Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
Stanton: Trixie, I’ve been thinking. Maybe we made a mistake. We were good together once.
Trixie: A mistake? You think? That’s rich coming from you.
Stanton: I mean it. I’m willing to try again. I’ll even toss aside the hot blonde I’m seeing just for you.
Trixie: Wow, how generous of you. Sorry, but I’m not interested in being your second choice.
Stanton: Come on, Trix. We had something real. We can get that back.
Trixie: The only thing we had was you constantly looking for something better. I’ve found better with Ransom.
Stanton: You know he’s not good enough for you. We can fix things.
Trixie: We’re beyond fixing anything, Stanton. I deserve someone who values me, not someone who throws me away for the next shiny thing.
Stanton: You’re going to regret this, Trixie.
Trixie: I regret something, all right, and it’s not Ransom.
T he crowd inside the cave has thinned considerably, save for a couple of familiar faces as they move this way, Bess and Nettie.
“Well?” Bess says, clasping her wide-brimmed hat as she moves my way. “What happened? Did Hetty make the picture any clearer?”
“Did she confess?” Nettie squawks so loud ten different people turn this way.
“No.” I lift my finger to my lips. “Although she did point my feet in another direction. And she sort of called Beatrice a gossip. They both took off after that.”
“Don’t keep us in suspense,” Bess says. “Who’s the next suspect?”
I’m about to mouth the woman’s name just as a pair of strong arms wrap around me from behind.
“Hello, gorgeous.” Ransom’s voice warms me from behind, and his arms give me a gentle squeeze, pulling me into a tender embrace. He plants a kiss on my cheek and his stubble brushes against my skin, making every last part of me shiver and quiver in the right places. “So who is it?” he rumbles in my ear and it tickles me right down to the bottom of my spine. “Who’s the next suspect?”
A laugh bubbles from me just as Wes saunters over with a wry smile plastered across his face.
“Watch it, Romeo,” he says. “Or I might have to throw you into the water to cool you off.” Wes gives Ransom a friendly shove, and in the process, he accidentally knocks Bess’ hat right off her head and straight into the water below.
“Oh no,” Bess moans into the abyss as she reaches for it a second too late.
“Don’t you worry, Bessie,” Nettie calls out. And before anyone can stop her, she leaps into the water.
“ Get back here ,” the guide shouts, and by the sound of his voice he’s more than a little alarmed. “Swimming in the water is strictly off-limits!”
We all rush to the edge of the wooden landing just as Nettie begins to flail down below.
“Something’s got me,” she shouts up at us. “The Grim Reaper has grabbed my ankles and he’s sucking me under!”
The crowd around us breaks out into screams. Although Bess and I aren’t screaming, at least not with panic. To be honest, I’m sort of kicking myself right now. I should have seen this coming a mile away. The woman lives for jumping into forbidden waters.
Nettie starts to go under, and soon all that’s above water is one of her hands. And to make matters worse, she’s drifting quickly toward the black maw to the left that leads to umpteen miles of a dark, watery labyrinth.
Without hesitation, Ransom dives in after her, followed by Wes.
More shouting ensues—this time by our rather irate tour guide.
The poor man’s voice continues to rise in a panic, but I can hardly hear him over the pounding of my heart.
Nettie’s head bobs above the surface as she floats off into the dark abyss and dips below the surface, and a second later, Ransom and Wes disappear into the murky depths after her.
“ Ransom ,” I shout, my voice breaking.
The moments stretch out painfully as Bess and I watch the water, waiting for any sign of them. Meanwhile, the spastic guide shouts into his phone at whoever he thinks might save the day.
Ransom and Wes are here, and if they can’t save the day, then we are all royally screwed.
The waters below grow eerily calm as if the turmoil has been swallowed by the depths. My heart hammers in my chest and each beat echoes the fear that grips me. It feels like hours, weeks , but it’s probably just seconds.
Bess wraps her arms around me tight and buries her face in my shoulder as the surface of the water remains undisturbed. All the while, my mind races with terrifying images of Ransom, Wes, and Nettie lost in the matrix of underwater tunnels.
Just when I can’t take another second, a ripple breaks the stillness. Someone is swimming back, emerging from the murky depths.
“ Wes ,” I call out as I see him and Bess is quick to grip the railing.
“Captain,” she shouts. “What’s happening?”
Wes surfaces, gasping for air, and looks up at me, shaking his head.
“I’m sorry,” he says it low. “I lost track of them. They’re gone.”