Page 66 of Maliea's Hero
If she wanted a fight, she was going to get one. Maliea had to free herself to help Reid, and this bitch had to go.
Instead of struggling to get to the surface, Maliea turned on her captor. The first thing she could get her hands on was the woman’s hair. She twisted her fingers into the long blond strands and pulled as hard as she could.
As soon as the hand on her ankle released its hold, Maliea grabbed the next thing she could reach—the regulator hose.
Planting her feet against the woman’s chest, she yanked on the hose, pulling it free of the female’s mouth.
Desperate for air, Maliea quickly shoved the regulator into her own mouth and pulled in a little bit of air before something sharp sliced into her side.
She twisted, kicking hard to get away.
The woman stuck the mouthpiece of the regulator back in her mouth and came at Maliea again with the knife in her hand.
With adrenaline pumping through her veins, Maliea didn’t slow down enough to feel pain. She had no choice but to stop this bitch. If she succeeded in killing Maliea, she’d go after Reid and help her partner take him out.
Maliea couldn’t let her do that. She had a child waiting for her to return and a relationship to fully explore with a former Navy SEAL who’d made her feel more alive than she had in a long time.
Maliea summoned her inner warrior and met the woman head-on. As the diver swung the knife, Maliea dodged the tip and snagged her wrist. She twisted it sharply, aiming the point in the opposite direction at the same time as she grabbed the BCD and pulled sharply toward her, slamming her body into her own hand and gripping the woman’s hand with the knife.
The woman’s eyes widened in the face mask. Her body went limp as a cloud of red drifted upward.
Starving for air, Maliea kicked hard, heading for the surface. Though the woman had tried to kill her, Maliea couldn’t leave her to die. She dragged her with her every stroke of the way.
Just when she thought she wouldn’t make it, Reid appeared beside her.
The elder came up on her other side and relieved her of her burden, taking the female driver the rest of the way to the surface.
Her lack of oxygen made her vision blur as a gray haze threatened to consume her. Reid swam harder, pulling her up with him. On the verge of blacking out, Maliea exploded out of the water. Holding onto Reid, she sucked air into her lungs, breathing in and out several times before her vision cleared and the gray fog dissipated.
A thumping sound grew louder as the bright orange fuselage of a US Coast Guard helicopter swooped in and hovered over their position.
Reid trod water, holding onto Maliea as a cable lowered a man into the water beside Reid and Maliea.
“Take her first,” Reid said and started to hand her over into the care of the Coast Guard rescue swimmer.
Maliea shook her head. “No. Want to stay with you.”
Reid kissed her forehead. “You’re injured. I’m not. You have to let them help you. Don’t worry, I’ll catch up with you later. Someone has to secure this site.”
Moments later, they hoisted her and the rescue swimmer up into the helicopter. She didn’t want to leave Reid down there in the water. What if another bad guy came after him? She tried to sit up but a hand on her shoulder kept her from moving.
She stared up in Jace Hawkin’s eyes and blinked. “How...” she forced air past her vocal cords, “...did you know to come?”
“Swede had set up an alert on Mark Laster’s credit card. When he saw that Mark Laster had turned in the rental car at the airport, caught a flight to Kauai and rented a jet boat, we figured you might be in trouble. The man’s prints on the car matched those in the apartments. We tracked the satellite phone I gave him to find you. Kalea and Mr. Parker put in a distress call to the US Coast Guard. They picked me up on the way across the Big Island. Seems we made it just in time.”
“Thank you,” Maliea laid back, all energy drained from her body. “Nani?” she asked.
“Your daughter and Kalea are bonding over a litter of puppies they found in the barn. She’s fine and happy.”
Maliea smiled, fighting hard but succumbing to the darkness that dragged her under.
She drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the flight. Each time she came to, she asked for Reid and Nani. Each time, she blacked out again.
The next time she surfaced, she opened her eyes to bright lights shining down from the ceiling of a hospital room. One arm had an IV in it, and her other arm was weighed down by a hand holding hers.
Maliea turned to find Reid’s handsome face smiling back at her. “How did you get here so fast,” she asked, her words coming out in a series of croaks.
He lifted her hand to his lips. “I’m quick like that. And you’ve been asleep for over twenty-four hours.”