Phantom Prospect - Alex Archer [102]
For his part, Dave seemed unstoppable. Annja knew that SEALs were conditioned like superhuman warriors and would never give up. Usually, Annja would be the same. But having just fought so hard for her life, her energy reserves were already tapped out.
The swim had basically finished her.
Dave appeared alongside of her. “Okay, Annja. I’ve got you. Just relax now and don’t fight me.”
Annja did as she was told as her heart hammered away inside her chest. She let Dave turn her onto her back and felt one of his arms come up under her armpits and position itself across her upper torso.
Then she felt him sidestroke them back toward the dock. Annja closed her eyes for a split second and then, from far off, it seemed as if Dave was calling to people on the dock for help.
Annja felt arms lifting her out of the water and laying her on the dock. She wanted to do nothing but curl up and sleep forever.
But then she remembered Cole.
“Wait—Cole, how is he?”
She saw him immediately. His face was ashen gray and there seemed to be an immense amount of blood all over the dock. Jax knelt nearby and she looked at Annja.
Annja saw the briefest shake of her head and felt a renewed surge of energy, her last, flowing through her limbs as she struggled to reach Cole. “No. Wait.”
Dave saw her trying to get to Cole and helped her farther along. “I’ll get you there, Annja. Just hang on.”
Annja scrambled to move next to Cole. She could see Jax bending over to examine the wound. She looked up at Annja.
“I’ve done the best I can. I got the artery closed up, but he lost a fearsome amount of blood while I was working on him. I’m sorry.”
Annja looked into Cole’s eyes. He smiled up at her weakly. “Hey, you. Glad to see you made it back in time for me…to say goodbye.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” Annja said. “You’ll be fine.”
He smiled. “If this is what fine feels like, then I’m pretty sure death is a lot worse.”
“Don’t talk like that, okay?”
Cole held up his hand. “Annja, it’s okay. I know you tried. None of us could have seen what was coming.” He frowned. “Where’s Tom?”
Annja thought about telling him that Tom hadn’t been who they thought he was, but decided against it. Knowing Cole, he might take the blame and that wasn’t fair.
“I’m sorry, Cole. He didn’t make it.”
He nodded. “I wondered if he would. But thanks for trying to save him.”
“I did everything I could,” Annja said. “But it wasn’t enough.”
“Sometimes life is like that.”
Annja slid the crucifix from around her neck and then eased it over Cole’s head. “Here’s a little souvenir from the Fantome. I thought you might like to have it for when we see Hunter again.”
Cole nodded weakly. Annja could see the light going out in his eyes. “That will be nice. I’ll miss my brother.”
“You’re going to see him again really, really soon. Just hang in there.”
Cole grabbed Annja’s hand. “Listen to me. I never wanted to put you in any danger. I hope you understand that.”
Annja smiled at him through her tears. “Of course I do. I don’t blame you for anything, Cole.”
“Thanks.”
“Now, just hang on. We’re going to move you onto the shark and get you out of here. All right?”
Cole didn’t respond.
“Cole?”
Dave moved in next to her and checked for a pulse in Cole’s neck. Annja watched him prod Cole with his still-wet fingers. But then he dropped his hand away.
“I’m sorry, Annja. He’s gone.”
Annja looked at the crucifix hanging around Cole’s neck. It seemed to sparkle brightly with the seawater still glistening on it. Or maybe it was the tears streaming down Annja’s face that made it shine so brightly.
She looked up at Jax. “Thanks for trying.”
Jax said nothing but looked away. Her face seemed wet, as well.
Dave got to his feet. “We need to get him the hell out of here. No one deserves to die in a place like this.”
“I’ll help,” Jax said. She and Dave lifted Cole off the dock and carried him down toward the mechanical shark. They eased Cole’s body through the hatch and disappeared from view.
Annja sat for a moment, willing the universe to