Harlequin Love Inspired Suspense March 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 by Dana Mentink (good fiction books to read .txt) 📕

“Duck!”

Henry didn’t question Nora’s order. He dropped into a squat, hunched his torso over the thwart and looked up. Her oar spun in the air and slammed Frank in the chest. The man vaulted backward, airborne for half a second, until he dropped into the churning foam that obscured his foul obscenities as he disappeared down the swift waters.

Nora released a primal growl and planted the edge of the oar into the rock jutting above them, but the raft didn’t budge. “We still need to get out. I’m not strong enough. Please, help!” Her shout sounded like half a sob.

Henry clashed with the pull of gravity to stand on shaking legs. He wrapped his hands next to hers around the oar. They pushed in unison against the unforgiving boulder.

Nothing happened for three full, torturous seconds as they wrestled against flipping into the same rapids the two men had disappeared into. Perry, still next to them, hung precariously on the edge of the raft, his eyes closed tight with pain and effort.

The raft shifted. Water sloshed against their heels and a wave bounced over the raft, drenching them, as the boat slid off the boulder and back onto the river. The water drained through the channels at the perimeter, leaving all three of them spent on the bottom of the raft, rolling with the remaining waves and panting with relief. “It worked.” Her voice trembled. “It worked.”

“Now what?” Perry yelled.

“I was hoping you could answer that.” Nora sat up at the same time as Henry. Judging by her hunched form, every inch of her body felt as beat up as his did. She looked into Henry’s eyes. “This is as far as I thought. I knew we couldn’t make it through Garnet Rapids.”

“That Lou guy might still have a working gun,” Perry said.

“Frank’s gun was lost to the river. I’m sure of that,” Henry said. “At least we have only one potential gunman. Lizzie might be armed, though. And the guy waiting at the take-out spot,” he added.

Nora blinked rapidly. She would have a lot to process over Lizzie’s betrayal. “I think we can get off slightly earlier than the main sandy bank and maybe sneak past her.”

“Let me worry about Lizzie,” Henry said with a growl.

They rounded the bend, searching for the bobbing heads of Frank and the gunman. At least they had the upper hand in the boat. Flashing lights dotted the landscape just beyond the take-out point. Floodlights were aimed at the area right before the river dipped into Garnet Rapids.

“Rope!” a man in a law enforcement jacket yelled. A red bag soared out toward a bobbing head. Someone was trying to save Lou?

“Henry—” Nora gladly released the oar to his waiting hands. “The DEA is here. You called them?”

He reached for Nora’s hand. “No. Someone else must have tipped them off. I’ve never been so thankful for help.”

* * *

“There’s one more,” a search and rescue volunteer called out. Nora was so focused on the water, she didn’t notice DEA officers rushing for their raft to help pull them up onto the beach until their hands gripped the sides.

“That man…they…those two men kidnapped us.”

“They’re drug runners,” Henry said, finishing for her. “One of them murdered a guide years ago. The Tommy Sorenson case.”

Nora looked to Henry as the officers nodded, draped them in emergency blankets and led them to higher ground. “It’s finally solved,” she whispered, shaking her head. “And the murderer was with us the whole time.”

Her eyes lifted and spotted her sister standing next to a squad car. “Maya?” Nora rushed forward, her muscles aching as she pushed through the sand. Maya reached her arms out wide, the only time her sister had made the first move to hug her since before their mother had passed. Her embrace felt so good. Nora laughed, tears dripping down her face. “I’m sorry, I’m getting you wet.”

“Worth it,” Maya said, her face dripping with tears. “I thought I might’ve been too late.”

“I wasn’t sure you were still going to come.”

“I wasn’t so sure myself. I was still debating as I drove to the lodge. I saw Lizzie driving away in Henry’s truck. I knew right then I had to call the DEA direct.”

Nora watched as Henry shook the hands of both officers flanking them and introduced himself. Their conversation became background noise, a comforting buzz as Nora tried to understand her sister. “You knew about Lizzie?” she asked her.

“I didn’t know everyone on the payroll, but I learned about her recently.” Maya hung her head. “Look, Nora. The DEA usually likes to take their time before showing up like this. I had to do a lot of convincing to get them to act so quickly, and it means, well…”

“You turned yourself in.”

Maya grabbed Nora’s hands. “I’ll be serving some time, but I’m going to point them to all the evidence I know of to put Frank and all his accomplices away for a long time. I set some traps that I need to help them disable.” She offered a sheepish grin. “Hopefully that earns me at least a few points.” She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I want to say more, but I think that’s all I can handle right now.”

The first sign of vulnerability she’d seen in her sister sparked newfound hope. Nora kissed her cheek. “We’re sisters.” She straightened. “I can wait. But how’d you know to show up here?”

“Bobby, actually. He spotted me when I looked for you at the lodge. He said he’d barely escaped someone trying to shoot at him and had to hitch a ride back. We both looked for you and when I found your gun pointing at—”

“The sign?” Nora exclaimed. “I didn’t think anyone would get that.”

“Like you said, we may have spent a lot of time apart, but we’re still sisters.”

An officer opened a back door to the DEA’s SUV. “We should get going. We have a long drive and a lot of questions for you.”

Maya