Chapter 10 - Down the Rapids
Marcus fired three suppressive rounds into the ridge above, forcing the sniper behind cover. He grabbed Ava’s tactical belt, shoving her behind a massive boulder as heavy automatic fire shredded the ferns around them.
""Can you swim?"" Marcus shouted over the deafening roar of the swollen river.
Ava looked at the violently churning whitewater, filled with jagged rocks and fallen logs, then looked back at the advancing muzzle flashes in the woods. ""Better than I can dodge bullets!""
""Hold onto the flotation vest,"" Marcus commanded, stripping the buoyant vest off the unconscious Sterling and fastening it tightly around Ava’s torso. He grabbed Sterling by the belt, hauling him like a battering ram. ""Keep your feet downstream! Protect your head!""
Before the tactical squad could encircle the bank, Marcus leaped into the torrent, pulling Ava and Sterling into the center of the rushing current.
The icy water slammed into them with terrifying power. Marcus was dragged under instantly, the weight of his boots and tactical gear fighting against his lungs. He kicked upward with sheer will, breaking the surface just in time to see Ava riding the current ten yards ahead, skillfully navigating past a jagged granite outcropping.
Behind them, rounds smacked into the river, sending plumes of white foam into the air. But the river was moving at twenty knots; within thirty seconds, the bend of the canyon swallowed them, cutting off the gunshots and the sweeping spotlights.
Marcus fought the current to reach Ava, locking his arm around her jacket strap. With his other arm, he clamped onto Sterling’s collar. They hurtled through a series of violent rapids, bounced off river boulders, and plunged over a six-foot drop into a deep, churning pool below.
Gasping for air, Marcus used the eddy current to drag Ava and the limp body of the billionaire onto the gravel shore. Ava collapsed on the stones, coughing violently, her lips blue from hypothermia.
Marcus checked her pulse; it was fast, but strong. Sterling was still breathing, his jaw slack and bleeding into the gravel.
Marcus pulled the flash drive from his sealed breast pocket. The red light on the casing was still blinking. The encryption had held.
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Suddenly, two headlights illuminated the gravel path fifty yards ahead. A horn tapped twice.
Sarah Lin stepped out of an unmarked armored SUV, holding a field trauma kit. ""Get in,"" she yelled. ""The whole eastern seaboard is locked down.""
