Dawn Patrol by Jeff Ross Page B

started paddling to shore.
    I slid forward, clamped the gas and shot off. The reef was almost entirely exposed. The bottom of the Jet Ski hit the coral briefly and whined as the jets sucked air. The next wave was pulling hard. I could feel the force of it under the Jet Ski as I drew closer to the rocks. Kevin tried to climb on top of the rock to avoid being crashed by the incoming wave. I turned sharply and cut toward the rocks.
    â€œKevin!” I yelled. I was twenty feet from the rock. The wave was beginning to break. “Get ready to jump!”
    The Jet Ski smashed into the reef again, bounced into the air and landed in deeper water. It struck another bit of the reef and screamed to a halt.
    Kevin looked at the wave. “Get out of here, Luca! You’re not going to make it.”
    I rocked back and forth, fighting with the Jet Ski. It was stuck on a cleft in the reef. I needed to tilt it off. I didn’t look at the incoming wave. There was nothing I could do but get the Jet Ski off the reef and move out of the way.
    â€œGet ready to jump!” I yelled again.
    I stepped on the reef and felt the slice of a sharp edge on my ankle. Water trickled under the ski. Soon the wave would smash on top of us, plowing Kevin and me into the rocks. There was no way we would survive. I had to get the Jet Ski off the reef.
    I jammed my foot painfully onto the coral. The Jet Ski didn’t move. I got off, gunned the gas and pushed as hard as I could. Somehow the ski shifted off the reef into deeper water. I flung myself back on and leaned forward. I was five feet away from the rock. “Jump, Kevin. Jump!”
    Kevin dropped down and landed on the back of the Jet Ski. The impact of his weight on the rear of the Jet Ski thrust us forward. We cleared the rocks just as the wave swept in. I turned toward shore, and we cruised in on the wave’s power.
    I let the Jet Ski glide in to shore. When we reached shallow water, Kevin jumped off and sprinted up the shoreline. I pulled the key from the ignition and took off after him. Kevin and I had played this game before. Tag, touch football, soccer, it didn’t matter—I was faster than him. Even with torn-up feet, I caught up with him and knocked him to the sand. He rolled over and pushed me off.
    I pinned his arms down with my knees and leaned back on his stomach. “What the hell are you doing?” I yelled at him.
    â€œGet off. He can’t see you with me.”
    â€œWho? What are you talking about?”
    Kevin struggled to get free. “Man, I never should have ridden that wave. I knew you’d be out there.”
    â€œKevin, what are you talking about? What’s wrong with you?”
    He was looking out to where the other Jet Skis bobbed in the water. “Follow me into the jungle,” he said, trying to shift me off him again.
    â€œWhat? No way.”
    â€œPlease, Luca, you don’t understand. It’s…My parents are alive. I am so close to…”
    â€œWhat?” I shifted off him slightly.
    Blood dribbled down his forehead. He was breathing in quick gulps. His arms were all marked up from where he had smashed against the rock.
    â€œHe has my parents, Luca. They’re alive.”

chapter sixteen
    I rolled off him into the sand as Alana walked up with my board under her arm.
    â€œYou survived?” she said.
    â€œJust,” I said.
    â€œAnd this must be the mythical Kevin.”
    Kevin looked at his arms and legs. Blood mixed with the salt water on his skin.
    â€œWhat are you talking about, Kevin? Your parents are alive?” I said.
    He looked out at the surfers and Jet Skis again. “Just come into the jungle, Luca. We’ll go behind those palms so he can’t see me.”
    â€œWho, Kevin? Who can’t see you?” I asked.
    â€œDelgado.”
    I followed Kevin into the jungle and sat on a log. Alana stayed on the beach with the Jet Ski and my board.
    â€œWhat is this all