Page 103 of Say it Ain’t So

“What? She seems like a nice gal. Figured the two of them would never tell anyone and you and I both know how draining it is to keep something like that a secret.”

“Oh my God.” She shook her head, lowering her voice as we neared the door. “You can’t tell anyone.”

“Don’t worry.” I winked. “We’ve got our own secrets to keep.”

I filled her in on my time with Drea Hernandez, and Joss told me how she and Van had sprung Kelly from the hospital to bring her to the station in order to spring me and Lee. Joss held my hand as she drove back to work so we could get my truck, even though it was the exact kind of thing she was always against.

Back at our parking lot, Joss helped me from the passenger seat of her car and handed me her keys. “Drive safe?”

“Of course, I will, gorgeous.” She kissed me again, then started toward my truck. “Wait!”

Joss turned back, her gaze darting over me like she was looking for a way to help. It warmed my heart; even more so when she rushed back to my side and kissed me again.

“Here.” I unhooked the safety hammer from her keys and placed it in her hand. “Drive safe.”

Her smile could have lit up the entire earth. “I love you.”

“Love you too, baby.”

With another kiss, we parted, climbing into the driver’s seats and pulling out of the parking lot. Traffic was heavier than I expected for this time of day, and I kept my eyes on the back of my truck, worried about how Joss was handling it.

She was known to come to work early and stay late, not because she wanted to be there longer, but because it meant missing the rush hour traffic.

As we turned south on State Street, my worries about her ramped up. My thoughts turned to her recent confession of one of her greatest fears. She’d told me she had a recurring nightmare that she was stuck on one of the bridges when the roadway went up, sending her crashing into the river below.

That’s why I’d bought her the safety hammer. That’s why I made sure she had it on our way home. And that knowledge calmed some of my worries as I followed her onto the State Street Bridge.

Traffic had opened up, and I gunned my engine to keep up with Joss. But something hit the back end of the car, sending me speeding ahead. I grabbed hold of the wheel, trying to control the vehicle as I was hit again. My front end clipped the vehicle beside me, sending me crashing into another, and with one more hard hit, the car tilted. One final blow and my body jarred as the undercarriage smashed into the guardrail.

I was airborne before I realized what was going on, sailing over screaming pedestrians and crashing hood-first into the Chicago River.

As the water started to rise and trickle in through the engine, the bright afternoon sun went out, leaving me to my murky green grave.

30

JOSS

Watching my rear-view mirror was like watching the videos on my tablet. Only this time, instead of Rylan telling me to stop, it was Rylan driving my car, slamming into other motorists and sinking into the river.

I stomped on my brakes when he went airborne and was halfway out of the driver’s side door when he hit the surface of the water, and while something in me told me to stand back and stay out of the way of the careening car that had sent Rylan flying, my heart didn’t give a flying fuck. I grabbed my keys and ran, dodging crashed cars and debris as I went. I hoped over the guardrail, barely avoided someone weeping on the pedestrian walkway, and dove into the murky water after Rylan.

The cold hit me first, biting at my hands and face and almost making me drop my keys. But I held tight, channeling every ounce of my strength and every memory of swimming in the summer with Cheyenne when we were kids. I kicked harder, swam faster, desperation driving me down into the darkness. I could barely make out the shape of my car, but I grabbed hold the minute I got close, using my grip to pull me toward the front seat.

Rylan was there, blood trickling from a wound on his forehead and more from his nose. His chin nearly rested on his chest, and I couldn’t see his eyes. I prayed with everything in me that he was okay, then pounded my knuckles against the window as hard as I could. Rylan’s eyes snapped open, and I heard the muffled sound of his voice as he yelled my name. He plastered his hands to the window, then pressed his forehead to the glass and closed his eyes.

I knocked again, and when Rylan looked at me, I held up my tool. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped open before he was reaching for his seatbelt.

But I was out of breath. Rylan wouldn’t be able to swim on his own, and I needed more air if I was going to help him out. I pointed to my mouth, then pointed up, and I wanted to cry when Rylan shook his head and pounded his hands on the window.

It pained me to swim away, but it would have killed me not to. I raced to the surface, gasping for breath when I reached the top. Then I sucked in a deep breath and dove back down.

It was harder to find him the second time, but I did. And the moment I saw the wild look in his eyes, I almost let out the air in my lungs. I motioned for him to get back and take a breath, then pressed the tip of the tool to the front edge of the window.

Water flooded into the car the second the glass shattered, and it sank lower into the dark depths of the river. Rylan hit the remaining glass out of his way with an old water bottle, then used his arms to pull him through.

I grabbed hold of him, then kicked off the top of the car, pulling him with me as I swam toward the surface. My lungs were burning, and all my muscles felt weak, and I wasn’t sure that we’d make it. Rylan got heavier and heavier with every kick, until it felt like he wasn’t with me at all. Felt like he was nothing more than a load of bricks.

When I finally broke the surface, I gasped for air, then pulled his head out of the water.