Page 59 of Grave Peril

Chapter 15

Children’s screams pierced her ears. The noise of the boardwalk became a din in the background. Blood pooled on the concrete beside Rip—a lot of blood.

Lela dropped to the ground beside him, too stunned to yell for help. Rip was crumpled on the walkway, lying on his side. His eyes were closed.

“Oh my God…” Lela stripped the bag off her shoulder and tore off her coat. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she wadded it up and pressed it against the spurting blood.

Vaguely aware that the crowd had moved back, Lela focused only on her task, the only thing she knew to do. She pressed harder on the jacket, but blood oozed through it. Rip’s life was draining away, and there wasn’t anything she could do about it.

Lela wanted to check Rip’s pulse, but clung to the jacket, pressing harder, willing the bleeding to stop—or at least slow. His chest moved, evidence that he was breathing—but for how much longer?

Without taking her eyes off Rip, she yelled, as loud as she could, “Call an ambulance!” She couldn’t leave him, couldn’t release the jacket long enough to make a call. She prayed someone would help.

A man handed Lela another jacket, so she tossed her soaked one aside and pressed the new one over the wound. It was a man’s coat, so it was larger and absorbed more of the blood. Seconds ticked by, long and interminable. Each moment was an hour.

Please, please get here fast. Lela didn’t know whether anyone had called the paramedics. Then two guys in uniforms kneeled beside Rip. “An emergency crew is on the way. I called it in, honey. We’ll do our best to get him to the hospital in time.”

Lela glanced up, noting that the men were boardwalk security. Someone said, “What happened? Did anyone see it?”

The talking was a blur, senseless words that didn’t do a damn thing to save Rip.

Then there were other hands, men assisting her. Towels and gauze appeared as if by magic. A stretcher rolled up, and a paramedic put an oxygen mask over Rip’s face. His eyelids fluttered but didn’t open.

Lela sobbed and grabbed one of the towels, wiping the blood off her hands. She stared at Rip as if he might open his eyes and talk to her, tell her what to do. But he was unconscious.

“We are going to life-flight him out of here,” a paramedic said. “It’s pretty bad. That’s his best chance.”

Instinct took over, and Lela grabbed her bag then backed into the crowd that had gathered to see what was going on. The attention on Rip would wane and security would want to talk to her, maybe console her. That would be dangerous.

Lela’s mind worked quickly. She spotted police striding toward the scene, taking care of crowd control. If she was recognized, it would all be over. Rip’s sacrifice wouldn’t mean a damn thing. All she’d strived for, and what Rip had been through with her, would be useless.

She couldn’t get caught.

More voices. More questions. “There was a woman. Where is she?”

Lela burrowed into the crowded boardwalk and latched on to the first idea that came to her. She kept out of sight and made her way back to the boat. It was vacant. She could pilot and navigate. She’d watched Rip do it.

As fast as she could, Lela cast off and headed out into the bay. When she was a safe distance out, only then did she dare to look back. She fully expected the authorities to be standing on the dock, waiting for her, but they weren’t.

A roar from the sky caused her to look up. A helicopter with Life Flight painted on the side lifted off. Lela watched it soar higher then turn toward the city. Her love was in that helicopter, and he damn well better not die.

Lela had to get to Rip. She went into action. The stabbing incident had drawn the attention of law enforcement. The coast guard would be called in, and the area would be searched—for the woman who had been with the victim, as well as the perpetrator.

The perp was long gone, and the cops probably knew that already. Lela couldn’t afford to be taken into custody, which was what would happen if the boat was stopped. She had only one choice. After shutting off the engine, she lowered the anchor to secure the craft.

Lela removed a couple of things from her bag, before leaving it behind. Then she took off her shoes and went over the side into the water, holding tight to the items she carried with her. She had to get back to shore without being seen, so she swam underwater as much as she could. Fortunately, she hadn’t taken the boat too far out.

It would look odd for her to walk around in soaking-wet clothes, but she’d worry about that when she got to dry land. Since Lela was a strong swimmer, she was able to go the distance. She emerged at a dock down from where the boat had been tied up.

Lela didn’t see anyone scouring the marina, but it wouldn’t be long. There was a woman in a fishing boat about to push off. She spotted Lela dragging herself out of the bay.

“What happened to you, dear?”

The woman was too far down the marina to have seen the incident. Lela needed to make this work. “I had a fight with my boyfriend. He threw me overboard, clothes and all.” She shivered.

“That won’t do.” The woman shook her head. “Here, put this on. It’s all I’ve got handy.” She tossed Lela a long raincoat.

Lela put on the coat, and slipped her hands in the pockets. “I don’t have a way back to the city. He has my purse.”

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