Page 50 of Turn the Tide
“Push her out.” Each word hit her like a bullet. “And then jump.”
Zoe didn’t dare shake her head, but her lips formed the word. “No.”
The pilot said something unintelligible, and the world bucked.
Before Zoe could track what was happening, someone put a hand on her leg. She didn’t dare turn. Didn’t dare hope.
She kept her eyes on Leo, who nodded, slow and sure, while the big hand on her calf counted down: “Three, two…”
“Down!” Eric’s voice.
She ducked, and a gunshot rang out, deafening this close to her ear. Leo was up, diving for the front.Wasthat Eric’s voice?
Zoe turned, clearly hallucinating.
It was him.
Eric.
He yanked the pilot up and over into the back, while Leo took the seat.
The Pacific swooped up at them, and Zoe’s stomach hit her throat. She heaved.
No. She was stronger than this. Shaking her head, she worked hard to focus. Leo, clipped into her harness, put her hands on the controls. Within seconds, they were floating again, rather than falling. Water turned to sky.
Movement beside her—Eric yelled a question at the pilot, who shook his head. More yelling that she couldn’t quite grasp, or maybe she was beyond it now. She blinked dumbly as Eric clipped the other man across the temple with ruthless efficiency and let him drop to the floor, unconscious. Within seconds, the doors were closed, the roar of engines and rotary blades tamped down to bearable levels, and they changed direction back toward the rig.
A warm, solid hand grasped hers. Zoe could only watch as Eric spoke into his comm device, then listened, his eyes glued to hers.
After a last nod and a few unintelligible words, he turned, not quite smiling, but close. “We did it, Zoe.” He bent forward, put his forehead to hers, and spoke against her lips. “You did it.You.”
