Noise, at the end of the hall. Voices. Crap crap crap!

"Someone's coming!" Zoe stage-whispered.

Frantic, she stuck her head in the room, only to pull it back out when Eric clocked the guy, hard, on the temple. Something about his expressionless efficiency gave her the heebie-jeebies. This man was nothing like the lazy fisher- man she'd flirted with for the past couple years.

Which is probably a good thing. Not comfortable, but right now, certainly convenient.

He emerged from the room with a gun, a phone, and a deadly looking knife in hand, locked the door behind him, and grabbed her elbow.

"Let's go."

Without a word, she followed him to the door at the end of the hall, her back itchy as the voices drew closer. They'd just stepped through when yelling broke out behind them.

His "Run!" was totally unnecessary.

She ran faster than she had since, well, ever, and crashed into him at the top of a ladder.

"Go!"

He urged her in front of him, and she half slid down the rungs, arriving with a wet smack on the next deck, him at her heels.

While her chest hurt from pushing herself so hard—and probably from panic—Eric showed absolutely no signs of fatigue or stress or, frankly, anything at all as he charged ahead, pulling her with him. It wasn't until she heard his voice that she realized he'd dialed the phone in his hand. While running. And keeping an eye out for their pursuers.

"Ford. It's Eric. I'm in a bind. There's a decommissioned oil rig just off San Elias. You know where Dad used to fish on the Daphne?" When he didn't pause to listen, Zoe figured he was leaving a message. "Somebody's made it into a research facility—off-grid, heavy security. Didn't you say you had funding from Chronos Corp? Need your input, fast. Call me back at this number."

He hung up, pulled her under an overhang, and made another call. "Von. It's Coop. Could use some backup." Above them, footsteps rang out across the metal. He lowered his voice so Zoe could just barely make out his words. "Hope you locate this phone if I leave it on. We're on a platform near San Elias Island—the Polaris. But we're heading out. Need you to extract a woman named Zoe if shit goes bad. Thanks, man." He set the phone between the wall and a pipe, snagged Zoe by the wrist, and took off running, this time straight for one of the sides.

"Wait," she huffed, trying to pull back when he didn't slow down. "Wait...oh...no!"

A loud pop rang out behind them. Spotted! Oh no oh no oh no.

Another loud crack, this one ending with the high ping of metal to metal. A ricochet, Zoe thought, though that was only a guess. She'd never before been in the line of fire. Eric picked up the pace, dragging her along so fast she barely touched the floor.

Up ahead was a big, unsheltered stretch—they'd be sit- ting ducks there—and beyond it, the edge. She wanted to stop, to pull back at least, but Eric wouldn't let her. He plowed on to the end of the unprotected area and then put a hand out to stop her.

"Listen. When I tell you to go, you run."

"Where?"

"See that section without a handrail?"

More shots, zinging around them, made Zoe hunch as she peered out at the platform's edge.

"We're jumping, Zoe."

She took an automatic step back, head already shaking from side to side. "No." She'd take her chances here.

Another loud bark sounded above, and a bullet sparked against the metal beside her.

"Yes, okay!" she squealed.

"On one. Three...two... Run, Zoe!"

Eric swung out, shooting up at whoever was attack- ing them, and Zoe ran, faster than she'd run in her life. Adrenaline rushed her like a drug, and she used it to push hard. Harder. Everything was numb but the burn of her lungs and the fiery rasp of air through her throat. They were out in the open now, only she wasn't really, because Eric had somehow managed to put himself right behind her—making himself into a human bulletproof vest. Which wasn't okay. He shouldn't sacrifice himself for—

Crap. There was the edge. Right up ahead. Every dizzying foot she'd climbed came back to smack her in the face.

She couldn't do it. Couldn't jump hundreds of feet into the black ocean.

But if she didn't, they'd both die.

Her legs ate up the distance to twenty feet. Eric's hand landed on her back—not pushing her, just warm. Something sparked off the handrail to the right of the gap.

Her bare soles pounded down the last few feet, the edge rushed up at her, and though she wanted to hesitate with every cell in her body, she sucked in a last breath, shut her eyes—

"JUMP!"

She flew.

Oh no, I can't! I can't!

But already she was airborne, barreling into the yawn- ing void with nothing to anchor her but the presence of a man who yelled orders as if he'd been born to it. Who'd appeared from nowhere, pulled her out of hell in the nick of time, and saved her life.

On instinct, she gasped in a hurried breath as her feet smacked water, and they were under, engulfed by the abyss, in a roaring undertow of their own making.

A hard kick brought her to the surface, where she gasped for a few seconds, wiped the salt water from her eyes, and searched the shimmering ripples for signs of Eric.

It was too calm, after the scramble above. Panic surged through her.

"Eric?" she hissed.

No answer. She spun. "ERIC!"

"Here." He was beside her without a sound. A ghost in the water. She went limp with relief and barely held back from throwing her arms around him. "Can you swim?"

"Yeah."

"Boat's by the southern leg. Come on." Southern leg? How could he tell where they were? She set off after him. It was cold as hell, but at least here she was in her element. She may not have run for years, but swimming was something she did every day. And the water felt safe, like shelter.

Stroke, stroke, breathe, stroke, stroke, breathe. She could do this all day. To San Elias Island if she had to.

A faint pop disrupted her rhythm, followed by a splash.

Small, but—

Another splash...and another. More shots? "Go right!"

She swerved, got beneath the rig, and cut through to his boat seconds behind him. With a movement like liquid, Eric was up and over. She followed more slowly, head suddenly pounding, and threw herself to the deck while he started the engine and set off toward the mainland.

Another shot rang out, sending her shoulders up to her ears. She wanted to make herself small, curl up into a ball, and hide. Why won't they let us go? What could those people possibly be doing up there that they were so desperate to hide?

"Safer up here, Zoe."

She cast a look toward the front of the boat, where Eric navigated the dark waters as if he knew exactly where he was. As if nothing scared him. Who on earth was this man? Not the unambitious fisherman she'd taken him for. She cast a quick look over her shoulder. Definitely not one of them.

Any doubt she'd had about what he was doing there became secondary to the fact that the man had saved her life. Whatever happened from here on out, whatever had brought him to the rig tonight, that man up there was her pillar. They were a team.

She crawled to his feet and sat, back pressed to the side of the boat, shoulder against his leg.

Soaking wet, freezing, sucking in air as though she'd never catch her breath, she wanted nothing more than to wrap herself around him. Instead, she yelled. "What. The hell. Is going on?"

"No idea."

"You're not here to...spy on them or something?"

"What?" In the light coming off the rig, she saw him glance down at her. Not his eyes, but his silhouette. "No. Just luck that I happened to be around."

More than luck. Divine intervention. "Think they'll come after us?"

"They're still shooting, but unless they've got a high- powered rifle, they won't—" He jumped back as some- thing connected where his hands had been, sending shards of plastic in all directions.

She ducked and rolled into a tight ball. "Shit!"

"What?" she asked, though she was pretty sure she knew his answer.

"They've got a high-powered rifle. Stay down."

He swerved the boat to the side, taking them off what she'd assumed was a straight course for the mainland. Totally unabashed, Zoe pressed the side of her face against his leg. Its surface was cold and wet, but there was an underlying warmth there. And comfort.

He sped on for a few more seconds before what was probably a spotlight turned on, blinding Zoe and turning them into a target. She shielded her eyes against him, shuddering now.

A shot popped in the distance, and less than a second later, something thunked faintly against the side of the boat. Eric ducked down beside her. Another distant crack, then another, followed by two splashes, then a puck, this sound louder than the first.

"Shit."

"What?" Did she even want to know?

"See that compartment there? I want you to crawl over, open it, and grab everything you find inside."

A smell assailed her—gas. "They hit the fuel tank."

No. No, she'd been happier without knowing that.

Were they about to blow up?

"Yeah. We're leaking. With any luck, we're out of range now, but she'll be dead in the water soon."

"So, we—"

He stood and guided the slowly chugging boat into the darkness ahead of them. "We swim."

No way. Zoe sat blinking up at him, mouth open, limbs heavy. With the adrenaline seeping out of her like...well, like gas from this boat, there was nothing left to keep her from collapsing. Or freaking the hell out.

"Zoe. You need to grab the gear. All of it. Let's go."

Boneless, trembling, and closer to dying than she'd ever been, she had two choices. And one of them wasn't even a choice, actually. So, she shook her head, tightened up her body one muscle at a time, and followed his directions. Instead of giving up, she kept going.

"What's in here?" she asked as she grabbed a plastic- wrapped pack.

"Survival gear."

"In plastic."

"We're on the water. Pointless if it gets wet. Grab that pile of clothes and my shoes. Stick 'em in one of those plastic bags, and seal it up tight. Double bag it. These, too." He pulled a black gun from a lockbox and handed it to her. "The weapon I took from the goons is at the bottom of the ocean. Let's keep this one dry."

She stared at it for a few seconds before taking it with numb fingers. I'm holding a gun.

Okay. No use freaking out about that. Not after she'd been shot at.

Concentrating on her duties, she could slow her breath- ing and relax a bit, although the trembling got worse. Cold. It was so darned cold. Was it shock or the elements? Both?

She grabbed the stuff, pulled it next to her, and scooted up against his legs, the only warm spot around. And not just warm, if she was being honest, but steady. Safe. "We gonna make it?"

"To the mainland? Hell, no. Fuel's leaking like a sieve." "San Elias, then."

"San Elias."

They'd have to land on the eastern end, since this side was made up of sheer, craggy rocks. About halfway around the island, the boat conked out. Silently, Eric strapped the pack on his back, then took the bag from Zoe and grabbed her hand. He paused at whatever he could see on her face in the dark. "You all right?"

She nodded automatically. She was, she realized, despite everything. Whoever he was, whatever had made him seek her out tonight, this man was her guardian angel. He'd put his life on the line for hers. Had she ever been in such capable hands? Whatever she'd gotten them into, however strange this all was, she was suddenly bone-certain this man would get them out. He was so competent that their survival seemed like a definite—a given, despite the odds stacked up against them. With Eric on her side, she'd be okay.

She lifted her eyes to his dark silhouette and nodded.

"Let's do this."

In theory, sliding into the water was easier than the big jump had been, but man, was it freezing. At least she still had her wet suit on, while Eric wore just a pair of shorts.

He took off at a brisk, constant pace, which was good. Keeping up with him numbed her, body and mind. We'll make it, she told herself over and over, falling into the familiar rhythm of stroke, stroke, breathe again. We have to make it.

And they did. To the island, at least, which felt like the end, although she had a bad feeling it was just the beginning.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Phew! I'm out of breath just posting this! I hope you guys are enjoying Coop and Zoe's wild adventure! xoxoxox