Page 45 of Hearts on the Line (The Maverick Key #1)

Scott

I move quickly, not caring about safety. She’s fighting for her life. The line tugs in my hand. I signal to Wes, and together, we focus our beams. There she is.

Maddie clings to Nathan’s dive line, her body trembling, barely holding herself upright.

She’s exhausted. There’s terror in her eyes.

She points to another line, signaling Mark is that way.

She’s alive. Relief crashes over me, but it’s fleeting.

Her gas has to be critically low. She only has one tank.

I push forward. When I reach her, her wide, desperate eyes search mine. Through the mask, I see her fear and hope. She’s shaking, her breaths coming too fast, fogging the mask. I clutch her arm to steady her as Wes swims to us.

Maddie’s strength is fading fast.

“Don’t use the comms. You need to reserve your gas as much as possible. Stay calm. Take slow breaths. I love you, sweetheart.” I turn to Wes, who has moved next to us. “Wes, get her out now.”

He darts his eyes to the darkness ahead, to Mark.

“Take her back now. I’ll finish this,” I say.

He looks me in the eye and puts his hand on my shoulder.

“I’ve got her. She’ll get out alive.” Gripping her arm, he guides her back the way we came. I watch them go, the light of their dive lights fading into the distance. My chest tightens as I force myself to let her go. She’s safe now.

Nathan’s secondary line stretches deeper into the cave, leading toward the next section of the cavern.

I follow it, each tug of the line pulling me closer to Mark.

This ends here. Whatever it takes. When I enter it, I’m shocked.

It’s the largest chamber I’ve ever been in and it’s almost unnaturally intricate in wall formations.

It’s also warmer in here. Like a heated pool.

This is the room we saw on Nathan’s video. I use my lamp to look for movement.

There he is. Mark thrashes near a jagged outcrop of rock, entangled in a large net of dive line. His jerky, erratic movements in the entanglement make him look like a spider caught in his own web. Bursts of bubbles escape his regulator as he struggles against the line.

“Stupid bitch! She killed me!”

I slow my approach, instincts on high alert.

I signal to him, gesturing for him to stop struggling.

For a moment, his wild eyes soften when we make eye contact.

Recognition flickers, but vanishes just as fast, swallowed by fear.

I pull out my dive knife and show it to him.

Letting him know I’m going to cut him free.

He sees the knife and his hands slash wildly through the water. I yank back, narrowly avoiding his mindless grasp. He’s not thinking, only reacting.

I try again, edging closer with measured movements.

“Let me help you, Mark. It doesn’t have to end this way. Think of Crystal and Natalie. You can get out alive.”

But his struggles only intensify, and the web tightens around him with every wild twist. His panic is worsening his situation, pulling the web of line tighter and binding him more firmly.

My dive computer flashes a warning. My gas is running low.

Frustration and anger swell within me, but Mark isn’t giving me a choice.

I dart forward, grabbing his arm to incapacitate him until I can cut him loose.

He lashes out with all his strength. His kicks stir up a thick cloud of silt.

The chamber dissolves into a murky blur, leaving me with no visibility.

My flashlight catches glimpses of his kicks, but his face is obscured.

Then, his regulator slips from his mouth, his body jerks violently, and his mask floods.

He rips it off. I shove my octopus toward him, but he bats it away, his eyes wide and wild.

He’s spiraling, caught in the grip of terror.

My chest tightens as the realization crashes over me like a wave.

I’m not going to save him. Mark is too far gone, his fear and rage sealing his fate.

I back away, my flashlight lingering on him.

His struggles slow, the silt swirling around him as the tangled web of line holds him tight. Then he stops moving.

I thought he was a good man.

What happened to him? There’s nothing else I can do now. I’ll need to come back with others to retrieve his body.

I follow the dive line back to the main cavern. The water clears, but my thoughts remain clouded, and my chest tightens with regret.

I push those thoughts aside, focusing on the one thing that matters. Maddie. I say a prayer and move.