Chapter 3

Sam was oblivious to the activity around him as he started breathing into Yvette. The woman hovered nearby and offered to help with CPR if necessary. He knew he acknowledged her, but he had no idea what he said. Keeping Yvette alive was his only aim. The sleek boat bounced over the waves as the driver opened the throttle and made quick time of getting back to the marina. The skipping motion made his task more difficult, but he persevered.

The boat slid into the launch at the marina, where the atmosphere around them was painted red and blue from the flashing lights of squad cars an an ambulance with two paramedics standing by. As soon as the boat stopped, they hopped in and pushed everyone aside. Only Sam remained hunched over Yvette's still form, breathing for her. It was like a replay of before, only she hadn't yet recovered and there were a lot of people around who could help this time.

"Sir, please step aside. We can take it from here," one of the paramedics urged Sam with a hand on his arm. "It's okay, we'll take good care of her."

At first he barely registered them, but when the paramedic's partner leaned over to check Yvette's pupil reaction, the light startled him and he was suddenly aware of everything going on around him. Still, he found it hard to back off. The kids from the boating party helped him to his feet and onto the pier. He wanted to stay. He was supposed to save her. An officer grabbed for his arm and prevented him from going back down to the boat.

"Sir, you have to wait here. They're professionals, they know what they're doing."

Sam could only nod.

"Is there someone we can call for you?"

"Yeah...no...just give me a phone, will you?"

The boat driver handed him his phone. "Here you go, man."

"Thanks." Even in his daze, Sam knew Michael's number by heart. He waited, impatiently pacing in a small circle as it went to voicemail. He tried to sound casual, but his voice shook, "Hey Mikey, it's Sam. Heh, I'd ask you to call me back, but, uh, Roche's men have my phone somewhere. I'll, uh, talk to you later." He tried Fiona next and came up with her voicemail as well. Where are they? He hoped that Roche didn't get them too.

"No luck, huh?"

Sam shook his head. "There's someone else I can try, if you don't mind."

"No man, go for it."

As he dialed Jesse's number, his eyes locked on the scene in the boat. The paramedics were nearly ready to move Yvette to the waiting gurney. They had oxygen on her, so she was breathing again, but beyond that...

"Hello?...Hello?"

Shaking his head, Sam returned his attention to the phone. "Jesse! It's Sam!"

"Sam? Where are you, man? Michael and Fiona have been looking all over for you. Maddie and I have been combing the city..."

"Never mind, we're at the marina," Sam answered brusquely. "Yvette and I were kidnapped by Roche's guys, taken out on the sea...we got away...Jess, Yvette...she's been shot, and I almost..." He stopped to catch himself. "If it hadn't been for some boaters, we never would have made it to shore."

"Okay, just take it easy, we're almost there. I'll call Michael..."

"I tried him but got his voicemail."

"No problem, I see him now. We'll talk when we get there."

"Thanks, Jesse." Sam returned the phone and watched helplessly as the paramedics loaded Yvette onto a gurney and into the ambulance. HIs mind urged him to follow her inside, but an officer held him back.

"Sir, please. I need you to answer a few questions. What's the victim's name?"

"The victim..." He nearly spat out the words, but calmed himself. "Her name is Yvette. Yvette McCain."

"And yours is..."

He almost answered Chuck Finley, but he didn't want to get his alias involved. "Sam...Sam Axe."

The cop nodded and wrote everything down. "Mr. Axe, could you please tell me what happened to you?"

Sam ignored the question, because his gaze locked on Michael, Jesse, Fiona, and Madelyn hurrying toward him. His shoulders sagged with relief. He never thought he would see them again, and he felt a sense of peace, the kind he imagined some people felt when they saw their family after a long time apart. He never had that luxury for himself, so this was the closest he would ever get. Maddie set her intense, emotion-laden eyes on him, pushed ahead of everyone, past the police, and thrust herself forward as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Sam! Are you okay?" He was still soaking wet, but she held him close anyway.

"Yeah, Maddie. I am now." He smiled when she gave him a mother's kiss on the cheek but quickly sobered. "Considering what I've been through...Yvette's on the way to the hospital, Maddie." He paused and looked down into the depths of her eyes. "It doesn't look good."

"Sir, I still need to ask you some questions..."

"What is wrong with you?" Madelyn pulled out of Sam's arms and faced the officer. Her sharp tone made the man step back out of her personal space. "Can't you see that Sam is in shock? He needs to get to the hospital too! Come on, honey, let's go." She put her arm around his waist and led him toward the Charger. Over her shoulder she shot back, "You can talk to him later at the hospital."

"Good to have you back, Sam," Michael spoke softly and clamped a hand on Sam's right shoulder.

"Ahh, Mike!"

Michael removed his hand as if he'd been burned. "Sorry. Did you throw it out again?"

He nodded. "Actually, somebody else did me the favor. One of Roche's guns."

"Speaking of guns...what's the body count?"

Leave it to Fiona to ask the tough questions, Sam thought. Aloud, he replied, "I have no idea. I shot three of them but it's anybody's guess as to whether I killed them. Yvette took out one guy. It was an unbelievable shot. Nice work, Fi, teaching her how to shoot. Probably saved our lives on that boat."

Fiona grinned, elated to know that her efforts weren't wasted. "I had my doubts that she could ever find it in herself to kill a squirrel, never mind a man."

"Just goes to show you never know what someone will do until they're in the middle of a firefight," Jesse declared sagely.

"Very true. Anyway, there were two guys we didn't shoot. So I'd say anywhere between one and four." Sam finished his answer. "Tell you the truth, right now I don't care. All that matters is that Yvette's been shot and I almost lost her...still might."

Michael opened his door and let Fiona climb in back. "Let's get to the hospital and find out how she's doing."