Caught in the Crosshair Read Online Free PDF

did and found herself on a rocky bottom inside of forty-five feet. He turned and navigated her through a gully.
    Blackness loomed overhead.
    When they’d swum a great distance, thumbs up, Jaden gave the signal to ascend.
    Lauren surfaced, and immediately a gale blew her backward. She spit out her regulator, gagged on seawater. The roar of a boat engine sending waves of panic rippling through her.
    “Must be a thirty-knot wind,” Jaden said, kicking his feet hard to stay afloat. “Sound travels further. The boat isn’t as close as you think.”
    A six-foot wave churned, swelled, washed over Lauren, and then pushed her back under. She broke the surface again and immediately searched for any signs of life on top of the waves. Nothing.
    No doubt about it, they were lost at sea. Waves broke over her head. Rain came down in buckets dropping visibility to a few feet.
    “What’s going on?” She had to shout to be heard over the howling wind, terror vibrating her tone.
    Jaden raked his fingers through his hair. “We’ll figure something out.”
    The skies darkened by the minute, and the swells rose to unbelievable heights. They were too high.
    Lauren whipped from left to right increasing the splash. Her expression grew increasingly desperate.
    “Are we lost?”
    Panic welled in her chest, causing sharp stabs of pain with each beat of her pounding heart. She scrambled to keep her head above water.
Breathe
. The long, slow breath she took in caught in her throat, causing her to choke on thick saltwater as it scorched her lips. She battled fatigue and stiffening muscles. Water sloshed overhead threatening to pull her under with the wave’s sheer force. Fighting against the onslaught of foam and whitecaps, she craned her neck left and right.
    Someone or something had to be around.
    And the seas? Angry. Bitter. Pounding out Mother Nature’s version of a wild temper tantrum.
    Muscles stiff with fear made it increasingly difficult to tread water. Scared, she could do nothing but struggle to keep her head above water. If she died, who would help Max? They had no real family. It had been the two of them against the world, until she learned what he was getting into. From that day on, she’d been all alone.
    “They’re going to find us and kill him,” she shouted. Her stomach cramped as she felt the burning, metallic taste of vomit in the back of her throat. Trying to hold position near Jaden, she turned to meet his focused gaze.
    “No. They won’t,” he said.
    “How can you be so sure?”
    “I’m good at what I do. Trust me. He won’t die. Once we make it back to shore, we’ll meet up at the safe house. I’ll gather my team, and we’ll figure out who has your brother and where.”
    “We won’t make it. I hear the boat. It’s only a matter of time before those jerks find us.”
    She felt an arm wrap around her waist before being pulled toward Jaden, the heat from his body warming her as he pressed her body against his. “The rain will kill their visibility. They won’t find us if we keep swimming.”
    Rolling, dark clouds swelled overhead.
    “Inflate your BC,” he said. His voice was controlled, providing a small measure of comfort while Lauren was freaking out.
    “Right.” Good idea. Her buoyancy control device would make her float, keeping her on top of the water without her wasting valuable energy. Lauren located the knob and squeezed the inflator button a couple bursts. She pushed her legs forward, flattened her back, and allowed herself a moment to get her bearings.
    “I probably shouldn’t even care. I mean, I know what he is.” She didn’t respect her brother. How could she? But he hadn’t always been like that. There was a time when he’d been her salvation, her protector.
    Why couldn’t she save him back?
    “He was my hero when were kids. He saved me from a lot of … bad … things.”
    Jaden’s expression changed. His pupils dilated as though he was suddenly very angry. “He saved you from