him too. But before she could, Jack stepped aside so Simpson could strap the bungee to her ankles.
“Okay, Celina,” he said. “I’m going to count down from five. Just jump out as far as you can and the cord will do the rest. You ready?”
She nodded.
“All right, then. Here we go.”
And he began to count.
Celina’s mind whirled. With each number spoken, she felt her heart beat a little faster, her breathing become a little shallower, her hands grip the rail a little tighter. She wondered what would happen if the cord broke. She thought of the raft and the security it represented. She thought of her father, her mother and even Leana. She thought of last night with Jack, of the words he just spoke to her. And then, at the same moment Simpson shouted “Jump!” and she leapt into the air, she realized she had to pee.
It was a nightmare.
The wind whipped through her hair and snatched the blindfold from her face. She saw trees, rocks and water racing toward her. Her stomach lurched. Her bladder went. The world blurred. And the bungee went taut.
She stopped just short of hitting the river, there was an instant when her eyes met Spocatti’s, and then she was being catapulted away from him and the attendant and the raft, toes first, toward the bridge-where she began to plummet again.
When the bouncing finally stopped and the attendant helped her into the raft, Spocatti took her by the hand and led her to one of the wooden seats, where she sat, exhausted.
“Fun, isn’t it?” he asked.
Celina was about to say it hadn’t been fun at all-it had been horrifying-when Spocatti suddenly slipped, fell hard against the side of the raft and capsized it, sending them all into the water.
“Something’s wrong,” Jack said. “They’re in the water. The raft’s upside down.”
Simpson joined him at the rail and leaned forward as far as he could. In the river below, he could see only the swiftly moving water and the anchored, upturned raft.
No bodies.
“I don’t see Celina,” Jack said. “Where is she?”
Simpson could only stare as those waiting to jump joined them at the rail.
“Where the hell is your attendant, Steve? Where’s the man who jumped first?”
“I don’t see them.”
Jack climbed quickly over the rail. “Strap the other bungee to my ankles.”
“Jack-”
“Move!”
Simpson did as he was told, moving like an automaton while his mind tried to make sense of the situation. “I don’t like this,” he said to Jack as he pulled the nylon strap tight. “It’s dangerous. There’s no one down there to release you.”
“I’ll release myself. Just get me down there.”
He looked at the strap, then at the fraying bungee cord that was attached to it and coiled beside him. “Ready?” he said to Steve.
At the same instant Simpson nodded, Jack jumped.
She was trapped beneath the raft, her legs tangled in the rope that was attached to the anchor.
Her mouth was barely above the rushing water. Her breathing was sharp with fright.
She held onto the wooden seat above her so she wouldn’t be pulled under by the current or by the weight of the anchor.
Below her, Spocatti and Simpson’s assistant, Alex Stevens, were trying to free her. With each tug on the rope that bound her legs, her hands slipped a little on the slick seat. She held on as tightly as she could, knowing that if she let go, she would have little strength to fight the anchor as it pulled her down.
There was another tug on the rope. And another. Celina closed her eyes and prayed as her hands slipped and she sank a little deeper into the river.
The water level flowed over her mouth, cutting off her breath for an instant until she remembered she could breathe through her nose. She let out a small cry of despair and her mouth filled with water. She choked on it and began to cough. She struggled against what she feared was the inevitable.
There was a sudden flurry of activity in the water. Bubbles burst to the top as Spocatti and Alex surfaced, their dark hair as slick and as shiny as seal skin. While Alex gasped for air, Spocatti swam calmly behind Celina and lifted her up so she could get a more sturdy grip on the wooden bench.
He turned to Alex. “Go to the shore and get something to cut the rope with. If we don’t do something soon, the weight of the anchor and the pressure on her legs will cut off her circulation.”
Alex shook his head. “I’m not allowed to leave. It’s against regulations.”
“Fuck regulations,” Spocatti said. “If we don’t do something soon, this woman will be in serious trouble.”
Alex glanced at Celina and saw that she was having difficulty breathing. A mixture of fear and exhaustion was stamped on her face. He looked at Spocatti. “Why don’t you swim to shore?” he said. “I’ll stay with her.”
“I can’t swim to shore,” Spocatti said. “I’ve hurt my leg.”
“It was fine a moment ago.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, pal. I twisted it when I fell. I just don’t show pain as easily as you do. Now, either move your ass and get something to help this woman, or we’ll see you in court.”
The two men stared at one another. Then Alex made his decision and dived beneath the surface, leaving Spocatti alone with Celina.
He swam in front of her. “Do you have any feeling left in your legs?”
“Some,” she said. “But they’re tingling. And they’re colder than the rest of me. What happened?”
“My guess is that while you were struggling to free yourself from the rope, the anchor shifted off something- probably a ledge-to a deeper part of the river. Until it reaches solid ground, the weight is going to continue to pull you down.”
“How far down.”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he looked up at the rope that was secured to the raft. Although slightly frayed and swollen with water, the rope looked solid enough. “As long as this rope is attached to the raft, you aren’t in danger of sinking too far beneath the surface. Certainly no more than a foot.”
“I can drown in a foot of water,” Celina said.
“That’s true,” Spocatti said. “So if I were you, I wouldn’t let go of the bench.”
He glanced down at the water, then briefly at his watch. Alex had been gone a little over a minute. “Can you move your legs at all?” he asked.
She tried, then shook her head. “The anchor’s too heavy.”
“All right, then,” he said. “I’m going under to see if I can alleviate some of the pressure. Just hold on.”
Celina nodded and watched him dive below the surface.
She waited, her grip becoming weak on the wooden plank, her body shivering. She wondered what Jack was doing and hoped that he was all right and not thinking the worst. She wondered where Alex was and how much longer he would be.
She was lifting herself up to get a more secure grip on the bench when a tremendous pull came on her legs, straining all muscles, causing something in her right knee to give.
She gasped.
Her hands scrambled not to lose their grip on the bench and she screamed. There came another pull on her leg. And another. Celina fought each one, her entire body straining, adrenaline surging. It was the fourth and most brutal tug that cracked the wooden plank she was holding onto.
Spocatti surfaced, pocket knife in hand.
Reaching above Celina’s head, he grabbed the rope, severed it with the knife and then followed Celina as she
