Page 34 of Vanished in the Mist (A Mystic Lake Mystery #2)

Kaden used every ounce of power the engines on his boat could give, pushing it to its limit.

He recklessly passed the marina full of boaters, ignoring the shouts of anger as his wake buffeted the much smaller boats.

Channel markers warned of hazards beneath the water that could shred the hull of his boat.

He tried to stay away from those areas, but was forced to swerve dangerously close several times to avoid decimating small boats that couldn’t get out of his way fast enough.

Still, he pushed for more horsepower.

The mist was still mysteriously hovering over the lake, making it even harder to watch out for potential hazards.

But what frustrated him the most was that the mist seemed heaviest at the water’s edge.

He couldn’t see the shoreline to judge exactly where the lake ended and the shore began.

If, by some miracle, Shanna was on the shore, perhaps running from her abductor, he wasn’t even sure that he would see her.

Forced to rely on his training and experience, he used the boat’s instrumentation and the GPS coordinates from his earlier search of the bonfire area to navigate.

He was close. Very close. He powered down three of the four engines and dramatically decreased his speed all at once, making the boat rock back and forth like a toy in a bathtub.

It creaked and groaned but quickly settled.

According to the GPS, he was fifty yards from shore. The bonfire clearing could be up ahead, in front of those trees, but the mist was too thick for him to be sure.

“Shanna,” he yelled, even as he edged the boat dangerously closer. “Shanna!”

A figure appeared, the mist swirling around her. A woman near the tree line. But she was too short to be Shanna. Red hair glinted in the sunlight. What the… Was that Tanya ?

She jumped up and down, waving her arms. “Help! Help! He’s going to kill her. Help!”

Kaden’s shock at seeing the young girl alive quickly gave way to dread.

He shoved a lever, revving the engine again, rapidly closing the distance.

The mist thinned, revealing he was much closer to the shoreline than he’d realized.

He turned hard to starboard just in time to turn the boat and avoid grounding it, then returned the engine to idle, bobbing up and down in his own wake.

He stepped out of the wheelhouse and leaned against the railing. “Tanya Jericho?”

“Yes, yes. Please, you have to help her. Shanna. He’s got her. I tried to go find help. But he got there too fast. I had to hide. I saw him take her out of the rock.”

Rock? He had no idea what she meant. “Where is she?” he yelled across to her.

“There. Over there. He said he was taking her for a swim.” She pointed off to her left, Kaden’s right.

A swim? Oh, God, no.

“How far?” he yelled.

“Around the next curve.”

“Hide, Tanya. Don’t come out until you see the police.”

She waved in understanding and sprinted into the trees.

Kaden jumped back in the wheel house and gunned the engine again, sending the boat in a full out frenzy parallel to the shore toward the next bend.

Another debris marker appeared out of the mist directly in front of him.

He swore and jerked the wheel away from the shore.

Something hard made a sickening scrape against the hull, but it didn’t catch.

The boat shot out past it into deeper, safer water.

He quickly turned, powering down again and heading around the next curve where Tanya had said Shanna would be. So where was she?

He scanned the area, swearing as the mist rose thick again, covering the surface of the water. Then he heard it. Splashing.

The mist suddenly opened in front of him like a red carpet rolling out to guide his way. And there, to his horror, in the shallow strip of land at the lake’s edge was Shanna with her captor. He had her by the hair and was shoving her under the water.

The gun Dawson had given Kaden was useless. He’d likely hit Shanna if he tried shooting the Phantom. But Kaden had another weapon. Discovery. He throttled up, hurtling the boat directly toward shore.

The Phantom looked up, as if just noticing him. He stared at Kaden, smiling as he held a thrashing Shanna under, seemingly convinced Kaden wouldn’t hit him.

Kaden gave the engine another burst of speed.

The Phantom shoved Shanna completely under water and scrambled to his feet, desperately trying to get out of Kaden’s way.

Kaden jerked the wheel hard to starboard to miss where he’d last seen Shanna.

He ran to the port side, grabbing his handheld sonar as he dove into the water.

A loud explosion sounded overhead as his boat ran aground and struck the trees.

A concussion of power slammed against his body, tossing him against something hard and unyielding.

The impact knocked the breath out of him but he managed to maintain his grip on the sonar device.

He struggled against the urge to suck in water as his lungs screamed for air. Pieces of his boat fell into the water, like a hard rain. Then he was kicking for the surface.

He sucked in a lungful of air, then dove back down, immediately sweeping the sonar back and forth. In what felt like minutes, but was probably only a few seconds, one of the lights came on, pointing him toward a shadow several feet below.

Shanna.

Diving straight down, he found her. Her eyes were open and staring. But she didn’t see him. His heart seemed to stop in his chest. He tossed the device aside, grabbed her and swam for the surface, but pulled up short. Her hair was wrapped around an old wooden railing of a submerged house.

He savagely kicked the railing, smashing it in two, freeing her.

Cradling her lifeless body against him, he headed for the surface as fast as he could go.

Once he reached the shore, he laid her on her side and worked to pump the water out of her lungs.

A rush of water came out but she didn’t cough or start breathing.

He rolled her onto her back and began CPR.

“Come on, Shanna. Don’t you leave me now, not after becoming everything to me. Don’t you dare. Breathe, damn it. Breathe.”

He blew two quick hard breaths, watching her chest rise as her lungs filled with air.

But just like with Jessica, she didn’t breathe on her own.

And this time, there wasn’t an external defibrillator to help him.

He desperately pressed his clasped hands over her heart, pumping it for her, and praying harder than he’d ever prayed in his life.

Please, God. Please. Don’t take her. Let her live. Please.

An angry shout was his only warning. He threw up his arm to deflect the blow as the Phantom swung a piece of broken wood from his boat down toward his head. Kaden kicked out at the other man, catching him in the groin.

As the Phantom fell to his knees, cupping himself and groaning in agony, Kaden blew two quick breaths into Shanna’s lungs. Still nothing. “Come on, sweetheart. Come on. Don’t leave me.” He started compressions again.

The Phantom struggled to his feet, glaring at Kaden. His mouth turned up in a feral grin as he slowly pulled out a long, wicked knife.

This was it. He’d probably end up sinking that knife into Kaden. But if he stopped compressions long enough to fight him off, Shanna didn’t stand a chance. He had to keep going as long as he could.

Where the hell was Dawson’s team?

As if in answer, the distant sound of a boat engine whined out across the lake.

Thank God. His boat disintegrating into a million pieces must have alerted them.

“I love you, Shanna,” he whispered, before blowing two more quick breaths.

The Phantom drew his knife above his head and let out the sound a rabid dog might make as he limped forward, still cupping himself with his other hand.

Kaden continued compressions, turning his back to protect Shanna from the coming blow.

The mist suddenly swirled around them, thick and impossible to see through.

The sound of the Phantom’s footsteps faltered as he seemed to struggle to search for his prey.

Kaden took advantage of the opportunity, grabbing Shanna in his arms and charging forward to the cover of the trees. He dropped down with her and immediately continued compressions.

And just as suddenly as the mist had come, it disappeared. Kaden glanced through the trees toward the shore.

The Phantom turned his way, spotting him. His face contorted with a victorious smile as he held the blade of his knife and raised it to throw it.

A hail of gunfire sounded from the lake. There, on the small police boat, to Kaden’s surprise, was Dawson himself. He held a rifle aimed at the Phantom.

The Phantom’s smile turned to dismay and shock as he looked down at the holes in his chest. He staggered toward the lake, then fell facedown into the water, disappearing beneath its murky surface into the depths below.

The sound of a cough had Kaden jerking his head toward Shanna and stopping the compressions. She blinked up at him, her beautiful blue eyes glassy, unfocused.

“Shanna? It’s Kaden. Can you hear me?”

Her eyes closed and her head lolled to the side, water trickling out of her mouth.

He swore and turned her, moving her arms to try to clear more water from her lungs.

When he rolled her on her back, his panic gave way to relief when he saw that she was breathing.

But her pulse was thready, far too weak.

And all he could think about was how he’d revived Jessica and she still hadn’t survived.

“Don’t you dare die on me,” he ordered, his voice breaking. “I swear I’ll never forgive you.”

Her brow wrinkled as if she’d heard him. But her eyes stayed closed.

He lifted her in his arms, cradling her against his chest as he staggered to his feet.

Then he was running toward the lake to where Dawson was now idling his boat dangerously close to the shoreline.

A body bag on the deck told Kaden what he’d feared might happen.

Dawson must have found Jack. But he’d been too late.

Dawson’s eyes widened. “Is she—”

“She’s alive,” Kaden said. “But she’s in bad shape. Get the chopper out here. Now.”