Page 48 of Last Destination

Our hands and feet held little control in the water, and Jamie would not let go of the mattress with either hand. With the river twenty feet wide in this section, we would be wiser to stay close to the shoreline, but the mattress pulled toward the center with every roll of the current.

Another dip in the river rolled the acid in my belly. I clasped my hand around Marley’s ankle the same moment the second dip dropped into a pool below. Jamie released a muffled scream as our raft tipped so violently, I was jolted off the side.

I kept my hand clenched around Marley’s ankle while the current pulled us both under, silt and sand scraping over my skin. My feet touched stony ground, then something soft and squishy, a being wriggling at the bottom. I pushed off with all the strength left in my quads and broke through the surface. I yanked on Marley’s leg to pull her toward me, even though my shoulder burned with such pain white stars shot across my vision.

Cool relief crashed over me harder than the force of the river when her head broke through the water. My ángel’s body bobbed alongside me spluttering, but her vacant eyes did not see me. Did she know where we were? The emptiness in her once intelligent stare was far scarier than the river and the dangers it held. I pulled her against my chest, her warm skin a reminder she was still alive, and searched for the mattress in the distance.

The dark blue plastic was half a prison yard length downstream and Jamie appeared sodden and half-dead on top of it.

Mierde.

Lifting my feet, I allowed the river to push us forward, but the mattress was continuing on its path. With only Jamie to steer it, we would never reach it like this.

Squinting into the setting sun, I weighed the few options at my disposal. We could follow the shoreline. I would hold her in my arms for as long as I could, but I did not have it in me to walk several hours on uneven ground with her dead weight. Perhaps we could float, but the rocks had already proven to be treacherous.

“Come on!” Jamie’s panicked shout carried over the water.

My gaze snapped upward. He’d snagged a large overhanging tree branch, anchoring the bedding in place enough to keep it from bobbing forward.

It was far, but close enough to make it if he could keep his hold. I wasted no time and wrapped my shoulder around my ángel’s head to protect her from the sharper rocks along each side. Propelling forward with powerful kicks, muscles shrieking with each movement, my adrenaline burned off to the point of extreme pain.

“Hurry!” he called and the shrill fear in his voice forced the final push from my limbs. When I reached his position, I thrust Marley upward and onto the mattress with one last burst of strength. Jamie released the branch and shifted to allow her body to settle back into the center. I collapsed on the end of the mattress, fighting back the violent urge to vomit.

My captain blinked water from her eyes in a dazed haze. With a deep yawn, she curled back in on herself, her eyelids snapping closed.

Jamie and I resumed our positions in silence, the energy to speak too great. Nikki and Ambrose would wait for us. Clube de Morte would be together again.

The river pushed us forward, indifferent to our plight, and we pressed on.

Daylight had shifted to twilight. Still, no Marley.

I wanted to hold Ambrose’s hand. Offer him some sort of comfort at the very least, since we’d taken up our perch nearly two hours ago, but we’d already drawn enough attention to ourselves. Panama was still heavily divided on its stance regarding same-sex couples, so I settled for just being in his presence.

For now. I was growing far more attached to this man than I would prefer.

A splash caught my attention from beyond the river bend.

I whipped my head around, hoping to catch a glimpse of my beautiful baby girl. My heart sank when a little boy jumped into the water from a rope with his older sister.

It was so odd to see children joyfully playing when we’d spent so long steeped in survival misery. Their resilience was fascinating, though I supposed I could get the same effect from a little nip of my old friends.

“Here.” Ambrose shoved a cool metal block into my hands and I stared down at it in surprise.

My phone.

“I was able to charge it a bit if you want to make a call.” He stared off down the river, not looking me in the eye, missing that I could have kissed the ever-loving shit out of him.

“Fuck me, man, lead with that!” I leaped to my feet and unlocked the screen, an ecstatic wave of relief flushing through my system faster than the vodka. One bar of service. Perhaps if I went closer to the village, I’d have two?

The possibility of connecting to the world beyond this jungle and my need to see Marley and Madman waged war within me. It had been over six hours since we’d arrived by boat. Surely, they would appear soon?

Ambrose seemed to understand my hesitation. “Go by the power pole.” He pointed in the opposite direction up the hill. “But don’t be long, and be prepared for another dipshit to take it from you.”

Right. No need for another murder. He had his hatchet in his bag, and I’d foolishly but whole-heartedly given my gun to Tessa.

“I won’t be long,” I promised, squeezing the phone like it was my lifeline. “I’m desperate to get a hold of my sister.”

“I get it.” My handsome fucktoy— no, that wasn’t right … trauma-lover?— rubbed his palms down his face and looked up to the sky. “I left a message for my father. Hearing his voice on his voicemail …” His voice broke, and I wanted so desperately to put him back together.