The Girl With No Name

Chapter Sixty-Six

Josie sprinted across the highway, narrowly missing being crushed by a pickup truck. Her chest was so tight, she wheezed as she braced herself against the concrete barrier and looked over it into the river. Below her, the current carried Luke away, downriver. He was paddling awkwardly, but it was clear that he was struggling. Again, she wondered what the hell he was doing, and then a flash of bright color further down the river caught her eye. Several yards downriver from Luke, another person bobbed. Josie squinted and made out long, dark hair. A woman. She floated face up and on her chest was the brightly colored object that caught Josie’s eye.

“Oh God.”

It was a bright-blue baby carrier. Nausea rocked Josie’s stomach. Had the woman jumped off the overpass with the baby strapped to her, like Luke? She looked down, trying to measure the drop. It was mid-hurricane season and the river was high. An adult would easily survive a dive from the height of the overpass, but a newborn? Josie panned the shoreline, hoping the woman had run down the embankment instead of jumping with the infant. What looked like a small white blanket or perhaps a pillowcase fluttered from the low branch of a tree. Her eyes found Luke again. His head disappeared under the water. Josie counted off the seconds. After five, she saw the top of his head again. His arms flopped around. He was going to drown.

Josie pulled off her holster and shoes, mounted the barrier, and jumped.

Her body sliced into the water, a cold jolt to her senses. Her legs kicked until she broke the surface. Legs working, she spun around in the water, getting her bearings, until she spotted Luke’s floundering form ahead. Luckily, the current was moving fast. In smooth, even strokes, she swam toward him. Her lungs burned. A cough threatened to erupt from her. She slowed momentarily, willing her body not to dissolve into a coughing fit. She was almost there. Finally, her fingers brushed his T-shirt. Another powerful kick beneath the water brought her within reach, and she clutched the fabric at the nape of his neck, pulling him toward her. His body thrashed.

“Luke,” she rasped. “It’s me. Josie. You’re okay. I’ve got you.”

She hooked her arms under his armpits, holding him close as his body stilled. For a few seconds they floated together in the water. Luke said, “The baby.”

“I know,” Josie told him.

“You have to get the baby.”

“I will.”

“Go now.”

“I can’t. I can’t leave you, you’ll drown. I’m taking you back to shore.”

“There’s no time for that.”

Josie looked downriver, but the woman and Victor were just a small dot bobbing toward the horizon. Rapidly moving out of her reach. Denton PD, the Alcott County sheriff, and the state police were en route, but none of them knew that Marie Muir had gone into the river with the baby. The overpass wasn’t even visible anymore. They wouldn’t know to try to head the woman off further down the river. Josie was a good swimmer and, with the current carrying her along, there was more than a good chance she could catch up to the woman. But she couldn’t get Luke to shore and pursue the woman. There wasn’t enough time for both. If she lost the woman, she lost Victor Derossi. If he was even still alive.

“You have to,” Luke said, as if reading her mind. “Josie. You have to. It’s Ray’s son. I should have told you. I’m sorry. That baby is Ray’s son. You have to go after him.”

Tears stung the backs of her eyes. She moved out from behind him so that they were face to face. The shoreline tore past as the current whipped them along. She paddled with her feet as she clutched the sides of his face. “Noah was behind me. I’m sure he saw me jump in. He’ll come after me. He’ll find you.”

“Go,” Luke said.

Josie pressed a kiss against his mouth and, before she could change her mind, she pushed away from him, turning onto her stomach and swimming as fast as she could toward Marie Muir and Victor Derossi.