Authors: Iris Johansen
He braced himself against the backseat and pulled on the wire.
She pushed upward on the wire as it cut into her scalp. Her hands were a bloody mess. Just a little bit more …
The water rose more quickly now, and the car listed to the left. She unlocked the door and leaned against it.
It didn’t budge. The pressure was just too great.
She looked desperately into her rearview mirror.
Colby had his knife out. He raised it with his right hand while keeping her head pulled back with his wire.
No, dammit.
She kicked the drivers-side window. Water flooded inside, blasting Colby back into his seat.
This was her chance. She tore off the wire and scrambled through the window just as the water pressure equalized. Her car was now almost entirely submerged.
Just another few feet, and—
Colby grabbed her foot!
She kicked, but his grip was too strong.
Slice.
He cut her ankle.
God, the pain …
Slice.
He’d cut her again. She wriggled her foot, kicking madly.
She was free!
She positioned her foot. She took aim. Gotta make it count …
Contact!
She struck Colby’s already-shattered face. Even underwater, she could hear his anguished scream.
With one final kick, she propelled herself out the window, just before her car rolled over onto its driver’s side and landed on the rocky bottom.
Kendra turned for a last look. A full moon shimmered through the water and bathed her car in an ethereal glow. The car’s dashboard was still lit, and inside she could see Colby moving.
He was scrambling for the passenger door, she realized. If he got it open, he might escape.
And it would all begin again.
Not this time, Colby.
She swam back toward the car, fighting through the pain of her injuries. She floated over to the passenger-side door, watching Colby for a long moment.
Then he saw her. He smiled maliciously as they locked eyes.
He reached for the door handle. And in that moment Kendra dug out the remote key fob of her keyless car that she’d shoved into her pocket back at the hospital. She dangled it over the window, in front of his face.
Then she pressed it, and the door locked.
Thunkkk.
Colby was smiling mockingly as he reached out and pulled on the passenger-door handle.
It didn’t open.
Child-safety locks, she wanted to tell him. For her young clients, but they’d never been more useful than they were at this moment.
Colby couldn’t believe it. He kept trying to open the door.
Panicked, Colby pounded on the window. For the first time, she saw fear in his eyes. Absolute terror.
Still, only a tiny percentage of the terror he had brought into the world, she thought.
How does it feel, Colby? Remember Beth?
Colby’s eyes bulged, and in one magnificent burst, his lungs exploded with water. Kendra watched, transfixed, as he thrashed on the seat.
He went still.
Eric Colby was dead. His striking blue eyes were still wide open, reflecting the shimmering, water-filtered moonlight.
She couldn’t believe it.
Yes, she could. Because
she
had done it. As she had promised herself she would.
Kendra turned, and, the next minute, she broke the surface and started to swim toward the bank.
* * *
LYNCH ARRIVED AS THE EMTS
were lifting Kendra into the ambulance on the road above the quarry.
“You look a total mess.” He climbed inside the ambulance and sat beside her.
“You should have seen the other guy,” Kendra said. “And I mean that. You would have enjoyed it.”
“I bet I would.” His hand stroked her cheek. “I nearly went crazy when I found out that you were missing. I told you not to shut me out.”
“No choice. I called you as soon as I got my hands on a phone, didn’t I?” Her eyes closed. “I’m tired. I don’t want to talk any more right now.”
“And you won’t. We’ll get you to the nearest hospital and have them look at that throat. It looks nasty.”
“No.” She opened her eyes. “They keep saying that’s what they’re going to do, but I want to go to the same hospital as Beth. Don’t let them take me anywhere else.”
“Whatever you say.” He smiled. “Anything you want.”
“That’s right.” Her eyes closed again. “I can’t fight anymore right now. Do it for me, okay?”
“Now. Tomorrow. Forever. Just give me my orders.
“Very sappy, Lynch.”
“I guess I was. It’s the situation. Just go to sleep. I’ll take care of it.”
Yes, Lynch would take care of it.
She let go of everything and drifted off …
Alvarado Hospital Medical Center
EVE WAS BESIDE HER
when she woke the next time.
“Hi,” Kendra said drowsily. “You’re not supposed to be with me. You were sitting with Beth…”
“That was yesterday.” Eve smiled. “And I’m still watching out for her. But the doctors kicked me out while they did some more tests, so I decided to come down and check on you.”
“Yesterday?” She looked at the daylight streaming into the hospital room. “I’m fine, but I shouldn’t have slept this long.”
“You were in pretty bad shape when they brought you in. Cuts, bruises, shock. The doctors decided to give you a sedative while they were working on you.” She wrinkled her nose. “Probably at Lynch’s suggestion. He was very protective.”
“He said he’d take care of it,” Kendra said dryly. “I should have known it would be in the way he decided was best.”
“I might have made the same decision,” Eve said quietly. “You’re going to have a zillion conflicting emotions after getting rid of Colby.”
Kendra didn’t doubt it. She was already feeling strangely at a loss, as well as bewildered and sad and angry. “Maybe a zillion, but none of them will be regret. Not after what he did to Beth.”
“Beth…” Eve suddenly jumped to her feet. “Care to take a trip up to see her?”
“Now?” she asked, startled.
“Right now.” Eve was wheeling a wheelchair up to the bed and helping Kendra to sit up. “You’ll have to ride. The nurses would have a fit if they saw me helping you down the hall.”
“I could wait until—”
“No, you can’t.” She was tucking Kendra into the wheelchair. “Now hush while I sneak you upstairs.”
Two minutes later, they were getting off the elevator, and Eve was wheeling Kendra toward Beth’s room.
“Eve, something is going on.”
“How perceptive. Anyone could tell that. It doesn’t take a Kendra Michaels.” Eve stopped at the door. “Yes, it is.” She opened the door. “At about four this morning, Beth woke up on her own. She smiled at me and said my name, then drifted back to sleep.”
“Oh, thank God.” Kendra was suddenly afraid. “Not unconscious? Not a coma?”
“She was still under sedation. But she has woken twice since then, and they say she’s in a normal sleep now.”
She moistened her lips. “How … normal?”
“Recognition. She knew me. She knew the year, the date. I don’t know what else the doctors found when they tested her. They say there’s still swelling.” She smiled. “But hope, Kendra. Gigantic hope.”
“Why didn’t you tell me right away when I woke up?”
“I wanted to get all the results first.” She grimaced. “Okay, I wanted to stage a big surprise with all the trimmings. But I couldn’t wait. I had to share it.”
“May I sit with her for a while?”
“Until the nurses find you fled the coop and call out security.” She wheeled her next to Beth’s bed. “Which might not be too long. I’ll keep watch from the door.”
Beth looked pale and fragile, but her breathing was steady, and she didn’t have that terrible remoteness that had so frightened Kendra.
It’s over, Beth. Come back to us, and you won’t have to be afraid.
But Beth was never afraid. Even when she should have been during that horrible time with Colby.
“Kendra?” Beth’s eyes were opening. Her voice was weak but steady. “You look … terrible. You need to see one of these doctors they have … bustling around here.”
“I’ll consider it.” She covered Beth’s hand with her own. “You were keeping them pretty busy, but they might have a little time in the near future.”
“Now…”
“Stop bossing me.” It was wonderful having Beth boss her or do anything that was blessedly normal. “I have something to tell you before Eve has to smuggle me out of here. It’s something you have to know…”
Alvarado Hospital Medical Center
Two Days Later
”BETH WANTS TO SEE YOU.”
Eve smiled at Sam, but her tone was stern. “Now stop waffling and go in and talk to her.”
“I wasn’t waffling,” Sam protested. “I just don’t like hospitals, and she’s been busy with all of you trying to—”
“Make her feel as if we’re glad that she’s alive and getting better?”
“She knows that I’m glad she’s alive.”
“Yes, she does. Because I told her exactly how you were responsible for keeping her that way.”
“Oh, shit.”
“I do believe you’re embarrassed. Sorry, you can’t avoid facing Beth. Now go in and take it on the chin.”
Sam hesitated, then squared his shoulders and opened the door and swaggered into Beth’s hospital room.
Beth was lying with eyes closed, expression peaceful, her dark hair free and shining on the pillow.
For an instant, Sam felt his heart race with fear. She looked the same as she had underwater when he’d realized that she was dead.
Only she wasn’t dead. Though he didn’t know how the hell she’d escaped. Miracle. No matter what explanations they gave, it was a miracle.
“Why are you just standing there?” Her eyes had opened. “Come over here.”
“I thought you were sleeping.” He made a face as he walked over to the bed. “Or dead. You scared me.”
“I was pretty scared myself. Though I couldn’t let Colby know that. He would have enjoyed it too much.” She reached out and took his hand. “He’s really dead?”
“Kendra must have told you.”
“Yes, but it begs reinforcement, and I couldn’t talk about him very much to Kendra. She’s feeling guilty as hell, and I only want her to forget I was ever down in that cellar.”
“We all want to forget it,” Sam said. “But it ain’t gonna happen.”
She was silent. “No, you’re right. It will be with me forever but I’ve got to find something in that memory to heal, not hurt.” She looked down at his hand. “They tell me you played the big hero and saved me.”
“Damn straight. I was bloody wonderful.”
“You always were over-the-top. This is the second time you stepped up to rescue me. I suppose you expect me to thank you and swear eternal gratitude.”
“It would be the gracious thing to do. But it would probably embarrass me. I’m such a modest soul.”
She made a rude noise.
“That’s typical. And so unfair.”
“Eternal gratitude … What a concept.” Her eyes were suddenly shining with mischief. “Personally, I’m a fan of the old proverb. If you save a person’s life, they are your responsibility forever.”
“There’s something very wrong about that.”
“I’ve always thought so, but I’m beginning to like the idea.” She grinned. “I’ve never really had anyone responsible for me before. It could be a good fit. Unless you manage to turn the tables at some point.”
“That philosophy is too confusing. I’m opting out.”
“No.” Her hand closed on his. “No matter how we work it, there’s no opting out. I’m Old Dog Tray, remember.”
“Yeah.” He smiled down at her. “I don’t mind your hanging out and snoozing in front of a fireplace, but no more cellars. Okay?”
“Okay.” She lifted his hand and pressed her lips to it. “Whatever you say … my dear friend.” She released it and closed her eyes. “Get out of here. I have to get well fast. There’s a life to live out there. I have things to do…”
Seahaven Behavioral Health Center
Santa Barbara, California
Two Months Later
KENDRA’S GAZE WAS SEARCHING
the crowd. “Where’s Beth, Sam? I don’t see her.”
Sam grinned and gestured with his champagne glass across the crowd at the slight hill overlooking the shore. “She’s up there in the rocks, where she can get the best view. Just follow the bird of paradise.”
As she headed for the rocks, Kendra’s gaze traveled around the small crowd of guests, who looked as if they were dressed for a garden party. That’s what Beth had wanted, when she’d called Kendra and told her that she wanted her here for this very special occasion.
“Make it a celebration,” she’d said. “Wear something floaty and happy. Something that reminds you of a butterfly.”
“My dear Beth. I don’t have any butterfly clothes. It’s not my style.”
“Then it should be. Who is more of a butterfly than you, Kendra? Think about it.”
“I’ll think about you,” she said. “You’re the true butterfly.” She sighed. “And I’ll attempt to find something in that theme that doesn’t make me look ridiculous.”
“Thank you. I just had the same argument with Eve.” She hung up the phone.
After much searching, Kendra had found a copper-colored maxi dress that was appropriately floaty and met the compromise. She’d decided she might even wear it again. Or not. It didn’t matter. It would make Beth happy.
Kendra caught sight of Eve talking to Lynch and Joe Quinn across the wide green lawn. Eve had found a dress in dark blue and peacock that was simple but sophisticated and still managed to float a little. They had all obeyed Beth’s orders and tried to give her what she wanted.
“Here, Kendra,” Beth called. She had seen Kendra and was smiling at her as Kendra made her way toward her. Beth was dressed in scarlet-and-orange chiffon that made her dark hair shimmer in contrast and was unashamedly bold and dazzling.
“Hey, quite a spread, isn’t it? And the champagne is great.” She patted the rock next to her. “Come on and have a prime seat at the event.” She looked at the hospital across the lawn. “They have the explosives ready to go. I told them to wait until it was fully dark.”
Kendra dropped down beside her. From here she could see the surf striking the rocks below and feel the moist wind in her hair. The setting was breathtaking, only the purpose of the place had been somber and frightening. “You’re really going to blow it up. You’re sure you want to do this, Beth?”