Page 73 of The Roman's Woman (A Singular Obsession)

Indecision kept him going until he spotted a sign up ahead. He floored the car, shooting towards the sign and then slowing down to read it.

Old Anderson Quarry 1.2 km ahead.Could that be it? Nothing else was near.

Driving faster than he ever had in his life, he raced the remaining distance to the quarry entrance.

There was a gate, but it looked old and was standing open. At first, he couldn’t see anything else. Slowing down so he could maneuver the tight turns of the path, he rounded a curve. Moonlight reflected off something shining up ahead. Was this one of those unused quarries that had been filled in with water? Why had Richard driven here?

The realization that he came here to dump the body followed instantly.Don’t think about it. Find them, he ordered himself.

His blood was throbbing in his ears. Reaching inside for the control his friends teased him about, he forced his chest to pump up and down evenly until the panic dissipated enough for him to think. They had to be along the water. If Richard was trying to get rid of the car there he’d want to be as isolated as possible. Which meant he would drive to the other side of the quarry.

Gio topped a rise in the road and saw something that would give him nightmares for the rest of his life.

The Chevrolet was half-submerged. Richard was at the open passenger door pushing it deeper into the water. Throwing his own car in park, Gio leaped out and ran into the lake. He barely registered its freezing cold temperature as he splashed toward them.

Richard saw him right away. Desperate panic twisted his face. He lifted something and there was a popping sound. Gio’s left arm stung, but he ignored it, putting his head down and charging like a bull at his enemy. The coward broke away from the car, streaking to the right away from him.

But the skinny Englishman was no match for the rage powering him. His opponent may have been a little taller, but Gio outweighed him with an additional twenty pounds of sheer muscle.

Using a move he’d only seen on television, he clotheslined the asshole, wrapping his right arm around Richard’s scrawny neck.

They fell in the shallow water near the shore. The rat underneath him twisted viciously, breaking his hold and scrambling away. Throwing himself forward, Gio leaped on him, punching and trying to shove his head under the surface of the water. Richard put up his hands to protect his face, using his legs to push him away.

In the distance, Sophia screamed, sending a shaft of pain down his chest. Roaring, he slammed his fist down onto Richard’s head with all his weight behind it. The force knocked the taller man backward toward the shore. Gio didn’t wait to see if he got back up again. He spun around and waded to the car.

Chapter 28

In the distance, Sophia could hear Richard shouting something and the distant sounds of splashing. Was there someone else out there?

“Help! Help me!” she screamed, craning to keep her head above the freezing water. The level had risen to cover most of her torso, but it wasn’t rising as fast anymore.

Wait, wait. This was her father’s car. It had some kind of pass-through, where the backseat folded down, allowing access to the trunk. Sophia stopped beating the lid and started pushing at the back panel.

It gave very slightly. Scrabbling at the edges of the seat, she searched for the catch mechanism, praying she would be able to reach it from the wrong side of the seat. In the darkness she couldn’t find it, but her movements rocked the seat back and forth. Twisting around and curling up her upper body to give her legs as much room as possible, she started kicking as hard as she could.

Years of soccer had made her legs powerful, but the mechanism on the other side must have been stuck. The thick muscles on her thighs strained and the car rocked with her effort. The creaking metal finally gave, but not all the way. A gap the width of her hand opened. Searching by touch, she felt around for the catch to release the seat.

Fuck! The thing that held the seat up had wires wrapped around it. Her father had never fixed it. Instead, he’d wired it shut. Sticking her face at the opening she’d made, she took a deep breath and began to search for the end of the tangled knot. She needed to unwind it.

Wouldn’t her father have put the twisted ends in the front? Where were they?Shit. Had her kicking moved the ends?

Sobbing now, she started pulling, straining against the wire until her fingers bled.

“Sophia!”

“Gio?”

Oh, thank God! “Gio, I’m in here!” she called out, sticking her hand out of the gap and waving.

There was a lot of splashing and then the whole car rocked as Gio opened the back door and climbed inside. He reached for her hand and she took hold of his gratefully, gripping tightly.

His face filled the gap. “Porca vacca! I don’t have the key. Does this thing come down?”

“Yes, but it’s wired shut.”

“Fuck, I’m going after the trunk key!”

He climbed out of the car and ran off. An excruciatingly long minute later, he was back.

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