Water dripped from her hair onto her shoulders. Her teeth chattered, but not just from cold. She was scared. The circle of bikers around Sarah and Dave was closing tighter. Some of them looked at Maya with hard eyes. A woman in a leather vest stepped up to Maya. She had short red hair and many tattoos on her arms. “You’re the one who found her?” she asked.
Maya nodded, too nervous to speak. “What were you doing out in the lake?” “I I saw her go under,” Maya said, her voice small. “No one else was looking.” The red-haired woman frowned. “Where’d you come from? You’re not with our group.” Maya’s heart beat faster. She glanced toward the pier where her backpack was hidden.
She needed to get away from these people. They might be angry when they learned she’d been spying on them. Just then, Sarah made a sound. Everyone turned to look. It was a small cough at first, then a bigger one. Water spurted from her mouth. Dave turned her onto her side as she coughed up more water. “That’s it, baby.
Get it out,” Dave said. his voice cracking. Sarah’s eyes fluttered open. They were blue like the sky. She looked confused. “Dave,” she whispered. A huge cheer went up from the bikers. Dave gathered Sarah in his arms, holding her tight but gentle. “I thought I lost you,” he said, his big shoulders shaking as he cried.
Someone ran to get blankets. Someone else called 911 on their cell phone. The mood changed from scared to happy in a flash. Maya took a step back, then another. No one was watching her now. This was her chance to slip away. She turned and started walking slowly toward the pier. “Hey, wait,” a deep voice called. Maya froze.
