The Hitman

The Search

Nick Sievers' POV

I clenched my fists and looked around for someone at least vaguely conscious.

There. A man groaned and stirred on the wooden floor, a large purple bruise forming on his cheek. I rushed over to his fallen figure and gripped his shirt.

"Where is he?"

The man's eyes widened, and he held up his hands. "Wh-who? Where's who?"

"Jay," I responded, anger lacing my voice. "The other one that was with us."

Although nervous, the man shook his head. "I won't tell you."

I wrapped my fingers around his throat and lifted him off the ground. The man's eyes darted around, uncertain. I gritted my teeth and snarled. "I'm going to ask you one more time. Where. Is. He?"

The man tried to keep his expression neutral, but I caught his eyes as they glanced toward the water for a split second. I tossed him to the ground, where he laid, groaning.

I pulled off my shirt and tossed it on the dock before preparing to dive. Jay. I had to save Jay.

Brook touched my shoulder, and I couldn't help but shiver slightly as sparks flew through my bare skin. "Nick," she implored. "What are you doing?"

I gripped her hand. "I'm going to save Jay." I turned back around and inhaled deeply before diving underwater.

The cold water felt like hitting a wall of glass, then tumbling right through. But I shook off the cold and began kicking towards the bottom of the channel.

My eyes scanned the sandy bottom in the dim light. Jay. Where was he?

I swam to the very bottom, fighting the saltwater stinging my eyes. My hands brushed the coarse sand as it billowed up around me.

The current pulled me harshly to the left. I struggled to hold my ground, hands gripping fistfuls of sand as they came up from the floor. I pushed off the bottom of the channel and breached the surface.

Shaking the water from my hair, I looked around as I caught my breath. Brook and my father were standing on the dock several feet away. I frowned. The water had carried me that far?

I shook my head. Now wasn't the time for such questions. Where was Jay?

Where would I be if I were an unconscious body?

The current! God, I'm an idiot.

I filled my lungs with one last gulp of air before diving underwater, following the current to the bottom. I allowed the steady stream to carry me, but my momentum suddenly stopped.

I was at the mouth of the channel. Jay had to be somewhere here.

My throat was beginning to burn. I wanted nothing more than to open my mouth and inhale, but resisted the urge. I had to stay calm. Panicking would just use up more of my oxygen supply.

There! A dark figure lay in the sand, lodged between several pieces of driftwood. I kicked upward to the surface and breathed in as deeply as I could before diving back under.

I checked my watch, its glowing face piercing through the near dark. 11:10.

My hands brushed the coarse sand and I swam hurriedly toward the figure. Doubt suddenly bloomed in my mind. What if it wasn't Jay? What if it wasn't even a person, but more driftwood?

Please be Jay. Please be Jay.

It was him! Jay's eyes were closed, and his mouth was slightly agape. I pressed his lips together and yanked at his arm.

But he wouldn't budge.

Mentally, I cursed and pushed at the driftwood trapping him. No matter how hard I pushed, however, the blasted wood wouldn't move. It was stuck fast into the sandy bottom.

That was when I saw the problem. Jay's other arm had....I grimaced.

I looked away and then back again. Surely I was seeing things.

No. I had seen right.

Jay's arm had been impaled by the wood.