Dream Shadow (30 page)

By getting out of the water, she had bought herself time. However, her perch was quickly becoming a death sentence for her. Every second that she remained floating on the surface of the water, her body lost more heat. She needed dry clothing. Fast.

The helicopter that she was lying under was the furthest out from the shoreline. Directly in front of her, lights had been set up and were currently illuminating the area where the surviving men were sitting. It was at least a sixty-yard swim. She wasn’t sure if her body would make that distance in the frigid water.

Time was currently her greatest enemy. There was no point in debating the odds. She could die right here or take her chances in the water.

Taking a final deep breath, Grace dove into the lake. The frigid temperature brought welcome relief from a great deal of her pain. The water was clear, but with no sunlight it was transformed into a smoky crystal. As she surfaced for breath, Grace forced herself to find the shoreline. Her brain was trying to fog over, but she held on to the fact that the shore was now only thirty feet away. She forced her body forward, because the alternative was to go down.

The men sat in small groups. Conversation was hushed as well as rare.

Jacobs and Brice both stood in separate spots as they contemplated the lake. No one attempted to approach either man. Jacobs broke from his own thoughts long enough to call for some support aircraft. He had better move his prisoners out before he gave in to the urge to kill them. At the moment, there was nothing he would like to do better.

Looking across the space that separated him from Brice, Jacobs thought for a moment. He wanted to know how deep the lake was, but it could wait. Tomorrow would be soon enough. He would have to retrieve Grace’s body, but for now he would let her rest where she belonged
…
in the wild.

Brice stood on the opposite side of the prisoners from Jacobs. He kept his eyes out over the lake surface. How could she have fought so hard to end up in the water? Over an hour had passed. Brice was too logical to keep up false hope.

No, tomorrow as the sun rose they would send down divers to recover her body. It would be accomplished all too easily. Jacobs would take her back to base and Brice imagined that the Army would erase all evidence that she had ever existed. Brice still couldn’t quite absorb the fact that she was dead. He could still feel the weight of those green eyes. Grace had been so tenacious in life that Brice wouldn’t be surprised to see her ghost haunt this lake.

The air was filled with the sounds of approaching aircraft. Brice looked up as they circled the granite crater to begin their descent to the surface of the lake. The running lights of the craft lit up the area briefly. Brice watched the helicopter land and settle just yards from the shoreline.

Jacobs straightened his back and approached his pilot. He had eight prisoners that he wanted out of his sight
now
. It was with barely controlled violence that the bound men were hauled to their feet. Running a practiced eye over his men, Jacobs realized that he wasn’t the only man present that wanted more blood.

They had to contain themselves and so would he. Jacobs sent a look over at Brice. The sheriff’s department personnel were his responsibility tonight.

Raising her head up out of the water, Grace gasped for breath. She forced her legs under her and her boots slipped in the mud that covered the bottom of the lake. Her body shook violently in its effort to warm itself. She stared stupidly at the helicopter that sat in front of her. She didn’t remember the aircraft being there.

Who cared? She wanted out of this water. If that meant swimming under another machine, she would do it. Grace hadn’t thought it possible to get any colder, but she was wrong. The rotor of this aircraft was still running. As she stood half out of the lake water, the air current that the rotor produced hit her wet clothing. The chilling wind brought her skin temperature down even further.

Dropping back into the water, she crawled along the bottom of the lake. Grace kept her eyes fixed on the shore that was almost within reach. Her brain had room for only one thought, and that was to keep moving. Thankfully, the helicopter began to lift away.

Her brain was giving in to the cold. Grace welcomed the darkness that enclosed her from all sides. She would sink down into its welcoming, pain-free folds just as soon as she dragged herself onto that rock shore. The remaining two yards was almost unsurpassable.

No, I will get out of this water!

Grace commanded her body to get onto that shore. She dug her feet into the mud and pushed forward, grateful to feel the solid stone of the shoreline under her hands. Using her hands and knees, she pulled her body completely from the water. She rested on her knees with her hands braced the ground for support. Having gained her destination her numb mind was incapable of forming any other thought. Her eyes stared transfixed at the stone that had seemed so important to reach but she couldn’t remember why.

As the aircraft faded into the distance, the area was left in silence once again. It was with a subdued tone that men began to look for a place to make camp for the remainder of the night. The baying of the three bloodhounds was shockingly loud under the circumstances. Rudy set up a howling that was amazing in its intensity. He gave a huge lunge that pulled his leash clean out of Allen’s hand.

The animal made a mad dash to the darkened shoreline with Allen running after him.

“Sheriff!” Deputy Allen reached down to lavish praise onto his partner. Rudy had found his target.

Brice had already turned to follow his deputy. The dog stopped not more than twenty feet from where he stood. It was pitch black now. In disbelief, Brice stared at the slight figure that knelt on the shoreline. Where had the person come from? He had been watching the helicopter lift off from that spot not more than three minutes ago.

Rudy was still baying. The bloodhound stuck his nose against the person before he resumed his barking. Stepping up closer to the kneeling figure, Brice aimed the beam of his flashlight at its face.

“Grace?”

Some way, somehow, she had survived. Brice slid to his knees in front of her. Her eyes were fixed onto the rock that she knelt on and her face was chalk white. Her clothing stuck to her body as the excess water pooled onto the rock below her. Reaching a hand out, he sucked in his breath at the chill that came from her body. Brice raised a hand to her throat to feel for a pulse. She didn’t move or even blink. Her eyes simply stayed focused on the granite rock that she knelt on.

“Grace? Talk to me.” She didn’t respond. “Jacobs!”

Brice didn’t wait for the man to find him. He thrust his hand beneath her knees and lifted her from her perch. Her body was as limp as a rag, but her eyes stayed fixed and dilated.

Jacobs didn’t hesitate. He was at Brice’s side in a moment.

“How in the name of Christ?” he snarled as he reached out to check her pulse. “Shit! She’s hypothermic. Medic!”

Lights swirled before her eyes, and Grace imagined that they had to be on a Christmas tree because of the multiple colors. Odd, but she couldn’t remember if it was Christmas or not. Maybe it was Christmas, because it was very cold. There must be snow on the ground. She loved snow. Daddy would take her out and they would play. First she would have to ask her mother to help her put her snowsuit on. There she was, her mama always had the nicest smile for her and she was holding out a hand to Grace. Raising her arm, Grace reached for her mother’s hand. Her mother was telling her to wait, but why? Grace wanted to go now. No, her mother was firm, she must wait.

The colored lights faded and her body burned. Slowly, Grace tried to take in what surrounded her. The stars were bright. Benton, she was still in Benton County. Strong, steady eyes looked at her. Was that Brice? She would have to ask later. Right now she wanted to go back to her parents. It had been so long, she would go back…

“Grace? Open your eyes!” Jacobs slapped her cheek but she didn’t even flutter her eyelids. Her eyes had stayed open and fixed while her heart stopped. Now she closed them, but she had a steady pulse.

“We’ve got to get her to the medical center,” Brice interrupted. “Bird is three minutes out.”

The medic and Brice finished strapping Grace onto the stretcher and the three men climbed to their feet and hauled it toward the water’s edge.

It took less than thirty seconds to load the aircraft. Both Jacobs and Brice kept a firm hand on that stretcher and an eye on the cardiac monitor that lay atop Grace’s chest. It had to be the longest flight of both of their lives.

The eye of the storm was just starting to appear. Grace waited impatiently for it. She wanted to wake up. Something important needed to be done. She couldn’t remember what. She drifted as she waited. Time halted. Her thoughts began to blur.

No, she would wake up. She would not let the eye pass. It was over her now. She could wake up if she wanted to. It seemed to be more of an effort than normal. Grace did not relent. She promised her body she would sleep again soon. Now she would wake and remember what it was that she needed to know.

Grace pushed herself to break through the last layers of sleep, forcing herself into consciousness. Lifting her eyelids, she took in her surroundings. It was very dim in the room. That sort of dimness came from heavy blinds blocking out the sunlight. That was the only thought that made it across her brain before the pain hit her. It was blinding. Intense and worse than she had felt in a very long time. Grace couldn’t even identify the source. Her entire body seemed to be screaming in unison.

She jackknifed her body upward, attempting to escape it. Deeper pain resulted from the movement. It forced the breath from her body as tears fell from her eyes. Grace had her jaw clenched so tight it was a wonder that she didn’t crack her teeth. Her body was distracting her so completely that there could have been twenty people in the room and Grace doubted that she would have noticed.

“Grace, lie down.” Snapping her head around, Grace tried to make her brain function long enough to recognize the man that was trying to force her back down onto the bed. He was insisting and it was too painful to resist. Grace closed her eyes as another wave of pain came with the movement of lying down.

“Brice?”

“Nice of you to join us, sweetheart.”

Her brain was still very fuzzy, but pieces began to float across it in a tangled collage—Fredricks, the freezing lake, Brice pacing along the shoreline. He had been yelling at her.
Why?
For the life of her, Grace couldn’t remember.

“Why were you yelling at me?” she demanded.

Brice looked at her for a moment. It was clear that she was disoriented. It was also clear that she was in intense pain. Maybe the woman did hate drugs, but by the look of her, Brice was willing to inject her himself. He looked across the bed and locked eyes with Jacobs.

“I’m going to get a nurse in here.”

“I’ve got it covered, Brice.” Jacobs pulled his own medical kit from the side table and pulled a pre-drawn syringe from it. He pulled the cap from it and used the IV that was still inserted into her arm.

The firm grip on her wrist caused her to snap her head around. Grace watched the injection for a moment before she raised her eyes to see just who was administering it.

“If that was adrenaline, I will hurt you.” She couldn’t take any more pain just now.

Jacobs only gave her a gentle smile. Grace turned her head around to look at Brice. He was wearing the same smile. So what did that mean? Grace felt like there was more wool between her ears than a sheep had on its whole body. The pain began to recede and she sighed in relief. That was much better. However, with the relief of the pain her body relaxed right back into sleep. Grace fought it. She wanted to think. She wanted to ask…about…Beth.

Brice watched her relax into sleep. For the first time since they had gotten her to the medical center, she was truly resting. He should have insisted on the pain medication earlier.

Her brief consciousness at least gave Brice the assurance that she truly was on the road to recovery. Considering the condition that he had found her in up at Mirror Lake, Brice welcomed the reassurance. He still had no idea how she had gotten onto the shore, but he didn’t care. She was alive. Brice intended to be properly grateful for the miracle.

The first twelve hours that she had been at the medical center passed at a snail’s pace. Dr. Fenton had been unable to get her body temperature up to normal. Despite Jacobs’s assurances that that was normal, the doctor had made some grim predictions. Her heart had not stopped again and Brice and Jacobs had set up in the intensive care unit and waited.

Twelve hours later, just as Jacobs had predicted, her body temperature rose to a fever. The wound on her shoulder had become infected, and her body was attempting to fight it. Dr. Fenton had been amazed by her progress and moved her to a normal ward. If the hospital staff found it odd that both Brice and Jacobs remained constantly by Grace’s bedside, no one voiced the opinion.

Brice looked at Jacobs for a moment. The man hadn’t called for a nurse to administer that injection. It made sense that he would be a medic. He was responsible for Grace in all situations. Brice considered that. Why were they sitting in the medical center then? Grace hated it here. It was going to be hard enough to keep her in bed. At least at his place she would be more comfortable.