Alaskan Mountain Attack by Sarah Varland

Alaskan Mountain Attack by Sarah Varland

Author:Sarah Varland
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-04-12T12:57:49+00:00


* * *

The icy water sucked the air from Judah’s lungs as soon as he hit it. He’d never understood how that worked, but it took so much energy out of a person that even a good swimmer was rendered relatively hopeless after being submerged for a little while.

His head dipped as the current pulled him and Judah kicked his legs to give himself more flotation. Piper! Where was Piper? She was a strong swimmer but was already bruised from the recent attack against her, already worn out. What if she needed his help? He looked around for her, feeling water spray off his hair as he did so. The boat was farther downstream than he’d have expected.

Was she still on it? Could she be?

Judah didn’t have long in, he knew. He had to get out. Hadn’t they just talked about how this river meant almost certain death if someone fell in it? Well, there was a key word to that. Almost. His police training had provided some survival skills, too.

Still, he had never had training specific to this situation. Really, he was flying blind, but Judah didn’t like that. He needed to feel confident, like the odds were not stacked against him.

He swam hard with his legs, and the current pulled him forward. He kicked sideways, toward the shore.

Painfully little progress that way.

Judah fought hard against the current, aimed for shore as he passed a limb and reached for it. He missed, his hands empty, falling face-first into the water. The sound of the splash was swallowed up by the raging current. This wasn’t working. Maybe panic made you immediately exhaust yourself trying to get out.

He couldn’t fight the current, that much was becoming clear. So working with it was his best option.

And Piper?

“Judah!” He heard a shout.

There, not as far downriver as he was. They must have fallen off at the same time. Why was she so far behind?

She could have gotten stuck on the rocks underneath and only just now made it up. That was a terrifying thought.

“Diagonal!” she yelled. At least, that was what he heard.

Judah frowned at her.

“Swim diagonal!”

Of course. He should have realized that. Judah did his best to relax, to gather strength. Then he took a deep breath, angling himself toward the shore at a diagonal, as Piper had said. As he swam, he prayed that Piper was okay. Everything in him wanted to rescue her, but the truth was that he’d probably drown them both if he tried. This was one of her strengths. This time taking care of her meant letting her handle herself, not trying to act like he could do better.

Help her get out, God. Helps us both get out.

Judah’s hands barely caught on the edge of the riverbank, but he couldn’t get a grip. Rocks, including the one he tried to grab, loosened from the shore and fell into the river, and slid back in the water. Another deep breath. More kicking.

He grabbed at the shore again. This



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