The agents who misused their power have been reprimanded and demoted,” the portly sheriff said. “They falsified the bank records, ruined your credit, and that got you evicted. I suspect they planted the drugs in the house, too, but we can’t prove it. They keep insisting it must have been Ben’s old associates who did that. They figured in all this, too.”
“Everybody was after the same thing? Ben’s hidden money?” Lindy asked.
“Yeah.” Harlan looked to Thad. “I thought you might be involved, too, for a while there.”
Smiling, the ex-marine nodded. “I was involved, all right, only I was on Lindy’s side.” He set aside his coffee mug and reached for her hand. “Still am.”
“Good for you.” The sheriff chortled. “Just see that you don’t so much as get a speeding ticket in this town. Adelaide is still mad enough to throw you in jail for any little misstep.”
“Sorry about that.” Thad gave Lindy’s hand an affectionate squeeze. “I’m still confused about the break-ins. They weren’t all done by the same people?”
“No. Reed sent the guys who copied Miz Southerland’s computer records. The ones who smashed into her car, left the notes and planted that nasty dead critter were from Ben’s former life. When we arrested them they admitted they’d heard about the money, too, and wanted to see if they could turn up anything or spook her into going after it.”
Smiling slightly, Lindy breathed a noisy sigh. “They had no idea how close they were when they trashed poor Danny’s room.” Her smile grew more wistful and she hugged the child on her lap. “I can’t believe it’s finally all over. I don’t know how I can ever thank you. Both of you.”
Thad and the sheriff exchanged knowing glances before Harlan pushed back his chair and got to his feet. “Now that all your belongings have been moved back into your house, compliments of those yahoos who faked your loan default, you can thank me by not suing my department for false arrest.”
“I wouldn’t dream of suing,” Lindy said amiably, noting his look of relief before he ambled away.
She felt Thad touch her hand as soon as the three of them were alone.
“And you can thank me by continuing to make my office run smoothly,” he said. “You know how desperately I need a good executive assistant.” He smiled at Danny. “And a helper.”
Lindy had not expected such a busi
nesslike approach. Not after their joint brush with death and his confession of love in her hospital room.
She’d thought she was masking her disappointment fairly well until Thad began to chuckle.
Her brows arched. “What’s so funny?”
“You are,” he said with compassion that made her shiver and sent her pulse through the roof. “What I should have said was, I need a partner. For life.”
Speechless, Lindy simply stared at him.
Her son, however, had no problem finding something to say.
“Can we, Mama? Can we be partners?”
Eyes wide, Lindy hushed the boy. “I don’t think that’s exactly what Mr. Pearson meant, honey.”
“She’s right,” Thad explained. “As soon as my doctors say I’m well enough, I’d like to marry your mother. How does that sound?”
The child hooted as though he’d been presented with the perfect gift. “All right!”
Lindy was grinning so widely her cheeks hurt. “I’m so glad you approve.”
Sobering, Thad asked, “Do you approve? We might not have much money, but I promise I’ll do my best to make you happy. Both of you.”
She caressed his cheek, gazing into his eyes. “We’ll have everything we need. We’ll be a family. Yes, yes, yes. I can’t wait to become your wife.”
At that moment, the sheriff poked his head back through the doorway, cleared his throat and chuckled. “’Scuse me, folks. I hate to interrupt but I thought you might like to know that a team of divers located your kid’s computer in the lake. You two are gonna get a reward that’d choke a horse. Thought y’all might like to know, in case you were makin’ plans for the future or something.”
As Harlan eased the door closed again, Lindy turned to the man she loved so much it was beyond comprehension. “You were saying?”
Thad’s smile lifted one corner of his mouth higher than the other and his eyes twinkled mischievously. “I don’t remember. Was it important?”
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