Page 68 of Chilled
Nick shone the flashlight into the cab.
Robin’s face skimmed the ceiling of the truck, her nose just above the water. “Help,” she gasped.
“We will, just hold on.” Using the flashlight to knock out the jagged edges of the window, Nick called out, “Robin, can you swim over to the back window?”
She shook her head and tried to talk. “Seatbelt...jammed.”
Handing the flashlight to Brenna, Nick took a deep breath and pushed through the window. A sharp edge tore down his right side through his shirt to the skin, but Nick ignored the pain and moved along the back of the seat to Robin. The cold water numbed his skin. He fought the debilitating tremors, focusing on helping Robin. Unable to see anything in the inky darkness, he groped around until he felt the curve of Robin’s shoulder. Then he pushed up to grab a gulp of air at the ceiling.
“Help me. I’m so c-cold.” Robin’s voice was weak. Her hand reached out, but she couldn’t curl her fingers to grasp him.
With his mouth in the air pocket he said, “Hang on.” His hand followed the seatbelt crossing her chest to her hip where the buckle held her in place. Pressing with all his might, he worked to release the latch, but the buckle refused to give.
Then he remembered the pocketknife he always carried. Coming up for another breath of air, he shoved stiffening fingers into his pocket and pulled the pocketknife out. In the muscle-numbing cold, he almost dropped it. After several attempts he managed to open the blade. With a sawing motion, he cut through the thick strap until the final thread gave way.
Robin drifted up in the water, her arms moving in a slow, pathetic attempt to swim out.
With the chill setting into him, Nick dragged in another breath and dove below the surface to grab Robin beneath the shoulders. He pulled her over the top of him and shoved her through the rear window into Brenna’s waiting arms.
Back at the air pocket, he gulped another breath before he turned to Jason. The young man was slumped over the steering wheel. He’d been underwater for who knew how long without the benefit of the air pocket Robin had used to survive. It took several attempts to free his body and push him through the rear window, but Nick managed.
Brenna stood at the far corner of the truck bed with Robin in her arms, trying to keep her warm. “I’ll need your help to get her back to the car. I think she’s in shock.”
Nick felt for Jason’s pulse, but between the frigid water and the lack of oxygen, he hadn’t stood a chance. Nick pulled him to the high corner of the truck bed. With a quick glance at Brenna and Robin, whose lips were a startling shade of purple, he dropped back into the freezing water. “Can you shove her over the tailgate into my arms?”
“Yeah. I think I can.”
Brenna stood and draped Robin over the edge of the tailgate then pushed her over into Nick’s arms. Then she scrambled down into the water beside him and took the woman’s legs. Together, they managed to get her out of the water, into the back seat of Nick’s rental car and covered her with their jackets.
While Nick cranked up the heater, Brenna placed the emergency call. As the car's interior heated, Robin drifted in and out of consciousness.
“Robin, can you hear me?” Brenna sat on the edge of the seat rubbing her hands over Robin’s.
Robin moaned, and her eyes drifted open. “Agent Jensen?”
“Yes, it’s me, Brenna.”
“Jason...did he hurt the officer?” The young woman’s hand tapped against Brenna’s arm.
“He’ll be okay.” Nick leaned into the back seat and draped his leather jacket over Robin. “What happened?”
“Truck smashed into...” Her head dropped against the backseat as if it were too hard to hold it up.
“Yes, the truck smashed into the ditch,” Brenna said.
“No. Different truck. Ran us off...” Her voice faded and Nick thought she’d passed out again. But Robin’s eyes opened, and she said in a little above a whisper, “A truck ran us off the road.”
CHAPTER 16
By the timeBrenna returned to the suite, she couldn’t feel her hands or feet, and every wet inch of her was beyond exhausted. Nick let her go first in the shower, for which she’d be eternally grateful as soon as she could think clearly.
They’d waited in the car with the heat turned up to its highest temperature. When the ambulance had arrived, they’d stood in the cold while Robin was loaded into an ambulance. Jason’s lifeless body was loaded into another ambulance, the medical technicians working to revive him as the doors closed and the vehicles headed for the hospital.
Brenna and Nick stayed to brief the police officer. All the while, Brenna had shivered, draped in the blankets given to her and Nick by the emergency medical technicians.
Now, stepping from a hot shower, she wrapped her hair in a towel and climbed into her pajamas. She almost felt normal when she emerged from the bathroom.
Nick stood in his black jeans, his shirt and shoes in a damp pile at his feet. “Did you save me any hot water?”
