Cressida watched in horror as the helicopter broke apart. The bay surged and chopped with the impact. A wave engulfed her. Smothering her.
Ian. She had to get to Ian.
The copter bobbed at the surface, then sank.
She kicked with all her might, swimming with a ferocity she’d never experienced, grateful for her hours of dive time that made her a strong swimmer. She reached the debris field and scanned the water’s surface, searching for Ian. He hadn’t been harnessed inside. A door floated beside her. It had broken off.
There was hope he wasn’t inside the rapidly sinking helicopter.
She located Hill first. He floated facedown in the water. She flipped him over but didn’t waste another moment on him as she searched for Ian.
Then she saw him, and her heart stopped. Like Hill, he was facedown. Floating. How long since the impact? Two minutes? Three?
She flipped him upright, turning his face to the night air. A quick check showed he had a pulse but wasn’t breathing. They were miles from land. She didn’t even have a lifejacket.
She grabbed the nearest floating debris, a panel of some sort, and tried to shove him onto it but couldn’t lift his weight without leverage.
She took a deep breath and remembered dive training, which she’d renewed many times during her years of scuba diving. She slipped her body beneath his. She’d be his float. She grabbed the panel with one hand and pulled it under her shoulders. Slowly, she inched it under her until it reached her hips. Then she slid out from beneath Ian, so his upper body rested on the float.
She swiped his mouth, finding no obstruction, and pressed her open mouth to his. A quick puff of breath didn’t inflate his chest. She tilted his throat back, opening the passage, and tried again.
She managed to breathe air into his lungs once, twice, three times.
In the distance, she heard a boat engine. Please let it be one of the SEAL teams responding to her panic button call in the helicopter.
She pressed another breath into Ian’s lungs. “Don’t you dare die on me,” she whispered frantically between puffs of air. “You promised.” Another breath. “You gave me your solemn vow.” Another breath. “I love you. Dammit, I love you.”
Ian coughed, a choking gasp that brought tears to her eyes. She tread water and gripped the float all while making sure he didn’t slip off the panel as his body shook with the spasms. His eyes popped open, and he vomited seawater.
Before his breathing was under control, a boat pulled up alongside them. “Need a hand, Cress?” Sean Logan asked.
* * *
Ian’s coughing subsided as Cressida snuggled against his side. The boat circled so the Raptor team could grab Hill’s body from the water, and after the terrorist leader was aboard, Logan announced the man still had a pulse, but barely.
“There’s a part of me,” Ian said to Cressida, “that wouldn’t be bothered if Hill lives and escapes, because the people he’s double-crossed in the Middle East will slit his throat without a fuss, whereas he might be rich and connected enough to escape prosecution here. Hejan made sure he was a dead man no matter what.”
“Do you think Hejan realized he was the group leader? He was, after all, in the bar that night. And given that Hejan was working with Todd to find the tunnel, there were too many connections for Hill’s secret to stay hidden.”
“It’s possible. He might have figured it all out and then plotted his revenge, knowing the dominos would fall after his death.” He held her gaze, knowing this would be hard for her to hear after what she’d witnessed on the boat. “Hill killed Hejan when he discovered Hejan had taken the money. Todd was hiding in your hotel room bathroom and witnessed the whole thing. Tonight, Hill shot Todd because he guessed that Todd tipped me off to what Hill is.”
She gave him a sad smile. “You called him Todd.”
“Because that’s who he is to you. He fucked up a lot. But in the end, it appears he was trying to save you. To right his mistakes.”
She nodded. “I hope he recovers. He was in over his head the moment he contacted Hill. He had no idea what the man was—obviously, none of us did—and by the time he found out, it was too late for him.” She sighed. “Where’s Zack?”
“I don’t know. He may have fled, or he may try to claim he was just following orders, but with Hill’s capture, I don’t think that’ll fly.”
“And Suzanne? Is she okay?”
Ian turned to Sean, “Did your team find Suzanne?”
Sean nodded. “Good job getting her off the boat. She’s safe now. As soon as the FBI takes over on the yacht, we’ll get her to a hospital.”
“So what happens next?” Cressida asked Ian.
“I’ll be taken in for debriefing. You’ll get a room at The Hay-Adams and wait for me. We both hope the mess in Turkey is sorted out without me being charged with all sorts of awful things I didn’t do.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
He tightened his arms around her. “I think you said something when we were in the water that I’d like to hear again.”
“I was reminding you of your promise to take me to The Hay-Adams.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it was after that.”
She smiled and stroked his cheek. “I love you, Ian Boyd.”
He kissed her, amazed and grateful they were both alive. Together. And in the US. A circumstance he’d seriously doubted would come about. “That’s what I thought you said.”
The boat surged across the water, and even though Ian knew an interrogation awaited him at the other side, he couldn’t wait to reach shore. He was eager to get the debriefing over with, because for the first time in his life, he had a reason to hurry home.