Page 85 of The Engagement Party

Alex

Alex’s attention faded. He forced his eyes to stay open, to keep aware, but the battle wounds pulled him toward a sweet oblivion. His head pounded above his eyes, making it difficult to concentrate. His shoulder thumped. Every part of him, inside and out, from his muscles to his heart, crushed under the weight of his injuries and the reality of what was about to happen.

He wouldn’t get in the car. She’d have to kill him, and he believed she would. The truth threatened her plan. Leaving their friends alive destroyed any hope she had for keeping the secrets buried. All common sense, all the loving and feeling parts of her, would step aside so her rabid determination not to live a life other than one she’d planned for and ruthlessly created could survive.

He heaved over the side as she steered them toward the shore. Cold air radiated off the water, stinging his face. She hadn’t said a word since issuing her warning. He didn’t bother either. His pleas couldn’t penetrate the shell she’d built around herself. The only way in was to take her down. He hoped he could muster the energy and the will to do it.

The rhythmic clicking of the paddles. The swoosh in and outof the water. The lurching of the canoe. The motion lulled him. Just as he started to drift off the bottom of the boat scraped against something.

He opened his eyes. They were still more than twenty feet from the fog-shrouded shoreline. He couldn’t see the car, but he knew it was there... well, he hoped it was. He touched his pocket to reassure himself he still had the keys. In a flash of fear, he thought Dylan had stolen them, but he could feel the outline through the fabric.

“Shit. I think we hit bottom or got stuck on a ledge.” She shifted in her seat, making the boat rock just shy of tipping over.

He grabbed the sides as his stomach rolled. “Stop.”

“I can’t get it loose.” She stared at him as if she expected him to fix it.

“We could wait for low tide and walk the rest of the way.” A smart-ass answer but he didn’t care if he offended or annoyed her.

“We’ll swim the rest.”

In the freezing water.That was the part she didn’t say.

He watched the choppy waves lap against the canoe. “I don’t think I can.”

“You will.”

“Is your hope that I’ll die out here, too?” The thought hit him and wouldn’t leave his head.

“I’m trying to save you. Believe it or not, I love you.” She wiggled and shook the sides of the canoe.

“You’ve been saying that for years.”

She stopped moving. “You owe me.”

“And you’ve spent our entire marriage reminding me of that.”

Before she could respond, the canoe broke free. She rushed to grab the paddle before it slipped away from her. Using it now,she furiously stroked through the water, propelling them to land. Their in-house gym and all that expensive equipment had paid off. Her shoulders bunched and her jaw tensed. All of her effort went in to getting them off the water as quickly as possible.

Nausea rolled through him. He closed his eyes and when that didn’t work he opened them again. Cassie, stark and sweating, disheveled and shaking, sat in front of him. She didn’t lift her head until the bottom of the canoe crunched against the causeway, right near the boat launch.

“Finally.” She didn’t wait. She stepped out of the boat and jogged up the ramp until she stood on solid ground.

Now what.The words played over and over in his head. He hadn’t been this lost, this unsure, since that night on the bridge all those years ago.

His legs barely held him as he crawled out of the canoe. The feel of hard ground under his feet should have soothed him but his heart raced. Anxiety intensified inside him until his breathing turned shallow and harsh.

She took out her cell phone and lifted it in the air, likely in search of a signal. When she let out a relieved sigh he knew the phone jammer no longer interfered with her call.

She tapped on the buttons. He wanted to believe she’d changed her mind and was calling for help, but he knew better. “If you call Zara you’ll mess up your timing.”

“What?”

“The call and the time will be traceable, and your plan to wait until...” His knees gave out as the last of his strength left his body. He teetered then fell, landing on his side. Whatever help he thought she might offer didn’t happen.

She stared at him but didn’t reach out.

“How are you going to explain leaving your dead husband in a boat parking lot?”

---