She closed her eyes as Rasmussen made a mockery of kissing her, but she endured the intimate contact.
“Hold it right there.”
Looking shocked, Rasmussen moved away. “Shoot him!” he shouted to LeValley.
Leigh looked up to see Jake standing a few yards away. He held the shotgun on LeValley. The pistol in his hand was directed at Rasmussen. “Move and I’ll put a bullet between your eyes.” He looked at Leigh. “Are you all right?”
“I’m okay,” she said.
He looked at the two men. “Toss those guns now,” he said menacingly.
“I hope you said your prayers last night, Vanderpol, because you’re not going to live through this,” Rasmussen spat.
“I’ll take my chances.” Jake pumped the shotgun and leveled it on the other man’s chest. “Put your hands up now or I’m going to put a hole in you.”
Rasmussen’s and LeValley’s hands went up simultaneously.
Jake’s gaze flicked to Leigh. “Drop the cuffs. Get the pistol. If LeValley so much as moves I want you to put a bullet in his chest.”
She didn’t need to be told twice. She broke open the cuffs. Relief made her legs go weak as she began loosening the chain from around her shoulders.
The chain slipped from her left shoulder, but caught on her hips. Using both hands she tried to tug it down. A terrible guttural cry sounded. She looked up to see Rasmussen charge her, his face contorted in rage.
“You slut!” he yelled. “How dare you betray me again!”
He moved so fast Leigh didn’t have time to brace. One second she was struggling to free herself from the chain. The next his hands slammed into her and she was reeling backward. She twisted in midair in an effort to avoid the hole in the ice, but the chain slipped into the water, tugging her off balance.
“Jake!” she shouted as she plunged into the water, the weight of the chain was dragging her down.
HORROR ENVELOPED JAKE as he watched Leigh go into the icy water. She was still entangled in the chain. An EMT, he knew hypothermia could render a person unconscious in a matter of minutes. The urge to go to her was powerful. But he knew if he did, the other two men would shoot them down like dogs.
Out of the corner of his eye Jake saw LeValley go for the gun he’d tossed into the snow. Jake brought up the pistol and fired twice in quick succession. LeValley clutched his stomach and hit the ice. Jake spun to see Rasmussen level the pistol at him. A gunshot exploded. Hot pain tore through his right shoulder. Jake saw blood on his coat. Blood in the snow. His right arm hung uselessly at his side.
“She’s mine, Vanderpol! She was mine before she was yours.”
Dizzy with pain, Jake watched Rasmussen back toward the chopper. He couldn’t feel his right arm, saw blood dripping onto the snow from his fingertips. Damn, he thought, and wondered if he could make the shot left-handed.
“Jake. Jake!”
Leigh’s cries tortured him. Her voice was already getting weak, the cold zapping her strength. In his peripheral vision he could see her gripping the ice. Hang on baby, he thought.
Wild-eyed, Rasmussen raised the shotgun and leveled it at Jake. “Now you can watch her die.”
Jake snatched the gun from the ice. It felt awkward in his left hand. Rasmussen fired. Ice kicked up inches from Jake’s leg. Jake returned fire. The first shot went wide. The second struck Rasmussen in the thigh. The arms dealer went to his knees. Another gunshot exploded. Jake groaned when the bullet grazed his side. He took aim and fired three times. Rasmussen fell forward onto the ice.
Jake went to his hands and knees and crawled to the hole in the ice. “Hang on, baby. I’m here.”
“J-Jake. Y-you’re b-bleeding.”
Her face was deathly pale, her lips tinged blue from the cold. Her gloved hands clung to the ice. He was in bad shape, but if it was the last thing he did he was going to get her out of that water.
Grinding his teeth in pain, he took her hand. “I want you to lift your foot and put it on the edge of the ice so I can pull you up.”
He could tell by the way she moved that hypothermia was already setting in. As if in slow motion, she leaned back. Her face contorted with effort, but her foot never broke the surface of the water.
“Come on, honey. Work with me. Get your foot on the ice so I can pull you out of there.” He could feel the warmth of blood oozing down his abdomen and prayed he stayed conscious long enough to get her out.
“Ch-chain,” she whispered.
Jake didn’t hesitate and plunged his left hand into the water. The chain was still entwined around her, weighing her down. Gripping it, he tugged hard, desperately trying to dislodge it from her body.
“C-can’t hold on,” she said.
Dizziness descended, and for a terrifying instant Jake thought he was going to pass out. “Damn it, Leigh, losing you is not an option.”