Chapter 53

THE COMPRESSOR HITthe water with a massive splash. The rope around Jenny’s legs whizzed over the side. I sprinted along the deck and reached it just as the rope ran out and yanked the wounded woman off the side of the boat.

I dived in after her, the fifteen feet of free air between the deck and the water feeling like ten minutes of sheer terror before the blackness of the ocean swirled around me.

The water was so cold that for a moment I didn’t know if I’d been successful in grabbing at Jenny’s hands. I held tight, and as we sailed downward I realized that I had a death grip on one of her wrists. We were sinking fast. There was no sound. The woman in my hands had come to and twisted and bucked as we plunged toward the depths.

We sailed downward. The pressure on my chest and head was too heavy to bear after only seconds. A voice in my head began screaming.

It’s over. Let go. Let go. Get to the surface!

But I refused to let go.