Ghostwalker 09 - Ruthless Game

he addressed Mack, his friend, and not Top, the team leader. I can’t get to her.
    Brian’s on it.
    The complete confidence in Mack’s voice steadied Kane as he struggled against his attacker, fending off the knife, kicking strongly with his legs to keep them both up. The diver would have the advantage underwater. He used his strength to bend the blade of the knife back toward the diver’s body, leveraging against his arm. He had to trust Brian Hutton—and Mack—with the love of his life. He pushed Rose, the boat, and the struggle between Jacob and the other diver out of his brain and put mind and body into staying alive.
    The diver gave a little, and with the enormous pressure he was using, the sudden withdrawal of resistance sent him forward. The diver somersaulted backward, and they both went underwater, Kane behind him. He latched onto the diver’s back, his arm around his neck, locking down in a death grip. It was extremely difficult to wrench the neck underwater with enough force to break it, but he applied enough pressure fast and hard that the diver began to lose consciousness. Without the struggling resistance, he was able to get leverage and snap the neck.
    The knife fel from the diver’s hand, and Kane dove after it. As he surfaced into the thick fog, looking for Rose and Brian, he heard the sound of a boat bearing down on him.
    We don’t have all night, Jacob. The boat’s closing in on you, and the boys don’t have a decent shot to keep them off of you, Mack informed the team member they’d dubbed “Shark.”

    Give me a couple of minutes, Top. Jacob cut the air hose, dragging the first diver under the water. I’m a little occupied at the moment.
    The wave rol ed them, pushing them toward the pil ars. The diver struggled, trying to throw Jacob off him, but Jacob held him. They rol ed together, over and over, scraping along the floor of the ocean, Jacob holding the diver ruthlessly. No matter how the diver twisted or turned, Jacob was tenacious, like a pit bul , refusing to let him go.
    They struggled, stirring up layers of fine sand and marine sediment on the floor, adding to the murkiness in the water. The diver began to panic, fighting in earnest now, trying to pul his knife from where it was strapped to his leg. Jacob never al owed him to move from his grip of iron. He took them down to the floor itself, calmly wrapping his legs around him like an octopus, his thighs strong enough to hold him. It was simply a matter of who could hold their breath the longest, and Jacob had been physical y enhanced to stay underwater for long periods of time.
    The diver’s struggles took on new urgency and then began to grow weaker. Eventual y his body stiffened as he gasped for air, drawing water into his lungs. Jacob waited a minute longer until he was certain the other man had drowned. Above his head he saw a propel er as a boat skimmed across the surface.
    Brian Hutton dove deep repeatedly in the spot where Rose had rol ed under with the waves. Where is she, Top? I can’t find her.
    To your right, Brian. Three feet. You can reach out and touch her. Get her face out of the water.
    Mack sounded a little tense but steady as a rock. If Top said she was there, then it didn’t matter that the fog was so thick and the pounding waves drove him against the pil ars—she was within reach. He threw both arms out blindly and then searched just beneath the ever-changing surface, ignoring the sound of the boat approaching. He was vulnerable, aware at any moment a shot could take him. He hoped that if he couldn’t see the occupants of the boat, they couldn’t see him.
    His fingers brushed an arm, and he gripped it, dragging Rose to him, rol ing her over to make certain she was stil alive. She coughed, and spit water, but she didn’t open her eyes, tossing her head from side to side and fighting him weakly.
    “I’ve got you, Rose,” he reassured her. She seemed drugged, unable to fight her way out of the drug’s hold on her.
    He leaned over her to try to make eye contact, and a bul et coming from an unknown direction hit him hard, high up along his shoulder. At first he didn’t feel anything but the sharp sting, and then a burning numbness spread through his arm and chest until he could barely breathe, as if ice encased his upper body, freezing it.
    Coming at you. On your right.
    Mack and Marc had rigged a pul ey and harness on the pier. They tossed the rope as close to him as they could. Brian fought the