Page 79 of Brick
She dipped her fingers inside, and they brushed the small set of keys.Elation flourished inside her.Her chest spasmed with the need to get the other boat’s attention, but she needed the keys more.If Keetan had a change of heart and tried to shoot her, she didn’t want to be handcuffed.
She caught one of the keys between two fingers and pulled it out.Yes!She crawled closer to the railing, fit the key into the lock, and shook her hand loose.
Oh, god.She was free.
Keetan latched a hand around her wrist.“You’re not getting away from me.Not again.”
He yanked her to lie on top of him, securing her neck with his arm.The metallic scent of blood filled her nostrils, and warm, sticky dampness pressed into her cheek.
“We’re gonna stay really quiet and let that boat p-pass...”Although his voice faltered, his arm continued to bear down on her.
She pushed against him, anger fizzling in her core.If she didn’t do something—stupid or not—she’d die.
The other boat’s engine split the air, making their boat vibrate.
“Don’t do anything stupid.”He waved the gun loosely, the muzzle inches from her face.His fingers dug into the side of her neck.
She wanted to scream.But even if she could, her voice wouldn’t be heard over the motor.If it was an innocent bystander, would they keep going?Stop to see if someone was hurt?
The rumbling grew closer.Faster.Any second and the other boat would be upon them.Keetan must have sensed her urgency because he clung tighter and pressed the gun against her temple.“Quiet,” he growled.
No.
She’d been quiet too long because of him.Silenced and manipulated with fear for ten years.She’d lost too much.Not anymore.
She turned her face so that her mouth touched his abdomen.Opening wide, she bit down.Hard.And then locked on with the tenacity of a pit bull.
Keetan howled and kicked, but she didn’t loosen her grip.She bit harder.
He cursed, and the gun clattered to the deck.Yanking up her head, she grabbed the weapon with her free hand and ended up lying sideways across his legs.His palm slammed down on hers, pinning the weapon to the deck.
“Goddamn bitch!”He jerked back his elbow, catching her in the temple.
The boat rocked, tossing her to the ground on top of the gun.Keetan’s finger twitched on the trigger beneath her abdomen.
***
“You see that?”Brick asked.Standing on the bow, above the large headlight of the motorboat, he once again lifted the binoculars he’d found in the storage compartment.
About a hundred feet away, a boat swayed in the darkness.His heart beat in triple time as both hope and terror sliced through him.
The chances of finding an abandoned boat were slim to fucking none.The chances of finding Natalie alive were less.
“On it!”Taschen accelerated and veered northwest.
Brick yanked off the binoculars and tossed them to the ground, then lifted his AR-15.The cool, heavy metal usually offered a sense of peace, but this time it didn’t come.
He locked his knees as the useless joints buckled with crippling fear.If he found her body...
There’d be no coming back from the depths of that loss.
No lights shone from the boat.It just floated.Dead.His gaze searched the lake, pillaging the dark, lapping waves.
Crack!
The sharp blast of a bullet made him jump.His ears thrummed.Anticipation churned in his gut.Taschen cut the engine, and then his heavy footsteps pounded the deck behind Brick.
The headlight on their bow shone north, making it hard to see the inside of the other boat.Taschen clicked on a flashlight, and the yellow beam spilled into the watercraft.
