Page 34 of Brick (Chosen Few #5)

N atalie whimpered as reality struck her. Keetan had pulled the trigger and the bullet hadn’t touched her. She’d shifted probably just enough for the shot to miss grazing her abdomen.

Keetan grunted and twisted, trying to pull his arm out from under her. If he gained more control over the weapon, she might not be as lucky. A warm light washed over them, making her blink.

Keetan tensed, then took advantage of her distraction and yanked the gun free.

She gasped.

“Natalie!” The booming male voice sent a tremor through her bones.

Her breath hitched. The top half of her body lay over Keetan as she stared through the hazy glow of a flashlight.

Two men stood at the front of a boat training large rifles on them.

Tears rushed to her eyes. Brick? It couldn’t be.

Was she hallucinating? She pushed herself up, needing to confirm—to see his face.

Keetan sat with his back against the side of the boat, his free hand snaked beneath her. He pulled her back to his front so she lay on top of him, covering his chest like a shield. Cold steel pressed against her temple. “Throw down your guns or I’ll shoot her!”

Brick didn’t move. He kept the weapon trained on them. On Keetan. Taschen also held his rifle steady.

“Let her go, you sonofabitch,” Brick shouted. This time, there was no mistaking the rough and dangerous soldier behind the artillery.

“Over my dead body,” Keetan said, slurring his words.

“It will be your dead body in a minute, bud,” Taschen snapped.

They were so close. Their boats bobbing inches from each other. Brick braced his foot on the railing and looked ready to hop into their boat.

“I’ll blow her fucking brains out!” Spit hit her cheek.

Brick froze.

Terror hammered against Natalie’s breastbone and made her vision waver. A minute ago, she’d been sure this was her rescue. It might very well be her end. Emotion misted her eyes.

Brick had done it. He’d found her just in time. He’d fought and he’d searched, all for her. He was so good. So strong and capable. But the odds were stacked against them.

Alarm bells rang in her head. Keetan’s finger had just tightened on the trigger.

She met Brick’s eyes, silently conveying her love, her plea for him to cherish Bray like she knew he would.

Crack!

Natalie screamed and closed her eyes. But she felt no pain. She blinked. Keetan sputtered, his body convulsing. Brick had shot him.

She looked down at Keetan’s leg. A large bullet wound ate through his jeans right into the flesh of his thigh.

“Hands up!” Taschen bellowed. “Drop your weapon, Keetan.”

In disbelief, she felt him raise his arms in surrender. A choked gasp fell from her trembling lips. She tore herself from Keetan’s weak grip and got to her feet.

Brick placed his foot on the railing to leap onto their vessel just as Keetan swung the gun to her and fired. A second blast went off, but it was the first shot that ripped through her chest.

Shock coated her in armor, shielding her from the initial sizzle of her skin ripping open.

But in a flash, hot, searing blood coated her skin.

She staggered and hit the railing. Brick’s face came into view, his eyes wide with horror, his features twisted with pain.

He landed on board, and the movement rocked the boat.

She flailed, trying to catch herself on the side of the boat, but missed. Her momentum sent her body over the edge, and her head smacked the metal rail. Freezing-cold water rushed into her nose and mouth as her vision went black.

***

Jesus Christ.

Brick tore off his rifle and dropped it far from Keetan’s motionless form, mentally kicking himself for shooting Keetan in the leg. If he’d aimed for his head, things would be different.

Taschen had shot Keetan between the eyes, but he’d been a second too late. The bastard had hit Natalie. Taschen shouted behind him, but Brick didn’t register a single word. He bounded overboard. Cold water washed over his head as he searched beneath the surface.

He kept his eyes open even though nothing but murky water filled his sight. A flashlight beam penetrated the water. Panic flooded him as he searched for any sign of Natalie.

She couldn’t have gone far. He surfaced to suck in a breath. “Any sign?” he asked Taschen.

“No. She was wearing a sweatshirt. It probably pulled her down.”

He inhaled deeply then kicked headfirst toward the bottom of the lake. He spread his arms in wide arches as he went deeper. His lungs screamed. His restricted legs grew heavy in his jeans.

Hope seeped from his pores, and despair threatened to pull him into the arms of darkness and death. Without Natalie, there was no more light.

Bray’s happy face and boyish laughter filled his mind. Bray would never laugh or smile again, at least not like he had. Not without his mother.

He had to find her. His heart rate accelerated as the oxygen left his cells.

I won’t lose you. Never again.

His fingertips touched something thick and soft. Unidentifiable, but not natural. He gripped more of it in his fist—a sweatshirt. Pulling the material toward him, he felt Natalie’s hair skim his face. He bunched her close to his chest and directed them to the surface.

He kicked for eternity, his muscles burning and his skin losing sensation. But he had Natalie. He could save her... had to.

He broke through the surface of the lake. A gasp ravaged his lips. They’d drifted far from the boat, but Taschen held the light steady, his arm extended.

“Bring her here!” he called.

Brick adjusted Natalie so her head stayed against his shoulder. He latched his arm around her waist then kicked them toward the ladder of the boat. Taschen grabbed her sweatshirt and hauled her up. Brick snagged the rungs and dragged himself in.

Taschen spread Natalie on the deck. Her feet almost touched Keetan’s dead ones. “She’s gonna need CPR,” Taschen murmured.

Brick didn’t hesitate. One, two, three. With each pump, more blood oozed from the hole beneath her right shoulder.

Tipping back her head, he plugged her nose and sealed his lips over her much-colder ones. He breathed into her, inflating her chest.

Nothing.

He returned to chest compressions. Taschen pressed a balled-up towel to Natalie’s wound and held the flashlight steady, not once offering a shred of doubt.

Brick brought his mouth down on hers again, noting the blue hue to her lips. A chill ran beneath his skin. Tears rimmed his vision. He blew into her again, then pulled away. “Come on, baby. Stay with me!”

He compressed her chest again. This time with more force. He couldn’t let her slip away. Couldn’t—

She coughed. Her eyes flew open, watery and dazed, as she choked on lake water.

He rolled her to her side. “It’s okay, baby. Breathe. Just breathe. You’re all right. I’ve got you.”

Her body shook and trembled as she continued coughing.

“Get a blanket!” Brick shouted.

Taschen had already retrieved the boat’s emergency kit. He shook out the Mylar blanket, and Brick helped him cover Natalie.

“I called the police department. Gave them our coordinates. Coast guard should be here any minute.”

“Let them deal with that,” he said, nodding at Keetan’s body. “We’re taking her home ourselves.” He rubbed Natalie’s back. As soon as her breathing was regulated, he scooped her up and held her against his chest. His shoulder burned, but he pushed away the pain.

Natalie’s head lolled with fatigue, but her eyes stayed riveted to his. She opened her mouth to speak but he shushed her. “Just rest, honey. You need your strength.”

He and Taschen got her onto the other boat, and Brick laid Natalie on the leather seat at the back. She shivered and her teeth chattered—likely from blood loss, shock, and of course her cold, wet clothes. But she was conscious. That was all that mattered.

He hugged her close, rubbing his hands up and down her back. “Jesus. I’m so glad you’re okay.” Uncertainty ran through him. She wasn’t out of the woods yet. She’d been shot, goddammit, and had been underwater for far too long. Fear made his mouth dry.

She curled into his body. A sob broke from her lips. “I thought I’d never see you or Bray again.” Her tiny voice, so weak, so damn delicate, shredded him.

He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead. “I told you I wouldn’t let that happen.” He summoned a breath as regret gutted him. “I also told you I wouldn’t let Keetan hurt you. I’m so fucking sorry.”

She brought her palm to his cheek and touched her forehead to his. “N-Not your f-fault,” she whispered.

It was his fault. All of it. But he wouldn’t argue with her right now. He caught her hand and kissed her freezing-cold palm. “Let’s get you warm.” He attempted to move the blanket, but she held fast to his face.

“Th-Thank you f-for coming f-for me.”

“I’ll always come for you. Whenever you need me.” He swallowed. “I was so fucking scared.” Ah, hell. He didn’t want to do this now. He wanted to tell her how much she meant to him when he wasn’t a blubbering idiot.

But he couldn’t hold back. “When Keetan took you—” He shook his head.

“My life flashed before my eyes. Everything I’d ever deemed important up until that moment just vanished.

” He swept his thumb over her cheek, catching a tear.

“All that was left were memories of the three of us. We had so little time together, but those moments were so good. So pure. I knew I’d hang on to them forever. ”

The engine roared as Taschen fired up the boat.

Tears ran down her face, and she sniffled.

“I love you, Natalie. I’ve loved you from the moment I fell flat on my back in Fargo. You hovered over me like an angel, and I failed you.”

She frowned. “You never failed me. You gave me Bray. And y-you saved m-me.”

“I saved you now. But I was a coward then. I should’ve looked for you harder when you left. Should have done more.”

She shook her head, but before she could speak, he pressed a kiss to her lips then brushed his mouth over her cheeks.