She searched for another rock, but before she could lay her hands on one, Xavier kicked upward. The man launched into the air, but his hand caught the night vision goggles mounted to the top of Xavier’s helmet.

Panic surged in Audrey’s chest as momentum from the kick sent the man over the cliff, his hands grasping equipment strapped to Xavier’s head. The moment seemed to freeze as the SEAL was jerked toward the edge.

Audrey dove forward to grab Xavier at the same time he punched at the man’s hand and twisted his head.

In a blink, the specter disappeared over the edge, taking Xavier’s goggles with him. A chilling wail echoed across the lake.

Xavier still teetered on the edge. Audrey grabbed him, centering his weight firmly on the wide flat.

He rolled toward her, adding more distance between himself and the edge, then flopped to his back. His breath came out in ragged pants.

Audrey collapsed beside him, her heart still pounding. “You almost went over.”

He rapped on his helmet, then dropped his hand and threaded his fingers through hers. “I could’ve worn full gear for this exercise. But I’m just a trainer—not participating, just observing—so I passed on body armor and chose this cheap, lighter helmet. I only needed it to mount the NVGs so I can monitor the team in the dark. And the cheap-ass mounting clip on this helmet just saved my life.”

She took that in. Breathed it, like his words were air. A mounting bracket on a helmet was such a minor thing to be the difference between life and death. She squeezed his hand, feeling so thankful for the cheap helmet’s crappy mount.

She rolled to her side, facing him. “Thank you for saving my life,” she whispered. “When he charged me, all I could do was freeze.”

“There was nothing else you could do, given where you were standing.” He rolled toward her, bringing them chest to chest. He brought their joined hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to her glove. “Thank you for saving mine too.”

“I didn’t—”

“My shoulder was a hairsbreadth away from giving out. If you hadn’t thrown that rock, I don’t know what would have happened.” He shifted, rolling the joint. “Fuck, that hurts.”

She wanted to reach out and touch him, to try to soothe his pain, but getting too familiar with Xavier Rivera was certain to only bring her more agony.

She rolled to her back again. “Who was he?” It was a silly question. Xavier couldn’t possibly know more than she did, but they were the first words that came to mind.

“No clue.”

“Why come at me with a knife? Wasn’t that a rifle strapped to his back?” It had all happened so fast, she hadn’t registered the rifle she’d seen until just now.