Page 42 of Rescuing Micah (Prey Security: Cyber Team #3)

As he went under, he heard Rex laugh, and his fear receded a little.

The water wasn't rough enough to drag Teresa too far from the boat, and he’d all but followed her in, so she’d been in the water less than thirty seconds longer than he had.

Unless her attacker was wielding a weapon—and he suspected she wasn't because if she was, they would have had a hostage situation more like when Isabella had been rescued—killing Teresa with her bare hands while trying to remain afloat would be next to impossible.

His girl was not dying today.

With strong, firm strokes, he swam through the water, scanning it for signs of movement that would indicate two people swimming to the surface.

The fact that Teresa hadn't immediately come up for air upon landing told him that whoever had knocked her down was trying to keep her under. His girl was a good swimmer, but she was hurt and had been knocked over unexpectedly. He wasn't sure how big a breath she’d been able to take or how long she’d be able to hold it under these circumstances.

When he caught sight of something moving slowly in the water, his heart stuttered in his chest.

It was a body, he’d seen enough of them to know that. And it wasn't moving on its own, tossed about by the gentle waves.

Was it …?

No. Couldn’t be.

Quickly closing the distance between it and himself, Micah didn't stop to examine whether it was Teresa or her attacker, nor did he waste time checking to see if the person was still breathing.

Their only chance was to get to the surface, and if there was no pulse, start CPR, awkward to do in the water but not impossible.

If it was the woman who had taken Teresa overboard, he didn't care about saving their life, but if it was his girl …

Water streamed down his face as he broke the surface, pulling the body up with him.

A couple of yards away, Rex’s head also popped up, and he wasn't alone.

“I'm three for three,” Rex called out, his tone amused and slightly tinged with pain.

“Three for three?”

Rex shifted slightly so that Micah could see that his friend was trying to keep hold of Teresa, who was struggling against him even if her movements were clumsy and uncoordinated.

Relief slammed into him, and he let out a choked laugh. Teresa was alive. Well, enough to be trying to fight off who she obviously thought was the woman who had knocked her off the boat.

Glancing down at the dead woman he still held onto, because there was no way she was alive when she hadn't made any attempts to get away from him, or to get herself up to the surface, nor had she taken in any breath now that there was air again, he saw it was Teresa’s attacker.

Not his girl. She wasn't hanging dead in his arms.

Touching his fingers to the woman’s neck, he confirmed that she was deceased, then quickly dragged her along with him as he swam toward where his friend was trying to soothe Teresa, who was still fighting against him.

“Here, take her,” he said, shoving the dead body at Rex as he reached for Teresa.

As much as Micah would love to just leave the body out there and let the ocean dispose of the woman, he wanted this to be a clean op.

He also didn't want to waste time later having to retrieve the body.

He wanted to calm his girl down, get her out of the water, then get her back home.

“Avery is going to have a field day with this one,” Rex said, clearly amused even as he rubbed at his jaw with one hand while holding onto the dead body with the other.

“She’s going to think it’s hilarious,” he agreed as he smoothed a hand down Teresa’s wet hair. Immediately, she stilled, as though sensing it was him beside her, and she no longer had to fight for her life. “Shh, pretty girl, it’s me, you're safe now.”

“Micah?” As he smoothed her soaked locks out of the way, her big brown eyes blinked at him then immediately looked around. He knew the second her gaze landed on Rex, and she realized he must have been the one to pull her up, because she suddenly looked sheepish. “Did I hurt you?”

“Yeah, you did, and it was awesome,” Rex gushed. “Nothing I love more than seeing a victim kicking butt.”

His words surprised a giggle out of Teresa. “I'm sorry.”

“I'm not,” Rex assured her. “You did the right thing. You didn't know who I was, and you acted accordingly.”

“Thought you were her,” Teresa murmured, glancing at the body.

“She can't hurt you anymore,” he assured his girl. “Come on, let’s get you back to the boat.”

“Is William okay?” Teresa asked as he carefully shifted his hold on her so he could swim them both more easily.

“William?”

“The nurse who saved my life. He untied me so I could activate the tracker, and then he knocked out my IV so that I woke up when they were going to operate on me,” she explained.

“I'm sure he’s fine, we knew to be prepared for some of the doctors and nurses to be victims,” he reminded her.

When they reached the boat, the others helped him get Teresa back up to the top deck.

By the time he joined her, she was lying on her back, propped up against some blankets someone had collected, with one draped across her.

She was shivering from the cold, unlike him, she wasn't wearing a specially designed dive suit, she was virtually naked, and water was streaming off her hair and puddling beneath her.

“You okay?” he asked, dropping to his knees beside her and cupping her cheek in his palm.

Immediately, she leaned into his touch. Tears shimmered in the brown depths of her eyes, but he knew Teresa well enough to know she was going to do her best not to let them fall with an audience. Always so strong, so determined, so stubborn. His girl didn't show weakness to anyone.

But it wasn't weak to be shaken after you’d almost died, to have survived hell all over again, to be grateful that you were alive.

“I-I’m okay,” she whispered.

“She’s hurt, they tried to cut her back open,” a young man hovering close by spoke up. Micah assumed he was William.

Lifting up the blankets, he spotted the red staining the hospital gown that was thoroughly soaked and sticking to her skin.

Someone handed him a towel, and he pressed it against the wound, making Teresa wince.

While there was enough blood for him to know the wound was serious and would have to be tended to as soon as they got medics there, it wasn't gushing blood in a way he had to worry about her bleeding out on him.

“You scared the life out of me with this little plan of yours,” he told Teresa as he kept one hand pressed to her wound, and with his other tucked the blankets up and over her again to try to prevent her from going into shock.

“Sorry. I didn't want to scare you, but I had to take advantage of it if they got their hands on me again. It worked, too,” she said, her gaze shifting to the young nurse. “He knows the woman running the ring.”

All eyes snapped to William, his own included. The young man’s cheeks heated, and he shuffled nervously from foot to foot, but he nodded his head to confirm what Teresa had just told them.

“You did it, pretty girl. Because of your bravery, we’re going to demolish the trafficking ring. I'm so proud of you.”

The smile she gave him was watery, but it was still a smile. “Then you better hurry up and kiss me.”

“Nothing I’d rather do.” As his lips pressed against hers, Micah felt a weight lift off his shoulders.

Teresa didn't seem to blame him for her getting caught, and while he hated that she’d been in danger, her plan had ultimately worked out and paid off.

As soon as the ring was no longer a threat, he was putting all his effort into convincing his girl he would never let her down again.