She Can Hide (She Can Series) Read Free Page A

Seconds. He had seconds to save her.
    He trudged. Water lapped over his hips and froze his balls. Teeth chattering, he reached for her, but she sank again. His feet slipped. The current swept his legs from under him. Water closed over his head, and the icy plunge cut off his next breath. His heart stuttered as he surfaced.
    The creek bottom had dropped off. Ethan was forced to breaststroke the remaining few feet toward the woman, his body armor making the movement awkward. Training and running in a bulletproof vest was one thing. Swimming in it was quite another. But he had to get her on the next try. His body was slowing down. She’d been in the frigid water longer.
    Shit. They were probably both going to die.
    Ethan grabbed the car’s bumper to prevent the current from dragging him away. Thankfully, the vehicle had stopped sinking, the front end likely hitting bottom. He grabbed for the woman, but she went under. Ethan stuck his hand into the river where she disappeared.
    His fingers brushed her face. He reached farther. His fingers closed around fabric, and he pulled her above the surface by her collar. He tightened his grip, wrapping his frozen fingers tightly in her shirt. He was not losing his hold on her.
    “Is there anyone else in the car?” he shouted.
    “No,” she gasped. Her eyes opened wide, bottomless pools of deep brown against skin as pale and fragile-looking as an eggshell. Her sopping hair molded to her head and emphasized her striking beauty and delicate bone structure. Blood trickled down her temple. She tried to swim, her movements sluggish and uncoordinated. Ethan hauled her through the water toward the shore. Fifteen feet seemed like a mile.
    He stumbled into the shallow water. Thin sheets of ice snapped under his feet as he hauled her onto the snow-covered reeds that lined the river. His legs gave out on the frozen bank. Ice crackled as he fell to his knees. She lay beside him, still and limp as a corpse.
    He tried to speak, but his lips didn’t cooperate. A few words came out as a jumble of stuttering gibberish. He glanced up at the car. His cruiser was warm, but he’d have to get her up the steep riverbank to get to it.
    The air was as cold as the water. The woman’s body temperature was still falling. Running on sheer willpower, he scooped her off the ground, carried her to the road, and stuffed her into the backseat of his car. He climbed into the front and started the engine. Warm air blasted from the vents.
    Back out in the cold, Ethan grabbed a blanket from his trunk, then returned to the backseat. He pressed his fingers to her neck, but his skin was too numb to feel her pulse. How long had she been in the water?
    Was she breathing?
    He pressed his ear to her chest.

CHAPTER TWO
    Abby coughed and sputtered. Hands rolled her onto her side. Water poured from her nose and mouth, burning her sinuses and throat. A violent quake rattled her bones.
    She’d never been so cold. She felt like she’d slept in a snowbank.
    “Thank God,” a deep male voice said.
    She opened her eyes. Brilliant blue eyes focused on her with laser intensity. She squeezed her lids shut for a second. When she opened them, the rest of his lean features sharpened. Rivulets of water ran from his short black hair down his face. His teeth rattled behind blue-tinted lips, and his body shivered in a drenched police uniform.
    “I’m Officer Ethan Hale.” His broad shoulders hunched over her. One hip perched on the edge of the large backseat of his police car, the cramped space creating a few square inches of body contact. Ignoring his own shakes, he spread a blanket over her and tucked it around her torso. “What’s your name?”
    She could hear the whoosh of the car heater on full, but the blowing air wasn’t enough to penetrate multiple layers of wet cloth. She harnessed her strength to control her shuddering jaw and spit out a few stuttered words. “Th-thank you. I’m Abby Foster.”
    Thank you seemed inadequate,